Greetings:
Well, I've watched this happen before on YouTube and I was like, "That'll never happen to me." Ha ha. So now I've had my first flyaway and I don't want to fly my P3S again until I figure out what I did wrong or ??? I just went out and did a flight tonight to play with my new ND filters. And it turns into a nerve wracking experience.


When callabraiting the compass before, I've had errors and moved, callibrated again, etc. I understand all that, or thought I did. This is from my backyard where I've probably flown 15 times at least. I had no warning at all. Just safe to fly in GPS mode.

Here is the healthy drones log, which doesn't even show any of these errors that I can see:

https://healthydrones.com/main?f ... ;page_id=SENSORSGPS

So about 22 seconds into the flight I notice the thing is drifting totally out of control (that's the bottom left flight area) back towards me and right then I get a COMPASS ERROR blah blah and it's totally flyling back the opposite way. I switch it into ATTI mode but it won't respond, it's just keeps flying away back from me in the opposte direction. I have no control at all. I think I'm doomed. So it's out of control basically from the bottom left point to the top right point of the map trail that's when it was just having a mind of its own.

This went on so long, that it wasn't like I was dissoriented in ATTI mode and just flying away from me without knowing it. It would respond up and down, but not left or right it seemed.

But then at that point I seem to gain control. And was able to fly it back and land it in ATTI mode. (My app shows I was in GPS mode towards the end, but I don't think I was as I was too afriad.)


Then after it landed I look at the aircraft status and its a HUGE COMPASS ERROR warning inside the app, but it has never done this to me after the aircraft has taken off. It's warned me on a few occasions as I was callibrating or setting up and I've moved, etc.


So what did I do wrong? Or what happend to the aircraft? I had hope the healthy drones data would have shown me what was going on more, but everythign seems to be OK. (If DJI could look at the flight record I've uploaded (6/17/06) 5 min flight from Orem, UT.


I get that I might have too much metal in my backyard, but this has never happend before there AND it didn't decided to warn me until I was 22 seconds into a flight.


Any insight would be greatly appreciated.


Quint

You didn't have a flyaway at all.
You simply had a compass error in flight and the Phantom switched to atti mode because of a conflict in the data from the compass and the data from the GPS.
That the Phantom could switch back to GPS mode suggests that you did not switch to atti yourself.
Have you enabled multiple flight modes in the app (and done it again after any updates)?
Without data, I'd suspect the flying away part was disorientation in atti mode.

To save typing, it's probably similar to this one:  http://forum.dji.com/thread-55687-1-1.html

Did you calibrate the compass before the flight?
If so you need to consider where you are calibrating the compass.
Any reinforced concrete or other steel nearby?
You don't need to calibrate every flight.
It's quite safe to get one good compass calibration and fly with that for months.

ps  Healthydrones never gives more than a basic summary.
If you ever want to know what happened ....
Go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.

Thanks.
I switched to Atti mode when it said there was a compass error. (Or i tried; it all happened so fast.)  It seemed like a flyaway cause I had no control of the aircraft from that bottom left to upper right of the flight record? I'm not arguing with anyone. I'm familiar with ATTI mode and fly in that mode from time to time. I'm also familiar with compass calibration warnings, etc.  It was just flying away on it's own. Anything I did there was no response.  I calibrated the compass before flight, as I flew in an different location earlier today. And there wan't anything (obvious) withng a 15 foot radius.
I've actually watched that video in that thread you suggest before. There must be something in my backyard that is different from the last 6 weeks. But there was nothing obvious in a 15 foot radius. But it didn't give me an error when I was calibrating? That's what I don't quite get. It does it 20 seconds in flight. But then in ATTI mode I don't have any control while it crossed from the lower left to the upper right? I'll have to go look at the other log view you suggest and see if that tells me how I was disoriented. And definitely try to stay away MORE away from metal. But again, never had a warning, pre flight.

