Altitude and flying over the edge of a cliff

[zach5150]

First I apologize if this has been covered in the manual or on this forum extensively. I know I've seen the topic come up but I can't find anything meaningful when I search here or the manual.

If I take off from the top of a hill or mountain and fly over the edge of it, what altitude will my aircraft report? Let's say I ascend to 100ft ATO (above take off). As long as I'm flying in that immediate area, I'm also 100 ft AGL (above ground level).

If I fly over a cliff with a 200 foot drop, I'll still be 100 ft ATO but 300 ft AGL.

-What will the Mavic indicate as my altitude at that point?

-What happens if I DESCEND below the take off point, to 150 ft AGL (50 ft below take off point).

-What happens if I hit RTH? (Say RTH is set for 120 feet ATO point) and I'm still over the cliff flying at 300 ft AGL? Or below the take off point altitude?


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[halley]

The Mavic does not know where the ground is. Anything you stated AGL is in your mind, not in the Mavic. Everything you can see in the Mavic is converted and calculated from your takeoff position. Take off at 800 m AMSL, that is now 0 ATO. Fly anywhere you want up to your configured maximum altitude (default 120 m ATO, max configurable 500 m ATO). Fly underneath your feet if you're on a bridge or cliff (-20 m ATO). Makes no difference. If you hit RTH, and you are above the RTH altitude, it will fly level. If you hit RTH, and you are below the RTH altitude, it will fly upward until it reaches that altitude, then it will fly level.

 

[erkme73]

I fly over a 1000' drop at my vacation property regularly. The altitude reported is always ATO. If you descend below the takeoff point, the value turns negative. When you trigger RTH it will return to a positive ATO level, at the height you specify for RTH.

 

[IcySparks]

Interesting info, was also curious to know. I'm also thankful he spelled descend correctly as these spell-correcting-people here are CRAZY!

 

[zach5150]

Awesome. Thanks very much for all of your replies!

 

[anim@l]

So the altitude reported is relative to take off point. THAT is quite interesting! So much different that using a barometer, radio-altimeter or gps to calculate altitude - those DJI engineers were really considering what would be most useful to hobbyists flying drones.