How to Exceed Max Altitude for Mountain Flying?

_milo_ · Feb 17, 2017

tcope said:
I'm not disagreeing with your statement. I just wanted to add something... that these pilots lie about seeing a drone... so why not us as well. Not that I'd want to be in that situation but it is ironic.

Yup. Gone are the days of seeing a "UFO"... they are now "drones.

The reports are made to an official record. The pilot knows that. If you were a pilot would you ever say that you say a drone (in those cases they give the dimension that match a Phantom) 1 mile away... while flying a plane... on approach to an airport? Yet, they do.

Official FAA identification chart

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CactusJackSlade · Feb 17, 2017

Fplvert said:
Current app will allow you to fly to 500M above Take off elevation.
The blocking of the bari might be a work around.
It would seriously effect RTH!
This has been a discussion since the launch of the DJI Pilot App. The original had a 5000M limit. (P3) ATOH was limited within weeks of its launch to 500M. No way to go back!

Not with a Phantom... but with a DJI NAZA controller on by other 'copters

erkme73 · Feb 18, 2017

larkin said:
Be a pioneer

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Pioneers often come back with arrows in their heads...

jerry2032 · Feb 18, 2017

Does this not work also with the Mavic or have they somehow closed this loop hole?

I live in Utah and have been trying to get good mountain footage and its frustrating to only be able to get so high.

Yesterday I powered up the Mavic at low altitude, put it in my truck and drove to a higher altitude and noticed that the altimeter on DJI GO 4 would climb for a while and then zero out, then repeat. It seems it has a timer in it that zeroes out every so often while it has not taken off but still powered up. If you reduced the barometric pressure and then got it in the air before it zeroed out you could theoretically double the 500M limit such as in this video.

BIGDAVE · Feb 18, 2017

mikee1554 said:
I fully understand the comment and the laws in the UK.. but read my comments.. I have never mentioned above sea level or take off point.
I also own a Inspire and P4 and for my personal preference, I would be hesitant to fly my mavic at 500m .. wether above seal level or from the take of point half way up a mountain...

These are only my personal feelings.. and as I'm a responsible flyer who does'nt live in a area where I feel the need to fly above that height.... 400ft is adequate for my needs

Helo · Feb 18, 2017

tcope said:
I'm not disagreeing with your statement. I just wanted to add something... that these pilots lie about seeing a drone... so why not us as well. Not that I'd want to be in that situation but it is ironic.

Yup. Gone are the days of seeing a "UFO"... they are now "drones.

The reports are made to an official record. The pilot knows that. If you were a pilot would you ever say that you say a drone (in those cases they give the dimension that match a Phantom) 1 mile away... while flying a plane... on approach to an airport? Yet, they do.

Lie seems kind of harsh, how about "report alternate facts"?

Helo · Feb 18, 2017

adiru said:
Aircraft equipped with EGPWS has had that since the 1980s, DJI needs to get with the times.

EGPW relies on a radar altimeter so add another $1,000 or so to the price tag.

Addressing jery2032,s post of the guy from Japan who goes into the clouds at over 3,000 ft, that's just stupid. With that large of a city there is an airport somewhere close by, he would be well within the approach path for landing aircraft. Flying out of LOS when you know approximately where your drone is and can see if there are aircraft in the area is one thing but this guy doesn't have a clue and could well be putting lives at risk.

There is wanting to exceed the set limits of the Mavic for the purpose of getting good pictures but just for bragging rights crosses the line. At some point we have to take responsibility and say some things are off limits!

jerry2032 · Feb 18, 2017

Helo said:
EGPW relies on a radar altimeter so add another $1,000 or so to the price tag.

Addressing jery2032,s post of the guy from Japan who goes into the clouds at over 3,000 ft, that's just stupid. With that large of a city there is an airport somewhere close by, he would be well within the approach path for landing aircraft. Flying out of LOS when you know approximately where your drone is and can see if there are aircraft in the area is one thing but this guy doesn't have a clue and could well be putting lives at risk.

There is wanting to exceed the set limits of the Mavic for the purpose of getting good pictures but just for bragging rights crosses the line. At some point we have to take responsibility and say some things are off limits!

I'm not condoning his flight. I posted the video to find out if his method is a possible workaround. I have no intention of flying above 400 AGL. Those of us living next to mountains find the 500 meters from takeoff limitation rather restrictive.

