- Joined
- Jul 20, 2014
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- 29
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Purchased my Phantom 2 Vision+ in July and have flown about 10 missions, all within visual range (although some were right at the edge).
That changed today, as I took the "leap of faith" well beyond visual range until loss of signal was finally encountered. My launch point was on the high ground, with a complely unobstucted path to the west and no wind. I have to say that the period of time between loss of signal and visual detection is gut-wrenching - not knowing if the bird is lost or on it's way back. After a while I thought I could hear it, but wasn't sure it it was the phantom or some heavy equipment in the distance. The noise grew louder until I finally spotted a black dot against a white cloud coming directly back east, and I breathed a sign of relief. I took over manual control with a flip of the switch, and landed her safely. It was an 11 minute flight, and she went just over 1.5 miles (0.75 out and 0.75 back). I'm not going to make a habit out of flying beyond visual range, but it's good to know that the technology works (I attach a pocket finder GPS just in case).
Does this get easier with more flights, or is flying beyond visual range always a gut-wrenching experience?
That changed today, as I took the "leap of faith" well beyond visual range until loss of signal was finally encountered. My launch point was on the high ground, with a complely unobstucted path to the west and no wind. I have to say that the period of time between loss of signal and visual detection is gut-wrenching - not knowing if the bird is lost or on it's way back. After a while I thought I could hear it, but wasn't sure it it was the phantom or some heavy equipment in the distance. The noise grew louder until I finally spotted a black dot against a white cloud coming directly back east, and I breathed a sign of relief. I took over manual control with a flip of the switch, and landed her safely. It was an 11 minute flight, and she went just over 1.5 miles (0.75 out and 0.75 back). I'm not going to make a habit out of flying beyond visual range, but it's good to know that the technology works (I attach a pocket finder GPS just in case).
Does this get easier with more flights, or is flying beyond visual range always a gut-wrenching experience?