400 foot maximum altitude and mountains

[PBDawg]

Do you normally have your max altitude set to 400ft.

Well, here in Canada the legal maximum altitude is 122 meters (which is equivalent to 400 feet) and the DJI Fly app shows distance and altitude in meters when set-up for Canadian use. Most of the time, I set the max altitude to 70 meters, which is enough to clear the larger trees here in British Columbia. In the case of my flight up the mountain, I set the maximum altitude to the limit of what DJI Fly allows: 500 meters.

 

[Badgersurfer]

So can the Flight Altitude setting in DJIGo4 app be altered whilst in flight? (i.e. if you are ascending a 1200 ft slope you could change (in flight) the Altitude from the normal 400 to 1200 or up to the 500m limit) I get the idea by these posts that it cannot...

 

[Meta4]

So can the Flight Altitude setting in DJIGo4 app be altered whilst in flight? (i.e. if you are ascending a 1200 ft slope you could change (in flight) the Altitude from the normal 400 to 1200 or up to the 500m limit) I get the idea by these posts that it cannot...

You can change it anytime.
In flight or not.

 

[PBDawg]

So can the Flight Altitude setting in DJIGo4 app be altered whilst in flight? (i.e. if you are ascending a 1200 ft slope you could change (in flight) the Altitude from the normal 400 to 1200 or up to the 500m limit) I get the idea by these posts that it cannot...

I don't think that I was able to change the maximum height while in flight, but I'm not using DJIGo4. I have a Mavic Mini and I'm using the DJI Fly app.

 

[Riteguy]

I have a Mavic Pro using the DJIGo4 app and the app simply won't allow me to set anything above 400' at anytime. How is it so many are talking about going up to 500 meters?

 

[Emanáku]

.... I used the trick to get over the top of the Santan Mtns behind my house... you get something like my vid below after editing out the landing at distance.
....

Wow, quite a journey.... How do you find a safe spot for landing and taking off again? (Maybe my Mavic Mini would not be well suited for such an adventure ).

 

[Tatankha]

How come the gps in mavic air 2 can’t tell what altitude (AGL]your are all the time???

 

[SkyeHigh]

How come the gps in mavic air 2 can’t tell what altitude (AGL]your are all the time???

GPS altitude is only accurate to approximately 10 to 20-metres. Barometric sensors ‘can’ be accurate to around 10cm though in general use quite a bit higher.

A barometric reading is taken prior to take-off and used as an AGL reference. Accurate vertical positioning for hover and precision landing use the downward facing sensors from around 30-metres and below.

 

[dawgpilot]

How come the gps in mavic air 2 can’t tell what altitude (AGL]your are all the time???

Because GPS altitude isn't in reference to ground level. It's a calculated height above a model of sea level with no knowledge of the specific ground height at your location.

 

[Meta4]

I have a Mavic Pro using the DJIGo4 app and the app simply won't allow me to set anything above 400' at anytime. How is it so many are talking about going up to 500 meters?

The setting is in the drone so you have to reset when the drone is connected.
Just change the Max Altitude limit setting.

 

[Meta4]

How come the gps in mavic air 2 can’t tell what altitude (AGL] you are all the time???

Your Mavic doesn't use GPS for altitude data.
It uses a barometric sensor.
And as mentioned in post #49, GPS doesn't have any way to show height above ground level anyway.

 

[Thomas B]

Wow, quite a journey.... How do you find a safe spot for landing and taking off again? (Maybe my Mavic Mini would not be well suited for such an adventure ).

Just looked for a flat area that was tilted enough toward me to be sure I could see the drone for controller function.

 

[Heavydpj]

A little confused by this. This weekend I went leaf peeping (viewing foliage colors) I was on the level staring at a small hill/mountain with it's elevation at 1500 feet. On my ground level elevation, I understand that I could fly to 400 feet but I wanted to fly up to the peak of that small mountain with the 1500 foot elevation. That meant that I had to rise another 1100 feet. (which I did not)

If I was on the peak of that mountain, does that mean I could fly another 400 feet up? but from my base elevation, I would not fly up that mountain? Thanks in advance for the clarification.