So I guess what you are advising in terms of callibration. Don't calibrate every flight if the GO TO HOME POINT is OK and you get all that OK. Unless you go to a very different area, more than a couple miles away??

What is the advice on that?

Again, I'm not tryint to defend my every move. I'm just trying to fill in the information.

Thanks.

quint7 Posted at 2016-6-18 15:08
Thanks.
I switched to Atti mode when it said there was a compass error. (Or i tried; it all happene ...

Unless you have enabled Multiple Flight Modes in the app, your P-A-F switch does nothing.
You could think you switched to A but nothing would change.

Your home point has nothing to do with your compass calibration.
I wouldn't bother recalibrating within 100 miles.
Here's some info on compass calibration, what it does and when it's necessary:  http://www.phantompilots.com/thr ... plete-primer.32829/

See if this tells us anything more. I see the YAW errors.. All I can say is I looked down closely on the switch not he RC and switched it to ATTI. I even went into the app when there was no response from the aircraft and I tried to switched it there. Maybe I was so freaked by then when it did go into ATTI mode I was disoriented for a bit.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6R9F49UJEVZHQ6IXMZQJ/

I get the error and maybe what could have caused it.. I just don't get the lack of control when I was in ATTI mode.

I see the switch to ATTI mode in the log, but nowhere do I switch it back, it just goes back on its own.

I just want to understand it better cause what I am seeing doesn't correlate with what I was doing.


Q

Thanks. Labroided. I'll go check that out. I had multiple flight modes enabled; just went and checked. Earlier today I was flying in ATTI mode and switched using the switch.
Appreciate the advice on calibrating only when necessary.

I know I'm no expert, but I'm not a total newbie. I've had 50 flights on this and 20 on another.

I appreciate all the input and advice. Just wish I understood it a little better.

Q

quint7 Posted at 2016-6-18 15:28
Thanks. Labroided. I'll go check that out. I had multiple flight modes enabled; just went and checke ...

Post a link to the PhantomHelp report and it will show a lot more so I won't have to guess.

I did just above in a previous post. Here it is again. I just went and rebooted the aircraft and it was set to multiple flight modes.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6R9F49UJEVZHQ6IXMZQJ/

Thanks.

As far as the original compass error (although late) one thing I am thinking about is we moved some lawn furniture around in my backyard yesterday... But that was all like 30 feet away. But that is one condition that changed in the backyard. Maybe I just did the calibration and didn't wait long enough. I just had the "Safe to Fly GPS" and immediately took off.

I guess my main question is, so I get the compass error at 30 seconds or whatever. I blew the calibration. I understand that. So according to the flight record, what should I have done? Or what could I have done better? Once I got it.

Q

quint7 Posted at 2016-6-18 15:46
As far as the original compass error (although late) one thing I am thinking about is we moved some  ...

Sorry, I was doing 4 things at once here.
It shows up as a Yaw Error from 0:27 to 1:57 which is a sort of big compass error.
That would have made control difficult even in atti mode.
That it fixed itself is good.
Without knowing what caused it, it's a bit hard to know if it might come back.

If it was mine, I'd take it to a big open park somewhere, give it a good compass calibration and just fly it around for a full battery to see how it behaves.
Or you you could see if DJI can comment.

hey quint,
I just happened a same flyaway with u
Just 12 hours previously.
I totally fly away and I can't find the die body.
One question ,what firmware you used?

Hello quint7, I'd suggest you to download the flight data from your drone and then send the DAT files of that accident date to support.us@dji.com. The DAT files contain more information than the log files and we will analyze the data if you send them to us.

The good news is that you still have your Phantom and there was no damage to anyone. You should practice in ATTI mode. Being proficient on your own will take care of the jitters when something like this occurs. Another drill that I do is to go to a large open area and just use the map view with direction arrow and fly the Phantom without looking at the Phantom itself (take a peek here and there). Great skill builder and a large gain in confidence.

Not everyone has issues eventually, but many do. Sorry for your loss, hopefully you can afford another bird and get back on the horse.

