Free topographic maps?

[chessman]

Went out for another test mission using Litchi. Getting more confident now.
Set up a 16 way pointer with test poi's etc.
Could see that the direction I was sending her was slightly uphill and involved crossing trees so set altitude to 50m and set it off.
Watching the fpv I could see quite quickly that the 50m, where this would be fine in level ground flight was not going to be enough to clear the trees on the gradually elevated ground route.
I switched to gps mode, raised her to 100m and had a manual play.
I can see that this is an easy way to crash your bird with a mission if you don't keep an eye on things.

Do you know of any (online) topographical maps with printed ground levels to assist in planning flight altitudes in future?
It is difficult looking a mile into the distance to tell if the ground in the distance is 10m or 40m higher than the ground I launch from.
At least a topographical map would give me an idea. Today surprised me as to how far my guesstimation was out.

Thanks

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Try Geocaching maps or you could grab a Garmin device that has them.

Here is one that may help in the USA & Canada- Custom Topographic Maps and Aerial Maps for the USA & Canada

UK maps -

• UK Elevation and Elevation Maps of Cities, Topographic Map Contour
• OS MasterMap Topography Layer | Business and government | Ordnance Survey
  
• Free online topographic maps for hiking

 

[chessman]

Try Geocaching maps or you could grab a Garmin device that has them.

Here is one that may help in the USA & Canada- Custom Topographic Maps and Aerial Maps for the USA & Canada

UK maps - UK Elevation and Elevation Maps of Cities, Topographic Map Contour

I'm in the UK
I see some maps which say topographical view but wavy lines mean nothing to me without the numbers. I'm no geographical expert as you may have figured.

 

[NorthcountySD]

I find this one helpful too. Not topographic but is good to know the real altitude

Altitude.nu - Find the elevation of any place

 

[WetDog]

You can also make a path in Google Earth and get the altitude along that path.

And, just in case anyone forgets - trees, buildings and other annoyances don't show up on such maps. Plan on it...

 

[AMC724]

I wish litchi would allow you to change elevation on the fly - pun intended


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[chessman]

I wish litchi would allow you to change elevation on the fly - pun intended


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

Agreed

I did try but when I realised I couldn't override I aborted.

Thanks all for your suggestions

 

[Meta4]

Do you know of any (online) topographical maps with printed ground levels to assist in planning flight altitudes in future?
It is difficult looking a mile into the distance to tell if the ground in the distance is 10m or 40m higher than the ground I launch from.
At least a topographical map would give me an idea.

Google Earth has elevation data and even allows you to draw a profile of the terrain along a path.

 

[Air Ontario]

I use Google Earth for homepoint and flight path elevation then I add height above that for tree type, then add another 50-75 ft. above that.

The lakeshore is 825' elev, the roadway coming to the lake is 950' elev and mixed treed/cropland. I have to add quite a lot to clear the ground rise and the trees, 125 ft just in ground level to ground level not accounting for tree height.

 

[Gary M]

Try Trimble Outdoors. It has very clear topo maps that you can use online for free and you can of course pay for premium and order maps to be printed and sent to you as well. I have used it extensively for several years planning hiking and hunting routes. But I have also used it quite extensively lately aiding in altitude settings for Litchi Missions as well. Priceless in my opinion.

 

[fly for free]

Please help a newby: If the ground elevation where I am at is 100 ft. and I set fail safe at 150 ft, will my RTH altitude be 50' or 150' ?


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[chessman]

Please help a newby: If the ground elevation where I am at is 100 ft. and I set fail safe at 150 ft, will my RTH altitude be 50' or 150' ?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

150'

 

[Gary M]

Please help a newby: If the ground elevation where I am at is 100 ft. and I set fail safe at 150 ft, will my RTH altitude be 50' or 150' ?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

The Phantom's altitude is measured from its take off point. So yes, your RTH height would be 150'. But keep in mind the terrain you're flying over. If you're flying at 150' toward a hill that has climbed 150', your altitude is now,,,, crashed. Always check Topo's when flying a new place so you know your needed altitude settings.

 

[fly for free]

The Phantom's altitude is measured from its take off point. So yes, your RTH height would be 150'. But keep in mind the terrain you're flying over. If you're flying at 150' toward a hill that has climbed 150', your altitude is now,,,, crashed. Always check Topo's when flying a new place so you know your needed altitude settings.

Thanks, makes sense. I have a lot of 100' tall trees here but flat terrain. So all of my flying is over 100' for safety.

 

[Gary M]

Thanks, makes sense. I have a lot of 100' tall trees here but flat terrain. So all of my flying is over 100' for safety.

I made the mistake a week ago thinking trees where I live are 100' max. I flew at 115' thinking I was OK. Wrong, almost hit a tree. Keeping minimum altitude at 150' here now, lol!

 

[happydays]

If you're setting up the mission on the mission hub as opposed to the phone or tablet, there is an indication of the altitude just below where you set the height. I think that it is taken from Google Earth (I stand to be corrected).