Calculate Safe Altitude Over, Not Into Hills

[Skyhawk]

Preview
Hey Mavic Pilots - first post.
I flew RC planes in Iowa for many years as a kid (40 years ago) yikes. Had a few hundred hours or more back then and 10 years ago took it back up with more RC planes, but dropped it after a couple years. Been considering a drone for quite a while so I jumped in with Mavic Pro 8 weeks ago and been putting in bunches of flights. She's far better than I expected. Decided to get the sUAS FAA Part 107 Certification done, for several reasons so that's completed with passing score on the exam 3 weeks ago.

For for a first post I've found a tool I believe some of you may find valuable. If you have something that provides this better than this app, please let me know. Thanks!

The Situation
I'm living and flying in a very hilly area and is great for photos / video of desert scenery, wildlife. The constant question of: "how do I accurately judge from my take-off point altitude, if I am going up to an altitude high enough to clear hills in the distance?" Let alone the trees or power lines that may rise above these hills."

The Challenge
Take measurements of the point from which I will fly from, to the end point with measurements of the hills I will fly over, and determine the maximum hight of any hill to be cleared, in between.

My Solution Used (App)
So my search actually didn't take that long. Though I've not found posts about this or other apps on this site (there very well may be some), I will share this one in the event others are looking for something similar to assist with this issue.
By the way I have NO affiliation or know this app creator in any way. Just sharing a product that works fairly well.

The App is called Elevation. I'm guessing there's a Android ver but I'm on iPhone.

As part of preFlight activity:
- Start the app and I set my first point (aka. my take-off point)
- I then set the farthest point for this leg of the flight (this may be the only leg if I stay on the same bearing flying over and returning home.
- The instructions are worth a read on; clearing the set points to start over, and the process to just add and graph the points, to determine the highest points you will encounter are not as intuitive as it could be.
- The other dislike are the header Ads. I'd pay a small fee $1.99 or so, to remove them!
- The app could be improved with other features like doing the Math and displaying the "ideal altitude" for clearing all hills in between start and end point.
- To state the obvious, I do the math to determine the highest point in the line graph minus take-off altitude.
- Then, make an upward adjustment to that number for clearing power lines and towers, highest trees, etc in the area.
- I now consider I have at least done my due diligence for safety to my aircraft and others on the ground.


So far so good!
Again, if you have another solution, please share it.

So there you go. It's a first post, so feel free to beat it up!
Thanks for reading.

 

[sar104]

On a computer you can also use Google Earth - it allows you to define tracks and display elevation profiles.

 

[gjmphoto]

Preview
Hey Mavic Pilots - first post.
I flew RC planes in Iowa for many years as a kid (40 years ago) yikes. Had a few hundred hours or more back then and 10 years ago took it back up with more RC planes, but dropped it after a couple years. Been considering a drone for quite a while so I jumped in with Mavic Pro 8 weeks ago and been putting in bunches of flights. She's far better than I expected. Decided to get the sUAS FAA Part 107 Certification done, for several reasons so that's completed with passing score on the exam 3 weeks ago.

For for a first post I've found a tool I believe some of you may find valuable. If you have something that provides this better than this app, please let me know. Thanks!

The Situation
I'm living and flying in a very hilly area and is great for photos / video of desert scenery, wildlife. The constant question of: "how do I accurately judge from my take-off point altitude, if I am going up to an altitude high enough to clear hills in the distance?" Let alone the trees or power lines that may rise above these hills."

The Challenge
Take measurements of the point from which I will fly from, to the end point with measurements of the hills I will fly over, and determine the maximum hight of any hill to be cleared, in between.

My Solution Used (App)
So my search actually didn't take that long. Though I've not found posts about this or other apps on this site (there very well may be some), I will share this one in the event others are looking for something similar to assist with this issue.
By the way I have NO affiliation or know this app creator in any way. Just sharing a product that works fairly well.

The App is called Elevation. I'm guessing there's a Android ver but I'm on iPhone.

[...].

I looked but don't see this on Google Play. Who makes the app?

 

[hryzec]

UGCS for pc. Shows nice profile of elevations on you route. It actually uses terrain data and google maps.

 

[Skyhawk]

UGCS for pc. Shows nice profile of elevations on you route. It actually uses terrain data and google maps.

I’ll check it out. Thanks!

 

[Skyhawk]

I looked but don't see this on Google Play. Who makes the app?

Pretty sure it’s iphone only. I looked just now.

 

[Skyhawk]

UGCS for pc. Shows nice profile of elevations on you route. It actually uses terrain data and google maps.

So with all the PC-based altitude calculation programs, what do you do when you’re out in a new location with the drone in the backseat and see an awesome lake with hills all around that you want to safely Capture on video?
Or on a road trip and see a great River or Gorge to take some awesome video. That’s my big issue, when the opportunity arises to capture something really cool, I’m rarely in front of a computer to use these PC bases products.

 

[MavicCF]

So with all the PC-based altitude calculation programs, what do you do when you’re out in a new location with the drone in the backseat and see an awesome lake with hills all around that you want to safely Capture on video?
Or on a road trip and see a great River or Gorge to take some awesome video.

You get an iPhone apparently. Cool app, looks like it could definitely be useful. -CF

 

[radman]

You can also use a number of topographical or hiking apps available for iOS, Android and PCs. I use the Gaia GPS on my iPad, but there many more available. You can lay out a path using several waypoints and get a plot of the elevation changes along the path. I also have hand held Lowrance and Garmin GPS units that have detailed topographic maps, but you may have to purchase more detailed topo maps, because the free maps lack detail. You can even purchase paper topographical maps or download and print them off the internet. The only problem I have is that they keep “improving” the apps, and I have to keep relearning how to use them. Try searching the App Store or Play Store for “hiking” or “topographic mapping” apps. Try out a couple of free ones and find one that provides elevation change graphs along a waypoint path.