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Helo · Feb 18, 2017

jerry2032 said:
I'm not condoning his flight. I posted the video to find out if his method is a possible workaround. I have no intention of flying above 400 AGL. Those of us living next to mountains find the 500 meters from takeoff limitation rather restrictive.

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Hey, I didn't take your post as condoning the video I just wanted people to know where I saw the it. I am in the same boat as you, I am 9 miles from the continental divide and would love a work around for the altitude limit to get some great shots without hiking for miles.

There are two reasons we have these limitations, one because of people like those in the videos that don't use common sense. The other reason is our litigious society and DJI's effort to CYA, can't blame them for that.

I see all these videos posted on Youtube and think of how many more that aren't posted. Seems like we are setting on a time bomb until a drone has an encounter (read collision) with a aircraft that will bring on a load of more restrictions.

Everyone needs to remember there is not a reset button on you controller.

Xanth · Feb 20, 2017

jerry2032 said:
Yesterday I powered up the Mavic at low altitude, put it in my truck and drove to a higher altitude and noticed that the altimeter on DJI GO 4 would climb for a while and then zero out, then repeat. It seems it has a timer in it that zeroes out every so often while it has not taken off but still powered up. If you reduced the barometric pressure and then got it in the air before it zeroed out you could theoretically double the 500M limit such as in this video.

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This would seem to shed new light on an earlier post that said landing at higher altitude and stopping the props wouldn't reset the altimeter. Maybe the key is landing and waiting. It's worth testing.

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Andart · Feb 20, 2017

I agree with most and I would never test it but I think with the weight of a drone and the turbulence and speed of an airline that a collision would never happen . And as of yet I've never seen a proven crash .
Also all these videos of mavic flying at extremely high altitude are probably fake. It has been mentioned about the time to get to such altitude and home safely , also the winds at a few hundred feet are very different to ground level , I'd think your drone at say 2km high would sale a long way in the winds .
I think the pilots are thinking drones because of all the news at the moment and most sightings are probably wrong .
I totally think how hard at 500 ft it is for me to see a drone let alone a pilot when adding speed weather concentration , any pilot will tell you that you fly a plain more through instruments than sight

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Linus Anakin · Feb 20, 2017

Guys, I'm confused... I bought the Mavic so I can bring it along on a mountain trip. The peak is at 4000 meters. I intend to fly at the peak for nice shots of me and my friends. Does that mean I can't do that?

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halley · Feb 20, 2017

Linus Anakin said:
The peak is at 4000 meters.

Read through the many many posts on altitude readings. The takeoff point is counted as 0 altitude, regardless of your height above sea level.

stuffonastick · Feb 20, 2017

Linus Anakin said:
Guys, I'm confused... I bought the Mavic so I can bring it along on a mountain trip. The peak is at 4000 meters. I intend to fly at the peak for nice shots of me and my friends. Does that mean I can't do that?

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I don't see any reason you couldn't bring the drone up with you and have it take off at the peak. If you're planning on having it FOLLOW you to the peak, then you're going to be disappointed.

WolfgangStiller · Feb 20, 2017

Linus Anakin said:
Guys, I'm confused... I bought the Mavic so I can bring it along on a mountain trip. The peak is at 4000 meters. I intend to fly at the peak for nice shots of me and my friends. Does that mean I can't do that?

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I fly above 4000 meters all the time. No problem. The Mavic is certified to 5000 meters and I'd guess it can actually go higher than that but naturally climb rate will be lower and battery consumption a bit higher.

WolfgangStiller · Feb 20, 2017

Note, while the altitude up high isn't a problem for the Mavic you do need to be careful flying in the mountains. The winds can be unexpected and cause some issues if you are not used to flying around peaks. You can encounter winds with dramatically varying speeds and directions in just a short area due to the terrain. There are also strong rotors, and up and down drafts to watch for.

Mavician · Feb 20, 2017

This what I wrote as a comment on his video :

This is as fake as it gets... if you watch the counter on the right in the screen the publisher wants us to believe his Mavic ascents at 100 meter per 2 or 3 seconds. The Max Ascent Speed is 16.4 ft/s (5 m/s) in Sport mode... what a hoax...

Just my two cents.

Ozz said:
I think this particular workaround in the DJI Go app was removed around a year ago - before Mavics time. Never tried it myself though.
But search youtube for "Mavic Cloud Surfing" - some have done it.

