How to Exceed Max Altitude for Mountain Flying?

[Robbyg]

Fake?

If it's not fake that Mavic was heavily modified

His altitude is going up at about 50m/s so he would have to be traveling at roughly 112 MPH in that video.

Of course if you ask him he will say it's time lapsed. So lets do the Math.

Mavic max Ascent speed in sports mode is 5m/s
Mavic max Descent speed is 3m/s

4200 / 5m = 840 seconds or 14 Minutes to Ascend
4200 / 3m = 1400 seconds or 23 Minutes to Descend

Total round trip time = 37 Minutes

Assuming he neutralized the height limits he would still have to have two battery packs to make that flight. Is it possible, considering the extra weight is probably going to slow down the Mavic to 3m/s going up? At that point the flight might take 46 minutes. Yeah lots of problems that don't make it seem possible.


Rob

 

[Piranha]

Seems some Chinese guys know the secret!!!

 

[Panamera]

There is a way, but it seems no one is sharing

 

[Xanth]

There is a way, but it seems no one is sharing

Can't blame them. The best thing that could happen is that DJI would fix the exploit in their next release. A worse thing is that their post would be admissible and/or prima facia.

 

[Robbyg]

There is a way, but it seems no one is sharing

I get why someone would want to use it for going up a mountain side but the temptation to show off is so great that you can be certain that the same person who used it legally to track up a mountain would at some point try to do some high altitude photography or set some stupid record. And if it was common knowledge and easy to do we would probably have 5 cases a day happening in the USA. We have enough problems as is without people going up to 11,000ft just to set Mavic records.

 

[Xanth]

I get why someone would want to use it for going up a mountain side but the temptation to show off is so great that you can be certain that the same person who used it legally to track up a mountain would at some point try to do some high altitude photography or set some stupid record. And if it was common knowledge and easy to do we would probably have 5 cases a day happening in the USA. We have enough problems as is without people going up to 11,000ft just to set Mavic records.

This is why I think the exploit we need is to be able to reset "altitude at take off" by turning off the props. The worse case scenario there would at least require a really tall building. And aren't most buildings like that in flight restricted areas? (Maybe not, since it never seems to slow down Neistat.)

 

[CactusJackSlade]

going higher than 500 metres.. seems cool but remember the air is thinner up there,and to maintain that height. the mavic is working harder.. so shorter flight times.. something to consider

Not going to be a problem at all until you get above 10,000 feet or more above Sea Level. I believe I say a video of someone in the Himalayas at like 15,000 feet or something. I myself have flown at 12,000 feet ASL.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

I too am extremely bummed about the 500 meter above take off restriction in the firmware... I fly mountains and canyons and frequently I'm only 150-200 feet AGL, yet I max out on the 500 meter ceiling.... totally bogus. Hopefully DJI will work on some sensors that will confirm that you are indeed within 400 feet AGL and allow higher heights above take off.

This is one of the exact reasons I keep one of my Phantom 2's and another DJI NAZA controller equipped aircraft in my hanger. If push comes to shove I can go higher than 500 meters...

 

[WIMMPYIII]

I just got back from a trip to northern Idaho. This limit is really lame for mountain flying.

 

[AyeYo]

Living in CO I agree this limit is a bit annoying, but have you guys considered what's going to happen if it goes down 2000ft+ above where you're standing? You're going to have to go climb and get it. Every time I fly out, I always ask myself "is retrieving this thing from it's current spot realistic"? Better to start at the half way point, fly down, then fly up within the 1500ft limit.

 

[ksull72487]

Living in CO I agree this limit is a bit annoying, but have you guys considered what's going to happen if it goes down 2000ft+ above where you're standing? You're going to have to go climb and get it. Every time I fly out, I always ask myself "is retrieving this thing from it's current spot realistic"? Better to start at the half way point, fly down, then fly up within the 1500ft limit.

Agreed. Go high and then fly down etc. I've flown my Mavic close to 1640 feet. I don't plan on doing it again but did to test. There is no way to overcome its limitations. Plus it will kill some battery on ascent and descent. You need to go up the mountain or within 1640 feet and fly down. The height adjustment is there for reasons like this or for areas that aren't restricted by the FAA to 400 feet. The loop hole in the 400 foot rule is terrain or a structure. Flying close to a structure that goes above 400 feet will allow you to ascend beyond it legally. Most of those structures like radio towers and buildings although are probably going to require some sort of permission from someone else etc.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[cobra46]

Doing the sort of flights mentioned here must be done cautiously to not bust the 400' FAA recommendation.

