Flying in fog: No need to panic

[MTO]

I'm surprised that anyone can see a Phantom at 2000 feet out. I can rarely see mine past 1600 feet out. At 1800 feet it is less than a speck in the sky. I figure my Line of Sight range is 1600 feet max in a typical flight. Anything further than that is going to require a VO posted up a few hundred feet downrange with a radio.

If you don’t know what you’re talking about then please don’t try to profess the law to people, you gonna get someone in trouble.

 

[Melvoid]

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!

There's also that little arrow on the lower left of my (P3A) screen. Just point that toward yourself and hammer it. I've done that more than once. I try to keep the drone in sight, but I've lost track a couple time and the arrow got it back safely.

 

[skymonkey]

If you don’t know what you’re talking about then please don’t try to profess the law to people, you gonna get someone in trouble.

I’m sure Cellblock776 interpreted like it is written, just as I did. BigA107 shined the light, and it was confirmed by AC 107 2 (5.7). We’re all here to learn and help each other. All contributions are welcomed and the final say is with the FAA.

 

[O6-Hammerhead]

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

I think the OP has a great point. Conditions can change during a flight. Thinking your way out of an unforeseen challenge rather than immediately defaulting to automatic systems is, in my opinion, the safest response. Sharing experiences like this gives the rest of us an opportunity to perform thought experiments to determine what we might do if faced with a similar scenario.

WELL DONE!

 

[BigAl07]

Really? After reading such a great story, all you could think of to contribute is “Fog is never dry”. It never ceases to amaze me how someone always finds something negative to say about even the most innocent story. No law was broken here. No one was hurt. It’s a shame that no matter what the posting is, someone will immediately nit-pick about the least significant point of the story. But you are correct: fog is never dry. But it think you missed the point.

Dennis,
I didn't miss the point my friend.... not at all. If I wanted to Nit-Pick I would point out that See & Avoid (which is our most basic rule to follow with sUAS) can not be maintained if the aircraft is flying "Blind" in the fog or if fog is between the operator and sUAS. Currently (and this is likely to change when the new rules are finalized, hopefully sooner than later) hobbyists don't have the Cloud Clearance laws to maintain but any flying IN fog is a direct violation of VLOS and completely handicaps any See & Avoid methods.

My point was to add that Fog should not be considered DRY as those floating vapor particles are indeed moisture and depending on other atmospheric conditions could be very easily be "attracted" to the internal electronic components of our aircraft. Moisture + Electronics often = sUAS falling from the sky. I'm not speaking hypothetically but from first hand experience.

Most of us are here to teach, help, and/or learn and if someone else coming along reads this and has a "Oh Wow" moment and decides to not fly in fog then the forum can count that as a WIN! If we tip toed around sugar coating everything and saying, "No worry it's ok... nothing bad happened this time so no worry going forward it's all sunshine & rainbows for everyone." That's not how it works in the real world.

The OP handled it well and no incident took place so that's GREAT! Why not also make it a TEACHING moment going forward?

 

[Hendricks]

"No law was broken here " Maybe. OP never said if he was in the US or not.

Nope, not flying in the US................

 

[Hendricks]

I think the OP has a great point. Conditions can change during a flight. Thinking your way out of an unforeseen challenge rather than immediately defaulting to automatic systems is, in my opinion, the safest response. Sharing experiences like this gives the rest of us an opportunity to perform thought experiments to determine what we might do if faced with a similar scenario.

WELL DONE!

Thank you for your post.
The facts of my flight have remained the same:
Visibility was quite good on take off.......I did note a light fog bank out near the middle of the river where the island was located. This fog(at the time was nowhere near the island).
It took me about 2 minutes to fly over water to this small island(it encompasses about 10 acres).
As I was positioning my P4P to get the shot I wanted, I noticed the fog bank had moved quite close to the island.......I knew the fog would add to the sinister look of the photograph, so I continued hovering for about another minute, taking a few more photographs.

It was as I turned for home that I realized the fog had moved toward land faster than I thought it might.

As I detailed before, I had enough information to get me home without having to use the RTH function.

The only story here is that I took a flight out over water to get a few photographs........the weather situation changed and I was caught in a fog bank(briefly).
Sure didn't and wouldn't have taken the flight had the fog bank been closer than it was originally.
Responsible pilots will sometimes experience changing conditions(weather).
It is how you deal with these challenges that determines how good you are.

The debate about my description of the fog as 'dry' has been dealt with.

Here, in Atlantic Canada, we experience various types of fog.....ranging from the wet, mist type of fog.......all the way to fog that seems to be the same as that created by dry ice.
It's fog but leaves no wetness on any surface: leaves, windows, metal, wood........nothing.........not anywhere.

As I mentioned earlier, when I landed and powered off, I immediately checked my Phantom to see if any moisture was present on the fuselage or camera.
There was not.

I think everyone should enjoy the story for what it is...............but, thanks indeed for your comments.

 

[bhartwell]

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!

Out of curiosity, were you not able to use the Go App map display and compass. Your home point should have been recorded, and the map display in hybrid mode gives a decent view of the area. So long as you have some level of certainty as to the height objects between you and your drone, you shouldn’t have to difficult a time just heading straight back to the home point on your display. I have had to do this once or twice after losing sight of the drone for various reasons.