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Sorta wrecked my Spark!

My Spark started acting erratic and fell out of the sky. I believe it was in sport mode. At least it landed in the willow bushes, not the rushing water!
 
I was flying in Sport Mode at about 100 meters when I clicked the landing button. Instead of returning to the home point it came straight down and into the trees about 30 meters from the home point. It went through the branches and crashed to the ground and cracked a leg. It still flies. I guess I will have to take the cover off and glue the leg. Unfortunately, I didn't buy the insurance. :(

Any thoughts or suggestions?
I would avoid automated flight programs, when you can. Try always to fly and land manually - Automated Systems have always the possibility to fail - specially in the Hobby Sector. These Drones are not professional drones with redundant systems. If some sensor fails, the progamm fails. There is no backup sensor.

These functions are all nice to have - but maybe it is better to rely on the capabilities of the pilot than a computer if you can. Like a car: That it does have an ABS and ESP System does not mean, that you should (force to) use it regulary...

Good luck with your drone. If you can glue the leg together it´s just an optical problem: so it tells a sorty then :)
 
I was flying in Sport Mode at about 100 meters when I clicked the landing button. Instead of returning to the home point it came straight down and into the trees about 30 meters from the home point. It went through the branches and crashed to the ground and cracked a leg. It still flies. I guess I will have to take the cover off and glue the leg. Unfortunately, I didn't buy the insurance. :(

Any thoughts or suggestions?
Check out www.helipal.com they have every conceivable part for Dji drones you could possibly want.
 
My friend was able to repair the video! I didn't ask her which software she used, but it was a pretty quick fix.

It looks like the drone saw the trees directly underneath it and decided that was the ground. I say that because it adjusted the camera to horizontal like it does just before it lands. Now the question remains, why didn't it return to home?

 
My friend was able to repair the video! I didn't ask her which software she used, but it was a pretty quick fix.

It looks like the drone saw the trees directly underneath it and decided that was the ground. I say that because it adjusted the camera to horizontal like it does just before it lands. Now the question remains, why didn't it return to home?

I have the same problem with a non viewable videofile after a shut off before stopping the recording. I would be very greatful if you can reveal your friends quick fix.
 
I have the same problem with a non viewable videofile after a shut off before stopping the recording. I would be very greatful if you can reveal your friends quick fix.

She said it was an Adobe program. She did it at work. <shrug>
 
I was flying in Sport Mode at about 100 meters when I clicked the landing button. Instead of returning to the home point it came straight down and into the trees about 30 meters from the home point. It went through the branches and crashed to the ground and cracked a leg. It still flies. I guess I will have to take the cover off and glue the leg. Unfortunately, I didn't buy the insurance. :(

Any thoughts or suggestions?
Get the best glue you can automotive glues are the best I'm a Panelbeater
 
I gave my Spark a sticker for surviving the crash and moved his "license plate" over to the right side to cover the scar. :)
 

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I gave my Spark a sticker for surviving the crash and moved his "license plate" over to the right side to cover the scar. :)

Your flight data indicates that this was operator error. This is in the manual (p14, item 4b, paragraph 1), but is badly worded and it is not easy to understand. If you are within 20m of the home point (and you were) and "RTH at current altitude" is disabled, if you initiate RTH your AC will do "auto landing" which means it will attempt to land at it's current location, not the home point.

Cloo Gee has an excellent youtube on RTH. People should watch it and take notes - it is way better than the manual. In any case, RTH should be used when you are having difficulty finding your Spark, not for routine landings.
 
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Your flight data indicates that this was operator error. This is in the manual (p14, item 4b, paragraph 1), but is badly worded and it is not easy to understand. If you are within 20m of the home point (and you were) and "RTH at current altitude" is disabled, if you initiate RTH your AC will do "auto landing" which means it will attempt to land at it's current location, not the home point.

Cloo Gee has an excellent youtube on RTH. People should watch it and take notes - it is way better than the manual. In any case, RTH should be used when you are having difficulty finding your Spark, not for routine landings.
Thank you! That's good info. Actually, I had lost track of it, that's why I did RTH. I could hear it but not see it. I will check that video.
 
Even if you lost visual of it you should still be able to fly it back using the map on the bottom left. It creates a guide line to the quickest path back home as you fly around.

I’m newer to the sport but have always manually returned home and landed even when over a half mile away.

I don’t trust the auto settings. It’s great to have as a safeguard when you loose RC signal but other then that I prefer to be in control at all times.
 
What is wrong with the camera. It's all over the place with a serious tilt for much of the footage.
 
Even if you lost visual of it you should still be able to fly it back using the map on the bottom left. It creates a guide line to the quickest path back home as you fly around.

I’m newer to the sport but have always manually returned home and landed even when over a half mile away.

I don’t trust the auto settings. It’s great to have as a safeguard when you loose RC signal but other then that I prefer to be in control at all times.
You know, since I got the Spark I always used the return to home button. I guess I thought that was the way to do it. Although I often take control manually in the last 10-20 feet or so.
 
As Magnetic says, it was in Sport Mode and was taking some fast, sharp turns.

Perhaps, but to me it doesn' look like the direction of the tilt matches the direction of the turn.
And in places is still seriously tilted when there is no turn.
At about 5:30 you turn to the right and the camera tilts a lot and stays tilted even when the spark is not turning. Shortly after it turns sharply to the left but the camera stays tilted the other way.
It definatly doesn't look natural.
I know the gimbal isn't as sophisticated as the Phantoms but I would have expected better.
 
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Thanks for the info. That's a lot cheaper than a new Spark. Out of curiosity, did DJI offer you the opportunity to buy insurance after the repair? If they did, I'd certainly get it!

I notice you can buy a Spark body on Amazon or eBay for about $23. Has anyone ever attempted to transfer the guts of a broken Spark into a new body?

My family has pushed me to check on insurance after I had the spark repaired but I have not checked with DJI about it.
About self repair, I found I could buy the Spark body shell and attempt repair myself but with small parts and precise soldering I opted for the official repair.
 
Perhaps, but to me it doesn' look like the direction of the tilt matches the direction of the turn.
And in places is still seriously tilted when there is no turn.
At about 5:30 you turn to the right and the camera tilts a lot and stays tilted even when the spark is not turning. Shortly after it turns sharply to the left but the camera stays tilted the other way.
It definatly doesn't look natural.
I know the gimbal isn't as sophisticated as the Phantoms but I would have expected better.
It was in Sport Mode.
 

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