Am I no longer able to fly up the side of a mountain?

[ColoradoSwede]

I just tried to fly up the side of a mountain. The DJI software would not allow my to set the maximum altitude above 120m. I tried to set it higher but it told me I would have to accept responsibility. I said “yes” but then it automatically went back to 120m. The reason I tried to increase it was because the aircraft was not able to fly above 120 ATG from my launch site even though I was following the contour of the mountain as it rose up the mountainside. I was eventually only 10m above ground level but 120m above my launch point and as such I could not go higher up the mountain. (I was only about 600 ft horizontal from my launch point). So in essence the aircraft did not allow me to continue up the mountainside. Will this always be the case now? Am I never again allowed to fly up the side of a mountain? My understanding was I could fly up the mountainside as long as I maintained 400 ft above ground level but my maximum altitude setting did not allow me to continue up the mountainside…..

 

[Glenh]

It seems ok if you launch from a cliff and fly at 10m above ground level whereas you are effectively maybe 200m above ground level when you fly forward. Wondering what my RTH altitude should have been?? And RTH location? Anyway I got back safely. A bit wacky. There must be a work around.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I know we're in the M2P forum area, but Just checking: this is DJI Go 4?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

If you are using the Go4 app what version is it? No trouble setting 500m here, ver 4.3.37 Android, it flew but I didn't test the actual limit as this was indoors.

 

[ColoradoSwede]

Yes, I am using DJI GO 4....on the Smart Controller for my Mavic 2 Pro. I do not fly it much but the last outing a year or so ago I was able to fly up mountain slopes without any problems. Prior to flying this time I updated the software and now I am limited to 120m. That in itself would be OK except the ceiling is not adjusted as I move up the mountain slope. The aircraft stopped gaining altitude at the 120m ATG limit as determined from my launch position and did not allow me to fly higher even as I tried to move up the mountain slope. When the slope to aircraft altitude became under 10m I obvious stopped because I was going to crash the aircraft into the mountainside. It did not allow me to increase the altitude relative to the positional altitude of the aircraft at that real time geographic position. So again, its appears that we are unable to ever fly above 400ft (120m) from the ATG launch site regardless of the ground below the aircraft at any particular time. Is this correct?

 

[FLDave]

What is your actual elevation at takeoff, based on contour maps and other geographic information?
What is ATG?

 

[ColoradoSwede]

Sorry AGL is what I meant. I started at 9800 ft and wanted to fly up the mountain (12,200 ft) along a route I wanted to hike. As I started to fly up the mountain keeping near the hiking trail and the slope of the mountain rose, the aircraft stopped ascending at the 120m limit from my launch altitude. It would not allow me to keep ascending up the mountain regardless of the fact that the actual altitude AGL of the aircraft was decreasing as I tried to fly up it.
Another way of explaining it was I tried to keep under the 120m ceiling AGL as I flew up the mountain, but the aircraft stopped ascending at the 120m point above my launch altitude regardless of the fact that the aircraft was less than 120m above the ground relative to the aircraft's real position on the mountain.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

That in itself would be OK except the ceiling is not adjusted as I move up the mountain slope.

The explanation for that is, all height, excluding that shown for the VPS system, is measured relative to the take off point and not the terrain.

So again, its appears that we are unable to ever fly above 400ft (120m) from the ATG launch site regardless of the ground below the aircraft at any particular time. Is this correct?

As in post #4 I have just set a 500m ceiling, it was obviously accepted and the drone flew.

 

[FLDave]

Just to clarify, you started at 9,800 above sea level and attempted to fly higher and were stopped at 400 feet above takeoff; that would be at 10,200 feet above sea level. If not, please provide specific details.

 

[Meta4]

So again, its appears that we are unable to ever fly above 400ft (120m) from the ATG launch site regardless of the ground below the aircraft at any particular time. Is this correct?

That's not correct.

 

[ColoradoSwede]

My Smart Controller rejected any attempt to set the maximum altitude above 120m. When I put in something higher it told me that I would have to take responsibility for flying above the limit. I accepted the warming on the app but it then automatically readjusted the maximum altitude to 120m (it rejected attempts to reset it at 121m!!!).

 

[ColoradoSwede]

Just to clarify, you started at 9,800 above sea level and attempted to fly higher and were stopped at 400 feet above takeoff; that would be at 10,200 feet above sea level. If not, please provide specific details.

That is correct. It would not fly higher than 10,200 ft regardless of the fact that the aircraft was only 10m above the actual ground level relative to the position of the aircraft.

