Long range mission over water

[Thomas B]

I fly those distances quite regularly, mostly over inland waterways..not too many times from the beach, using an M2P...but NOT with the SC. (It gathers dust on the shelf....too flaky, IMHO). I have never lost a drone in ~9 years, but I have donned my catcher's mitt for the return descent. The M2P is a very capable AC, but surfside winds shift more than it may seem...IMHO, one should do all their pre-flight setup with 1 battery, and then swap in a true 100% charged battery before flight. Ensure that you have triple checked all of your fail-safe parameters, i.e. RTH ALT, Low Batt alert, and warning levels etc....and cut your power budget by 5-10%, for good measure.

3 mile range is well beyond VLOS; Binocs do not qualify. When flying long distances over land, I have spotters down range, on VHF radio.

All the best!

The Firehouse ARC XL nav lights come with certification of 3.5 miles VLOS.

drone strobe light

drone strobe light faa 107

www.firehousetechnology.com

 

[Capt KO]

Might be cheaper in the end to rent a boat so you don’t hear“Oh no Mr Bill!”

The kids here won’t understand. LOL

 

[Saigondroner]

The Firehouse ARC XL nav lights come with certification of 3.5 miles VLOS.

drone strobe light

drone strobe light faa 107

www.firehousetechnology.com

By whom? Stevie Wonder?

 

[Thomas B]

By whom? Stevie Wonder?

By a testing agency... I have 4. The certification is included in the package in writing.

 

[Saigondroner]

I need to be more careful switching between Tapatalk, and the web when quoting. No disrespect intended.

 

[Capt KO]

I have to assume that the range test was done at night. It didn’t specify. Helpful in the daytime as well but not to the same degree. Again that’s an assumption. OP, again assume, will fly during daylight.

assuming allot! ??

 

[Saigondroner]

I have to assume that the range test was done at night. It didn’t specify. Helpful in the daytime as well but not to the same degree. Again that’s an assumption. OP, again assume, will fly during daylight.

assuming allot! ??

Yes, I agree with you 1000%. Certified?? By whom? You HAVE to assume that whatever test was done, it was done under the best conditions that could be ascertained. The best military laser optics are now green...Admin owns 4...does that mean he achieves 14 statute mile VLOS clarity when installed on the AC, linearly to the ref home point? LED's, of course...where are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Fresnel scatter analysis (or SWAG prediction?) Or, does the strobe suffer a 75% failure rate when built? 25% prime pass yield, or 25% guarantee reclaim ratio (guarantee & warantee mean 2 different things, in US.)?

I love Firehouse Sub Sandwiches.....I highly recommend them....and a portion of their proceeds support America's 1st responders.

I have rarely read such unntelligible mumbo jumbo about a light bulb in my life. I'm sure someone can Goog L.A.N.D, but what exactly is a 1/4 SM, when used from the perspective of optics, TERS RF propogation, and your good old optometrist changing your eyeglasses??

I want a certified MIL-SPEC, or a least a reference basis....EAL-3 or higher, when talking life safety.

 

[apeel]

I'm sorry, but why is nobody suggesting to Mr Bill that what he plans on doing is not legal? He says he will be LOS, which means there is no obstruction between him and the drone. That's all fine and good but the distances that he (3-miles) and other people (6+ miles) are talking about are well beyond anybodies ability to actually stay within VLOS (not only see it, but see where it is heading and direction).

It is people who blatantly ignore the rules and these types of violations that result in more people being upset with drone pilots and even more rules being created to prevent us from enjoying our hobby. It is also violators such as this that cause even more NFZ's to be implemented.

Please do not fly beyond VLOS!

 

[jonthecourier]

OK yes very nice, you could call your video Chasing the Sunset with some nice music, still don't think I would have the nerve to do it though. Thanks

 

[Thomas B]

Yes, I agree with you 1000%. Certified?? By whom? You HAVE to assume that whatever test was done, it was done under the best conditions that could be ascertained. The best military laser optics are now green...Admin owns 4...does that mean he achieves 14 statute mile VLOS clarity when installed on the AC, linearly to the ref home point? LED's, of course...where are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Fresnel scatter analysis (or SWAG prediction?) Or, does the strobe suffer a 75% failure rate when built? 25% prime pass yield, or 25% guarantee reclaim ratio (guarantee & warantee mean 2 different things, in US.)?

I love Firehouse Sub Sandwiches.....I highly recommend them....and a portion of their proceeds support America's 1st responders.

I have rarely read such unntelligible mumbo jumbo about a light bulb in my life. I'm sure someone can Goog L.A.N.D, but what exactly is a 1/4 SM, when used from the perspective of optics, TERS RF propogation, and your good old optometrist changing your eyeglasses??

I want a certified MIL-SPEC, or a least a reference basis....EAL-3 or higher, when talking life safety.

