Flying off a cliff advice

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Hi guys!
I'm from Ireland and want to take my new P3P to the cliffs of moher (700ft cliffs dropping into the sea instantly). Will I be able to fly in down below the cliff edge, say 100m below take off point?

Cheers!
 
Yes, just be careful with signal as it'll drop if you got out of line of sight. Also, set the RTH altitude higher than the cliff.
 
Get a little height and don't fiddle around in the air near the edge, updrafts can be problematic. Sounds like a fantastic place to fly.
 
The a/c antennas are least effective whe the a/c is near or directly overhead. This will also be true when the a/c is below you and may be exacerbated by the 'shadowing' of the shell as well so you may experience reduced range as compared to your past experience.
 
Yes, just be careful with signal as it'll drop if you got out of line of sight. Also, set the RTH altitude higher than the cliff.

Sound advice, for the avoidance of doubt height and altitude are quite different. As OP will be flying down, height of AC displayed will go negative from take off point. (Altitude is a measure above sea level and irrelevant to this flight safety and AC control). Therefore nominal RTH value will suffice (not cliff height at all) as if invoked AC will be rising to its take off height of zero. Happy to be corrected but pretty sure this is correct.


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Ok.... Altitude of the Phantom has no reference to Sea level. To do this a compensation would need to be applied to the system based on the local atmospheric conditions. It is barometric-ly derived relative to the take-off site using standard differential models.
 
Out of interest, I was also recently reminded that (at least here in Australia) one cannot legally fly a Phantom recreationally above 120m in controlled airspace - key point is that the 120m is height below aircraft, so flying off a cliff higher than 400ft / 120m AGL is illegal. Useful to understand I thought. I am not passing comment on where folk can or should fly at all.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots
 
Out of interest, I was also recently reminded that (at least here in Australia) one cannot legally fly a Phantom recreationally above 120m in controlled airspace - key point is that the 120m is height below aircraft, so flying off a cliff higher than 400ft / 120m AGL is illegal. Useful to understand I thought. I am not passing comment on where folk can or should fly at all.
Aircraft also have to maintain horizontal separation from landscape features.
You won't find Cessnas zipping along a cliff face.
Flying down over a cliff edge won't place your Phantom at risk of collision with other aircraft.
 
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Hi Meta4 so am I correct that in OP flight example, setting a nominal (say 20-30m) RTH is all that would be required if one were to fly down a cliff? That's what I would do and asking if my logic stacks up or not, thanks.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots
 
The a/c antennas are least effective whe the a/c is near or directly overhead. This will also be true when the a/c is below you and may be exacerbated by the 'shadowing' of the shell as well so you may experience reduced range as compared to your past experience.
This won't be an issue, if you can see the AC (flying below cliff level) it will be far enough displaced horizontally to have good signal. I live on the edge of a cliff so have had plenty of opportunity to test. i have lost signal only a few hundred feet almost directly above though.
 
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Cool. Without specifics was giving op a heads up. Hopefully his experience will be like yours.
 
Aircraft also have to maintain horizontal separation from landscape features.
You won't find Cessnas zipping along a cliff face.
Flying down over a cliff edge won't place your Phantom at risk of collision with other aircraft.


Meta4. you have never flown with me then....LOL....:)
 
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Hi Meta4 so am I correct that in OP flight example, setting a nominal (say 20-30m) RTH is all that would be required if one were to fly down a cliff? That's what I would do and asking if my logic stacks up or not, thanks.
Yes .. if you left RTH height at the default 30 metres and launched near the top of the cliff and activated RTH anywhere down the cliff, the Phantom would rise to 30 metres above launch point altitude and then come home.
 
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I have done it and it does show negative altitude just be carful because when your looking down at it it is really hard to tell how close it is to the water. Once I watched my video I was only a foot above the water but while I was flying it I thought I was much higher


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Good advice.
Did something similar years ago with a plank when flying from the top of a sand pile.
Yea, a sand pile.
No cliffs in Florida!
 
Yes the height (not altitude) will show negative, as your height at take off is zero (even though you could be at 5000 ft altitude).


Sent from Melbourne from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 

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