Tips for flying 'out of sight'

[marketal]

Hi,

I have the Phantom Vision2 Plus. I want to use it for surveying forestry. This will mean flying out of sight above the trees. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions of issues that I should be aware of?

Cheers

Marketal

 

[N017RW]

The first is don't do it :lol: but since that is not likely then buy a tracker if you have cell coverage in the area.

Make sure you have a valid Home Point and IOC enabled for Home Lock operation if you get lost or disoriented.

 

[max]

adjust your RTH height in the assistant to be sure you go high enough to clear all the trees.

 

[msinger]

Keep in mind that the remote/Wi-Fi signal will break if there are trees between you and your Phantom.

 

[BlackTracer]

You could also use GS to fly missions above the trees and out of sight if applicable. Hopefully you have nerves of steel otherwise you are going to be sh**ting a lot of bricks waiting for it to come home.

 

[Hughie]

As msinger suggests below - you need to make sure you have a direct sight line between your RC and the quad - regardless of whether you can see it.

I fly the P2 NV which uses 5.8Ghz for FPV - and it is *rubbish* if you get some trees in the way. If you are using 5.8 for control then either make sure you have plenty of height to keep connected, or prepare for RTH

 

[locoworks]

any advice on how to fly illegally??? was that really the question........... :mrgreen:

 

[marketal]

any advice on how to fly illegally??? was that really the question........... :mrgreen:

Not really, I'm thinking more of intermittently losing sight of it. The replies from the forum have covered one or two things that I hadn't really thought of. I've adjusted the RTH height to 40 m already, but there's other things which I obviously need to think about...

 

[wkf94025]

Unless autonomous flying via Ground Station meets your needs, you're asking for a complete loss. I would go UHF or some other long range frequency. This is not a mission profile that P2 or P2V excel at, IMHO.

Kelly

 

[sdtrojan]

any advice on how to fly illegally??? was that really the question........... :mrgreen:

Not really, I'm thinking more of intermittently losing sight of it. The replies from the forum have covered one or two things that I hadn't really thought of. I've adjusted the RTH height to 40 m already, but there's other things which I obviously need to think about...

I lose sight of my P2 every time I fly. Quite literally, once this thing gets about 500M away from my takeoff point, I cannot see it to save my life! I don't fly above 400' AGL, but when I get to 200-250' it gets tough to spot.

I also think there is a difference between "intermittently losing sight" in which their may be a barrier to RF signal reception by the P2, and flying out of your ability to see the P2 without any obstructions (i.e. you are on a hill, you have a wide vantage point and in theory could be tethered by a string without an obstruction).

That said, I do have a lot of confidence in my FPV and transmitter set up. Once it starts to get static-filled, I don't test my luck.

 

[dirkclod]

I fly out over timberland and fields on a regular basis as I like to go for distance test . I always leave from a field away from any of the trees I am going over and do have to go high to cover much ground .
If you had a high spot in sight of what you were wanting to fly over would be great and using the ground station would be great if you are wanting to do grids but I don't use that feature so no help there to you .
DO use a tracker of whatever you like as at some point if you do this much you will be glad you did !
Do before you go out check your HL and know your battery limit on how far you can be out before you start back to get back.
Unless I am flying into the wind I always start back with at least 60% showing if off very far.
I would also practice in a big field on what I just planed to do before I jumped right in and went out like that .
This and all that has been posted so far should get ya want you want to do !
Just my 2 cents worth

 

[GeneralKitFisto]

My dad who sort of acts like my spotter while flying won't let me fly out of sight, or break any other FAA regulations. Both him and my stepmom at one point worked for state and federal government, so I'm out of luck if I want to do something like that.

 

[wkf94025]

Just to clarify, like Dirkclod and sdtrojan, I fly BVR (beyond *my* visual range) but still within direct LOS of the equipment. I also agree that: 1) I trust my gear to go well beyond my visual limits (thank you FPV); 2) I know when to turn around, and scratchy video is a pretty good sign it's time; multiple recoverable fail-safes being the other obvious clue you're pushing your luck. Also, at turnaround, I don't automatically do a full 180. I yaw slowly, and if scratchy video turns into a full blizzard, I return to previous outbound orientation and fly home backward for 500-1000 meters until I can yaw around with full FPV confidence.

Kelly

 

[dirkclod]

Just to clarify, like Dirkclod and sdtrojan, I fly BVR (beyond *my* visual range) but still within direct LOS of the equipment. I also agree that: 1) I trust my gear to go well beyond my visual limits (thank you FPV); 2) I know when to turn around, and scratchy video is a pretty good sign it's time; multiple recoverable fail-safes being the other obvious clue you're pushing your luck. Also, at turnaround, I don't automatically do a full 180. I yaw slowly, and if scratchy video turns into a full blizzard, I return to previous outbound orientation and fly home backward for 500-1000 meters until I can yaw around with full FPV confidence.

Kelly

+1 on the turn around and Ya do got to have faith in what you working with !!

 

[Meta4]

Become familiar with the radar display on the app.
When you can't see the Phantom it's good to know where it is and which way it's pointing.