Difficult to understand your question. Are you asking ...

-How high the FAA will allow you to fly in this scenario? (YES- you are allowed to fly 400' over the highest obstacle, as long as you maintain LOS / 1,900' MSL), or
- Whether your craft will allow you to fly more than 400 feet above the launch altitude. Maybe, maybe not, but that's a DJO controller issue, as none of the crafts in the DJI line have actual radar altimeters that can judge actual AGL. They have a barometric altimeter that measures from the launch point, so all altitude is in reference to that.

Flip side is that when I launch from a hill, I get negative altitude, lol

 

[Meta4]

- Whether your craft will allow you to fly more than 400 feet above the launch altitude. Maybe, maybe not, but that's a DJI controller issue

All DJI drones are capable of flying up to 500 metres higher than their launch point.

 

[Thomas B]

Difficult to understand your question. Are you asking ...

-How high the FAA will allow you to fly in this scenario? (YES- you are allowed to fly 400' over the highest obstacle, as long as you maintain LOS / 1,900' MSL), or
- Whether your craft will allow you to fly more than 400 feet above the launch altitude. Maybe, maybe not, but that's a DJO controller issue, as none of the crafts in the DJI line have actual radar altimeters that can judge actual AGL. They have a barometric altimeter that measures from the launch point, so all altitude is in reference to that.

Flip side is that when I launch from a hill, I get negative altitude, lol

Recommend reading the entire post.,,, all is clarified and answered previously.

 

[RocketmanTurbo]

Thank you all for replying to the thread which I began. Invaluable information and greatly appreciated. With diagrams and all...WOW!

I think I now understand. At the base of that mountain, 400 feet is my max. If I want to fly up to the 1500 foot peak, and I am too lazy to climb up to the top, (lol) I would then need to land at 400 feet up the mountain, take off again and fly up another 400 feet etc. etc. until I reach the peak....Or, I could just climb up the dang thing and take off from the peak and fly up another 400 feet if I wanted.... Thanks again all.

 

[Badgersurfer]

Thank you all for replying to the thread which I began. Invaluable information and greatly appreciated. With diagrams and all...WOW!

I think I now understand. At the base of that mountain, 400 feet is my max. If I want to fly up to the 1500 foot peak, and I am too lazy to climb up to the top, (lol) I would then need to land at 400 feet up the mountain, take off again and fly up another 400 feet etc. etc. until I reach the peak....Or, I could just climb up the dang thing and take off from the peak and fly up another 400 feet if I wanted.... Thanks again all.

Can I suggest that you purchase a Lume Cube Strobe for your Mavic, then if YOU DO decide to climb up it you can just hit RTH button and the emergency services will be able to find you more easily... ?

 

[RocketmanTurbo]

Can I suggest that you purchase a Lume Cube Strobe for your Mavic, then if YOU DO decide to climb up it you can just hit RTH button and the emergency services will be able to find you more easily... ?

hahahaha, ok, will do...lol

 

[brettbrandon]

Thank you all for replying to the thread which I began. Invaluable information and greatly appreciated. With diagrams and all...WOW!

I think I now understand. At the base of that mountain, 400 feet is my max. If I want to fly up to the 1500 foot peak, and I am too lazy to climb up to the top, (lol) I would then need to land at 400 feet up the mountain, take off again and fly up another 400 feet etc. etc. until I reach the peak....Or, I could just climb up the dang thing and take off from the peak and fly up another 400 feet if I wanted.... Thanks again all.

There is no need to land every 400 feet. DJI's built in limit is 1500 feet above the takeoff point.

 

[Thomas B]

There is no need to land every 400 feet. DJI's built in limit is 1500 feet above the takeoff point.

Actually 1600’. Check out post #37 above to see how to legally top out higher objects with a stock drone... the method illustrated was legal flight and allow me to “see” over the top of a 2200’ mountain.