High altitude flying with Mavic Mini

Paleomanjim · Aug 17, 2020

Here is some recent video taken with Mavic Mini from the Schell Mountain range in Eastern Nevada. Some of the flying approached elevations of 10,000'. Speeds and climbing rates were similar to lower elevations, the only noticeable difference being shorter flight times due to faster battery drain, probably around 30% faster battery drain above 8000'. I flew to the top of several peaks nearby, one of which was likely 2000' above my campsite. The max altitude of the Mavic Mini is 1640' so I was unable to reach the summit of that peak, even though I had plenty of battery remaining for perhaps another 1000' of gain. The question I have is why is the Mini restricted by controls to a max of 1640'? It is legal to fly higher so long as the drone remains below 400' AGL. It there any way to bypass this limit? We have many high steep mountains here in the west and it is exciting to fly to the summits to peak over the other side. Anyway, this was an awesome place to fly with great landscapes and a good variety of trees.

Thomas B · Aug 17, 2020

Land and don’t power off. Wait 20-30 seconds and the take off... with a new 1600’ of allied above you... just be aware of where the drone thinks the ground is at your mission end point.

if you fly out of VLOS the aircraft can’t be controlled until you regain radio contact... it wil follow the programmed directive autonomously.

Deleted member 103366 · Aug 18, 2020

From my experiments with a mini (just done) and from memory with an M2P it is the actual stopping of the motors that resets the indicated height to zero. I was able to land the mini, as in firmly sat on the ground but with the props running, and maybe a second later take off again and the indicated height did not reset nor was the homepoint affected. But as soon as I stopped the motors the indicated height went to zero. Left to its own devices if the mini remains landed for 'too long' the motors shut off, I am not sure if you can counter this with a little throttle

Be aware, the subsequent motor start and more likely the actual take off resets the home point to the new take off point, with all the implications for an RTH that follow from that. This caught me out with a Phantom and it nearly went swimming as a consequence.
If you do it then, shortly after taking off again, I would suggest resetting the home point to the controller's location. That probably means your phone would need a good GPS lock and or the app would need a good map of the flying area.
Also be aware there are battery charge-level thresholds below which the mini will not take off or even start is motors. That said by the time they are likely to become active I would have said you should be on the return journey but it might be worth investigating if distance from you enters into such considerations and that might be difficult to investigate.

You can also probably hack the drone's software and either remove or replace the absolute ceiling ........BUT......that will almost certainly invalidate your warranty.

ff22 · Aug 18, 2020

Paleomanjim said:
Here is some recent video taken with Mavic Mini from the Schell Mountain range in Eastern Nevada. Some of the flying approached elevations of 10,000'. Speeds and climbing rates were similar to lower elevations, the only noticeable difference being shorter flight times due to faster battery drain, probably around 30% faster battery drain above 8000'. I flew to the top of several peaks nearby, one of which was likely 2000' above my campsite. The max altitude of the Mavic Mini is 1640' so I was unable to reach the summit of that peak, even though I had plenty of battery remaining for perhaps another 1000' of gain. The question I have is why is the Mini restricted by controls to a max of 1640'? It is legal to fly higher so long as the drone remains below 400' AGL. It there any way to bypass this limit? We have many high steep mountains here in the west and it is exciting to fly to the summits to peak over the other side. Anyway, this was an awesome place to fly with great landscapes and a good variety of trees.

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Can't answer your questions but loved the video. What wonderful terrain. Thanks for sharing.

edited to add: And then stumbled upon your Crowley Lake Columns video. WOW. I've driven past Crowley Lake a number of times in adventures in the Sierra and Bristlecone Pine, White Mt area but did not know about the columns.

Paleomanjim · Aug 19, 2020

ff22 said:
Can't answer your questions but loved the video. What wonderful terrain. Thanks for sharing.

edited to add: And then stumbled upon your Crowley Lake Columns video. WOW. I've driven past Crowley Lake a number of times in adventures in the Sierra and Bristlecone Pine, White Mt area but did not know about the columns.

Thanks for the comments.

Yeah, the Crowley lake columns were a must see for us. The article I read said you might need a 4 wheel drive to get there but the first section of the road was so steep and rough that even 4 wheel drives were parked for the hike in. But well worth the hike, hard to believe nature can make something so strange.

I guess I live with the 1640' elevation limit. Way too risky to land on the side of a mountain. If the Mini had leg extensions it might be OK, but I find it hard to take off and land even in camp because the propellers sweep 1/2" above ground, so even small pebbles and grass are an issue. I use the case for take offs and always land on my hand to save props. Appreciate the suggestions.