Canyons

[John Mcc]

I live in Price Utah, near both mountains and Utah red rock canyons such as Arches and Canyonlands.
I think I have this question figured out , but I want to be sure.
Say I'm standing near the rim of a deep canyon with a shear drop of say 800 ft.
I'm flying maybe 100 ft up from where I'm standing.
What happens when I fly over the precipice?
Here is what I think:...I hope,
the altitude on my display will show - 900 ft.
When I fly back it will show + 100 ft.
Am I correct?

Regards,

John

 

[dirkclod]

No it only shows height from your take off point.
If you flew out and then below your take off point it would show negative elevation.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

I live in Price Utah, near both mountains and Utah red rock canyons such as Arches and Canyonlands.
I think I have this question figured out , but I want to be sure.
Say I'm standing near the rim of a deep canyon with a shear drop of say 800 ft.
I'm flying maybe 100 ft up from where I'm standing.
What happens when I fly over the precipice?
Here is what I think:...I hope,
the altitude on my display will show - 900 ft.
When I fly back it will show + 100 ft.
Am I correct?

Regards,

John

No, on the Mavic Pro at least (and AFAIK all DJI drones) it shows you the altitude above take-off. The drone doesn't have any way to know how far below it the ground is unless it's within 30 feet or so of the ground. You've just got to get to know what the hight on any mountains/obstacles is.

 

[old man mavic]

I live in Price Utah, near both mountains and Utah red rock canyons such as Arches and Canyonlands.
I think I have this question figured out , but I want to be sure.
Say I'm standing near the rim of a deep canyon with a shear drop of say 800 ft.
I'm flying maybe 100 ft up from where I'm standing.
What happens when I fly over the precipice?
Here is what I think:...I hope,
the altitude on my display will show - 900 ft.
When I fly back it will show + 100 ft.
Am I correct?

Regards,

John

welcome to the forum, the height reading will not change till you decide to lose altitude after you have flown over the edge,it will come down to zero as you get level with the edge then change to a negative level as you descend further ,the reading shown on the screen during flight is above the home point
the drone does not show a fairly accurate AGL reading unless the area you are flying over is a large flat area

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Welcome to the forum! My father grew up in Price, Utah. I have lots of fond memories of exploring the beautiful area down there. Looks like posters above me have covered the above ground level thing. (The Mavic always reports altitude based on height above its take-off point.) So I'll just say that I hope you share all kinds of cool shots from your flights in your part of our beautiful state.

 

[John Mcc]

I live in Price Utah, near both mountains and Utah red rock canyons such as Arches and Canyonlands.
I think I have this question figured out , but I want to be sure.
Say I'm standing near the rim of a deep canyon with a shear drop of say 800 ft.
I'm flying maybe 100 ft up from where I'm standing.
What happens when I fly over the precipice?
Here is what I think:...I hope,
the altitude on my display will show - 900 ft.
When I fly back it will show + 100 ft.
Am I correct?

Regards,

John

Ok, I get it
Many of these canyons drop straight down 800 to 1000 ft.
I doubt I have the courage to fly to the bottom and back up.
Glad to hear the drone will keep flying.
I will probably just fly over the rim a ways , take a short video and some pics and come back.
When I do how do I post the video & pics here or can't I?

73 de John K7JHM

 

[IShouldBeWorking]

Ok, I get it
Many of these canyons drop straight down 800 to 1000 ft.
I doubt I have the courage to fly to the bottom and back up.
Glad to hear the drone will keep flying.
I will probably just fly over the rim a ways , take a short video and some pics and come back.
When I do how do I post the video & pics here or can't I?

73 de John K7JHM

Oh yeah! You'll be fine. I've flown all around cliffs near Moab and my Mavic did great. It feels a little funny when your altitude reads negative on the screen, but just keep an eye on your drone's actual position and you'll be fine. Sometimes the wind can behave weird around cliffs and canyons. So just keep an eye out for that as well.

You can host pictures directly here on the forum with the little picture button on the post toolbar. It'll upload them for us to see. Videos need to be hosted at YouTube, Vimeo or somewhere else. Then you can link them in a post here using the "..." button in the post toolbar. Happy flying!

 

[old man mavic]

if you want to post pics then click the Attach files icon at the bottom of the post window,for vids i believe you have to do it through youtube
just a couple of points from the flying point of view in canyons, remember that wind patterns fairly close to the sides, can have very different direction patterns, due to the ever changing up draughts and wind shear that the steep sides can produce
and also be aware that the further you venture down a canyon, you increase the risk of losing GPS lock and if this happens then the drone will be in ATTI mode and be even more susceptable to the changing winds one final thing make sure you have a safe secure position to fly from as you need to keep a VLOS between yourself and the drone and RC

 

[dirkclod]

Ok, I get it
Many of these canyons drop straight down 800 to 1000 ft.
I doubt I have the courage to fly to the bottom and back up.
Glad to hear the drone will keep flying.
I will probably just fly over the rim a ways , take a short video and some pics and come back.
When I do how do I post the video & pics here or can't I?

