And we have another potiental near miss incident in the making. Please fly safely and not be the guy that gives the hobby yet another black eye!
Getting to 500 meters (1,640 feet)
- Thread starter Dronesolace
- Start date
pretty sure the op meant distance not height, but since he hasn't responded to that question we won't know for sure.
Another person causing issues for the rest of us flying at an altitude that you shouldn't and people wondering why the FAA is cracking down on all of us and then you are stupid enough to ask for help on a public forum. Thanks
why do you all keep assuming the op meant altitude? he never said it or implied it as far as can tell.
you all complain people and the media assume the worst when it comes to our fellow flyers, but who's assuming the worst about one of us now?
you all complain people and the media assume the worst when it comes to our fellow flyers, but who's assuming the worst about one of us now?
Not just Hobbyists. The Comercial guys trying to make a living may be hit even harder.
Ok maybe I'm wrong and a few others on here, but his wording wasn't real clear. Sounded like he was only 400 ft away and trying to go to high altitudes. If thats the case, I apologize. But on the same note, unless you're living under a rock, you know very well there are violators out there everyday and then these people are stupid enough to post on social media, youtube etc. I was subject of it a few months ago in a MedEvac helicopter. Flying through the city, 3 miles from the airport and nearly 900 ft AGL. Could of been sucked up into a tail rotor or air intake of our aircraft. That was pretty scary when I looked out the window and saw it 50-75 ft away. Could of been a disaster. ATC also had no knowledge that the was in the airspace. You're also correct about the media. Its the idiots who do stupid things to give fuel to the media. I love this hobby as much as you, but if you do a search on youtube, you'll find multiple violators who not only do stupid stuff, but then post it.
you're correct, his wording wasn't very clear and his failure to respond to the altitude vs distance question doesn't help.
i am also very aware that some people break the rules and put people in danger as well as admit to it on the internet, but i can't imagine this person really wanted us to advise him on how to fly his drone 500 meters high. as someone else pointed out, that is 1640ft. unless he's wanting to inspect a 1240ft tall structure, it would be stupid to ask this group for advise without justifying his need for such an altitude. personally, i would still be very hesitant to fly at that altitude even if it was legit. i understand your reaction especially considering your near disaster experience. we can all be thankful that your near miss didn't result in catastrophe.
my point in posting was only meant to remind us all to get the facts before jumping to conclusions and maybe give the other guy the benefit of the doubt. remember what they say when you 'assume' something.
Oh Dear .... the do-gooders having a field day today !!
OK ... I have had my P3S and P3P at near 500m ... but first you must have the AC at a horizontal distance from you ... 100m is enough ... then make sure centre antenna (5.8) is angled so its parallel to the AC ... NOT tip pointing at it. Hold the Controller so top is facing at AC all times to get max from the 2.4 antenna inside.
Best area to do it is out in the country well away from everything and with clear space. This also means that its unlikely to have any other craft in the sky at such level apart from another RC hobbyist ! Aircraft that low are either in trouble or crop sprayers !!
Just go straight up then ... you will NOT get 500 ... both my P3S and P3P bounced around the 470 - 480m mark refusing to actually hit the magic 500m.
OK ... there is another factor that can affect altitude test ..... proximity to NFZ or Restricted Airspace. FW has embedded into it altitude restrictors that prevent you getting higher than the FW has internally programmed. Here is a video showng my P3P having its altitude reduced as it flies closer to the centre of the NFZ ... (airport management are close friends of mine and I am in contact with them)...
Here's an early test that gets to 470m ..... the video is actually when I was showing a new P3S owner some of the items he should know ... such as LEFT STICK down etc. The P3S of mine here has the Argtek antenna system which does increase its capability as you see in the distance part ...
Nigel
OK ... I have had my P3S and P3P at near 500m ... but first you must have the AC at a horizontal distance from you ... 100m is enough ... then make sure centre antenna (5.8) is angled so its parallel to the AC ... NOT tip pointing at it. Hold the Controller so top is facing at AC all times to get max from the 2.4 antenna inside.
Best area to do it is out in the country well away from everything and with clear space. This also means that its unlikely to have any other craft in the sky at such level apart from another RC hobbyist ! Aircraft that low are either in trouble or crop sprayers !!
Just go straight up then ... you will NOT get 500 ... both my P3S and P3P bounced around the 470 - 480m mark refusing to actually hit the magic 500m.
OK ... there is another factor that can affect altitude test ..... proximity to NFZ or Restricted Airspace. FW has embedded into it altitude restrictors that prevent you getting higher than the FW has internally programmed. Here is a video showng my P3P having its altitude reduced as it flies closer to the centre of the NFZ ... (airport management are close friends of mine and I am in contact with them)...
Here's an early test that gets to 470m ..... the video is actually when I was showing a new P3S owner some of the items he should know ... such as LEFT STICK down etc. The P3S of mine here has the Argtek antenna system which does increase its capability as you see in the distance part ...
