Flying into a pit

[VegasFlyer]

I'd like to fly into an excavated pit that is about 275 feet below street level. Since there's no way to enter the area and nowhere to park, my point of entry is unknown. I've created a waypoint mission to be executed after takeoff but a couple of things are bothering me:

1. I will be unable to maintain line of sight. I've read where RTH will first fly back to the home point and then to the RTH height. Since this is a waypoint mission it shouldn't be an issue.

2. The deepest part of the pit is on the southern edge. I have the mission starting in the center and I have a couple of negative values along the way that are no more than 20 feet. (My mission is using waypoint height relative to ground) The mission starts out at 100 feet above the center of the pit. Is this the correct way to begin? I don't see any other way to go. I assume the controller will be displaying altitude based on the home point.

The reason for this mission is to understand how to handle flying into shallow canyons.

You can see the pit by opening either Google Maps or Google Earth and entering the coordinates 36.105772 -115.276591 Be sure to enable satellite view. I have a P3P using Litchi.

Thanks!

 

[Meta4]

I'd like to fly into an excavated pit that is about 275 feet below street level. Since there's no way to enter the area and nowhere to park, my point of entry is unknown. I've created a waypoint mission to be executed after takeoff but a couple of things are bothering me

Why are you using waypoints?
The Phantom will fly just fine as long as you have a line of sight but one possible issue will be GPS if you are going deep.
GPS sat reception will depend on having a good sky view.
The more sky you lose, the more sats you lose.
Lose enough sats and you've lost GPS and the ability to fly waypoints.
Try flying manually to see what the issues are.
If you lose GPS, it's a simple matter to climb to get GPS back.

I've read where RTH will first fly back to the home point and then to the RTH height. Since this is a waypoint mission it shouldn't be an issue.

Your Phantom executes RTH the same way whether in waypoints or not.
It will always climb to the set RTH height and then fly home.
The whole point of setting an RTH height is to clear any obstacles that may be in your path so it wouldn't make much sense to fly home and then climb to RTh height.

 

[VegasFlyer]

Why are you using waypoints?
The Phantom will fly just fine as long as you have a line of sight but one possible issue will be GPS if you are going deep.
GPS sat reception will depend on having a good sky view.
The more sky you lose, the more sats you lose.
Lose enough sats and you've lost GPS and the ability to fly waypoints.
Try flying manually to see what the issues are.
If you lose GPS, it's a simple matter to climb to get GPS back.

Your Phantom executes RTH the same way whether in waypoints or not.
It will always climb to the set RTH height and then fly home.
The whole point of setting an RTH height is to clear any obstacles that may be in your path so it wouldn't make much sense to fly home and then climb to RTh height.

This is a large pit and I can't see anything below street level. Each step in the image is about 30' so I'm using waypoints to play it safe. There's nothing above the pit to inhibit GPS reception. As for RTH, I was simply stating what I had read. It's a short flight but I won't be able to maintain LOS.

 

[Meta4]

This is a large pit and I can't see anything below street level. Each step in the image is about 30' so I'm using waypoints to play it safe. There's nothing above the pit to inhibit GPS reception. As for RTH, I was simply stating what I had read. It's a short flight but I won't be able to maintain LOS.

How deep are you planning to go in the pit?

 

[Mark The Droner]

This is a large pit and I can't see anything below street level. Each step in the image is about 30' so I'm using waypoints to play it safe. There's nothing above the pit to inhibit GPS reception. As for RTH, I was simply stating what I had read. It's a short flight but I won't be able to maintain LOS.

You're missing the point. For example, if you have 11 satellites and six of them are near the horizon, you will lose GPS during descent. The mission will stop. The AC will not RTH. It will either hover until it hits critical battery and lands or it will drift to the side and crash.

 

[VegasFlyer]

How deep are you planning to go in the pit?

Sorry for the late reply. The bottom of the pit is 275' below street level and I planned a route with a ground clearance of 80'.

 

[VegasFlyer]

You're missing the point. For example, if you have 11 satellites and six of them are near the horizon, you will lose GPS during descent. The mission will stop. The AC will not RTH. It will either hover until it hits critical battery and lands or it will drift to the side and crash.

Sorry for the late reply. Interesting point. Thanks for your input.

 

[VegasFlyer]

I finally worked up the nerve to take a chance on this and I'm happy to report that it was a flawless flight! I flew a waypoint mission with Litchi because I have an iPad Mini 2 which isn't very powerful and it frequently drops connection. Additionally, I look at waypoint flights much like cruise control on your car: barring strong winds, it keeps power consumption steady which results in optimized battery usage. I do fly manually at times to keep up with the feel of control movements.

 

[ravedog]

Why don’t you try the pit at buffalo n desert inn? FYI. Love to see the video if you took some.

 

[VegasFlyer]

Why don’t you try the pit at buffalo n desert inn? FYI. Love to see the video if you took some.

Hmm, I didn't know about that one. Thanks, I'll check it out! I'd upload the video but I haven't looked into the best way to do it. Tips?

 

[ravedog]

Well you could always just use YouTube and direct link here. That’s what I would do. You could make it semi private where the link would still work.

 

[VegasFlyer]

Why don’t you try the pit at buffalo n desert inn? FYI. Love to see the video if you took some.

Ahh, ok. I didn't choose that pit because it's a work site.

 

[VegasFlyer]

Well you could always just use YouTube and direct link here. That’s what I would do. You could make it semi private where the link would still work.

Sounds good. I recorded at 4k so I may have to bring it down a bit. Here's the link to the mission. It looks crazy but I was trying out some stuff.
Mission Hub - Litchi

 

[ravedog]

Also there is one of the pits that has a vantage point on one side but honestly I forgotten which one and they may have built up the edge since. Worth a look.

 

[VegasFlyer]

Also there is one of the pits that has a vantage point on one side but honestly I forgotten which one and they may have built up the edge since. Worth a look.

Same part of town? Let me know if it comes back to you.

 

[ravedog]

Yes. Use Apple maps or google maps in satellite. It’s over on desert inn. Take a drive around them. I think one side near buffalo had a vantage point. Might be worth a peek if you have some time.

 

[VegasFlyer]

Yes. Use Apple maps or google maps in satellite. It’s over on desert inn. Take a drive around them. I think one side near buffalo had a vantage point. Might be worth a peek if you have some time.

Ok, I know the area well. I'll see what I come up with. Thanks!

 

[VegasFlyer]

Well you could always just use YouTube and direct link here. That’s what I would do. You could make it semi private where the link would still work.

Hopefully this will work.

 

[ravedog]

That was cool. So did you use lichi and manual control too? Judging by the video you could have walked across the road and stood at the fence? It seems as though the fence is fairly close to the edge and will allow for a good LOS? Seems like that road is not heavily traveled too. Thanks for uploading that!!!

 

[ravedog]

This is the other one