Last night I flew my Mini 3 to check on some smoke nearby. I unfolded it, did a quick compass calibration, and took off before GPS fully locked in. The icon showed 11 satellites, so I thought it was good enough.
Usually, I let the drone hover for 10 seconds before moving, but after only 5 seconds, it went nuts. It shot off at 20 m/s in random directions. I tried switching between Normal and Sport modes to regain control, but nothing worked. In a panic, I just pushed the throttle to make it climb, hoping to avoid hitting anything.
After 31 seconds, I heard “Home point is set,” but the home point was 200 meters away from where I launched. Suddenly, the drone stopped moving erratically and stabilized. I carefully brought it back, landed, and recalibrated everything. After that, it flew normally again.
This is the first time I’ve had an issue like this with a DJI drone. I’ve owned a Phantom 3, Phantom 4, and Mini 1, and they’ve always been reliable, even indoors (not that I recommend it).
Has anyone else experienced something like this? Should I report it to DJI? And what should I do if this happens again?
TL;DR: Took off before GPS lock, and the drone went out of control. Almost lost it.
I’ve had this happen with older drones when taking off before full GPS lock. I even lost a Spark because of it. Sometimes it would shoot off randomly or lose all controls. Since then, I always wait for full GPS lock before taking off. Better safe than sorry.
Could be interference if you’re in a crowded area. Emergency services might’ve been using strong signals. Without GPS, the drone uses onboard sensors, which might’ve struggled if there was interference.
@Dany
For the first 30 seconds, it seemed stationary on the map but was actually flying erratically. Once it locked GPS, the home point shifted to a location far from the launch point. It’s strange because I’ve never had this happen before.
@Dany
Same thing happened with my Mini 3 Pro. Took off without GPS and it flew into a tree before I could regain control. Learned my lesson—always wait for GPS.
Sounds like weak GPS caused this. It likely got an inaccurate fix, tried to correct its position, and flew erratically until it stabilized. This is why older drones had Atti mode for better manual control in these situations.
I lost a drone in a similar situation. It flew into a tunnel, lost GPS, and went haywire. Always wait for full GPS lock before taking off, no exceptions.
I had something similar happen during a photogrammetry job. My Air 2S shot off sideways at high speed before stabilizing. Now I always double-check that everything is calibrated before flying. It’s not worth risking another flyaway.