Can I fly lower than where I am standing?

[pahas]

Hello,

I was trying to find if it is ok to fly a phantom 3 below my current position and there is not much detail on that. In the manual there is a graphic depiction of how the antennas should be arranged and the phantom supposedly flies below the current location.

The question arose when I visited a dam and standing at the top of it was wondering whether I can fly all the way to the bottom (around 50m). Eventually I did not try it out but would like to know if anyone has.

Thank you in advance

 

[SiliconGeek]

Hi Pahas,

The answer is that you can fly below the altitude of your launchpoint.

Your display will show you a negative value for elevation.

Google Earth can be used to help you understand the elevation of terrain before you fly. That can be really useful in a number of situations.

Obviously, be really careful if you fly beneath something (under a bridge, or into a tunnel, etc). If the Phantom loses signal, it will rise to its RTH altitude and crash while ascending.

 

[SiliconGeek]

You can fly to an altitude lower than your launch point.

Your elevation will show as a negative value.

 

[pahas]

Thank you!

Hi Pahas,

The answer is that you can fly below the altitude of your launchpoint.

Your display will show you a negative value for elevation.

Google Earth can be used to help you understand the elevation of terrain before you fly. That can be really useful in a number of situations.

Obviously, be really careful if you fly beneath something (under a bridge, or into a tunnel, etc). If the Phantom loses signal, it will rise to its RTH altitude and crash while ascending.

 

[Stephan]

I did that a couple of times, flying from a side of a mountain. As much as I want to believe the negative value was correct. It was hard to gauge how accurate it was. When it returned, I did not have sufficient battery to properly ascertain whether the negative value I experienced while above my head was a continuing issue.

It was on on older app and firmware. I intend on checking this again.

 

[philip1652]

Flown below launch point on a number of occasions. First time I watched very carefully as I went through zero and then negative values for elevation. Everything worked fine. Did note that when I landed at launch point elevation in logs was positive the amount I defended below launch point.

Was on older firmware though. Have just updated to latest, so don't know if it was an issue, and if it was whether it has been fixed. Not game to try RTH with further testing from negative elevations.

 

[Meta4]

Not game to try RTH with further testing from negative elevations.

Just like the Phantom has no problem with flying lower than launch point, RTH will not be affected either.
There's nothing unusual about having a negative value for your relative height.
If you are below launch point and initiate RTH, your Phantom will climb to RTH height and come home.