Hi guys is rescue and return to home the same functions? In that case will return to home share the same settings as rescue? I only need return to home in case signal loss (failsafe)

But im trying to understand that settings page with gains and % , they are alle dedicated to rescue..

Rescue and return to home (RTH) are 2 separate features.

The rescue feature places the heli into a skids up or down orientation (depending on settings) when activated and rapidly increases height to prevent a crash. It will then level off into a sudo-hover if set to do so. This is done on the spirit unit. It has no awareness of altitude- the climb height is set by time, not altitude, although this may be different on newer spirit units that contain a altimeter.

The Return to home feature is a feature of the optional geolink (GPS) module. It gains altitude to a configurable height, then flies the heli back to the 'home' position. The home position can be the take off spot, a set point on a map, or the spot where the unit was powered up, depending upon settings configuration of the geolink.


My opinion is that if your heli loses signal, it should shut down the motor, set a small amount of +ve pitch, and drop from the sky, but you can set your failsafe to activate return to home if that's what you want. NOTE THAT YOU'LL HAVE NO WAY TO SHUT OFF THE MOTOR WHEN IT RETURNS.

You can also get the GeoLink to land the heli.

Note that rescue overrides return to home (afaik), so you won't be able to activate rescue, then return to home after a few seconds etc as your radio would be required to do this and your radio is effectively turned off.

If you're relying on the radio signal being restored when the heli returns to home, then please be aware that a failsafe can also happen due to a fault with the receiver wiring and you may not regain control when it returns.
I think you should strongly consider just crashing the heli when a failsafe happens. *Its the much safer option.*

Weeeeell im not just crashing a 10.000euro heli cuz of that. But lets say i lost signal and failsfe aktivates. My failsafe is aktivating return to home. For what reason should it not regain control if the signal is within reach? Just curious. That means i cant rely on it at all?

Personally, I wouldn't do it. My GeoLink failed me couple of times. Nothing is 100%. If it was Betaflight based and well proven, then, perhaps, I would consider this option. What if the Geolink fails and it will fly away....?

Next update will allow configuring special Failsafe options for GeoLink to make safe return of the model possible. If model will fly away too far from the starting position and radio signal will be lost at the same time it could turn motor off.

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Spirit System developer

That would be a good thing to start off with, to actually have a dedicated settings page for return to home, cuz all you have now is settings for hovering, and rescue.

But i dont use the failsafe setting in spirit. I use the failsafe command in my frsky x20. Is signal IS lost, it will automaticly switch my return to home. And under way back if signal is restored i can take over aircraft any time. Same as my drones

So far ive tested by turning off my remote while in air. And it returns.. but the hovering as mentioned is extremely violent. This was on my 700 hughes heli.

But the new one will be a much bigger turbine. And im not droping it for no reason of that price tag. So i need to make sure its stabile enough to actually function when needed;)


Ive been dropping drones when shit hits the fan . But thats usually a hit somewhere and the drone gets all crazy. Helis are differrent ball game. Every crash will cost me a minimum of 1500euro.. a minimum

... if you are concerned about signal losses for higher value models: maybe the focus should be on NOT running into a failsafe condition. i.e. dual band, rx redundancy etc. with a modern system there should be no possibility of a signal loss with normal heli flying distances.

return home as failsafe like with drones is somehow a kind of autonomous flight (you cannot take back control at any time)... and in some countries you are running into legal problems. besides the terrifying idea of a >=700 size heli approaching any landing zone (how to assure it is empty/free) without human control.

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cheers
Michael

I totally agree. Signal loss with helicopters should be a "never event". If one is having signal loss issues, one should not be flying until this is rectified.

I would recognize as fail safe only condition when some connection between receiver and FBL separates, wire break etc. , but no signal loss between radio and receiver as such especially when flying in line of sight. But yet, it happened to me when I was shot down by cell tower antennas. It happened with frsky and Spektrum as well. That's why I stopped using them. Get more reliable protocol such as ELRS, I never had any problems since.

I was thinking of a condition when a wire breaks on the reciever, you return to home but will never regain control.
The geolink can auto-land the aircraft, but i'm not sure if it then cuts the motor once it's landed. You might have to wait for the battery to run out, or the gas to be used up, which is better than 1500 per crash, minimum