I was flying my P3 at the beach, a few hundred feet AGL when I was passed by a coast gaurd helicopter flying slightly below me and coming from behind. I did not see him until he had passed my quad. I don't know if he saw me. Made me nervous and highlights the need to maintain awareness of not only your quad but all traffic in areas such as these with lots of low altitude traffic.
Too close for comfort
- Thread starter max
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Is anyone aware of research into placing a high visibility strobe, powered by a separate battery, that could be replaced before every flight? I am aware of the weight issues, just a question.
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- Joined
- Jul 13, 2015
- Messages
- 108
- Reaction score
- 32
- Age
- 37
i have one of these attached to my phantom
http://www.amazon.com/DS-30-1-Cente...8&qid=1437512832&sr=8-1&keywords=drone+strobe
I have it screwed into the bottom of the gimbal guard and wired to an aux 12v output i have coming out of the body. The battery drain is negligible and it is really bright and strobes slightly quicker than once per second. Helps with finding it if you lose line of sight momentarily.
In general, whenever i'm outside i play spot the aircraft. As soon as i hear an engine, i try to pinpoint where the aircraft is and have gotten pretty good with some practice. I can now spot most within 15 seconds. I too fly in areas that on occasion have low flybys from helicopters. I wish there was a better way to coexist but nothing much better yet.
Yeah I know around MIA and FLL pilots flying VFR along the beaches are required to stay below 500 feet (Iif I remember correctly).
It pays to learn local VFR/IFR procedures, there's a reason why FAA requires some kind of an airman certificate for commercial operation of drones., and let's not set a precedence for them to require non-commercial drone owners to get one as well.
If I were you, I would probably pull down that video...
I ordered this last week, I have not received it yet. Search this forum for flytron to see more.
http://www.flytron.com/led-systems/217-strobon-navigation-pack.html
http://www.flytron.com/led-systems/217-strobon-navigation-pack.html
Had i found the flytron strobe, i probably would have bought that- i couldn't find many that seemed any good. I bought a few other lights that didn't really achieve what i wanted. The one i got was pricey, although i don't remember spending that much on it. I got a gift card for my birthday and decided to get it. the thing is crazy bright. it's the same strobe that company uses to put in a survival beacon for use at sea that they claim is visible for 8+ miles. i keep forgetting to snap some picture of the setup- will do so later today.
Strobes help, but I can see the day when a small transponder will be standard equipment. Something like the Sagetech XP.
http://tinyurl.com/p6v6jdt
http://tinyurl.com/p6v6jdt
awesome piece of miniaturization. No doubt it is in our future; that is "legal and professional" UAV pilot's future.
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