Took my P3 up to the golf course over the weekend (I'm a member). It's winter and snow isn't conducive to golfing so the course was empty. I wasn't real adventerous on my first flight. I didn't have a lot of confidence and I was pressed for time. This being my 2nd time out, I decided to push it a little further. Let's see what 400 ft up looks like. Woah! OK, let's fly around the course. Wow, this thing handles great even with the little breeze up there. But I brought it back closer to where I could see. Played a little with the POI mode (forgot to record that!). Checked my battery and it's about 37%. I think I've got enough time to fly down one of the holes. Get to the the boundary of the course straight in front of me. Checked my battery and I'm at 35%. Better start heading back. I was about 1500 ft away at this point. Ilooked back up. CRAP! Where did it go? I can't see it anymore. Checked the screen and I'm still in the air. Bearings are a little hard since the course is covered in snow.
And then.... "Low battery warning". AHHH! I'm thinking I must have read the display wrong and I'm down to 20% battery left without an aircraft in sight. Panic started to set in as all I could see was the red banner flashing. This is not good! OK, calm down. I pointed the camera straight out and panned until I saw the clubhouse. There it is! Hightail it back. Still couldn't see it in the grey, gloomy clouds and the white snow covered landscape.
I finally got to where I could hear it, but couldn't see it. I trusted my display on the phone until it finally appeared. I never once looked at the battery level after hearing the warning. When I finally landed, I checked and I was at 20%. OK, maybe not as close as I thought but it was enough to get my attention. Turns out my low battery alarm is set at 35%.
Then I started thinking that I lost sight of this thing at 1500 ft. How in the world could anyone go 3 miles? Do you just trust your FPV display? In theory, I could have been 10x as far as I was. Could you even do that on a battery? I know the math isn't equivalent, but I went through 15% to go 0.3 miles. Granted it was cold and I'm not the most experienced pilot. But a 6 mile round trip doesn't seem feasible, especially when you can't see it.
And then.... "Low battery warning". AHHH! I'm thinking I must have read the display wrong and I'm down to 20% battery left without an aircraft in sight. Panic started to set in as all I could see was the red banner flashing. This is not good! OK, calm down. I pointed the camera straight out and panned until I saw the clubhouse. There it is! Hightail it back. Still couldn't see it in the grey, gloomy clouds and the white snow covered landscape.
I finally got to where I could hear it, but couldn't see it. I trusted my display on the phone until it finally appeared. I never once looked at the battery level after hearing the warning. When I finally landed, I checked and I was at 20%. OK, maybe not as close as I thought but it was enough to get my attention. Turns out my low battery alarm is set at 35%.
Then I started thinking that I lost sight of this thing at 1500 ft. How in the world could anyone go 3 miles? Do you just trust your FPV display? In theory, I could have been 10x as far as I was. Could you even do that on a battery? I know the math isn't equivalent, but I went through 15% to go 0.3 miles. Granted it was cold and I'm not the most experienced pilot. But a 6 mile round trip doesn't seem feasible, especially when you can't see it.