Does AUTO mode prioritize horizontal positioning before increasing altitude?

ArduCopter Copter 3.3
1

Hey all,

In a project i’m involved with, an X-frame octorotor with Copter 3.3 executes a mission containing

  1. Takeoff to 8 meters (Lat = 0, Lon = 0)
  2. Loiter at 8 meters for 5 seconds (Lat = 0, Lon = 0)

and while in transition to the 8 meters takeoff altitude, it deviates horizontally (let’s say due to bad positioning info). Additionally, the PID is intentionally set to sluggishly correct for this horizontal deviance.

What I observe is that Copter stops increasing its altitude till it corrects horizontally (observable because the PID is sluggish).

Is this the intended behavior for Copter 3.3? If so, can anyone point me in the right place in the Copter code to prioritize altitude gain instead?

Thanks!