Helo · Feb 20, 2017

Andart said:
I agree with most and I would never test it but I think with the weight of a drone and the turbulence and speed of an airline that a collision would never happen . And as of yet I've never seen a proven crash .
Also all these videos of mavic flying at extremely high altitude are probably fake. It has been mentioned about the time to get to such altitude and home safely , also the winds at a few hundred feet are very different to ground level , I'd think your drone at say 2km high would sale a long way in the winds .
I think the pilots are thinking drones because of all the news at the moment and most sightings are probably wrong .
I totally think how hard at 500 ft it is for me to see a drone let alone a pilot when adding speed weather concentration , any pilot will tell you that you fly a plain more through instruments than sight

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Bird strikes with aircraft are a common problem world wide so it can and does happen. As for proof, how about the story of Chesley Sullenberger, who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River after flying though a flock of geese. Just google "bird strikes".

From my observation it seems that most pilot drone sightings are around airfields when aircraft are on approach or departure at lower altitude.

After over 10,000 hours of flying helicopters under visual flight rules (VFR) I can tell you I spent 98% of my time with my head on a swivel looking outside and the other 2% cross checking the instruments. Any pilot who flies VFR and has his eyes on the instruments more than outside of the cockpit should turn in their Airman Certificate, there's a reason they call it Visual Flight Rules.

Xanth · Feb 20, 2017

Xanth said:
This would seem to shed new light on an earlier post that said landing at higher altitude and stopping the props wouldn't reset the altimeter. Maybe the key is landing and waiting. It's worth testing.
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EUREEKA! After 138 posts I can finally answer part of my original question.

The ATOP (altitude at take off point) does reset once the props stop. And no Bothans died to get us this information.

I found a park at the base of a steep mountain slope, and there was a walking path that went from that park up the side of the mountain to a height of 400+ ft above the park. I took off from the park and landed very carefully on the path, and in the instant the props stopped the altitude reset to zero. Unfortunately, a second later I got the message that the connection to the Mavic was lost. And as everyone knows, losing connection when in the air is no big deal thanks to RTH. Losing connection on the ground with the props stopped leaves you SOL. So I started running toward the path, not certain if there was some software reason why I'd been suddenly disconnected. Fortunately, I only had to run 100 ft or so before Ready To Fly came back. At that point it was easy to take off and I was able to ascend an additional 1640+ ft.

So, this opens a couple of more questions.
1) If a Mavic is above you and on the ground, is the onboard antenna always somewhat blocked by the ground?
2) Theoretically, if you were to kill the props at Max Altitude, would the altimeter reset, and could you then regain control?

I would be really interested if a flier who is spending someone else's money could test question #2. I've been pretty adventurous so far, but that is not something I'm going to test.

Many Happy Returns

_milo_ · Feb 20, 2017

Xanth said:
EUREEKA! After 138 posts I can finally answer part of my original question.

The ATOP (altitude at take off point) does reset once the props stop. And no Bothans died to get us this information.

I found a park at the base of a steep mountain slope, and there was a walking path that went from that park up the side of the mountain to a height of 400+ ft above the park. I took off from the park and landed very carefully on the path, and in the instant the props stopped the altitude reset to zero. Unfortunately, a second later I got the message that the connection to the Mavic was lost. And as everyone knows, losing connection when in the air is no big deal thanks to RTH. Losing connection on the ground with the props stopped leaves you SOL. So I started running toward the path, not certain if there was some software reason why I'd been suddenly disconnected. Fortunately, I only had to run 100 ft or so before Ready To Fly came back. At that point it was easy to take off and I was able to ascend an additional 1640+ ft.

So, this opens a couple of more questions.
1) If a Mavic is above you and on the ground, is the onboard antenna always somewhat blocked by the ground?
2) Theoretically, if you were to kill the props at Max Altitude, would the altimeter reset, and could you then regain control?

I would be really interested if a flier who is spending someone else's money could test question #2. I've been pretty adventurous so far, but that is not something I'm going to test.

Many Happy Returns

Interesting test"

I think at extreme angles and tumbling, you wouldn't be able to arm motors, I remember someone taking a phantom up with a larger multirotor and then releasing the phantom high up, the phantom couldn't arm or couldn't recover, can't remember, but didn't end well. I'll see if I can find the video.

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