Really High Altitude Ops

[teecee]

Hello All. I have a potential gig coming up where we need to fly really, REALLY high. Think 20,000' +. I did a search and found some info on high altitude props but not much in the way of real world results. How high can I operate an Inspire 2 with the HA props? Are there any other mods that will make our chances of success better??

Also, I have heard of a DJI "altitude geofence" that keeps us from operating at really high altitude. If this is true I assume it is to "keep us away from the airplanes" like the airport geofencing. Thanks for keeping the planes safe DJI (sarcasm) but in my case I will be flying very high right next to mountains so we are all good there. Is this altitude lockout a real thing??

Any assistance in this would be appreciated.

 

[The Editor]

Hello All. I have a potential gig coming up where we need to fly really, REALLY high. Think 20,000' +. I did a search and found some info on high altitude props but not much in the way of real world results. How high can I operate an Inspire 2 with the HA props? Are there any other mods that will make our chances of success better??

Also, I have heard of a DJI "altitude geofence" that keeps us from operating at really high altitude. If this is true I assume it is to "keep us away from the airplanes" like the airport geofencing. Thanks for keeping the planes safe DJI (sarcasm) but in my case I will be flying very high right next to mountains so we are all good there. Is this altitude lockout a real thing??

Any assistance in this would be appreciated.

I’m not sure what country you operate in but in the UK we have to specify our operational ceiling within our ops manual. If you have already done that and this particular job takes you outside of your operating envelope then you are likely to void your insurance cover.

That aside - the DJI spec page on the Inspire 2 will give you a maximum operating height ASL.
This is quoted as 5000m (with HA props).

 

[Flying Monkey]

Aren't you allowed to fly 400ft above your take off point, and 400ft out ? An example would be mapping a sky scraper roof for a helo pad or air conditioning units ? When we do this we take off from the roof making that our take off altitude.

 

[The Editor]

Aren't you allowed to fly 400ft above your take off point, and 400ft out ? An example would be mapping a sky scraper roof for a helo pad or air conditioning units ? When we do this we take off from the roof making that our take off altitude.

This is an International forum so what country are you talking about?

 

[Dobmatt]

Hello All. I have a potential gig coming up where we need to fly really, REALLY high. Think 20,000' +. I did a search and found some info on high altitude props but not much in the way of real world results. How high can I operate an Inspire 2 with the HA props? Are there any other mods that will make our chances of success better??

Also, I have heard of a DJI "altitude geofence" that keeps us from operating at really high altitude. If this is true I assume it is to "keep us away from the airplanes" like the airport geofencing. Thanks for keeping the planes safe DJI (sarcasm) but in my case I will be flying very high right next to mountains so we are all good there. Is this altitude lockout a real thing??

Any assistance in this would be appreciated.

Practically DJI quads should allow for max. 500m flight above home point. This limit must be established from within Go4 app, and you'll have to confirm full responsibility for flying at such attitude. That said, 20,000 ft will translate to 6,000 m ASL range Himalay-an peaks, really thin air and frostbiting temps ... It may be a challenge even for a mighty Inspire 2 with HA props ... M200 with tb55 batts? Hmm, I don't know ... Let us know anyway how it works ...

 

[Flying Monkey]

This is an International forum so what country are you talking about?

U.S.A.

 

[PhilZ]

Practically DJI quads should allow for max. 500m flight above home point. This limit must be established from within Go4 app, and you'll have to confirm full responsibility for flying at such attitude. That said, 20,000 ft will translate to 6,000 m ASL range Himalay-an peaks, really thin air and frostbiting temps ... It may be a challenge even for a mighty Inspire 2 with HA props ... M200 with tb55 batts? Hmm, I don't know ... Let us know anyway how it works ...

You bring up a great point about the temp at that altitude. It will be way below the Inspire’s batteries operating temp. So most likely at some point, it will fall out of the sky at a really high altitude. (BAD).
At the Inspire’s rate of climb, will you even be able to reach that altitude before the batteries are exhausted (or frozen)?

This may be a job for a full scale aircraft.

 

[GFields]

Aside from the altitude limits, there is NO way an Inspire 2 could reach 20k feet with its limited battery time, much less return home (unless the hard way).
I would be interested to know what kind of job would require a Drone pilot to fly that high, to begin with. None of the helicopter pilots I know will fly over 10' due to the air thinning and vibration. So, as @PhilZ stated, this would be a job for a larger aircraft. Even Cessna 172 has an altitude limit between 13,000-15,000 feet ASL. A Cessna 172SP has a published service ceiling of 14,000 feet ASL.

Good luck.
Do I smell a troll?

 

[The Editor]

OK - a bit of confusion here that the OP hasn't made clear.....

Is he intending to climb or be dropped off on the mountain (eg by helicopter) at circa 20,000 feet and then fly from there?
In which case it brings it's own problems with air density, ambient temperature etc etc.
Or...... Is he intending to stand at the bottom of the mountain and attempt to fly up to 20,000 feet - in which case, no chance.
Hardware encoded ceiling of 500m from take off point.

