Expecting Trouble is a Safe Way to Fly

[BigAl07]

This article was written for the Public Safety crowd but it applies 100% to anyone (or it should) flying sUAS and even MORE so for those of us who are flying professionally.

Expecting Trouble is a Safe Way to Fly

 

[Dave Pitman]

All very good advice. The one criticism I have is that he leans heavily on the RTH ability of the aircraft which is okay to a point. In my opinion, using the RTH function should be the last resort simply because if there is a problem with the GPS, RTH is not going to be what you expect, unfortunately.

He emphasis understanding the RTH and setting it up correctly which is great. But he makes no mention of the caveat I mention above.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

How do you guys feel about turning off the RC while in RTH as the author suggested?

 

[Dave Pitman]

How do you guys feel about turning off the RC while in RTH as the author suggested?

That was the only way to activate RTH on a Phantom 1. I believe it is unnecessary and not sure why you would do it on current models.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

That was the only way to activate RTH on a Phantom 1. I believe it is unnecessary and not sure why you would do it on current models.

Ha! I had a couple of Phantom 1's back in 2013 and forgot about that little fact. I agree, I think I will keep my controller on while flying just so I can regain control if necessary especially in RTH mode.

 

[Dave Pitman]

Ha! I had a couple of Phantom 1's back in 2013 and forgot about that little fact. I agree, I think I will keep my controller on while flying just so I can regain control if necessary especially in RTH mode.

You can even use RTH as a quick and dirty 'zip-line'. Send the craft out in the desired location and tap RTH and let the craft return autonomously while you control the camera.

 

[BigAl07]

How do you guys feel about turning off the RC while in RTH as the author suggested?

I teach SAR/LEO/First Responders and we've simulated failures by powering down the TX for years. This not only invokes a true RTH but it let's them understand how long (seems much longer than it is LOL) the power cycle and the aircraft to Tx reconnection can take. We do ensure that the RTH settings are correct during the initial checklist (looking over their shoulder) when we know we are going to engage RTH.

I do agree that RTH is a last resort. We teach to Fly the Aircraft until you can no longer fly the aircraft but we do expect them to know, understand, and be comfortable with RTH just in case.

 

[Dave Pitman]

I do agree that RTH is a last resort. We teach to Fly the Aircraft until you can no longer fly the aircraft but we do expect them to know, understand, and be comfortable with RTH just in case.

Absolutely agree.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Great thoughts on this and it is appreciated. While doing cell towers we have to set the RTH setting to landing vs RTH as we do not want the aircraft to try to RTH thru the cell tower. If and when it looses the link with the TX it will start to go straight down allowing us to regain control and move away from the tower. Knowledge of RTH is critical.

 

[BigAl07]

Great thoughts on this and it is appreciated. While doing cell towers we have to set the RTH setting to landing vs RTH as we do not want the aircraft to try to RTH thru the cell tower. If and when it looses the link with the TX it will start to go straight down allowing us to regain control and move away from the tower. Knowledge of RTH is critical.

Just tossing this out there... is Hover In Place an option? Seems like if it rtH straight down it could potentially hit something (fence, poles, wires, etc) before you get around to re-establish the connection.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Just tossing this out there... is Hover In Place an option? Seems like if it rtH straight down it could potentially hit something (fence, poles, wires, etc) before you get around to re-establish the connection.

No, Hover in Place is not an option. That is what the craft does if and when it hits strong RFI, it hovers in place and does not move!! I guess if we set to Hover in Place it would stay there till it went into auto land when the voltage got to its low limits. We need it to descend and have to choose our flight paths and LZ's appropriately. When it has happened we usually have plenty of altitude and have plenty of time to regain control. We have to choose the lesser of the evils

 

[TreeLineView]

No, Hover in Place is not an option. That is what the craft does if and when it hits strong RFI, it hovers in place and does not move!! I guess if we set to Hover in Place it would stay there till it went into auto land when the voltage got to its low limits. We need it to descend and have to choose our flight paths and LZ's appropriately. When it has happened we usually have plenty of altitude and have plenty of time to regain control. We have to choose the lesser of the evils

is the interference usually associated with GPS or controllers signal. Would Atti mode be an option when attempting to regain control or could that potentially invite an unwanted drift into what you are trying to avoid

 

[R.Perry]

I recently lost total control of the Inspire 2, using Litchi. I had just done a pano over the construction offices and when the pano finished and loaded I had no control of the Inspire. I was about 300 yards away from the offices. I powered down Litchi and restarted it. That had no effect and the Inspire would not RTH. It just hovered over the buildings at 200 feet.

I remembered that the construction buildings had very powerful routers, so I drove over to the buildings and as soon as I got close to them I regained control of the Inspire. Now when I shoot those panos I make sure I’m near the offices, that was a real learning curve for me.

The article was a very good article but I agree that RTH should be the last resort, and that altitude is your friend.

Any of us that have a pilots license remembers the lessons on dealing with emergencies, like when the instructor pulls the power off then asks you were you are going to land, you best have a spot picked out.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

is the interference usually associated with GPS or controllers signal. Would Atti mode be an option when attempting to regain control or could that potentially invite an unwanted drift into what you are trying to avoid

Switching to ATTI mode did not help in the situation I encountered.

 

[BigAl07]

Any of us that have a pilots license remembers the lessons on dealing with emergencies, like when the instructor pulls the power off then asks you were you are going to land, you best have a spot picked out.

I once told my wife, "When flying as PIC I'm always flying from one emergency landing spot to another."

That moment when she (mine was a she) pulls the throttle back while I was looking back still gets to me thinking about it today LOL. She said, "which area are we shooting for? You already had it picked out didn't you?" Ummmmmm yea... THAT ONE way over there the little speck on the horizon LOL.

 

[Dave Pitman]

Just a follow up.

I posted a comment to Steve Rhode's article and I just received a nice email from him and he agrees and has posted more information to address this in the article.

Expecting Trouble is a Safe Way to Fly

 

[BigAl07]

I think it's AWESOME he took the time to reply in detail.

Very well done Dave.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Thanks, @Dave Pitman!

 

[embayweather]

I would also agree that RTH should be a last resort. I try an practice each flying session some of recovery exercise. I also ensure that each of my drones’ RTH functions are tested monthly and recorded under maintenance.

 

[Darren Gahan]

One of the first things I did when I started flying my P4 was to try out all the "safety" features of the drone. I did it in a safe remote location. I powered off the RC let it fly till it got to the low battery setting, even changed the low battery setting to verify what it would do, tried to override an auto landing on low battery power (you can't change the autoland on 10% remaining). There is one flaw in the DJI firmware that annoys me. In a RTH situation with a strong headwind, it will not engage the full power that is available in sport mode. Something I keep in mind when I choose a launch point. If I slip and fall and the RC gets destroyed, I want my drone to come safely home. I haven't been able to test this out since my P4 firmware was updated. It is a bit risky to test out so I usually just use the RTH button and not turning off the RC. One thing I noticed flying on a windy day was a notification that motor power was being limited to protect the battery, or something like that. Not sure if that is a battery issue or a glitchy firmware thing. The battery cell voltages seem to be within allowable parameters. I've noted the battery number and won't use that battery on a windy day till I can experiment with it in a safe place on a windy day.