Port of San Francisco - Flying the Stockpiles

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San Francisco, California, USA
I am a licensed remote pilot, here I am flying the SF stockpiles using the DJI GSP app then processing with Web ODM on my computer to calculate the volume of the stockpiles for my company. These pictures illustrate why drones and construction go together so well. I can remotely and safely take construction photos, and wide angle overviews to get it all in the frame. It was a beautiful day in SF, but at about 2 pm the wind off the Pacific starts blowing about 15-20 mph. After these shots, my P4Pv2 would not lift again off because the wind kept knocking it over and the motors would cut off. I quit after the second try! The 2nd to last pic with SF in the background, is an HDR photo from 5 auto exposure bracketed pics while in tripod mode, processed through Corel Paint Shop Pro 2020. The last Pic is the composite orthophoto from about 300 pics using Web ODM processing without ground control points. This is a small pdf file to limit the file size.
 

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Looks like the kid in you never left the sandbox. ?
Well done. Certainly less $ than a helo.
 
After these shots, my P4Pv2 would not lift again off because the wind kept knocking it over and the motors would cut off. I quit after the second try!
I've had that happen too. The REV REV of the motor start up will tip the craft over and ruin props. There are two solutions I know of if you have to fly in wind occasionally. I prefer no wind of course, but sometimes you just have to fly, and the weather doesn't cooperate. I fly in 20mph winds using my P4P without concern, and have even landed (hand catch) after a 15min flight in 35mph winds, which was really spooky. The wind increased from 15 to 35mph in 10min, which really challenged my hand catch skills. That kind of wind change increase has only happened once to me, fortunately.

Here's two options to consider:

1. Launch the craft from behind a wall to block the wind. This will get you in the air using a fast ascent take-off. I've even used my car tire as a wind block when I couldn't find a building or wall to block the wind. Hand catching is the only method to land in wind without fear to tipping, ruining props. I don't recommend flying in wind if you're not comfortable hand catching the craft.

2. Consider using Drone-Hacks.com to adjust flight parameters. I believe the hack for eliminating the REV REV (auto pre-load) upon motor start is available in this product. This can mitigate wind tipping during take-off. You can also adjust the motor idle speed on ground down to 50% or lower, which makes the craft virtually silent when powering up the motors, until takeoff. These hacks are easier with P4P V1 with 1.3.509 firmware, but I think the drone-hacks.com product will allow these two parameter mods also.

Identifying the proper parameter description is a chore. These below are my changes, but this is only allowed with 1.3.509 firmware. Some of these are available with the Drone-Hacks product.

1593181394040.png
 
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3rd option- have a second person Hand Hold the drone overhead by holding the bottom of both landing gear.
Startup, let it do the REV-REV thing and give it power. As it starts to pull up your helper releases the landing gear and you give it more power to counteract the wind. It works.
 

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