Just to answer you questions and comments by paragraph:
1. If you want to know contact Firehouse. My personal testing confirms the visibility claimed. Of course the test was done under optimal conditions and likely in the “golden hours” as I did. No advisable to look directly at lasers. Simply can’t follow the questions apparently related.... please tell us who uses a laser for drone visibility. Again, ask Firehouse.

2. we agree on Firehouse subs, but I was not discussing food, nor were others.

3. Unintelligible Mumbo jumbo? It is plain English. 1/4 SM, as defined in the document posted is 1/4 statute mile = to 1320’. That’s what it means in all applicable cases.

4. Is there even a military (? Which military) strobe that can be mounted on a drone? Not sure what life safety has to do with OPs plan...
thought evaluation assurance levels (1-7) were for computers. What is Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL)? - Definition from WhatIs.com

Maybe your quoted post was meant for Tapatalk like before?

 

[barrybcar]

I’ll be there for the Philly ?

This was a reply to a post that disappeared almost as soon as it was posted.

But I’ll still be there for the Philly ?

 

[Capt KO]

where'd he go?

 

[mr.bill]

Drone lost in the water...

Just kidding! = ) Mission successful! But ****, was I nervous. It's a weird feeling to see that distant count break 15000' and you're still pushing forward.

Winds were good on launch, almost calm but once I got about 2 miles out a nasty crosswind pushed me way off course so I had to use additional battery to reach the site. It was worth it but I don't think I'll do this again unless winds are dead calm.



Twice, as I reach the site, the battery RTH alerted. Based on my estimate of flight time out, time on-site and tailwind inbound, I dismiss the alert and proceeded. On-site time was less than 60 seconds. I got my shot and hightailed it back. I had 10 minutes of battery left when I landed it but it was floating around a 5 minute buffer above the battery RTH alert the entire time inbound. So my estimate was right but risky for sure.

No LOS at all. I dropped to three bars but made a small adjustment to my stance and it was back to 4 bars. I also did not check the transmission mode of the SC so I believe it was in Dual mode or at least it was when I checked it when I got home.

And @apeel, I appreciate what you're saying and agree with you for the most part. I would never do this over land. I believe the line of site rule was made specifically for over land as the chances of hitting something are 100%. I don't agree with this rule when over water, especially open water. I'm not going to damage anything there and if the drone fails, it's in the water and not damaging someone's property. And kudos on being the nanny of the thread ?

 

[Thomas B]

Drone lost in the water...

Just kidding! = ) Mission successful! But ****, was I nervous. It's a weird feeling to see that distant count break 15000' and you're still pushing forward.

Winds were good on launch, almost calm but once I got about 2 miles out a nasty crosswind pushed me way off course so I had to use additional battery to reach the site. It was worth it but I don't think I'll do this again unless winds are dead calm.

View attachment 94862

Twice, as I reach the site, the battery RTH alerted. Based on my estimate of flight time out, time on-site and tailwind inbound, I dismiss the alert and proceeded. On-site time was less than 60 seconds. I got my shot and hightailed it back. I had 10 minutes of battery left when I landed it but it was floating around a 5 minute buffer above the battery RTH alert the entire time inbound. So my estimate was right but risky for sure.

No LOS at all. I dropped to three bars but made a small adjustment to my stance and it was back to 4 bars. I also did not check the transmission mode of the SC so I believe it was in Dual mode or at least it was when I checked it when I got home.

And @apeel, I appreciate what you're saying and agree with you for the most part. I would never do this over land. I believe the line of site rule was made specifically for over land as the chances of hitting something are 100%. I don't agree with this rule when over water, especially open water. I'm not going to damage anything there and if the drone fails, it's in the water and not damaging someone's property. And kudos on being the nanny of the thread ?

Got any video? Could be useful and fun.

 

[Capt KO]

Congratulations ??

 

[mr.bill]

Got any video? Could be useful and fun.

Sorry, no video. I didn't want to lose any battery life to anything except the flight.

 

[barrybcar]

Sorry, no video. I didn't want to lose any battery life to anything except the flight.

There’s a flooring forum I’m on that has the well used phrase ... “No pictures...didn’t happen “. ?

 

[mr.bill]

There’s a flooring forum I’m on that has the well used phrase ... “No pictures...didn’t happen “. ?

Ha! I agree. That's why I added the screen shot from the DJI app. Beyond that, due to the nannies lurking about, I don't think it's a good idea to provide much more detail ?

 

[Safewaves]

I hate to be a kill-joy, but isnt the better discussion here to remind you that like Saigondroner mentions, you are wayyyyyy BVLOS? Rather than stress out teh authorities in your country and have them impose sanctions on drone users, have you considered using a boat to get closer to your film location?

 

[mr.bill]

I hate to be a kill-joy, but isnt the better discussion here to remind you that like Saigondroner mentions, you are wayyyyyy BVLOS? Rather than stress out teh authorities in your country and have them impose sanctions on drone users, have you considered using a boat to get closer to your film location?

Asked and answered.