The DJI Phantom 4 drone has three selectable flight modes you can choose from, including one that the drone will fall back to in certain circumstances. Each of these flight modes affect the drone's behavior and performance. Understanding them can help you select the right mode for the environment you're piloting the drone in and prepare you for potential performance issues or hazardous situations. The three flight modes are:
P-Mode (Positioning): P-Mode is the standard flight mode for the majority of pilots. In this mode, all the sensors on your drone are active, including GPS and any available vision or infrared sensors. This results in precise hovering of your drone, even if you stop controlling it with the remote control. P-Mode requires a strong GPS signal to function and will disconnect if lost. This mode is best for safe flight and navigating between obstacles. Large stick movements must be made on the remote control to achieve high flight speeds.
S-Mode (Sport): S-Mode is a more advanced mode of flight. In this mode, the drone uses only GPS signal for positioning. While this increases the available speed of your drone, obstacle sensing systems are disabled. As such, the drone is unable to sense and avoid obstacles on its own. S-mode is designed for agility and speed in the air, making it more responsive and sensitive to stick movements. This means a small stick movement on the remote control translates into a large travel distance of the drone. Maximum speed, descent speed and breaking distance are significantly increased. Greater care must be taken when flying in this mode.
A-Mode (ATTI or Attitude): Your drone will enter ATTI Mode when the vision systems are disabled or unavailable and either it loses GPS signal or if there’s compass interference. ATTI mode is designed only to maintain the altitude and attitude of the drone and does not use any GPS or vision systems. Therefore, this allows the drone to drift and move in windy conditions and needs to be carefully controlled manually.
To manually select the flight mode you wish to pilot the drone in, slide the flight mode switch on the left shoulder of the remote control to its respective position.
By default, the drone will be locked in P-Mode regardless of the switch position. In order to manually switch between flight modes using the switch on the remote control, Multiple Flight Modes must be enabled within the settings of the DJI GO 4 app. Here's how to do it:
Launch the DJI GO 4 app on your mobile device.
Select the menu (three dots) in the top right corner.
Select the drone tab on the left.
Ensure the Multiple Flight Modes switch is in the ON position.
4. Restart RC & Drone
To complete the following steps, you will need both your remote control and drone handy.
On the Remote Control
To turn off the remote control, press and release the power button then press it again quickly and hold it until the lights turn off.
To turn it back on, press and release the power button then press it again quickly and hold it until you hear it make the initialization sound.
On the Drone
To turn off the drone, press and release the power button then press it again quickly and hold it until the lights turn off.
To turn it back on, press and release the power button then press it again quickly and hold it until you hear it make the initialization sound.
5. Reseat/Replace Battery
To reseat or replace the battery you have to perform the same steps:
Notice the buckles on the upper and lower sides of the battery.
Place the back of your hands against the arms of the drone, to use them as leverage, and your index fingers and thumbs on the buckles.
Squeeze the buckles and pull the battery towards you.
Wait 10 seconds.
Slide in the same or replacement battery with the power button on the right side.
Grab the arms of the drone with your fingers for leverage and push the battery with your thumbs downward and to the right until you hear a click.
6. Charge Batteries
Plug the charger into a power outlet.
Plug the remote control charging cable into the right side of the remote control.
Plug the battery charging cable into the battery.
If you have more than one battery, plug them all into the charging hub.
You will see the battery indicator lights on the remote control and batteries scrolling until they will turn off meaning they are fully charged.
7. Additional Information
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8. Repair Issues with Your DJI Phantom 4 Pro Companion App