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Flight from inside through a window advice

bartdrone

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Other than Return Home and land feature not being able to work..... is there any advice or precaution I should be aware of before flying a drone from inside a 12 storey hotel room window out into the open sky?


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That is a very bad idea.

Being inside, while the drone is outside, will severely limit the signal range you have. Since the signal must also go out the window (or through the walls which will hamper its strength), you are much more likely to lose connection to the drone. When you do lose connection, the Mavic will attempt a RTH, which will not end well for you, the building, or people on the ground near the building.

Please be responsible and do not endanger other persons or property with risky manoeuvres.
 
That is a very bad idea.

Being inside, while the drone is outside, will severely limit the signal range you have. Since the signal must also go out the window (or through the walls which will hamper its strength), you are much more likely to lose connection to the drone. When you do lose connection, the Mavic will attempt a RTH, which will not end well for you, the building, or people on the ground near the building.

Please be responsible and do not endanger other persons or property with risky manoeuvres.





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Thks BlakPhoenix!
I didn't expect the range to be limited if i am standing by the window. Secondly, I was intending to fly no further than a quarter mile. Worse case, below this hotel window is solid roof top at ground level. No people below. But I certainly do appreciate your good advice and need to re-think. Just thought it would make for a cool shot/video.

Do you really think it would lose signal if controlling from a window and keeping the drone in line of sight? Thks again!


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Line of sight through window will be okay. Heck i flew mine from my couch a mile away. the signal was going through 2 floors and an attic. But a hotel is a whole differnt thing. And envirmental variables can change things for the worse. I would avoid any whackyness unless your away from people and understand the risk to your expensive toy. And follow faa guidlines. [emoji4]

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Bottom line is I am sure it is illegal to what you want to do, I don't think there are many people that will endorse it.

Do yourself and everyone else a favor and go fly in a legal and safe place.
 
How would you launch it and from where? Most hotel room windows don't open, unless there's a balcony or something fancy...

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If you really want to try it, there's a few things you can do to increase your chances of success.

1. Switch the RTH mode to "hover" so that if you do lose signal, it will just stay put until you manage to get signal back again (or until the battery dies, then it will land where it is).
2. Depending on the size of the window opening, you might want to disable forward Obstacle Avoidance (OA), at least until the drone is out and clear. You might want to re-enable it again for safety once it's out.
3. If you can't get a good GPS lock inside, make sure you at least have plenty of light and a non-uniform floor surface for the VPS sensors to do their job.
4. If you're on Android, you can disabled "Landing Protection" in advanced sensor settings, which disables the default feature of the Mavic maintaining 0.5m (1.5ft) ground clearance. This will prevent the Mavic from rising up as it flies over any obstacles, which could inadvertently cause it to ascend into a ceiling, lamp, etc. I actually fly with this off all the time, for easier hand catching.
 
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I fly from within my house, and get reception from as much as a mile away. But I live in the sticks in Maine. An urban environment is basically designed to interfere with your signal. Almost as bad, your mavic may not get good GPS lock from inside your room, or transitioning through the window. And if it crashes up there and falls outside, you could seriously injure someone below.

Bad idea.
 
I wouldn't recommend taking off from altitude like that, there are so many things that can go wrong! One of which was captured on video on YouTube where a guy in a hotel crashed into the building and the Mavic fell to the roof of the first floor balcony.

I'll be honest, I live in a two story house and I fly from my bedroom window because of how cold it is. No issues with range or anything, but its also safe to fly in my case. Nobody lives below me, and I land 5 feet in front of me on my deck roof.
 
Better to get access to the roof, or have a friend launch it from the ground while you stand at the window.

Yeah it's a bad idea, but if you're determined...

If the hotel has a flat, unoccupied roof, set the RTH altitude sufficiently high that if it returns to your location it will land on the roof directly above you. Or change the home point to a safe location (at ground level or otherwise) that you can see from your position. Best to have a friend waiting there, but in that case just have them setup the Mavic there for launch.
 
Range is not a problem, but no flat place to land/takeoff from with guaranteed good GPS reception nor optical sensor reference is a recipe for swerving/hitting the building.
 
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Some of the stuff folks come up with..... why would you want to risk your THOUSAND $ drone by doing this..... and the more important safety concern.

Would it be cool to take off and fly from a 12 story hotel room...... Yes, but it is a very dangerous thing to do for everyone around the area!

bartdrone.... Thank you for asking, and I am going to suspect that after reading all these replies, that you will not be doing this Thumbswayup

I should be aware of before flying a drone from inside a 12 storey hotel room window out into the open sky?
 
THANKS EVERYONE!!! I go with majority. I'm a pilot. Just checked into a hotel here in Jamaica but will not try launching from hotel room. Some of you guys have me all worried now :)

Will get the co-pilot to go down to ground level outside to get a home point and i'll try to start up and fly it from room on 7th floor.
Thanks for the advice and warnings all!


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