Uncontrollable jerking while in flight

William He · Mar 4, 2019

My brand new anafi, after being fully charged and on its maiden flight, started jerking uncontrollably and I'm a bit worried. During a slow spin to take in the surroundings, my anafi suddenly turned left about 45 degrees with me pushing the stick to the right. It went right back tho. I got worried and began to pilot the drone back. During its journey back, it happened 2 more times, even though I was certain that there was no wind. Should I be worried?

AaronB · Mar 5, 2019

William He said:
Should I be worried?

YES !!

If you have done all the relevant callibrations then the Anafi should be rock solid in flight. I would contact Parrot immediately and hold off doing any further flying.

Krusty Geeza · Mar 5, 2019

William, were you in Aeroplane mode with your mobile device?

pmh1nic · Mar 5, 2019

You should be concerned if the Anafi is doing things that are not based on inputs from the controller (unless you're in some autonomous mode).

If you're in GPS mode the jerking could be related to the GPS signal being momentarily lost or a problem with the sensor. I would shut the Anafi and controller down, restart them, insure you are in GPS mode with green GPS leds for both the Anafi and controller then take it for another flight to see if the abnormal jerking repeats. If possible have someone else video the flight to try and catch the unusually behavior on video.

zandoli · Mar 5, 2019

Did you calibrate the drone and controller?

William He · Mar 6, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
William, were you in Aeroplane mode with your mobile device?

No, but the wifi was full bars

William He · Mar 6, 2019

Flipper said:
Inspect the prop blades and motors carefully. A bad blade or motor can cause internittant and sudden turns like you describe.

The blades are all brand new, motors shouldn't be damaged as the entire drone is brand new

William He · Mar 6, 2019

zandoli said:
Did you calibrate the drone and controller?

Yep

Krusty Geeza · Mar 6, 2019

William He said:
No, but the wifi was full bars

If you were flying with the controller, you need to be in Aeroplane mode, so as to minimise your own EMF interference. Removing all mobile devices & smart-watches is advised in the manual when using the Anafi.

William He · Mar 6, 2019

Krusty Geeza said:
If you were flying with the controller, you need to be in Aeroplane mode, so as to minimise your own EMF interference. Removing all mobile devices & smart-watches is advised in the manual when using the Anafi.

OK thanks, ill try that