Probable reason for 500m altitude limit

[OzoneVibe]

I know Phantoms have been flown well above Everest Base Camp ... can't see that the MP will be less capable.

 

[Callum]

Disagree.
The human body is close to that of water ... which is why we just float.
There's no way all that metal and battery are lighter than water .... not that I intend proving by an attempt to make it swim.

Think he means mavic has a higher drag coefficient to weight compare to a human body.

More surface area to mass.

 

[mavicn00b]

I'd say it's probably more likely that the mavic has no sense of how far above ground level it is at any given point other then it's barometer. If you fly 500m above a 400m structure then your not really flying 500m AGL at that given point, but only 100m. In which case 500m gives the pilot some leeway on clearing tall structures.

Not so good when your trying to scale a 500m+ structure.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

I'm interested in knowing how anyone could have survived a 150 mph splat and survived instead of becoming a pancake?

In all cases, I believe, they luckily fell on deep snow steep slopes which spread the impact energy through several "skips". They were still injured, but not dead.

This jumper survived from 120m, not terminal speed, but probably around 90mph impact.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Disagree.
The human body is close to that of water ... which is why we just float.
There's no way all that metal and battery are lighter than water .... not that I intend proving by an attempt to make it swim.

But take into account legs and props that add surface area, and random tumbling. As a skydiver I have a hard time to believe that a tumbling Mavic will fall right next to me in freefall at 120mph.

Skydivers sometimes play with a tennis ball in freefall, it's stuffed with lead pellets, not plastic and PCBs.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

that the mavic has no sense of how far above ground level it is at any given point other then it's barometer

Correct, it doesn't know altitude AGL (unless you're less than 40' AGL and downward ultrasonic sensors are on), it only knows barometric altitude above the takeoff point. (note that barometric alt can be also inaccurate, for example, if weather is quickly changing or there's strong thermal activity; I've observed as much as (coincidentally!) 500m change within a couple of minutes)

 

[bcoles]

I'm interested in knowing how anyone could have survived a 150 mph splat and survived instead of becoming a pancake?

In my Father in laws WW2 Royal Air Force log book here writes about a forced landing he made in England where his rear gunner baled out(without chute) at 100ft. He "pancaked" his plane in 2 ft of snow. They later found Sgt. Black about a mile away in a farmer's house. He "hit the snow and bushes". He only suffered one cracked vertebrae in his neck. Jan. 15th 1942.

 

[OzoneVibe]

But take into account legs and props that add surface area, and random tumbling. As a skydiver I have a hard time to believe that a tumbling Mavic will fall right next to me in freefall at 120mph.

Skydivers sometimes play with a tennis ball in freefall, it's stuffed with lead pellets, not plastic and PCBs.

I never disagreed with the other points ... coming from parachuting, base jumping and paragliding myself.
It still ain't more dense.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

I never disagreed with the other points ... coming from parachuting, base jumping and paragliding myself.
It still ain't more dense.

By "dense", I meant "wingloading", dense in aerodynamic sense, not buoyancy sense. For example, when doing a rockdrop, a flaky, layered slab tossed from the cliff, can fall slower than a jumper, even though it will sink in water as its density is more than 1.0.

 

[Montypaks]

So... if you take the mavic up to say 1000m up, you could free fall for say 10seconds by shutting off the motors using csc, then restarting them and guiding it back home.

 

[OzoneVibe]

So... if you take the mavic up to say 1000m up, you could free fall for say 10seconds by shutting off the motors using csc, then restarting them and guiding it back home.

Don't forget to video the escapade when you test this theory out.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

So... if you take the mavic up to say 1000m up, you could free fall for say 10seconds by shutting off the motors using csc, then restarting them and guiding it back home.

Yeah, there are videos on youtube doing CSC, but I'm too nervous to try it, what if it tumbles faster than it can react with props? (there's some small lag in aerodynamic response) There has been accidents in skydiving (esp. in wingsuiting) where a jumper would be in a flat spin so fast that they can't react fast enough to stop it.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Don't forget to video the escapade when you test this theory out.

Pain is temporary. Glory is forever.

 

[dwallersv]

Wow. So 5000m service ceiling (per manual) is a lie? There's enough air at 10km for Mavic to fly?!

Has been claimed.

 

[dwallersv]

only fly up, then free fall down, hope he had a parachute on the Mavic.

Not a joke, people do it, they stop the motors with the CSC, freefall -- the Mavic is supposedly very stable in autorotation -- CSC the motors back on as you fall through 500-700 ft.

I've never done it, but the altitude record guys use this technique.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

By "dense", I meant "wingloading", dense in aerodynamic sense, not buoyancy sense. For example, when doing a rockdrop, a flaky, layered slab tossed from the cliff, can fall slower than a jumper, even though it will sink in water as its density is more than 1.0.

Actually, I might be wrong, Mavic's average density could be less than water's: Mavic has a volume of what looks like a 1L bottle when folded, so if it was made watertight, it would expel ~1000g of water, while its weight is 734g.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Here is a video of Mavic falling upside down with motors off, only about 38mph (my guesstimate 60mph was wrong):

At 38mph terminal, it would take only 5s to reach it from 0, and only about 200ft/60m. So, folks, a Mavic falling from 30,000ft, won't hit you on the head any harder than from 200ft.

 

[lolo780]

~16m/s freefall near sea level is what I've seen as well.

And there's plenty of air for a rotorcraft beyond 30k ft.
Fred North |  World Altitude Record – 42,500FT

 

[Ping^Spike]

So, folks, a Mavic falling from 30,000ft, won't hit you on the head any harder than from 200f

Good to know I won't be any more dead regardless of the height from which it free-fall killed me

 

[OzoneVibe]

Actually, I might be wrong, Mavic's average density could be less than water's: Mavic has a volume of what looks like a 1L bottle when folded, so if it was made watertight, it would expel ~1000g of water, while its weight is 734g.

I look forward to the "Look! My Mavic actually floats!" video.