I live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, so there's no shortage of ridges and valleys to fly in. One of the destinations I've considered is a (currently) unmanned fire observation tower. Aside from the numbers I'm about to mention, there's no flight restrictions at either the launch site nor the destination.
My launch would be from one ridge at about (according to Google maps) 2400'. The destination is straight across the uninhabited valley, around 5400' away. It's also at about 3200' of elevation or 800' above the launch.
I know vlos by itself would present some challenges, so I know there's an argument against the idea right there. My real question is the difference in altitude. I could fly across the valley at near the launch altitude, then ascend once I'm near the opposing ridge. Along the way, there's views of the river below, a couple seasonal waterfalls to shoot and then the destination itself for some photo ops.
There's also numerous raptors and treacherous terrain (read: impossible) that would swallow the Mavic whole, never to be seen again. Still, it looks so cool.
So, is this one of those ideas better imagined than realized? And, vlos aside (or loss of same), does it violate any rules?
My launch would be from one ridge at about (according to Google maps) 2400'. The destination is straight across the uninhabited valley, around 5400' away. It's also at about 3200' of elevation or 800' above the launch.
I know vlos by itself would present some challenges, so I know there's an argument against the idea right there. My real question is the difference in altitude. I could fly across the valley at near the launch altitude, then ascend once I'm near the opposing ridge. Along the way, there's views of the river below, a couple seasonal waterfalls to shoot and then the destination itself for some photo ops.
There's also numerous raptors and treacherous terrain (read: impossible) that would swallow the Mavic whole, never to be seen again. Still, it looks so cool.
So, is this one of those ideas better imagined than realized? And, vlos aside (or loss of same), does it violate any rules?