Noob here, stupid question about vlos

[boone]

I'm completely new to this kind of drone/quad/whatever I can call it that won't offend someone/ and I will confess to having nervous breakdowns nearly every time I fly. I'm working through my problems by practicing in safe environments and just recently I've started to venture out further. Where I live, I honestly spend about half of my time over water. That's terrifying enough for a new pilot. I have never flown further than about 800' away and never more than 200' high but...to finally get to my question, if I fly my bird behind trees (in an area where I am at a very safe altitude and very familiar with the area) if I fly the mavic behind some trees to get her into my vlos but at a different angle, am I risking a lost connection? Again. This is always inside of 800' away, and I'll only be blocked for maybe 15-20 seconds while I (hopefully) pilot her back into vlos. Is this risky? I see people posting videos where they fly like 32 miles away, so I feel like I'm ok, but just wanted some sound advice from the experts around here. Thanks.

 

[Blucenturion]

Dunno exactly, but I went behind some trees today and kept contact. But nearly hit a big Douglas Fir.

 

[Neto]

You probably wont have any problem. Just set your RTH altitude to a safe one, over the trees. Worst case scenario, MP will RTH and you can cancel it when get VLOS again.
I'm new to MP, but I had my share of breakdowns in the past when disconnect appears on the screen.
Good luck

 

[vashon100]

Just FYI, the spec range quoted by DJI is 4.3mi (FAA), so not sure where you saw stock Mavic doing 32mi (I have to figure it is stock since you are comparing to yours).

 

[boone]

Just FYI, the spec range quoted by DJI is 4.3mi (FAA), so not sure where you saw stock Mavic doing 32mi (I have to figure it is stock since you are comparing to yours).

Just a bit of sarcasm there. I've been watching the "range record" thread and it makes me have heart palpitations. Sorry the sarcasm wasn't clear there.

 

[boone]

Just FYI, the spec range quoted by DJI is 4.3mi (FAA), so not sure where you saw stock Mavic doing 32mi (I have to figure it is stock since you are comparing to yours).

And for the record, I am not anywhere close to the point where I could imagine flying one mile away, much less 4+. I don't ever really see being comfortable enough to test the true range quoted by DJI. But I'll admit the distance videos are exhilarating to watch.

 

[GlenT]

And for the record, I am not anywhere close to the point where I could imagine flying one mile away, much less 4+. I don't ever really see being comfortable enough to test the true range quoted by DJI. But I'll admit the distance videos are exhilarating to watch.

The thing is to just keep flying. Get a feel for how the Mavic works for you. Go behind the tree's you mention just a little bit, then a little bit further, and so on...
You'll become comfortable soon enough. As Neto said, make certain your Return To Home altitude is set higher than the tallest tree or obstacle BEFORE you venture out.
Experience will teach you how the signal is affected in your own circumstances and environment. But it is greatly reduced by solid objects.

 

[4wd]

Trees are variable, they are more opaque when in leaf too.
It shouldn't really matter if you are prepared for what will happen if or when signal is lost.
Must say in 3 or 4 years flying phantom and mavic I've never really lost signal unintentionally, though less stable video feed on phantoms would limit you first.

 

[boone]

Thanks everyone for the input. Much appreciated.

 

[nveer]

Thanks everyone for the input. Much appreciated.

I felt a strange comfort in your terror. I'm 1 week into flying my Mavic. I'm addicted and love flying it any chance I get but must confess often come home stressed out. I flew over water for the first time yesterday and almost landed it in the water when I thought I hit the RTH...nope was the landing command...about peed myself. I figure I'll keep at it and the ratio of enjoyment to terror should start to learn more and more toward enjoyment.

Thanks for sharing your inner turmoil...you are not alone.

 

[boone]

I felt a strange comfort in your terror. I'm 1 week into flying my Mavic. I'm addicted and love flying it any chance I get but must confess often come home stressed out. I flew over water for the first time yesterday and almost landed it in the water when I thought I hit the RTH...nope was the landing command...about peed myself. I figure I'll keep at it and the ratio of enjoyment to terror should start to learn more and more toward enjoyment.

Thanks for sharing your inner turmoil...you are not alone.

I'm well past this stage now. I've had more than one recovery that was much more daunting than what I shared above. But with each flight came more experience. Obviously you learn more when you make mistakes. The trick is to mitigate your mistakes by having a routine. Always have a preflight checklist. I don't care how much of a hurry you're in, there is no excuse not to check that your bird is safe before you send it into the air. For you, but even more for the people around you. If you have a routine, I find that when disaster strikes, you still have certain parameters you can control. If you have that, short of a hardware failure, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to bring her home.

 

[boone]

I felt a strange comfort in your terror. I'm 1 week into flying my Mavic. I'm addicted and love flying it any chance I get but must confess often come home stressed out. I flew over water for the first time yesterday and almost landed it in the water when I thought I hit the RTH...nope was the landing command...about peed myself. I figure I'll keep at it and the ratio of enjoyment to terror should start to learn more and more toward enjoyment.

