Flying in fog: No need to panic

[Hendricks]

Hi Everybody....

I've been flying DJI Phantoms for about 5 years......and, when it comes to everything(including flying drones), you either have the experience or you don't. That said, there are always new things to learn.
A recent flight has now added to my collection of experience and I'd like to share it with you.

This past Monday afternoon, I flew my P4P from a point of land straight out over water to an island out in the middle of a large river.
The flight over water was close to 2,000 feet before I reached the island.
Once there, I climbed to 375 feet and began shooting video of the island......before then switching to taking still shots.

It was about 6 Celcius , calm wind but there were a few fog banks near the island.

I was busy concentrating on getting the photographs I wanted that I didn't notice the fog had repositioned itself and was now directly between where I was and the clear area around the island.
I finished my photography and turned my P4P for the return flight and pretty much within a minute I was smack in the middle of a fog bank........the fog was dry, so there was no harm going to be done to my drone.

But, I couldn't see anything.....the display on my iPhone 8 was foggy white.

If anybody out there ever runs into this situation, I will pass along what I did.

First, I tried climbing 100 feet to see if that made any difference........it didn't.
Then, I descended 150 feet to check out visibility there. Same.

I could have simply hit ' Return to Home', but I wanted to see if I could manually fly back without using the RTH function. I wanted to 'think myself out of the problem'.

I knew my compass heading.....I also knew my altitude and distance from my HomePoint.......I also knew how much battery life I had ( 55% ), so no panic there.

I also knew there were no obstacles in my way between the island and my position on land.

I climbed to 300 feet(which is my RTH preset altitude just in case I used it) and I manually flew back through the fog...........keeping an eye on my compass and watching the Distance Travelled number decrease.
With about 400 feet to go, I did switch to the RTH function because I wanted my Phantom to be overhead my position as it came down through the fog.

Everything went according to plan and my Phantom came down through the fog and landed exactly where it was supposed to.

I share this experience with you because no matter how long you've been flying, there will be those occasions where you are faced with something new.....and challenging.
This , then, contributes to your file of experience.

THE most important thing is to NEVER panic. Size up the situation you are in.....and think about all the bits of information you DO know......and hopefully it will be enough to guide you safely home.

Safe flying!

 

[Dragonfly Joe]

Thanks for sharing Hendricks. An important lesson and as we all know it is very easy to panic when you get into those stressful situations and are worried about losing your expensive investment.

 

[BigAl07]

Fog is never "dry" as it's water vapor or ice crystals. So stating "the fog was dry, so there was no harm going to be done to my drone " is extremely wrong. Here's a definition of fog:

Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of minute water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface.[1] Although it has no Latin name, fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud, usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.

 

[Philsmith76]

Great story. But let’s all check the weather before we fly and remember...

flying 107
-Minimum weather visibility of 3 miles from control station and must remain 500 feet from clouds (no ceiling requirement)

Or under a “community-based organization” rules I’m pretty sure none allow cloud flying.

....fog is a type of cloud.

To have a cloud between you and your aircraft your see and avoid of a manned aircraft is impossible.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Hendricks.....Bet that sound was "sweet" when you heard them four fast spinning blades whirling thru the air and then seeing it safely land where it was supposed too...a good story and we all have learned from it and "not to panic" i in bad situations scary situations !...The threads below your first one was very informative too...we all learned some more !

 

[Fly Dawg]

.the fog was dry, so there was no harm going to be done to my drone.

As was stated above "fog" is never dry. Humidity levels within the fog are much greater than the surrounding area, which is exactly what fog is. I have flown this way as well a few times. Up through attempting to get just above, but also staying within 400ft AGL. Mostly short flights when the weather was warm and very low fog banks. Each time, my aircraft was drenched with moisture after landing, requiring a long slow drying period before flight again. Not even to mention the camera lens which was completely blinded. It was an interesting story, but bear in mind the meteorological aspects of the endevour. Personally I have only accomplished this once and have visibility above, barely I might add.

 

[Hendricks]

As was stated above "fog" is never dry. Humidity levels within the fog are much greater than the surrounding area, which is exactly what fog is. I have flown this way as well a few times. Up through attempting to get just above, but also staying within 400ft AGL. Mostly short flights when the weather was warm and very low fog banks. Each time, my aircraft was drenched with moisture after landing, requiring a long slow drying period before flight again. Not even to mention the camera lens which was completely blinded. It was an interesting story, but bear in mind the meteorological aspects of the endevour. Personally I have only accomplished this once and have visibility above, barely I might add.

