LOITER Mode

In LOITER mode the plane will circle around the point where you started the loiter, holding altitude at the altitude that you entered loiter in. The radius of the circle is controlled by the WP_LOITER_RAD parameter, but is also limited by your NAV_ROLL_CD limit, and your NAVL1_PERIOD navigation tuning. As with Return To Launch (RTL) and AUTO mode you can “nudge” the plane while in LOITER using stick mixing, if enabled.

If FLIGHT_OPTIONS bit 12 is set (+4096 to value) and STICK_MIXING is set to 1 or 2, then altitude of the loiter can be changed using the pitch stick, as in FBWB mode.

Warning

“Home” position is always supposed to be your Plane’s actual GPS takeoff location:

1. It is very important to acquire GPS lock before arming in order for RTL, Loiter, Auto or any GPS dependent mode to work properly.

2. For Plane the home position is initially established at the time the plane acquires its GPS lock. It is then continuously updated as long as the autopilot is disarmed.

   • This means if you execute an RTL in Plane, it will return to the location where it was when it was armed - assuming it had acquired GPS lock.

   • Consider the use of Rally Points to avoid returning directly to your arming point on RTL