Would 'you' risk it ?

[h-gvtrucker]

Hi All... I found a great valley in North Wales (U.K.) that had a hidden water fall at the bottom of the valley.It was a very deep valley and had very steep sides to it,with a lot of trees on one side and a rocky side on the other.MY first thought was to try to gain access to the bottom of the valley with my drone in a new 'backpack'. This decent proved to be VERY dodgy to say the least. but after some time and effort I finally reached to bottom.Now the only place I could find to settle was a small grassy outcrop right by the second of at least 3 of the water falls I knew of.
I unpacked the drone and fired up the I Pad 4 then the drone.NOW the first thing I found out was that because I could NOT received an mobile signal (02) then the 'map' in the corner of the screen was just 'grey' although it would show a 'home' position.WOULD it have been 'safe' to fly the drone without the full map showing the exact area ??? I thought not and decided to abort the attempt to fly...I was hoping to have been able to fly the drone in clear line of sight up from the start of the river then up stream and video all the water fall's although this would have meant that in some places I would not has clear sight of the drone and I would have had to use the video feed from the I pad alone (something that I am not used to doing 'yet').
Anyway after packing the drone away (or so I thought !) I spent a long time clambering back up the side of the hill back to the car and just before I reached the car I passed my backpack over a wire fence only to see one of the 3 'NEW' Battery's (1 was still in the drone) fall out and to my horror when I looked into the top pouch ( THE very same one I had forgot to ZIP UP ) that the other 'NEW' (had not even flown with it) was missing . SO I put the backpack into the car and then had the re-trace my step's back down the hill I went down and up and hoped to be able to find the missing battery.I got ALL the way down to the bottom to that grassy outcrop were I spotted the missing battery about a foot away from the edge,If it had fallen over that I would have never found it and could well have gone into the water to meet it's watery grave....SO I hope this heeds a warning to other's in making sure your bag is completely zipped up...That only left the long climb back up that hill...I know that at 57 I am not as fit as I used to be (too many ***'s don't help either)...
Sorry this story may be a little long !! But after looking at a way of getting this sort of 'shot' the only other way I thought of doing it was to fly from the top of the valley and down into it from above then turning the drone around and following the river back up-stream and getting a shot of those illusive water falls...BUT this would all have to be done by using the video feed on the i-pad screen only as I would have NO view of the drone itself...WOULD you take that risk ??? As I am still VERY new to all this I feel that I need more practice and flying 'blind' other than what I could see on the screen before I could feel confident to tackle such a challenge like this..What do you think ? The other issue I had to bear in mind is that 'if' something was to go wrong could I have found a safe place to land and then how would I have recovered my drone...ALL in all a bit too scary for me at the moment but hopefully I could find a way of doing it in the future...Happy flying and keep it safe...

 

[RonanC]

What was the gps signal like?

 

[h-gvtrucker]

What was the gps signal like?

Hi RonanC Many thanks for your reply.When I was at the bottom I had a full signal on gps and other's..

 

[JarrodF]

I use a WIFI only iPad with my controller so I never have a map (unless I pre-load it). Works like a charm. With good GPS signal, I would do it that way all day long before sending it over the edge into a rough, non-visual contact area.

 

[With The Birds]

You made the right choice. When you have some flight hours under your belt things will be different. Trust your instincts.

The fact you didn’t have cell service and no map detail would not have been a problem. Potentially loosing GPS and having the AC switch to ATTI may have been. You also may have had a Signal loss and RTH initiating could be a nightmare if there wasn’t a clear run back to your homepoint or the AC hit trees or another obstacles performing the initial ascent to RTH height.

 

[PaulSouthport]

If you fly out of line of sight, ie. there is an object between you and the Phantom, there is a good chance you'd lose signal. Assuming you have RTH set as the behaviour on signal loss, would it be able to clear any obstacles and return home? Would it fly up into trees or outcrops?

In a tight valley there is also the possibility that GPS signal could be lost - double trouble if you aren't in VLOS.

 

[h-gvtrucker]

Hi All .... THE main reason that I have NOT mentioned the exact detail's of the location was simply that I feel that I would NOT like to be seen in encouraging anyone else in taking the chances I choose to take that day.
It was not until later on that I had second thought's on the risk's I took in getting down and equally getting back up the side of that valley side.
Firstly I was on my own and that in itself has the biggest risk of ALL in that had I 'SLIPPED' either going up or down and broken my leg / knocked myself out on a rock and so on !!!! WHO would have known were I was and with NO mobile signal ( I did not find that out until I reached the bottom ) there would have been very little chance of ME phoning for 'help' !!!
I know my car was at the top in a pull in and I would have had to HOPE that at some point someone would have thought this strange to have left it there was so long and raised the alarm BUT who knows how long that would have taken LET alone the further risk's I would have put on other's trying to rescue me...I do take safety VERY seriously not only in the flying of the drone but also my own safety as well...BUT I also know that in the heat of the moment ( and also the excitement in finding such a great place ) that being human we all take chances in life from time to time.

