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Can you fly a mini 4 pro at night?

John Gowland

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I've looked around a fair bit and in certain places and under certain conditions you can! I was very surprised.
Because of the debate for and against and the questionability of it should you do it? Would make for some amazing footage, not saying I have done it.
 
Legal aspects aside why would day/night affect a drone?
I'd have thought that as far as the drone is concerned the only difference is that the visible light sensor systems won't work at night, i.e. OA and VPS.
From memory, the landing protection will probably work as it has its own 'light' source, an IR emitter.
VPS might work low down if the drone has a landing light and it is switched on, from memory it does with the m2p/z or rhw ground is illuminated by some means.
 
If it's legal, why wouldn't you? (& the DJI drone model shouldn't matter here)

-Scout out the flight route during daylight for all kind of obstacles, trees, power lines, ground height differences, hills, buildings... try not to deviate from the plan, just flying around isn't equally risk free as during day time.

-Make sure you have a proper HP... that will be your anchor point to use if you get disoriented as you mainly can't see ground objects... just shortly initiate RTH to get the drone turned in the " Home" direction & then follow the line to the HP seen on the app map & fly manually... or let it fly the whole way home by it self if you prefer that.

-The map view can also be more useful than the live view during night flying... that will tell you where your drone is horizontally & the drone icon will tell you the orientation.

-Set the RTH height so you are sure it avoids all possible obstacles back to HP.

-Make sure that the failsafe action is RTH & nothing else.

-Equip the drone with what's needed (LED's) in order to follow VLOS (& as during daytime... you should be able to determine the orientation of the drone) .

-Be aware that OD & VPS sensors most probably won't work.

-Take into account that drift during hover will be wider than usual, this as the VPS sensors can't lock to ground, so you're only relying in the GPS accuracy.

-And once ascended up to the cruising height just above the HP... look around a bit there & familiarize your self with how it looks, both around the HP & memorize other lit objects that can guide you with orientation & finding the HP later.
 
If it's legal, why wouldn't you? (& the DJI drone model shouldn't matter here)

-Scout out the flight route during daylight for all kind of obstacles, trees, power lines, ground height differences, hills, buildings... try not to deviate from the plan, just flying around isn't equally risk free as during day time.

-Make sure you have a proper HP... that will be your anchor point to use if you get disoriented as you mainly can't see ground objects... just shortly initiate RTH to get the drone turned in the " Home" direction & then follow the line to the HP seen on the app map & fly manually... or let it fly the whole way home by it self if you prefer that.

-The map view can also be more useful than the live view during night flying... that will tell you where your drone is horizontally & the drone icon will tell you the orientation.

-Set the RTH height so you are sure it avoids all possible obstacles back to HP.

-Make sure that the failsafe action is RTH & nothing else.

-Equip the drone with what's needed (LED's) in order to follow VLOS (& as during daytime... you should be able to determine the orientation of the drone) .

-Be aware that OD & VPS sensors most probably won't work.

-Take into account that drift during hover will be wider than usual, this as the VPS sensors can't lock to ground, so you're only relying in the GPS accuracy.

-And once ascended up to the cruising height just above the HP... look around a bit there & familiarize your self with how it looks, both around the HP & memorize other lit objects that can guide you with orientation & finding the HP later.
With dozens of night flights under my belt, I found your post to be a great list of important points to practice. At times I find myself being a little more cavalier than I ought to be, and that is a dangerous attitude to let creep in ESPECIALLY with night flights. Thank you for these 'reminders' and, (for me,) a wake-up call, especially confirming the fails safe action is RTH and nothing else! Great Post!
 
I've looked around a fair bit and in certain places and under certain conditions you can! I was very surprised.
Because of the debate for and against and the questionability of it should you do it? Would make for some amazing footage, not saying I have done it.
With the exception of 3-mile certified light beacons, flying during the night is no different legally than flying during the day. In the USA you need to make sure your drone is equipped with 3 mile light beacons.

Oh, and Post #4 points out things to keep in mind when night flying.
 
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You need strobe light to fly at night. A strobe puts you over 249 gram weight limit for registration purposes as I understand.
 
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I swear that Mini 4 Pro is an amazing camera and I just believe that it would compete with any camera drone in the most difficult situation for a camera, low light or night.
I don't mean zooming in or projecting it onto a huge screen but to the human eye is there really a difference?
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