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!
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!