Nigel
wow! airport management are close friends and you stay in contact? glad i don't live or travel in Latvia if they don't mind you flying that high. from what i can find out, the altitude limit for drones there is the same as here in the U.S.
sure the risk may be minimal where you are at, but it's still a risk. crop sprayer or in trouble aircraft don't need that drone making things difficult. are there no medvac helicopters in that country?
do-gooder? how about responsible?
it's all good. nice to see someone around this place apologize though. don't see it very often.
might wind up that your assumption about his post was correct anyway. just hated seeing so many reading this guy the riot act when we weren't sure if he was referring to distance or altitude.
think we've beat this thing to death unless the op ever responds.
I think it important for all of us to let people know the rules in case they don't know them. It is easy to tell from the responses who the ones are that don't care to follow the rules or think they don't apply to them. I try not to waste too much time responding to those guys. I think in this case I/we may have been a little trigger happy.
Personally, I can’t claim VLOS when my drone gets much more than 1500’ away. As a photographer, there are few, if any, reasons to fly that far away.
Just playing devil's advocate here, but there's definitely one big reason it's useful for a photographer to fly that far. Accessibility. If you find a good take off spot and draw a 1,500' radius around it, you're rather limited on what you can actually get good shots of. However, if you draw a 3,000' radius around that spot, you've GREATLY increased what subjects you can shoot. Of course some places it isn't hard for a drone photographer to launch close to whatever they want to shoot. And some places it is.
Once again, I'm not condoning anything here, just putting that thought out there.
In June of 2017, I flew my Phantom 4 out to 2 km and still had 4 bars of signal and a perfect, steady image on my iPhone when I decided to bring the drone back in. The flight lasted nearly 22?minutes, and I had roughly 40% battery remaining when I landed. My flight path took the drone across a lake and up to the summit of a mountain, reaching a net altitude of 500 meters above ground level, maintaining an altitude no higher than 400 feet above the side of the mountain as it ascended. The video was amazing.
I believe that the reason why I was able to fly so high and far was the location. There was nothing around me that could create interference within the bandwidths used by the flight control or video feed— and I stayed well away from power lines running up one side of the upward slope. I reached a gully on the way up, and flew along it for a minute or so before continuing on to the summit. The 500 meter height limit sang out just as I passed over, and I panned the camera around several times, capturing a stunning view of the 5 mile long, one mile wide lake in all its grandeur, the shoreline, lovely deep green foliage, an island, public beach, and beautiful cloud
formations, before descending and returning home. This is without question the most totally wonderful flight I’ve ever had with any drone.P4 (not Pro,) and I was using a pair of parabolic signal focus boosters affixed to the factory antennas, which i kept pointed at the drone throughout the entire flight.
The location was in Salisbury, Vermont.
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Yikes!!!
So imagine a guy in a cessna with his wife and two kids taking them to see their Niece's graduation drops down to get below cloud level (because he isn't instrument rated) and you take out his windshield. That would sure be fun, huh???
WOW ! .... Guy asks a question ... and it turns into a Guy in a Cessna with Wife and Two kids being killed !!
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That point doesn't matter Nigel. Aircraft can be (and are) flying that low each and every day. Aviation Safety should be paramount for each and every single one of us with no exceptions.
Here's a somewhat similar example from another realm that might put it into perspective: I used to live on a small curvy one lane road that lead up to a rock quarry. No other houses were beyond ours so the only traffic on this portion of the road was an occasional worker or a dump truck. Even though there was rarely any vehicles on that road we still didn't drive our R/C cars & trucks, go carts, bicycles, etc on that highway because the traffic would come around the turn and be upon us before we could get them out of the way.
In order for my drone to pose a hazard to your virtual Cessna, he would have to be well below 400 feet above the lake and/or the mountain during my flight. I adhere to all FAA rules while flying my drones- if the guy wants to play lawnmower man putting his initials into the treetops, first of all, he would have to be maintaining an airspeed very close to stalling, slow enough that my drone would probably detect him and alter its flight path, whether he sees it or not. I was flying in open, unrestricted airspace, low to no wind, and unlimited visibility at a 6,000 foot stable, overcast cloud cover.
My family has owned this enormous take off and landing area since 1931, 3½ acres of woods and 700 foot private waterfront. Nothing moves in or out of there without express permission.
I saw no other aircraft around while I was flying, manned or.not. If anybody piloting anything within the airspace I occupied as I made my beautiful footage, I’m sure that if anyone might be breaking the law, I am not the guilty party.
My comment relates specifically to your comment:
"Aircraft that low are either in trouble or crop sprayers !! "
Are you implying that crop sprayers and GA that are in trouble are "fair game" to being hit by a drone???
My understanding is that one of the riskiest situations for GA is when they have a pilot who is rated under VFR but not IFR, and they fly into IMC and have to get down low enough to be below clouds.
At the 500ft to 1,000ft level they are probably not looking out for drones.
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