If one sets their limit to 500m and flies 500m up the mountain while staying less than 400' AGL they should not use the RTH function. The RTH will fly straight towards home at 500m and then descend straight down. This will put the aircraft at 500m AGL which is well into the prohibited zone.

If one starts at high elevation and flies down first, the opposite will happen with the Mavic ascending straight up to the RTH altitude which could, once again, be 500m AGL.

 

[Xanth]

Living in CO I agree this limit is a bit annoying, but have you guys considered what's going to happen if it goes down 2000ft+ above where you're standing? You're going to have to go climb and get it. Every time I fly out, I always ask myself "is retrieving this thing from it's current spot realistic"? Better to start at the half way point, fly down, then fly up within the 1500ft limit.

I understand your point, and I think about/fear retrieval every time I fly, but you have to admit that climbing half a mountain every day on the off chance you'll end up having to climb the other half is a little "impractical."

But there is a larger issue regarding fearlessness when flying. My first drone was the Vision+ and I paid $1400 for it. Then I bought a bulletproof case that must weigh 50 lbs by itself. It was a Herculean effort to move it, and every time I flew it I was in a cold sweat thinking about my $1400. Last summer I got it out and found that the batteries had all gone to crap from non use. Soon after that I learned that the whole set up had depreciated down to ~$300. So, not surprisingly, I had no interest in repeating that experience with another drone. To DJI's credit they overcame nearly all my misgivings with the Mavic. It's incredibly portable, is really easy to fly, has great obstacle awareness, and DJI Refresh. The rest is on me. I have to have the guts to fly. And so I do it. I strap a Marco Polo on the thing, and fly every day that weather permits. As a result, in 3 weeks I have more hours and footage than I got with the Vision+ in 3 years.

Carpe diem!

 

[AyeYo]

I understand your point, and I think about/fear retrieval every time I fly, but you have to admit that climbing half a mountain every day on the off chance you'll end up having to climb the other half is a little "impractical."

But there is a larger issue regarding fearlessness when flying. My first drone was the Vision+ and I paid $1400 for it. Then I bought a bulletproof case that must weigh 50 lbs by itself. It was a Herculean effort to move it, and every time I flew it I was in a cold sweat thinking about my $1400. Last summer I got it out and found that the batteries had all gone to crap from non use. Soon after that I learned that the whole set up had depreciated down to ~$300. So, not surprisingly, I had no interest in repeating that experience with another drone. To DJI's credit they overcame nearly all my misgivings with the Mavic. It's incredibly portable, is really easy to fly, has great obstacle awareness, and DJI Refresh. The rest is on me. I have to have the guts to fly. And so I do it. I strap a Marco Polo on the thing, and fly every day that weather permits. As a result, in 3 weeks I have more hours and footage than I got with the Vision+ in 3 years.

Carpe diem!

Yea I can totally understand that mentality. It reminds me of my grandfather that would stock up on AA batteries and then never replace the batteries in anything because he didn't want to use up his stock of batteries. I simply wanted to caution against people testing height and distance limits under the assumption that the drone will always make it back. It reminds me of discussions about long range FPV and people wanting to do multi-mile flights. Someone experienced chimed in with something to the effect of "long range FPV is exactly like close-in FPV... until something goes wrong". Fearing flying it isn't a good thing, but there should be a healthy risk assessment with every flight. The consequences of crashing in the park are not the same as the consequences of crashing into an inaccessible mountain side - and you need to actually recover the thing for DJI Care to work.

 

[WIMMPYIII]

Living in CO I agree this limit is a bit annoying, but have you guys considered what's going to happen if it goes down 2000ft+ above where you're standing? You're going to have to go climb and get it. Every time I fly out, I always ask myself "is retrieving this thing from it's current spot realistic"? Better to start at the half way point, fly down, then fly up within the 1500ft limit.

I dont think we should have to spend $30 in gas driving a snow machine up 4000ft when I could get up there 10 times as fast and only a few dollars worth of battery usage.

 

[WIMMPYIII]

 

[larkin]

What is DJI's reasoning for the 500m ATOP on the Mavic but not on the Phantoms? If it were purely regulatory one would assume both would be affected, yeah?

Sent from my XT1650 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[woodmnctry]

Maybe we can get DJI to make a "Colorado" version --- that would work!

 

[SoapyGolem]

Yeah they do that for safety feature, because that is really high up there. Best thing to do is try to hike up for a day as far as you can go of course. and try that

 

[maxfaxdude]

Seems some Chinese guys know the secret!!!

Where did you get this screen shot from?