Aerial visability from 400 ft.?
- Thread starter Chesapeake
- Start date
I'd say you can identify the things a pilot uses as landmarks like water towers, and major buildings two or three miles, your drone, maybe two thousand feet at the most. Do not take this to heart, I am just estimating what I see, and Your Mileage May Vary. IE: I could be way off. It happens.
There are utilities on the web that can calculate how far you can see to the horizon based on height: Distance to the Horizon Calculator This assumes a flat terrain.
Note that the wide angle lens on the P4 will cause objects on the horizon to be very tiny and hard to see. Practically, at 400 feet, I can make things out for about a 5 mile radius.
By my experience, I can see the P4 up 400 feet at about 1/2 a mile away. It's just a speck, but it is visible. I have to concentrate on veiwing it, though or I sometimes lose sight and have to search the sky to locate it again.
It's best against blue sky with the sun behind you. The white really stands out. It's harder to see backed by grey clouds. Not only can I see it 400 feet up, 1/2 a mile away, but on a quiet day out here in the country I can also hear it.
Note that the wide angle lens on the P4 will cause objects on the horizon to be very tiny and hard to see. Practically, at 400 feet, I can make things out for about a 5 mile radius.
By my experience, I can see the P4 up 400 feet at about 1/2 a mile away. It's just a speck, but it is visible. I have to concentrate on veiwing it, though or I sometimes lose sight and have to search the sky to locate it again.
It's best against blue sky with the sun behind you. The white really stands out. It's harder to see backed by grey clouds. Not only can I see it 400 feet up, 1/2 a mile away, but on a quiet day out here in the country I can also hear it.
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I would think they would be more visible at a longer range if they were painted orange? I live in a large marsh area with streams , coves and ponds that I'd like to view. Some ponds and marsh Bayous are maybe 2 miles away. I'm trying to figure how much I could see at 400 ft. and maybe 1/2 mile out. I'm still leery about buying an expensive toy that could disappear into thin air . How anti climatic of a day that would be.
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Well depends... at night I can distinguish the lights in downtown Miami from 12 miles away at altitude of 400 ft. During the day I'd say over the Everglades I can see 6 miles maybe a bit more. I can see The bird at about 1500 ft max horizontal distance during the day depending on the contrast of the background
Thanks to all. This might be doable for me. I would consider the P 4 pro+ because of the added safety features and you can land it by grabbing the landing gear by hand from a boat. This would be an added benefit for me. It would be nice if they could make the landing gear floatable to land on calm water.
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