 

[ColoradoSwede]

That's not correct.

If you post your flight data, it might have some clues to solve your mystery.

This is exactly the area I tried to reset the Maximum Altitude. It refused to accept any value above 120m.

 

[FLDave]

That is correct. It would not fly higher than 10,200 ft regardless of the fact that the aircraft was only 10m above the actual ground level relative to the position of the aircraft.

Above ground level is not relevant to maximum altitude as the drone does not measure above ground after takeoff, except to land.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Just a point, I think three separate heights are being talked about by various people
1) Height above the take off point, which is what ColoradoSwede is concerned about and this is what DJI limit, to 500m for most people but seemingly 120m for ColoradoSwede. This is most definitely known to the drone, it is the basis of the settable height limitation.
2) Height above the ground, again a concern for ColoradoSwede. Not known to the drone UNLESS the ground is withing the range of the VPS system.
3) Height above sea level, which is a limitation introduced by the mechanics of flight with the M2P's limit being around 6000m. So at 10,000ft ~ 3000m this is of no concern in this flight. I think this in 'known' to the drone via the air's pressure.

The question is whether or not the update of something, of what? and to what version? introduced a reduced maximum height above the take off point.
Nothing else is relevant in ColoradoSwede's circumstances.

 

[ColoradoSwede]

Just a point, I think three separate heights are being talked about by various people
1) Height above the take off point, which is what ColoradoSwede is concerned about and this is what DJI limit, to 500m for most people but seemingly 120m for ColoradoSwede. This is most definitely known to the drone, it is the basis of the settable height limitation.
2) Height above the ground, again a concern for ColoradoSwede. Not known to the drone UNLESS the ground is withing the range of the VPS system.
3) Height above sea level, which is a limitation introduced by the mechanics of flight with the M2P's limit being around 6000m. So at 10,000ft ~ 3000m this is of no concern in this flight. I think this in 'known' to the drone via the air's pressure.

The question is whether or not the update of something, of what? and to what version? introduced a reduced maximum height above the take off point.
Nothing else is relevant in ColoradoSwede's circumstances.

You are correct. Thank you.
#1) I did get the "Maximum Altitude" to now accept 500m. I do not know why it would not accept a higher value onsite (in the mountains) but I'm home on WiFi now and did make that change (after accepting the required warning in doing so).......(AND.... I do not think that should have been a limitation on me being able to change the value). My software was updated prior to launch and remains current and up-to-date.

#2) Again, for some reason I could not get the M2P to fly higher than 10,200 feet (which was 400 ft higher than launch altitude)..... the controller stated I had reached the highest altitude limit (equivalent to 120m in the Maximum Altitude" setting) when it stopped me from continuing to fly up the mountainside. (My range is set at 5000m just so as to be a non-issue...and in no way would I ever fly any near that far from me).

#3 The M2P has a flying ceiling of about 17,000+ ft so my altitude would not be a consideration.

It remains to be seen if I am now able to fly up the mountainside, but I am going hiking again this week to the same area and I want to see if anything has changed. I am concerned that I would still be limited in my attempt to fly up the mountainside by the 500m setting for Maximum Altitude. If that becomes the limiting parameter then the aircraft should stop climbing at about 11,400 or so feet. I am curious if it will allow me up the side of the mountain at all.

My remote location in a narrow valley surrounded closely by 12,000+ foot peaks miles and miles from the nearest town (Ouray, CO) should not have any flight restrictions (it is not a wilderness area but just National Forest)....but I will double check to make sure I did not miss something.

I will return to this thread after my attempt this weekend. In the meantime I would love any other suggestions anyone would have as to my situation. Thank you all so far for showing concern and your help at trying to help me solve this problem.

 

[FLDave]

Are you getting good satellite numbers while in the mountains? How your cell/internet connection in the mountains? It probably doesn't matter but any new information might help in some way.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

EDIT ......oooops I see that I missed that you have now been able to set the limit to 500m.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I’ve never tried flying in DJI flysafe map areas that are restricted in altitude, or even if there are altitude restrictions.
I know there are no fly areas that make no sense, near small uncontrolled airports and some other quirky spots here, you can’t even start up though without going through the unlock processes.
Check your airspace app for anything too, but find the DJI flysafe map online and take a look, just to confirm nothing strange limiting altitude where you were.

 

[FLDave]

just out of curiosity, which trail or river are you following. It looks like extremely challenging terrain (Google maps and terrain views). It like mountains, mountains, and then more mountains. My days of hiking in mountains are a distant past. I do hope you can get some good picture to show, especially to show the wide view