Flying in Iceland

Blacksails · Feb 8, 2017

Does anybody have experience flying in Iceland?

I'm heading there in March with the Inspire in the hopes of making a filming tour around the island.
It's getting quite northern up there, right on the edge of the arctic circle.

I'm very excited to be flying there. I have spoken to ICETRA and have spoken to the national parks and am awaiting to see whether they are going to grant me permission on their land....
But I'm worried about GPS and Compass errors whilst there. The entire island is volcanic. High metal content in the ground in places and obviously with it being closer to the North Pole, compass errors.

I have heard of quite a few people experiencing control issues whilst flying over large bodies of water over there (why?? GPS issues due to reflection on ice, snow, still water???), and also random fly aways by know good equipment.

So, any experiences? And can anybody suggest what precautions I might take that might not be so apparent when flying the uk.
Obviously normal pre-flights - check mods, check KP index, skydemon it for radio transmission towers, keep batteries warm and watch out for prop icing etc... but is there anything else? I've heard sticking to Atti mode helps, but surely that just cuts out the GPS, not the compass also??

I am not one for constant compass calibrations, as I believe it is the stem of a lot of issues, but I presume travelling that far requires at least a single fresh compass cal when I get there, right??

Thanks in advance!

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emtea · Feb 8, 2017

Iceland is in my top 3 places I've ever flown my Inspire. I had no issues with mine, flying P-GPS always. The winds get brutal there, so I actually don't recommend flying ATTI.

Here's my video from Iceland to give you an idea and also my shameless self promotion:

And yes, you need special authorization to fly in the national park, but otherwise, it's totally fine. I had a few tourists complain about my drone over the course of 8 days but most people didn't bat an eye. I calibrated my compass once in Reykjavik my first day and did not do it again in Iceland (and I went around the entire island, including the West Fjords, so not just the ring road).

Hope that helps. It is an amazingly beautiful country that is being torn apart by over-tourism. I hope you enjoy it and safe flying!

Blacksails · Feb 9, 2017

emtea said:
Iceland is in my top 3 places I've ever flown my Inspire. I had no issues with mine, flying P-GPS always. The winds get brutal there, so I actually don't recommend flying ATTI.

Here's my video from Iceland to give you an idea and also my shameless self promotion:

And yes, you need special authorization to fly in the national park, but otherwise, it's totally fine. I had a few tourists complain about my drone over the course of 8 days but most people didn't bat an eye. I calibrated my compass once in Reykjavik my first day and did not do it again in Iceland (and I went around the entire island, including the West Fjords, so not just the ring road).

Hope that helps. It is an amazingly beautiful country that is being torn apart by over-tourism. I hope you enjoy it and safe flying!

Thanks Emtea.

Good to know you had no issues.
I spoke with a few pilots who have flown in Iceland and it seems to be a 50/50 split between people having issues or not. Strange.

Lovely reel!

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Skyward Imaging · Feb 9, 2017

emtea said:
Iceland is in my top 3 places I've ever flown my Inspire. I had no issues with mine, flying P-GPS always. The winds get brutal there, so I actually don't recommend flying ATTI.

Here's my video from Iceland to give you an idea and also my shameless self promotion:

And yes, you need special authorization to fly in the national park, but otherwise, it's totally fine. I had a few tourists complain about my drone over the course of 8 days but most people didn't bat an eye. I calibrated my compass once in Reykjavik my first day and did not do it again in Iceland (and I went around the entire island, including the West Fjords, so not just the ring road).

Hope that helps. It is an amazingly beautiful country that is being torn apart by over-tourism. I hope you enjoy it and safe flying!

Was that filmed with the x3, x5, x5r or the x5s? The shot going through the smoke and coming out was pretty cool.

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emtea · Feb 9, 2017

Blacksails said:
Thanks Emtea.

Good to know you had no issues.
I spoke with a few pilots who have flown in Iceland and it seems to be a 50/50 split between people having issues or not. Strange.

Lovely reel!

Sent from my iPhone using InspirePilots

Thanks! I bet it depends on who is around. I went near the end of the tourist season in August. I also make it a point not to fly over people or near people, best case scenario is nobody notices the drone altogether

Iceland is so big and wide open that you won't have trouble flying around the tourists and to the subject you wanna shoot, even if it means going the long way around a waterfall or something. Enjoy your trip and let us know how it goes! I didn't fly my drone in Reykjavic but there was a local who was flying his right in front the Harpa (music hall) on the plaza and nobody said a thing.

One more thing is, it was very windy in all of Iceland when I went, especially in the highlands. I suggest you exercise some caution when taking off/landing.

Skyward Imaging said:
Was that filmed with the x3, x5, x5r or the x5s? The shot going through the smoke and coming out was pretty cool.

Sent from my iPad using InspirePilots

Thanks! This was shot with an X3. That specific shot got my drone REALLY dirty since it was geothermal steam). Inspire was wet on the surface from the steam and all the dust/dirt stuck to the humidity. No issues though.

Dave Stanton · Feb 13, 2017

emtea said:
Iceland is in my top 3 places I've ever flown my Inspire. I had no issues with mine, flying P-GPS always. The winds get brutal there, so I actually don't recommend flying ATTI.

Here's my video from Iceland to give you an idea and also my shameless self promotion:

And yes, you need special authorization to fly in the national park, but otherwise, it's totally fine. I had a few tourists complain about my drone over the course of 8 days but most people didn't bat an eye. I calibrated my compass once in Reykjavik my first day and did not do it again in Iceland (and I went around the entire island, including the West Fjords, so not just the ring road).

Hope that helps. It is an amazingly beautiful country that is being torn apart by over-tourism. I hope you enjoy it and safe flying!

Stunning video emtea. Iceland certainly looks like another planet!

emtea · Feb 14, 2017

Dave Stanton said:
Stunning video emtea. Iceland certainly looks like another planet!

Thanks! I cannot recommend it enough if you are up for travelling, IcelandAir often has pretty good deals for flights from the US to Reykjavik, especially if you do it as a layover on your way to continental Europe.