Wind turbines

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Going to do a test inspection on some wind towers. These are the big tall towers you see on hillsides in windy areas. My concern is this:
Will the top of the towers affect gps signal?
Will the thrust affect or pull in the phantom?
I guess I'll find out. But be sure I will approach with extreme caution!
Appreciate any feedback.
 
Furb said:
Going to do a test inspection on some wind towers. These are the big tall towers you see on hillsides in windy areas. My concern is this:
Will the top of the towers affect gps signal?
Will the thrust affect or pull in the phantom?
I guess I'll find out. But be sure I will approach with extreme caution!
Appreciate any feedback.

I wouldn't recommend landing on the tower but they should not affect your GPS unless you are in very close proximity. Wind turbines aren't producing any thrust. They are simply reacting to the wind, like a sail. At very close proximity, there is likely some turbulence so I'd approach slowly and use caution.
 
Furb said:
Going to do a test inspection on some wind towers. These are the big tall towers you see on hillsides in windy areas. My concern is this:
Will the top of the towers affect gps signal?
Will the thrust affect or pull in the phantom?
I guess I'll find out. But be sure I will approach with extreme caution!
Appreciate any feedback.

Just one observation - there is no "thrust" from these. It's not a fan - the wind is driving the turbine, so the flow velocity through the turbine is decreased relative to the free air around it. Anyway - if you time it just right you should be able to fly right through it.
 
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I was gonna ask a similar question to this one - I also want to fly near these things. My question was going to be about the fact these are great big electricity generators, would that affect the compass? Also there is a derelict factory nearby with two huge iron (I think) chimneys - would it be safe to fly near these? Again, I'm wondering about magnetic interference.

Thanks!
 
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I have been flying at about 20 meters away and had no problem at all. (pls check my video at 1.52), I'have seen one very very close and it seemed to be ok. So I think you can be confident to go close to it (However, make sure sure where you are flying, your phantom could be smashed down like a mosquito!)
 
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cloud-528_zps22c37a44.jpg
 
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*** Warning ***

YES, flying near wind towers will affect your GPS. I shoot wind farm construction jobs as a freelance photographer. The manager of a local wind farm agreed to let me practice shooting a Point of Interest (POI) video around one of his towers before going out on a job for the first time with my Phantom. He was interested in what I was doing so he agreed to act as my visual observer. (or he wanted to ensure I didn't do anything stupid). I wanted to do everything "by the book." Flying above the tower to set the POI would have put me over 400' AGL. Using DJI GO, I decided to set the POI center point while flying close to the tower. From about 10' away my P3P suddenly flew toward the tower. I snapped it back into position and it again tried to return to the tower. I then attempted to set the POI from further out but the P3P acted with the same heart pounding results. I called DJI once I got home. They said flying near steel structures such as these can "cause a crash." They did not provide the reason but I recall reading somewhere on the forum that reflected GPS signals cause quads to think they are in the wrong position.

I will be able to fly high enough to set my POI under 107 but there may be other options. The new towers will not show up in Litchi's maps. Does anyone know if I can enter GPS coordinates?
 
Caution, this turbines are probably considered part of the critical power generating infrastructure that we are prohibited from flying around
 
I hire out crop dusters for work. They will not spray fields in the wind turbine fields because of turbulence they claim is caused by the blades. Just an FYI
Yes that's a REAL issue for aircraft and I expect drones as well. There is disturbed airflow just in front and as much as a km downwind of a turbine. . . and the tip vorticies can easily give you a good spin if not flip it unexpectedly. I took some turbine footage a few months ago (a 360 around one) but at well back(maybe 200ft or more). I have to say I did not see or feel anything with the P4 stability directly behind the blade tips but it was fairly light wind. Back to the thread subject though. I think there is a huge business in inspecting turbine blades and housings since since drones can get great hi-res video for them at a fraction of the cost. The big wind guys will soon figure that out and have their own drone division before long.
 
Many already have their own "Custom" sUAS rigs for this very purpose. High Resolution cameras with custom lenses etc so they can get different "views". Also many times it's much better to fly something like this in MANUAL mode so you're not relying on GPS etc.
 
Drone Air quality and odour monitoring” free Webinar to be held in November 16th (Webinar | Scentroid) .


Free Online Webinar, Wednesday November 16th, 2016,10:00 AM , (-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada), In this webinar we explain the use of drone, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for air quality monitoring, chemical monitoring and Meteorological Measurements and air and odour sampling.
 
Drone Air quality and odour monitoring” free Webinar to be held in November 16th (Webinar | Scentroid) .


Free Online Webinar, Wednesday November 16th, 2016,10:00 AM , (-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada), In this webinar we explain the use of drone, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for air quality monitoring, chemical monitoring and Meteorological Measurements and air and odour sampling.

So 2AM for me. Cool. Is there a webex link or something?
 
FlyerFocus the link is in the OP's post but also in your quote of it. (It's in RED in your quotation).
 
Yes that's a REAL issue for aircraft and I expect drones as well. There is disturbed airflow just in front and as much as a km downwind of a turbine. . . and the tip vorticies can easily give you a good spin if not flip it unexpectedly. I took some turbine footage a few months ago (a 360 around one) but at well back(maybe 200ft or more). I have to say I did not see or feel anything with the P4 stability directly behind the blade tips but it was fairly light wind. Back to the thread subject though. I think there is a huge business in inspecting turbine blades and housings since since drones can get great hi-res video for them at a fraction of the cost. The big wind guys will soon figure that out and have their own drone division before long.
I would assume that the turbulence falls, like it does from wings of large aircraft? I was taught to fly my approach slightly higher than the aircraft in front of me if I were following a larger aircraft. If so, then you should be fine if you fly the drone a little higher than the wind turbine.
 
I would assume that the turbulence falls, like it does from wings of large aircraft? I was taught to fly my approach slightly higher than the aircraft in front of me if I were following a larger aircraft. If so, then you should be fine if you fly the drone a little higher than the wind turbine.

Sure . . . anywhere above the turbine is smoother air . . but with wind farms that's over 350ft AGL so not legal in Canada at least . . TCCA says 300ft AGL (90m) limit. Here's an interesting photo that says a lot.
cloud-528.jpg
 

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