After my second trip down and up ( to retrieve my lost battery ) I did find a couple of young local lad's who did tell me of a easier way to get down to the bottom via. a farmers track that would take you much further on into the valley and then you could make your way back up the river to reach the water fall's.
After ALL the VERY useful help from everyone so far then I feel that this route could make the eventual video Challenge more likely to work in that although the video may have to be made in stages because I would have clear line of site of the drone and all the surrounding hazards ( trees etc. ) But would have to either keep if hovering ( it might be wise to set the RTH to 'hover' ) or land it until I could catch it up to continue the trip further up until I reach to 'MAIN' top water fall .AND also because I had full GPS signal and the other signal strength's were 'full' when I tried my first ( aborted ) attempt at the bottom, then the chance of the 'tripod mode' working well seem high and hopefully not tripping out and sending it into Allti mode !!
At the moment all I can do is carry on practicing flying and hopefully 'ONE' day I can return to this 'gem' and be able to get a good video to share with other's that would other wise never even know it was there.Also I have to 'wait' for the GREAT BRITISH weather to improve instead of peeing down just about every day !!!!

Just to end this reply I would like to thank one member who lives not far from me called 'PETE' for getting in touch be e-mail.I shall reply to your e-mail as soon as possible giving you further detail's so that we can speak soon...

 

[deltamike]

Hi HGV.

My thoughts are that you did the right thing by aborting the mission. A high percentage of pilots experience BIG trouble when they go out of line of sight and double trouble because the RTH altitude is wrongly set.

Experienced pilots know what to do and how to do it which takes time to learn and gain experience.

 

[tommycoe]

The place you speak of sounds like The Nantahala Gorge. Just guessing, but it has similar terrain and waterfalls. Specifically the area between Franklin and Highlands, NC. Again, just making a guess.

 

[h-gvtrucker]

The place you speak of sounds like The Nantahala Gorge. Just guessing, but it has similar terrain and waterfalls. Specifically the area between Franklin and Highlands, NC. Again, just making a guess.

Hi...As in my first thread the location IS in North Wales U.K.

 

[John Locke]

WOULD you take that risk ???

I wasn't there, so it's hard to say. There's so many factors that go into my assessment of risk. However, for YOU, I would say you did the right thing if you're a novice. You need a lot of experience under your belt before you try to fly in areas as you describe. However, if you have that skill set and experience, this sounds like it's within the realm of flying safely with a P4 craft. Here's some thoughts:
1. You must be competent to fly in ATTI in this scenario, as you may lose GPS, in which case you'll need to fly it back in ATTI. Practice this in an open field and get comfortable with it.
2. You must have a contingency plan if something goes wrong. Let's say the wind comes up and you have limited landing area and you're flying in forced ATTI. In that case you'll need to pre-plan some soft bushes to plow into as a last resort, minimizing damage.
3. You really need a MarcoPolo tracking device as a last resort to find your craft if lost. That device allows you to find your craft without the need of cellular signal, which is an issue you described.
4. You can always download the map before you go there, or while you have a cell connection. That will help if you lose the craft, assuming it has a GPS signal.
5. In tight quarters as you describe, you should be competent to hand launch and retrieve, minimizing risk and expanding your ability to choose a launch site. Do this only with GPS and compass working to assist in the landing grab.
6. You're right, being alone like that is a risk. If you must go alone with no cell coverage, before you get beyond cell service, send a friend your GPS coordinates showing where you will be, and if you don't contact them by dark to send a search party. If it was me in the US, when I'm alone in the boonies I carry a weapon too, since I have CCW permit. You never know what kind of critter or person you'll run across in the wild.

Send us some photos of the area next time you visit, whether you fly or not. Sound interesting.

 

[Neon Euc]

Yep... Fly the drone and take a pic of it so we can..... Oh.... Wait!!

 

[Erised]

You made the right choice to abort. Always when in doubt pick no, that goes for most every thing else in life. Yes you can fly without a map as the screen will only show your flight route on a beige background. All the reasons listed above are valid. I would not program the craft to just hover if it loses signal unless under tree canopy, these birds travel great distances in very short time and getting close to them on foot before the battery shuts down is too risky.

 

[Droning in AR]

1. You must be competent to fly in ATTI in this scenario, as you may lose GPS, in which case you'll need to fly it back in ATTI. Practice this in an open field and get comfortable with it.

This is number one on my list.

Too many new pilots take their drone out of the box, download the app, fire it up and take off and then when something happens, they want to blame DJI or whatever manufacturer, when it's pilot error 99% of the time.

My first drone was a cheap P.O.S. that I flew all over the place, just getting used to how to handle it. I crashed it multiple times, but kept fixing it or gluing it back together. If it would have been a total loss, I would have been out a grand total of fifty bucks. Big deal.

By the time I got my Phantom and did my first flight, I had a lot of confidence.