Compass rumors - logical question

t2adze · Jan 24, 2016

I have this logical question.

A lot of people on the forum advice, saying not to fly p3 close to the buildings on the metal objects, cause that can mess up the compass and cause trouble.

So, now this question appears. Once when i was trying to take off from my friends balcony, the GoApp said that there is too many metal around and it won't take off. Neither in ATTI mode. (bird was on for a while right? warming up, pre flight check and etc. ). So obviously i didn't fly that day. Next day i flew a bit in a safer place, without recalibrating the compass and all was fine.

So if the bird so much time was on a balcony, around that amount of metal that even application warned me about and restricted flying, didn't got a messy compass after that, why would it mess a compass by just flying next to a building that has a metal inside?

robinb · Jan 24, 2016

Large metal objects do that to compasses.

Meta4 · Jan 24, 2016

t2adze said:
So if the bird so much time was on a balcony, around that amount of metal that even application warned me about and restricted flying, didn't got a messy compass after that, why would it mess a compass by just flying next to a building that has a metal inside?

The magnetic effect of a steel object depends on the amount of steel and how close it is,
The compass in in the bottom of the Phantom's landing gear.
If you put the Phantom on a concrete balcony and there is steel reinforcing in the concrete, that will have a much greater effect on the compass than flying around the building.

t2adze · Jan 26, 2016

So it means that flying close to buildings is not as dangerous at all or not as flying out of them(buildings) ?

octaver · Jan 26, 2016

t2adze said:
So it means that flying close to buildings is not as dangerous at all or not as flying out of them(buildings) ?

It depends on how close you are on the building. The Danger is actually the risk of accidental bumping on the building surface.
The compass affects not only nearby buildings but also Magnetic Fields or any metal objects like post etch.
I had tried flying the Bird on top of my Car and I got compass Error and actually wont start the motor because of the metal surface of my Car Roof.

I suggest fly your Bird more often and feel the control. The more you fly the more you understand the characteristic of the Bird flying on different locations and the effects of winds. Enjoy!

t2adze · Jan 26, 2016

octaver said:
It depends on how close you are on the building. The Danger is actually the risk of accidental bumping on the building surface.
The compass affects not only nearby buildings but also Magnetic Fields or any metal objects like post etch.
I had tried flying the Bird on top of my Car and I got compass Error and actually wont start the motor because of the metal surface of my Car Roof.

I suggest fly your Bird more often and feel the control. The more you fly the more you understand the characteristic of the Bird flying on different locations and the effects of winds. Enjoy!

Thanks for your answer,
But what do u think about the question in the #1 post?

ianwood · Jan 26, 2016

The rumors are true. If you get too close to metal objects especially during calibration and take off, you dramatically increase the odds of something going wrong. For example, taking off from a car is a really bad idea.

t2adze · Jan 26, 2016

ianwood said:
The rumors are true. If you get too close to metal objects especially during calibration and take off, you dramatically increase the odds of something going wrong. For example, taking off from a car is a really bad idea.

Then why i don't get an error message (like i did when trying to take of from balcony) when i fly close to building?