Flew 4 miles with stock equipment (P4P)

[MassGuy]

Last week I posted about flying 3 miles out with my stock P4P. That one just happened while taking pictures in the area. Last night I tried to up my max flight record while flying along the coast in Rhode Island. I made it to 19,162 (3.62 miles). I stopped to take a few pictures in the area so that ate up some battery. Today I went back to the location where I did the 3 mile flight. The only reason for this flight was to see how far I could go. I was rewarded with 21,190' (4.01 miles). I went up to about 200' after I took off then stayed at that altitude for awhile. Signal got a little choppy at one point so I went up until it was strong again. I was down to 2 bars when I stopped to take a screen shot before turning back. Battery was at 58% so I didn't want to push any further. It was down to about 9% when I landed. The whole flight with 2.4G. I tried switching to 5.8 at one point but lost signal so I switched back.

I don't expect to fly any further than this in the near future. I look at it like doing top speed runs (160+) when I was into racing years ago. It was fun while I was doing it but I was glad when it was over. And coming back from 4 miles is a long trip!

 

[erickwill]

You're one of the lucky guys who get the bird that far! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[Beachcrazy]

I went out 2 miles with my P4P and was nervous as heck! Seemed to take forever to come back. Not sure if I have the nerve to push it out 4 miles. But I'm glad you made the flight and the bird came back. Safe travels!

 

[John Locke]

The P4P rocks on 5.8Ghz AUTO. I've been out 4mi with a windsurfer, but you need LOS connection. I've seen GadgetGuy go out 4+ miles over suburban San Diego. He's the master at urban flight.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

If you want to go far, you have to have a good horizon, or start above, but then you have a climb to return.
Another thought, a 3 mile via legal strobe on the top (they are about the size of a dime and self powered) would do 2 things.
1, if you can see the strobe, I am pretty darn sure that covers LOS, you can't see an RC fixed wing that well either, plus you can see these in daytime.
2 Because you can see the blink, it makes you feel good too.

 

[MassGuy]

I'm going to try taking off with the controller set at 5.8Ghz AUTO. I tried switching over to that mid-flight but I lost signal. I was kind of surprised by that.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

I'm going to try taking off with the controller set at 5.8Ghz AUTO. I tried switching over to that mid-flight but I lost signal. I was kind of surprised by that.

I fly like that most of the time 5.8 auto, haven't gone much over 1/2 mile away. Still learning mine.