Thanks Paladin, even though there was no crash do you think I should still send in the DAT files to analyze what was going on? Like I said, I just want to make sure I didn't do something wrong and want to learn from this.
Maybe I don't know all the terminology, does "Flyaway" mean you crashed/lost your unit completely gone?

R&L, you'll notice I didn't lose the bird. It corrected itself after about 2 minutes and I was able to fly it back. But thanks!

Rodger, thanks for the advice and I will continue to practice in ATTI mode. And those are cool ideas.

Element Ho, thanks I'm sorry for your loss and are able to find the AC.

Labroides, thanks for the insight and advice, I will go do that this morning.

Q

I think I just realized what was happening. Someone on another board said you have to wait until you get a complete GREEN light not flashing green light on the a/c. And was remember I noticed the green lights were flashing way up at my first hove -- way up high, as I was in my neighborhood and I like to get high fast so as to not to bother them. (This was the first time I was flying at dusk, so I thought I was noticing the flashing green light for the first time cause it as dark. The flashing green is not normal, so I need to go study and remember the various light meanings.)

Bottom line is I was too impatient and in a rush so the light was flashing green not he bird and I didn't notice.

I am glad that I learned from the experience.

1) We had moved a bunch of patio furniture around in the backyard and that is what was new and different that caused the compass error (which was reported later than usual).

2) But the A/C was telling me that something was not quite normal as it was doing a flashing green light instead of the solid green light. And because I was in my backyard I wanted to get up and high fast.

That's the lesson I've learned.

Thanks everyone.

Quint

quint7 Posted at 2016-6-18 22:35
I think I just realized what was happening. Someone on another board said you have to wait until you ...

P.11 of the manual says Flashing Green is when it is safe to fly.  I see no status for a solid green.

Right. I figured that out after reading some more. I got all confused (on the message board, not on the flight) with everyone telling this color and that color and blinking v. flashing, etc. So yes.That's what I had when taking off.

Someone told me on another board you have to wait for a solid green in the compass calibration, not a blinking or flashing green.

In the manual these are the colors during callibration:

Hold the aircraft horizontally and rotate 360 degrees. The Aircraft Status Indicators will display a solid
green light.  Recalibrate the compass if the Aircraft Status Indicator glows solid red.
If the Aircraft Status Indicator blinks red and yellow after the calibration procedure, move your aircraft to a different location and try again.

After reading more I still confused as to what I did wrong. I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to see those colors while I'm spinning around and holding it sideways, etc. Either way I don't believe I got any of that (and it doesn't show in the flight records that I can see) So I go through the calibration process and then I don't get an error and I put it back down and get the blinking green "safe to fly" and I go for it... 30 second later I get huge compass error.

So I'm still sort of confused about the whole thing, just not knowing EXACTLY what if anything I did wrong, other than being slower and hovering for 20 seconds before I really take off. I also read up on calibration and the whole debate where some people so only do it when you absolutely have to, and those that say they doing it every time. Also read up on some settings to check before taking off. I can't remember it off the top of my head.

I consider myself pretty careful. I read the manual several times before starting to fly period and scan over it from time to time.

Anyway thanks for reading about my drama.

Q

This happened to me on my first ever flight of my Phantom 4.  Mine took off in the complete opposite direction, crashed through a tree and then on into a house!  Thankfully no damage but am a little reluctant to fly it again!

I had a compass error warning during flight once! I hit the RTH button and flew itself home and landed. I calibrated everything at that point and continued flying without any problems. I don't ever hesitate to hit the RTH button when things aren't quite right. I have over 300 flights and no crashes. My motto..."if you are not sure what to do...RTH!"

flydodom Posted at 2016-6-20 19:12
Another one, what firmware you used?

the latest version 1.8.80  of that day I crashed.

Thanks mjkstudios. I don't know why I didn't do that right away. I've done that before a couple times. I think I was about tondo that when it corrected itself and I put it back in his mode.