flying indoors

[laurencen]

good day all, anyone flying indoors, assume no GPS connection but will the drone maintain altitude? is it stable? thinking I could see the ledges of out vaulted ceiling, its 26 feet at the peak

 

[Cafguy]

I fly Minis and cinewhoops indoors they will maintain their position really well thanks to the sensors on the bottom anything bigger for me would be like asking me to crash it. With no gps I hesitate to fly a Mavic sized drone under a roof.

 

[MA2 317]

Read the manual about how the VPS works for your model since GPS may not be available.

The drone will fly in Atti-Mode and may drift if it can't "see" the floor with VPS.

Prop guards are advised to prevent damage to the aircraft and the structure (home).

Be mindful of prop wash, it may suck you're aircraft to the ceiling or walls if not paying attention to the control sticks.

I flew my Spark inside with prop guards and flew too close to the ceiling and sucked up to it.

It skittered around like an air hockey puck until I could bring it down.

No damage but definitely had an "Oh " moment.

Fly safe.

 

[Sir Maxwell Greene]

Prop guards for sure. I fly often in doors or tight enclosed spaces. Its pretty stable, but for sure you need to be on your toes 101% of the time. You'll quickly learn small corrections work the best. Also, as MA2 317 mentioned, prop wash is a real factor.

 

[Ralph thompson]

I have done this often, as said prop guards are necessary. Things to be aware of;
- You are likely to get magnetic interference. Never fly with magnetic interference. You can solve this by hand launch or as I do, with a small platform mounted on a tripod for launch then land on the ground
- you may not be able to fly higher than 10 ft or so because visual sensors will limit the height. I turn off all sensors but the top sensors can't be turned off, a good thing, so u dont hit the ceiling.
- you have to be 100% eyes on the drone, it will drift quickly because of the prop wash of the walls etc
- be ready for surprises like air conditioning or heaters blowing air
- be aware of fine wires

 

[shawgod]

I have flown indoors a few times. I fly with the prop guards on always. I also turn on work lights that I picked up. These are very bright LED lights used on construction sites. This way it is easier for it to use its sensors. I have normally a darker house.

 

[BetterBizWorks]

Get the Basket prop guards. Remember that if you get too close to walls and ceilings the drone will suck towards them. When going over a chair or table the drone may rise. Check settings. Going from GPS to atti could be a prblem if your RTH is not set to hover. Dont set it to return to home at a high altitude because it will hit the ceiling.

 

[Dee0041]

I have an attic loft over my house 90ft long 32ft wide with a 9ft ceiling. I fly my Mavic Pro Platinum up there with no issues {well until I dropped it in the driveway this morning DUH} and it holds it's position quite well. Now the cine whoops and freestyle drones are a handful due to no leveling or positioning of any kind flying in acro mode.

 

[JimSteadman]

KEEP ALL THE LIGHTS ON! If your drone cannot 'see' and you are flying inside, it will drift and can get out of control. Ask me how I know this...

 

[BobaFut]

Also make sure you are VERY familiar with the process of emergency prop shutdown. You don't want to clip a wall and send your drone flying into a bunch of antique glassware or whatever. I honestly wouldn't fly a DJI drone indoors because of this. At least with an FPV quad, you can shutdown with a button press, but with my Avata, it tends to *not* shut down after an impact and fly off with a mind of its own, even with the emergency shutdown procedure, which is obviously very dangerous. I think Mavics tend to react a bit differently after an impact, but better safe than sorry.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I have flown my Air 2S indoors with and without prop guards and with and without collision sensors on with no problems. It won't go through a doorway with the sensor on but it will in sport mode. I have run it up against the wall with the prop guards and found that they work fine but if you sideshift into a wall and goose it, it will flip up and the tops of the props will hit the wall and the drone will drop to the floor.

 

[a2tomm]

Flying the Air2s and mini3pro in an empty house is not to bad but is nerve racking .toy drones after a bit seem to take on a mind of their own

 

[BetterBizWorks]

I fly for real estate indoors all the time. Set RTH to Hove or land. add propeller protectors, put it on tripod mode. fly slowly and safely, watch you don't get to close to walls or ceiling so you don't get sucked towards them.

 

[Dangerly]

good day all, anyone flying indoors, assume no GPS connection but will the drone maintain altitude? is it stable? thinking I could see the ledges of out vaulted ceiling, its 26 feet at the peak

Absolutely, yes your drone will fly fine indoors just fine, so long as it has a clear enough visual picture. Be sure to use prop guards. Here's an experiment I did way back with the Mavic Air 1 (Yes the 1!) showing that even with the lights out, you can still fly. However you will need to be actively controlling it more as it will drift around from minor wind currents.

I've also done experiments where you start flying indoors, go through a window or door, and then outside. So you start off without a GPS and then you're outside where you want a GPS but don't have one. I've been able to get around this sometimes by starting outside, fly inside, start filming indoors, then fly out and I still have GPS.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

I chase my wife back into the kitchen with mine.

 

[@Rip]

I chase my wife back into the kitchen with mine.

I'm liking that! I finally have an opportunity to do an indoor shot. Just one shot.

With the "toy drone" (during COVID lockdowns) I managed to deadhead all my houseplants and trim the curtains a bit. Then I crashed into the wall and the silly thing dropped into the wall sconce. I have a video but am not sure how to upload it without putting it on my youtube channel. (which I really don't want to do)

Anyway, I gave the toy to my neighbor and he crashed it so many times that he threw it away. Not a drone to use for anything real for sure.

So I digress. Tomorrow I will be doing my first "commercial" indoor shot. With a Mavic 2 Pro. (Don't have time for prop guards) But the structure is mostly empty, and I will use all of the wisdom gained on this thread to be relatively sure I don't hose it.

 

[BetterBizWorks]

I'm liking that! I finally have an opportunity to do an indoor shot. Just one shot.

With the "toy drone" (during COVID lockdowns) I managed to deadhead all my houseplants and trim the curtains a bit. Then I crashed into the wall and the silly thing dropped into the wall sconce. I have a video but am not sure how to upload it without putting it on my youtube channel. (which I really don't want to do)

Anyway, I gave the toy to my neighbor and he crashed it so many times that he threw it away. Not a drone to use for anything real for sure.

So I digress. Tomorrow I will be doing my first "commercial" indoor shot. With a Mavic 2 Pro. (Don't have time for prop guards) But the structure is mostly empty, and I will use all of the wisdom gained on this thread to be relatively sure I don't hose it.

Good Luck. Fly Safely.