Long distance Litchi flights

[nacraracer]

Do any of you routinely fly your P3 on Litchi waypoint flights that take it beyond disconnected status and are there any tips or tricks to doing it?

 

[grin factor]

Yes, many have.

 

[solentlife]

The main thing to remember is that Litchi has the functionality to send the P3 out of normal range ... take note of the warnings in Litchi Documentation.

That means the user should pay particular attention to distance and flight time. Especially noting wind speed and direction.

I personally regarded 15 mins flight as nice with good reserve remaining ... 18mins as a max. Yes that's less than DJI reckon for flight time - but as with all manufacturers - that 25mins they quote is rarely achievable !
It only needs a touch of wind and your 18mins can easily extend into the sub 20's ....

Nigel

 

[tevek]

In addition to the good advice from @solentlife, I also ensure that I leave at least 20-30 mtrs of clearance above the highest obstacle during the mission so that if I lose connection I am comfortable with it completing the trip and have RTH as a finishing action.

 

[Oso]

One thing we see here regularly on the forum are pilots who did not account for ground elevation changes throughout the mission. They think they are safely above trees or other obstacles, but when their P3 crashes they realize that there was a hill along the flight path.

 

[nacraracer]

I’m on flat land where I am so hills are not a problem for me. I actually did my first intentional Litchi disconnected from remote flight this evening. It was only about a half mile away, take three pics and return. Did it twice. Sure was comforting to hear that loud P3 coming back.

 

[danno02]

No real tricks, it will complete its mission. Just follow those point others have posted here. Know your distance, elevation and terrain. Pay attention to distance and battery life. Make sure you're clear of obstacles when starting and ending (or start your missions while in flight). I was a little hesitant to do this so I started in long areas that I knew well. If you're in an area that has long open country side roadways, follow that roadway to one side (not over it). You can also test with a small mission like in a park, start it and then simulate the loss of signal by shutting off the radio, letting the bird do its job while in sight.

 

[Vichian-Bruno]

Also did some missions beyond connection range, bird always returned to intended last way-point.

As already mentioned by solentlife I also never set up a mission longer than 15 minutes since sometimes I go up to an altitude of 100 to 120 meters where unknown wind condition might impact battery consumption.
On uneven ground I use to plan my mission in Google Earth selecting the altitude "Relative to ground".

The very first time I was also waiting desperately till I could hear the sound of my bird again.

 

[TonkaMayhem]

Something I picked up from the guys on this board doing post-crash investigations is to first export the mission in Litchi to a KML file. Google Earth will import that file and show you the route over the terrain. It gives you some peace of mind that elevation changes won't reach and and bite you.

 

[Dan Lee]

Also did some missions beyond connection range, bird always returned to intended last way-point.

As already mentioned by solentlife I also never set up a mission longer than 15 minutes since sometimes I go up to an altitude of 100 to 120 meters where unknown wind condition might impact battery consumption.
On uneven ground I use to plan my mission in Google Earth selecting the altitude "Relative to ground".

The very first time I was also waiting desperately till I could hear the sound of my bird again.

You can get wind speeds even gust at any altitude using UAV Forcast. They have an app or can be reached via the internet. You set your altitude in settings.

 

[Mainshipper]

Almost all of my flights with my P3P have been on Litchi missions and as far as I am concerned it's foolproof as long as you plan for the terrain you are flying over and the capacity of the battery. Since the P3P would fly safely up to 20 minutes I always planned for a 15-16 minute flight time estimate and at 15MPH that would travel around 3 miles. Rarely did it ever return with less than 35% of the battery remaining. Here's a video I took this summer in a wilderness area up north. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3MovAsclZg&t=3s

 

[royster]

Nice ! Just gorgeous terrain, well done

 

[John Tarvin]

I rarely fly missions longer than 15 minutes. Remember, you lose some battery tune taking off, uploading the mission and getting to first waypoint. If mission too long, I bump up the cruise speed.

 

[Vichian-Bruno]

You can get wind speeds even gust at any altitude using UAV Forcast

Just accessed this site, looks very good on the first glance.
Did not know this site, thanks for mentioning that, appreciate it.

 

[Gnormand]

Look what can be done with Litchi this guy has mastered it