Flying in the hills.......Altitude question

[tgirkin]

Much of my flying is done at or near sea level, in terrain that is pancake flat, with very little variance in ground level altitude.

I will, however be doing some flying soon in the Ozark mountains in NW Arkansas. This will include some Ground Station missions as well as some LOS and FPV flying.

My question is: What are some good tips for flying in terrain that varies in altitude by as much as 400-500 feet during a given flight?? (I.E. flying from one mountaintop into a valley below, and returning, or flying from a valley up to the top of a mountain 3-500 feet above, and returning). Any advice for flying in the hills and mountains would be appreciated!!

 

[Spiritskeeper]

I fly in Tennessee where the ground level variation changes constantly. Unless you know the area well FPV only flying should be discouraged. Ground station that is not LOS should be set to a high enough altitude to clear the tallest obstruction. I would advise LOS at all times when flying in an area with rapid clearance variations.

 

[dirkclod]

Be sure you have your RTH set high and practice flying in ATTI as ya might drop below 6 Sats and need to !

 

[Suwaneeguy]

The ozark "mountains" are anything but real mountains like the rockies.
Go to the smokies and you'll get an idea of what to expect.
I've been in the area enough to know these so called mountains are nothing more than big hills.
So none are gonna have like thousand foot sheer cliff edges.
Like the smokies, where it isn't built up, the trees are like super dense so you won't find a clearing for miles.
If you don't have ground station or at least a tracker, don't fly over the forest areas.