I mentioned the 'dry' aspect because, when my Phantom landed and powered down, I immediately checked it and it was totally dry-both the fuselage,motors as well as the camera.
No problem.

 

[Hendricks]

Fog is never "dry" as it's water vapor or ice crystals. So stating "the fog was dry, so there was no harm going to be done to my drone " is extremely wrong. Here's a definition of fog:

Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of minute water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface.[1] Although it has no Latin name, fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud, usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.

Your points are well taken. I mentioned the 'dry' aspect because when my Phantom landed and it was powered off, I immediately checked it for any moisture.
There was none. Not on the fuselage, motors or the camera.
Here, In Atlantic Canada, if there is a fog which leaves no moisture on anything like a car windshield or any surface, we refer to it as a 'dry fog' , even though technically, all fog contains moisture.

 

[Hendricks]

Thanks for sharing Hendricks. An important lesson and as we all know it is very easy to panic when you get into those stressful situations and are worried about losing your expensive investment.

Absolutely. The lesson here is to NEVER PANIC because that will likely result in a destroyed drone.
Remember.......every single flight you take adds to your knowledge bank of experience......and that experience builds up over time and will assist you when you get in those challenging situations. Safe flying.

 

[Hendricks]

Hendricks.....Bet that sound was "sweet" when you heard them four fast spinning blades whirling thru the air and then seeing it safely land where it was supposed too...a good story and we all have learned from it and "not to panic" i in bad situations scary situations !...The threads below your first one was very informative too...we all learned some more !

That sound of those 4 motors buzzing away was music to my ears......the 'Return to Home' function performed exactly as it is supposed to.

I engaged the RTH because I couldn't see the Phantom for the return trip back to me and my landing spot was on an outcrop near a few houses......the RTH brought my Phantom directly overhead and I then manually brought my drone down.

There have been a few comments on my description of the fog I experienced as 'dry'.
Technically, it's true all fog is moist;however, here in Atlantic Canada, we refer to fog that leaves no wetness or dew on any surface as a 'dry fog'.

When my P4P landed and powered off, I quickly checked it for any moisture.
There was none. Not on the fuselage, motors or the camera.

For this flight I was lucky, although when I was driving to the take off point, I noted no wetness or moisture of any kind on my windshield.

But...point well taken. All fog contains moisture.

The fog I experienced contained very little moisture and my Phantom flew flawlessly.

I see you are in Kansas..........you probably don't see much fog..... although you have other challenges, like tornados.

Safe flying!

 

[Hendricks]

Fog is never "dry" as it's water vapor or ice crystals. So stating "the fog was dry, so there was no harm going to be done to my drone " is extremely wrong. Here's a definition of fog:

Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of minute water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface.[1] Although it has no Latin name, fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud, usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.

Your points are well taken and correct. Technically, all fog contains moisture of varying degrees.
Here, in Atlantic Canada, we refer to fog as 'dry' if it leaves no dew or wetness on a surface, like a windshield.

The flight I experienced over the island involved a few small banks of fog that we describe as dry.
When I landed my Phantom and it was powered down, I immediately checked it for any moisture.
There was none......not on the fuselage, motors or the camera.
I was lucky.

However, your point regarding the technical aspects of fog is well taken.

 

[WV. Rootman]

I loved your post. Always be prepared you will have enemy fire. Lol You have a good attitude and you handled all The comebacks well.

 

[Hendricks]

I loved your post. Always be prepared you will have enemy fire. Lol You have a good attitude and you handled all The comebacks well.

Thanks

 

[DKG13CC]

Great story. But let’s all check the weather before we fly and remember...

flying 107
-Minimum weather visibility of 3 miles from control station and must remain 500 feet from clouds (no ceiling requirement)

Or under a “community-based organization” rules I’m pretty sure none allow cloud flying.

....fog is a type of cloud.

To have a cloud between you and your aircraft your see and avoid of a manned aircraft is impossible.

It will never cease to amaze me the amount of sarcasm and rudeness users give to a total stranger.

 

[Andy9]

Agree! I think he is very well aware of safe flying rules but the situation are sometimes unpredictable. I always say that safe flying and quality filming or taking picture is often too much for one person. Be aware of that. You must always have one eye on camera and the other on drone.
I also agree that some fogs are less moister than others. Depends on a temp. difference between the craft and surroundings and therefore how it condense on the surface.
And another thing in this story tells us that silent props are not always an advantage and there is not always bad that Phantoms are pretty loud LOL.