Operating at high altitude and flying to high altitude are two completely different scenarios.

Clarification is required.

 

[Dobmatt]

Do I smell a troll?

No, that'll be a really stupid troll, expecting to reach 20,000 ft altitude from sea level with any non-military class drone. Most likely OP is hoping to launch the Inspire from - say - Mount Everest base camp at altitude of 5,180 m (16,990 ft). It was done before, even with Mavics ...

 

[GFields]

No, that'll be a really stupid troll, expecting to reach 20,000 ft altitude from sea level with any non-military class drone. Most likely OP is hoping to launch the Inspire from - say - Mount Everest base camp at altitude of 5,180 m (16,990 ft). It was done before, even with Mavics ...

I said Troll because the OP has not offered any additional information.

 

[teecee]

No trolls here - relax folks... Sorry for the confusion. I am not at liberty to disclose all the details of this mission but we will be launching from a very high altitude, NOT climbing all the way up to that altitude. We probably won't be needing to climb more than the standard 400' or so but we hope to fly at or above 6100M.

 

[Eric Braun]

No trolls here - relax folks... Sorry for the confusion. I am not at liberty to disclose all the details of this mission but we will be launching from a very high altitude, NOT climbing all the way up to that altitude. We probably won't be needing to climb more than the standard 400' or so but we hope to fly at or above 6100M.

They did it with a Phantom at Everest high base camp. It was pretty successful. I’d say try it carefully at 5 or 6 feet and see how it does before attempting higher.

But the Inspire is more sophisticated about its environment. It may complain about “motor over speed”. This is what it does when you’re flying too high for the standard props and need to fit the HA ones. Will it still allow flight? Does anyone know?

 

[Dobmatt]

No trolls here - relax folks... Sorry for the confusion. I am not at liberty to disclose all the details of this mission but we will be launching from a very high altitude, NOT climbing all the way up to that altitude. We probably won't be needing to climb more than the standard 400' or so but we hope to fly at or above 6100M.

OK, finally you've find a spare minute to respond ... Busy, eh? Whatever, I'm sure that the mighty Inspire 2 will handle such abuse. Expect, however, significantly shortened flight endurance. I would wildly guess 10-12 min ... Make sure you warm batteries as much as possible, perhaps keeping them inside your parka. Have many of them, or don't forget to carry a Honda generator up there. And, oh, don't forget to share your experience here ...

 

[teecee]

OK, finally you've find a spare minute to respond ... Busy, eh?

VERY BUSY!! Sorry about that.

 

[sailor]

I've flown the Inspire 2 up to 19,800 feet with the high altitude props and it performed flawlessly. I don't believe there is a way around the limitation of flying a maximum of 500 meters above the take off altitude (if there is please let me know). Remember that in steep mountains it's possible to remain less than 400 feet AGL even while 500 meters above take off height. I've flown a lot in cold as well to -20F and as long as the batteries start warm and you have some thin insulation cover it works fine. The batteries generate quite a bit of heat as they discharge, so warmth is not a problem if you can retain the heat slightly. The props are close to the batteries, so I find a thin neoprene cover works great. Have fun, the Inspire 2 will work great. Your body might struggle with the elevation though. I suggest you ascend slowly and allow plenty of time to acclimate.

 

[Dobmatt]

I've flown the Inspire 2 up to 19,800 feet with the high altitude props and it performed flawlessly. I don't believe there is a way around the limitation of flying a maximum of 500 meters above the take off altitude (if there is please let me know). Remember that in steep mountains it's possible to remain less than 400 feet AGL even while 500 meters above take off height. I've flown a lot in cold as well to -20F and as long as the batteries start warm and you have some thin insulation cover it works fine. The batteries generate quite a bit of heat as they discharge, so warmth is not a problem if you can retain the heat slightly. The props are close to the batteries, so I find a thin neoprene cover works great. Have fun, the Inspire 2 will work great. Your body might struggle with the elevation though. I suggest you ascend slowly and allow plenty of time to acclimate.

I believe battery insulator stickers were included in the box, try to find them ...

 

[teecee]

I've flown the Inspire 2 up to 19,800 feet with the high altitude props and it performed flawlessly. I don't believe there is a way around the limitation of flying a maximum of 500 meters above the take off altitude (if there is please let me know). Remember that in steep mountains it's possible to remain less than 400 feet AGL even while 500 meters above take off height. I've flown a lot in cold as well to -20F and as long as the batteries start warm and you have some thin insulation cover it works fine. The batteries generate quite a bit of heat as they discharge, so warmth is not a problem if you can retain the heat slightly. The props are close to the batteries, so I find a thin neoprene cover works great. Have fun, the Inspire 2 will work great. Your body might struggle with the elevation though. I suggest you ascend slowly and allow plenty of time to acclimate.

Finally, some real world information and experience. This gives me hope that we will have some success at altitude. Hooray! Thank you Sailor!

According THIS ARTICLE in Nat Geo Renan Ozturk got a Mavic 2 up to 23,000' but he had some sort of DJI support to override the altitude lockouts. We are currently looking into this as well.