Neo Fly away

General Drone Discussion
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Apologies if this is in the wrong place. If it is I’ll delete it

I had a couple of instances recently when the Neo flying with the RC-N3 controller went berserk and flew full speed in a straight line untill it hit something.

It’s “inconvient” and a real confidence shatterer for a newbie. This first time it was close to me on a beach and flew into me so no damage done. It was only 8 satalites and it then did throw up a satellite warning but from the Flight Records it then went into ATTI mode. Cancel didn’t stop it.

On new years day it was a lot more dramatic. Well actually dangerous.

Flying directly above my head at 90 ft. Home point updated. Nearly 20 satellites.

At 180 degrees in a 360 yaw I got an Amber No Satellite message (flight records say it dropped to 8) then back up to 11 then 15 then more satellites in 0.4 of a second

Everything seemed fine as I was still in a slow yaw untill I centered the Yaw stick at 360. The motors then went nuts. It then headed off the the direction it was facing when the No Satellite message came up. It reached 52.6mph according to the Flight Records before it hit a hotel.

Pause and RTH didn’t stop it

It was an open area with no trees or obstructions

If it had hit someone it could have been… Unpleasant or even caused an accident.

The Flight Records show it went to Auto RTH when it was already accelerating away from Home then into Go Home mode…while flying on full throttle away from Home!

İ couldn’t recover the drone as it was inaccessible but that’s the least of my worries. This type of behaviour is dangerous. From the Internet it looks like there are lots of similar concerns with the Neo and N3 controller.

I have a Fly Away case with DJI and they will analyse the logs but as I’ve looked at them myself I can’t see anything I didn’t do or could have done to prevent this.

I want to push DJI really hard to take this seriously and fix whatever is wrong before somebody gets hurt or it further damages the reputation of responsible pilots.

I certainly won’t attempt to fly it on the controler again after the hopefully replace it free of charge.

Any further thoughts or advice appreciated.

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Can you share the airdata for both flights

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i have read similar found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wER3o43Z64 it does not give a soloution but you are not alone, if that might help you feel better since its not your fault, i have also heard about if its to dark or poor contrast. Also dji advise not to fly it over water. Sorry i cannot help any further, but dji should fix this with a firmware update? is it possible if you know anyone with a different controller that might be able to help, or maybe some nice person here that lives near you can help. Just noticed you live not to far from me, if you can get it sorted and the weather improves, might be possible to meet up i have a rc-2,

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Sounds weird if it loses satelites and doesnt respond to control input and almost like you had interference. Airdata might give clues.

The other reason to share Airdata is that although youve had a bad experience you can look on the bright side as you have the fastest DJI Neo on the leaderboard by 12mph :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi Paul. If anything mine was a lot more dramatic than the YouTube It was all over in seconds a maximum power. If the speeds in the Flight Records are to be believed it was flying way faster than the theoretical max even if it was in Manual. I was just in Normal which limits it to 6 m/s which is approx 13.4 mph. It reached 52 mph according to the data ! To me that implies it was not under the control of any flight Mode as we know it and just jammed on maximum throttle.

We are in Turkey a lot of the year: We are here now and I wasn’t able to recover the Drone. Maybe I could have tried harder to get it back but flying into a hotel super fast……I was genuinely fearful it might have badly hurt someone so I didn’t sheepishly go in to ask for access to their balconies or a steep garden area there was no access to. Replacement will have to wait until I get back to the UK. My friend here has a RC2 when I get a replacement

I bought an Avata 2 when I was in the UK before Christmas but I was kinda keeping it until I was happy I knew what I was doing with the Neo ! Had my first proper outing with the. Avata 2 today. It’s a different kettle of fish !

I’ll probably lash out and buy a Mini and RC2 when I get back to the UK also. Much as I like a lot about the Neo and its size I don’t trust it now for fear of hurting someone.

Thanks for your kind offer

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Hi Sparky . I used Flight Reader to view the Flight Record.

I am reasonably techy but haven’t used Airdata
I’ll have a look

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Most here use it, its free but there are paid versions and as a member you get a discount :+1:

Airdata discount page

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We are in Turkey a lot of the year: We are here now

don’t think DJI Refresh covers flights outside of the country that it was initially registered in, but hopefully you’ll be lucky and DJI sort it.

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i would like to use the avata 2 but i am single and dont have a regular spotter, Dont think my dog counts, Also the weight of the avata, but keeping my eye out regarding the new flip

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Unlike the Neo and Buzz himself, not a toy.

buzz-face-2
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I’m no toy :grinning:

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Airdata for the flight on 01/01/2025 where it flew out of control at maximum speed. Hit 52.6 mph before it hit a hotel

This is the summary version of the Flight Record DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

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That’s the last data point after it hit the hotel so defiantly not 52mph

But looking at the data, that’s a fly away and should be covered under warranty

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Also the battery Voltage drops at 1m25s

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Data also shows a significant compass error - which probably contributed to the fly away.

Screenshot 2025-01-05 at 17.17.57
Screenshot 2025-01-05 at 17.17.572044×1588 2.15 MB

Looks like you took off from a small pier/jetty. Was there much metal around in that structure ??

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Yes. Well into the short flight while it was already going horribly wrong. Cause or effect ?

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Not sure but probably. Any effect would be less 90 ft in the air :wink:

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Interesting …

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I reckon it was a mainboard failure, all sorts of errors with the GPS, compass and battery

@Slarti1200 was it powered up for a long time before the flight :thinking:

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No. Just long enough to get a satellite lock.

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Ok lets us know how you get on with the warranty claim

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