 

[Hendricks]

Agree! I think he is very well aware of safe flying rules but the situation are sometimes unpredictable. I always say that safe flying and quality filming or taking picture is often too much for one person. Be aware of that. You must always have one eye on camera and the other on drone.
I also agree that some fogs are less moister than others. Depends on a temp. difference between the craft and surroundings and therefore how it condense on the surface.
And another thing in this story tells us that silent props are not always an advantage and there is not always bad that Phantoms are pretty loud LOL.

Thank you for your comments.......aside from the debate about types of fog, my intent in writing and sharing the flight experience with others was to underline the fact that panic will never resolve a flight issue.
Often times, as my example showed, a drone pilot has enough information to think themselves out of a challenging situation. With my compass bearing , my altitude, and the ability of determining if I was closing the distance back to the take off point, I had enough information to get back home.
Besides, the ' Return to Home ' function could have done everything for me;however, as I pointed out, I wanted to think myself out of the situation.

I believe that most people out there got my point.
As for the others who were quite rude.......I'll just say that interpersonal skills(for some) are a challenge.

 

[Hendricks]

It will never cease to amaze me the amount of sarcasm and rudeness users give to a total stranger.

I thank you for your comment.
The debate about types of fog aside, my point in sharing my story was to underline the fact that panic will never help a drone pilot out of a challenging situation.
As I detailed in the story, I had enough information to get back home successfully.

Your point is also well taken: the challenge of inter-personal skills is often too much for some people.

 

[PeakXV]

Fog is never "dry" as it's water vapor or ice crystals. So stating "the fog was dry, so there was no harm going to be done to my drone " is extremely wrong. Here's a definition of fog:

Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of minute water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface.[1] Although it has no Latin name, fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud, usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.

Moisture is moisture. Density,, air temperature, air channeling of the propellers, vent intake volume, drone component temperature, drone component insulation, and then the conductivity / specific gravity of any particulate violating the drone shell are all apart of the "equation" that may or may not determine a tipping point to it all. Don't think anybody is coming up with a scientific formula for all this - today or tomorrow … but it is definitely worth having an enlightened, "grown-up" discussion about flying through "any" less than desirable atmospheric condition. Sea salt spray is another interesting intangible when flying over our maritime regions. It's, for the most parts, a no-see-um but a no-see-um that can travel up to 20 miles inland and corrode everything in it's vapoury path.


Let's Have a Techie Snow Talk ...

 

[Andy9]

Thank you for your comments.......aside from the debate about types of fog, my intent in writing and sharing the flight experience with others was to underline the fact that panic will never resolve a flight issue.

Yes! Panic usually does nothing good. But the stress is always a part of an action in non predictable situations. This allows us to think quicker. It is biological must. And usually no critical situation would be the same as previous and you can't be prepared to that particular situation. But experience enable us to do mostly the right things. I've been 35 years in emergency medical service so I can assure you that.
The good thing in your case is that you were over the water so no fear of obstacles (except of power lines LOL). But his must be pre-checked before the flight.
And once in a fog it is of no use to think about moister.

 

[Hendricks]

Moisture is moisture. Density,, air temperature, air channeling of the propellers, vent intake volume, drone component temperature, drone component insulation, and then the conductivity / specific gravity of any particulate violating the drone shell are all apart of the "equation" that may or may not determine a tipping point to it all. Don't think anybody is coming up with a scientific formula for all this - today or tomorrow … but it is definitely worth having an enlightened, "grown-up" discussion about flying through "any" less than desirable atmospheric condition. Sea salt spray is another interesting intangible when flying over our maritime regions. It's, for the most parts, a no-see-um but a no-see-um that can travel up to 20 miles inland and corrode everything in it's vapoury path.


Let's Have a Techie Snow Talk ...

Yes, salt spray is certainly an issue with those of us who operate Phantoms in Atlantic Canada. I do a fair bit of over water flying and I have a few simple things I always do.

1. I plan my flight and then fly my plan. Only rarely do I change things once I have taken off UNLESS weather conditions change or something interesting has changed the situation.
This could be lighting, or sunset angle......something like that.

2. Generally, I like to fly straight out to my subject area and get my Phantom to the altitude I want and position it in relation to the sun.

3. Whenever there is any wave activity sending salt spray into the air, I always like to get up to 250 or 300 feet right away to avoid getting spray on my aircraft.

4. Lastly, if I am flying over water for a distance, I will have a friend to act as a 'spotter' for me and keep an eye on my Phantom so that I can concentrate on getting the photograph I want.
Having another set of eyes on your Phantom is never a bad thing.

Safe flying!