Last night, I used my Mini 3 to investigate some smoke in my area. I unfolded the drone, calibrated the compass quickly, and launched before the GPS fully connected. The icon showed 11 satellites, so I assumed it was fine.
Normally, I let the drone hover for 10 seconds after takeoff, but this time, I only waited 5. Suddenly, it started flying uncontrollably at 20 m/s. I tried switching between Normal and Sport modes, but nothing worked. In a panic, I pushed the throttle to make it go higher to avoid obstacles.
After 31 seconds, the drone finally announced, ‘Home point is set,’ but it was in a completely different location, about 200 meters from where I launched. The drone then stopped behaving erratically and held its position. I managed to land it, turned it off, recalibrated the compass, and it flew fine afterward.
This has never happened with my other DJI drones, like the Phantom 3, Phantom 4, or Mini 1, even when flying indoors (though I know that’s not ideal).
Has anyone else experienced this? Should I report this to DJI? What’s the best way to handle it if it happens again?
TL;DR: Took off before GPS locked, drone went crazy, almost lost it.
I’ve had drones act up when I launched before GPS was fully connected. Lost my Spark because of this. It would randomly speed off or lose control completely. One time, it flew into a waterfall. Later, I learned these are called ‘fly aways’ and can happen without proper GPS lock.
When I got a Mini 2, I stopped worrying and often launched right away. Once, I saw dolphins near my hotel and took off quickly to get footage. Since I launched without GPS, the drone started acting weird—it wouldn’t gain altitude and flew very slowly. Halfway back, it finally connected to GPS and started working normally. That was the last time I took off without full GPS.
This has happened with both the Spark and Mini 2. Now, I always wait for GPS lock, even with my Mini 4.
This might be due to strong electromagnetic interference, especially in dense urban areas. If there was a fire, people might’ve been using their phones heavily, and emergency services have strong radio signals.
When the drone doesn’t get a proper satellite signal, it goes into Attitude mode and relies on its onboard sensors. This might have caused the miscommunication between the drone and the controller.
@Ari
For the first 30 seconds, the drone looked stationary on the map but was flying erratically in reality. It only locked onto the home position after 31 seconds, which was far from the launch point.
I think multiple factors like weather, compass issues, or weak GPS signals might’ve caused this.
@Ari
This happened to me with a Mini 3 Pro too. I launched thinking it would hover until GPS connected, but it went wild, hit a tree, and landed in a lake. Thankfully, it worked fine after drying out for 12 hours. Always wait for GPS lock.
Valen said:
I don’t think DJI will help much since you took off before the connection was complete, and it seems you were in Sport mode.
Check the airspeed in the flight log. The drone was already airborne and acting up before GPS connected. It wasn’t moving on the map because the GPS signal wasn’t locked. I switched to Sport mode to try and regain control. Later, the GPS lock showed a position 160 meters away from the launch point.