Flying I1 lower than take off point...

Pietro Avolio · Sep 28, 2015

Hey guys/gals. Has anyone ever tried to fly the I1 lower than the take off point? The shot I'm trying to do is from a cliff. If I take off from the cliff and fly the I1 down below, will I lose signal? Is it safe to try?

Thanks

FangsCPO · Sep 28, 2015

I can't see it being an issue as long as you have LOS....but that would be a guess at this time. Anyone??

LockMD · Sep 28, 2015

Yup just keep LOS and all should be good, don't panic when altitude shows negative number as 0 will be take off spot.

Pietro Avolio · Sep 28, 2015

LockMD, I take it that you have tried this? =)

tbarnesarc · Sep 28, 2015

I do it all the time. As others have stated just keep LOS and you'll be fine.

LockMD · Sep 28, 2015

Pietro Avolio said:
LockMD, I take it that you have tried this? =)

Not personally, but seen MANY others do it. I have height issues (LOL) if I was to stand next to a cliff I'd probably fall off haha

Pietro Avolio · Sep 28, 2015

LockMD said:
Not personally, but seen MANY others do it. I have height issues (LOL) if I was to stand next to a cliff I'd probably fall off haha

HA HA. I'm the same. This is the cliff I plan on flying it off of. Below is the Sacramento River and no ground to take off from. Looking forward to trying it out.

turbodronepilot · Sep 28, 2015

That doesn't look too extreme but you might want to practice some before your shoot so you can get used to it..
judging distance and hight can be tricky when flying below your take off point..
Turbo. ...

Mike Ellgood · Sep 28, 2015

I have done it of of cliff tops and yes its awkward to guage where you are.. but no signal issues

about 55 secs in so you don't have to watch my crappy video

Kauaigene · Sep 28, 2015

Can anyone explain how the official term for "Loss of Signal"....i.e. LOS. has become something else complete on this forum? Just curious.

turbodronepilot · Sep 28, 2015

It must be secret code,because I thought it meant line of site..lol..

Kauaigene said:
Can anyone explain how the official term for "Loss of Signal"....i.e. LOS. has become something else complete on this forum? Just curious.

Pietro Avolio · Sep 28, 2015

Yea, I'm understanding it as Line of Sight. That's a big difference. HA.

tbarnesarc · Sep 28, 2015

VLOS technically but whatever, you got the the point. haha! I shoot surfing like that all the time and it works fine being lower than your home point.

m00se · Sep 29, 2015

I have read somewhere about a RTH issue when at a negative altitude, it seemed that if the safe height was set to 20m for example and you are at -21 that the craft ignored the - symbol and thought it was above safe AGL,

I DO NOT know if this was confirmed as a problem, and or if it was fixed in recent firmwares.

Just posting to make you aware that it might be a problem, I am not confirming that it is.

Scotflieger · Sep 29, 2015

m00se said:
I have read somewhere about a RTH issue when at a negative altitude, it seemed that if the safe height was set to 20m for example and you are at -21 that the craft ignored the - symbol and thought it was above safe AGL,

I DO NOT know if this was confirmed as a problem, and or if it was fixed in recent firmwares.

Just posting to make you aware that it might be a problem, I am not confirming that it is.

I try not to go by hearsay and rumour. If I don't know I test it. So I flew a dedicated test flight this morning and the answer is:

With FW 1.4.0.10 and the aircraft flying below the takeoff point and display a negative altitude (test to minus 5m) the aircraft will climb to the failsafe height and return when the RTH is initiated (manually or automatically on loss of RC signal).

However, I did discover a change to the RTH logic that I had not seen before. I had the return altitude set to 30m. With the aircraft below 20m, the aircraft climbed directly to 20m with no heading change. It then turned to face the Home Point (HP) before climbing the failsafe height (30m in my case) and flying back. If the aircraft is above 20m with RTH is commanded, it turns towards the HP, climbs to 30m and then returns.

m00se · Sep 29, 2015

Scotflieger said:
I try not to go by hearsay and rumour. If I don't know I test it.

good for you, I was simply letting the OP know that there was an issue mentioned with this in the past.

Either way its good to know that they have fixed the issue (if it existed)

wilkia61 · Oct 1, 2015

I was flying by the White Cliffs of Dover last month. Launched from sea level and flew along cliffs. Lost GPS when flying within about 20m of the cliff, obviously due to a satellite blank out. Not a problem if you are OK with ATTI flying, and recognise the issue before Return to Home kicks in, but it is one to be aware of.

m00se · Oct 1, 2015

wilkia61 said:
I was flying by the White Cliffs of Dover last month. Launched from sea level and flew along cliffs. Lost GPS when flying within about 20m of the cliff, obviously due to a satellite blank out. Not a problem if you are OK with ATTI flying, and recognise the issue before Return to Home kicks in, but it is one to be aware of.

in that case it would just go into the landing sequence right ?

wilkia61 · Oct 1, 2015

m00se said:
in that case it would just go into the landing sequence right ?

Yes, but would ruin the film run. Lol

djbuschini · Oct 3, 2015

Mike Ellgood said:
I have done it of of cliff tops and yes its awkward to guage where you are.. but no signal issues

about 55 secs in so you don't have to watch my crappy video

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Awesome shoot and liked the Enya music as well