How High to Fly (FPV confidence)

[Kazzaaz]

Having been through my fair share of drone wrecks I would definitely consider myself scared straight when it comes to giving myself plenty of space between my bird and any obstacles.
In fact, I now feel nervous flying below a couple hundred feet (under 400 - we don't need to start that discussion here) even when I maintain VLOS and can see I am flying at least double the height I could be.

Part of the problem is my justified paranoia with power lines and cell towers - every second of flight I am worried about a power line too thin to see, a cell phone tower just out of view, etc.
Everything seems so CLOSE on the camera feed - I'll panic and climb only to look up and realize I was already comfortably clear.

I want to get more comfortable flying lower - but of course I don't want to crash.

I read somewhere these two tricks but am hoping to get some thoughts on if there would be any exception to these 'rules':
1 - if an obstacle in the distance is below the horizon line, you will clear it
2 - if the top of an obstacle is flat, and you can see it, you will clear it
3 - if you are flying between obstacles, you will clear them flying straight as long as neither obstacle crosses the vertical center of the FPV feed (...and your camera is centered)

What are your tricks for gauging how high to fly? How technical will you get with your scouting when it comes to looking out for tall obstacles in a new area?

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

Having been through my fair share of drone wrecks I would definitely consider myself scared straight when it comes to giving myself plenty of space between my bird and any obstacles.
In fact, I now feel nervous flying below a couple hundred feet (under 400 - we don't need to start that discussion here) even when I maintain VLOS and can see I am flying at least double the height I could be.

Part of the problem is my justified paranoia with power lines and cell towers - every second of flight I am worried about a power line too thin to see, a cell phone tower just out of view, etc.
Everything seems so CLOSE on the camera feed - I'll panic and climb only to look up and realize I was already comfortably clear.

I want to get more comfortable flying lower - but of course I don't want to crash.

I read somewhere these two tricks but am hoping to get some thoughts on if there would be any exception to these 'rules':
1 - if an obstacle in the distance is below the horizon line, you will clear it
2 - if the top of an obstacle is flat, and you can see it, you will clear it
3 - if you are flying between obstacles, you will clear them flying straight as long as neither obstacle crosses the vertical center of the FPV feed (...and your camera is centered)

What are your tricks for gauging how high to fly? How technical will you get with your scouting when it comes to looking out for tall obstacles in a new area?

Take a look at my technique... See if it might help you gain confidence.

New pilot advice

For those of you who have been flying for a while, what do you suggest as the best way learning to visualize your drone in flight? Should I focus more on the drone itself or should I focus more on the controller and screen? I am keeping my mini within VLOS yet flew it into some tree branches in...

mavicpilots.com

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

3 - if you are flying between obstacles, you will clear them flying straight as long as neither obstacle crosses the vertical center of the FPV feed (...and your camera is centered)

This is a good one if you use the camera grid.
The centre 'window' is supposedly clear of obstacles in the FOV.

I'm pretty sure last time I flew I made sure the grid was on in the goggles, think it's set in there in camera settings.
Mostly using my RE's for flying the Spark at the moment, getting used to the visual curve and gaining confidence in using them.

 

[brettbrandon]

As long as your camera is level (must be level), you should clear anything below the center of the horizon.
Heres a vid clip and look at the top of the net. It looks pretty much at the horizon. I hold the same level and you see as it gets closer it starts dropping from the horizon. You will also notice that you can see the entire top of the table. If I was a little lower and all I could see of the top was a hairline, I might hit it and I might not. If the top line of the table was at all above the horizon line, it will hit.

 

[RTKD]

I do a lot of very low flying with my Mavic, even low and slow through very dense trees. Slow is the key to practice, and eventually your eye will just pick obstacles out naturally. The other thing I swear by is moving myself to have a clear line of sight on the bird that's inline with my intended direction of movement. With the drone coming directly at you or straight away from you it's much easier to maneuver tight spots. These days I do the low stuff with my FPV rig so I don't have to worry about crashing, it's something else to consider if you picture yourself flying low and fast.

There's some low work in the beginning of this one

 

[Kilrah]

You mean how low? [emoji28]