73 de John K7JHM

Ok hate to be the one to start this but seems you don’t know.
You have to not go higher than 400’
When you fly over the rim of one of those say 1000’ drops even though your legal where you take off at 100’ that will change as then you will really be at 1100’.
I don’t have the chart that shows handy on my pad but maybe someone will throw it up and explan this better than I can.

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you got your answer. You will find plenty of support and assistance here in the forum. We look forward to seeing your part of the world.

 

[John Mcc]

Ok hate to be the one to start this but seems you don’t know.
You have to not go higher than 400’
When you fly over the rim of one of those say 1000’ drops even though your legal where you take off at 100’ that will change as then you will really be at 1100’.
I don’t have the chart that shows handy on my pad but maybe someone will throw it up and explan this better than I can.

I do understand the 400Ft limit. And I see your point.
However, the areas I plan to fly are very remote and I have never seen any aircraft anywhere near and certainly not down in the middle of the canyon itself.
I am not talking about any of our national parks, but areas that I ride my horse through and are only accessible with 4wd vehicles.

Regards,

John

 

[dirkclod]

I do understand the 400Ft limit. And I see your point.
However, the areas I plan to fly are very remote and I have never seen any aircraft anywhere near and certainly not down in the middle of the canyon itself.
I am not talking about any of our national parks, but areas that I ride my horse through and are only accessible with 4wd vehicles.

Regards,

John

Ok I wasn’t sure if you were up on the guidelines or not and why I posted that. You do as you see fit but it don’t matter
where you are 400’ is 400’ anywhere. Even in remote spots.
Not trying to debate it was just wanting to inform you.
Stay safe and also look forward to seeing some of your
pictures.?

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

Welcome from your neighboring State, the mountains of Colorado!

 

[Thomas B]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.

 

[FlyingFilmmaker]

I do understand the 400Ft limit. And I see your point.
However, the areas I plan to fly are very remote and I have never seen any aircraft anywhere near and certainly not down in the middle of the canyon itself.
I am not talking about any of our national parks, but areas that I ride my horse through and are only accessible with 4wd vehicles.

Regards,

John

This is true, BUT, at least under Part 107 regulations, you are still legal as long as you are within 400' horizontal of the canyon wall.

So if the canyon is 800 feet wide you can legally fly all the way over it but if it's 820 feet wide and 800 feet deep, you would technically have to go 400 feet out, then go down 400 feet, then go over 20 feet, then come back up 400 feet, then fly the other 400 feet to reach the other side. Now the likelihood of an aircraft being in the canyon is probably very small but that's what the FAA regs are if you want to be 100% legal.

Again this is for the Part 107 certification so the recreational rules may be different but I think they are similar. Anyway, don't take my word for it; you need to research it for yourself if you want to be 100% sure.

 

[John Mcc]

Ok I wasn’t sure if you were up on the guidelines or not and why I posted that. You do as you see fit but it don’t matter
where you are 400’ is 400’ anywhere. Even in remote spots.
Not trying to debate it was just wanting to inform you.
Stay safe and also look forward to seeing some of your
pictures.?

Okey Dokey, Tnx for the explanation. I knew about the 400 ft level but was confused about flying over the edge of a canyon wall.
I still would get the hereby jeebies flying out into a canyon.

I will be going to the Utah canyon country next Thurs. hopefully with some pics.

John

 

[John Mcc]

Welcome from your neighboring State, the mountains of Colorado!

Thank you, there sure are a lot of nice people on this site.
My brother lives in Parachute and my son lives in Evergreen, so I'm in CO a lot.

John

 

[John Mcc]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.

I don't get down to AZ much, but if you come north look me up here in Price.

John

 

[John Mcc]

This is true, BUT, at least under Part 107 regulations, you are still legal as long as you are within 400' horizontal of the canyon wall.

So if the canyon is 800 feet wide you can legally fly all the way over it but if it's 820 feet wide and 800 feet deep, you would technically have to go 400 feet out, then go down 400 feet, then go over 20 feet, then come back up 400 feet, then fly the other 400 feet to reach the other side. Now the likelihood of an aircraft being in the canyon is probably very small but that's what the FAA regs are if you want to be 100% legal.

Again this is for the Part 107 certification so the recreational rules may be different but I think they are similar. Anyway, don't take my word for it; you need to research it for yourself if you want to be 100% sure.

I think I get what your saying but I don't know where to read a copy of Part 107 (FAA??)
I am a Ham radio operator so I am familiar with part 97 of the FCC rules and the ARRL has free copies of FCC regs.
Much as I hate to say it , I guess I could Google it .

John

 

[dirkclod]

I think I get what your saying but I don't know where to read a copy of Part 107 (FAA??)
I am a Ham radio operator so I am familiar with part 97 of the FCC rules and the ARRL has free copies of FCC regs.
Much as I hate to say it , I guess I could Google it .

John

No need to google it we have a rules and Reg section.

sUAV Rules & Regulations

Discuss Rules and Regulations for US and other Countries (FAA, CAA, etc.)

mavicpilots.com

Just do a search and you will find many threads on it.
Heres another site. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...faa.gov/uas/&usg=AOvVaw07wPEHMrkKncpuRJpAuyBG