Thanks for sharing your inner turmoil...you are not alone.

Now I'm actually more worried about complacency because I *do feel comfortable. That can kick you in the *** too.

 

[boone]

I should add that where I fly there are almost always people around, so I haven't experienced the joy of just flying yet. I always have to be acutely aware of my surroundings. Would be nice to just take off and fly one time. I'm jealous of those who can.

 

[nveer]

I'm well past this stage now. I've had more than one recovery that was much more daunting than what I shared above. But with each flight came more experience. Obviously you learn more when you make mistakes. The trick is to mitigate your mistakes by having a routine. Always have a preflight checklist. I don't care how much of a hurry you're in, there is no excuse not to check that your bird is safe before you send it into the air. For you, but even more for the people around you. If you have a routine, I find that when disaster strikes, you still have certain parameters you can control. If you have that, short of a hardware failure, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to bring her home.

That's really good advice. Thanks. Can you share an example of what your checklist looks like? Would love to learn what others check.

 

[boone]

That's really good advice. Thanks. Can you share an example of what your checklist looks like? Would love to learn what others check.

Sure, I’m still learning, so take my list as nothing more than anecdotal. For instance, I used to calibrate my compass before every flight, but I learned that not only is this not needed usually, you can actually introduce some gnarly problems if you calibrate in the wrong environment with interference. Mine is pretty basic

Clear take off area with no obstructions above so rth can work if we need it

Location:
Clear take off area without obstructions
No large metal/electrical things nearby (and I mean like sitting on one, because I fly near all kinds of metal and electrical things)
No immediate bystanders during takeoff

aircraft;
unfold arms
Check battery to be sure it is secure (super important)
remove gimbal cover
Remove gimbal lock
Unfold props, and check each one visually and physicaly by touch. I have a zero tolerance for any defects. Maybe thats overkill. Your call
Check the battery again
Place on solid ground with some kind of pattern so precision landing can work. I have a heli pad that folds up, but I find it easier to just take off from a cross point in a sidewalk or street really

I dont ever calibrate any sensors at all. I only set the home point before takeoff.

Takeoff:
Wait until your controller says GPS
Set home point
I always hover at the initial height for about 15 seconds, and then I take her straight up to 30’ and do the same there for at least that long. Helps with precision landing and rth
Be aware of where my bird is vs actual birds. Birds seem to love my Mavic. Pretty sure if I ever have a crash thats not hardware failure related, it’ll be because of a bird. I live at the beach so, my birds might be different than the ones where you are. Mine are dicks.

Thats it. Highlights are really just check props, hover at 30 feet after takeoff for a sec. I’ve also grown super paranoid about not seating the battery properly after reading about some mavic’s dropping mysteriously out of the sky. I’ve actually found that my battery wasnt completely seated one time after reading those. Almost had a nervous breakdown there on site.

 

[stratos]

I would say it depends n the kind of obstacles you find between you and the mavic.
If you do a quick test and let the mavic hover not so high nor farwaay from you lets say 10 meters up , 10 meters away and then turn youself around giving the back to the Mavic, you will see how the reception drops, even if its close to you. Now imagine the same with trees etc

 

[ThisIsCusel]

You forgot:

Check compass and IPU values
Check RTH height
Check RTH type (return/hover/land)
Check the state of all VPS/OA settings

Make sure they are set according to the flight you want to fly.

 

[Islandguy27]

I felt a strange comfort in your terror. I'm 1 week into flying my Mavic. I'm addicted and love flying it any chance I get but must confess often come home stressed out. I flew over water for the first time yesterday and almost landed it in the water when I thought I hit the RTH...nope was the landing command...about peed myself. I figure I'll keep at it and the ratio of enjoyment to terror should start to learn more and more toward enjoyment.

Thanks for sharing your inner turmoil...you are not alone.

Real terror is when the flight instructor gets out of the airplane and tells you ok I want you to take it around the pattern one time. On landing you are completely drained and knees knocking. That is terror. Lol

 

[boone]

You forgot:

Check compass and IPU values
Check RTH height
Check RTH type (return/hover/land)
Check the state of all VPS/OA settings

Make sure they are set according to the flight you want to fly.

Yeah these are all valid, and I do check them. Certainly the first one anyway. I don't calibrate the compass, but I do check for interference each flight. I also don't bother with checking the RTH on most flights because I'm not typically flying around a lot of trees, and the ones I do are more than cleared with the default 30m setting. I don't typically check the VPS either. Mine is off typically, but there's an icon on the hud that lets you know, so I don't feel the need to check it. Maybe I should.

 

[boone]

Real terror is when the flight instructor gets out of the airplane and tells you ok I want you to take it around the pattern one time. On landing you are completely drained and knees knocking. That is terror. Lol

I bet. Haven't made it that far. I found it terrifying enough just trying to pull out of a stall. Knees shaking for me just doing that little exercise. And the instructor was right there. Didn't matter. My instincts were telling me we were about to die. Logic didn't play a part in it at all.