Negative Altitude Flight

[ATW]

Dumb question, but there are some nice valleys around me, with sides too steep to climb down. Does the Mini care if I take off, only climb up 10' from the ground, fly out over the valley, and drop down below the take off height?

 

[bumper]

If you don't have visual line of sight, you also most likely lose radio contact. Drone would normally initiate a return to home.

 

[Thomas B]

As long as you have VLOS you should have no problems. Altitude will appear as negative numbers.

 

[ATW]

Thanks for such a quick response.
Visual line of sight will not be a problem.

 

[Meta4]

If you don't have visual line of sight, you also most likely lose radio contact. Drone would normally initiate a return to home.

No ... it makes no difference whether your altitude is above or below the launch point.
Why is it that so many people fear there would be problems flying down from a high point?

 

[ATW]

No ... it makes no difference whether your altitude is above or below the launch point.
Why is it that so many people fear there would be problems flying down from a high point?

Not fear, just learning about limitations.
My brain says it was built to go up, not down. Also if it lands down there, virtually no chance of recovery. It could take me years to buy, raise, and train a Billy goat to perform drone recovery. ?

 

[old man mavic]

@ATW some things to remember ,as you fly out from your take off point remember you still have to observe the 400ft AGL rule ,and also make sure to watch your GPS Sat count as you descend also be aware that wind direction can change quite rapidly depending where you are at the time ,also remember that you will need a reserve of battery power to be able to make the climb back up so keep a good eye on remaining charge as well ,these all may seem to be obvious points ,but in the heat of the moment it is very easy to forget some of them,and then end up having to train the goat

 

[bumper]

No ... it makes no difference whether your altitude is above or below the launch point.
Why is it that so many people fear there would be problems flying down from a high point?

My comment was in reference to descending into a valley, out of VLOS, with terrain between the drone and controller, which is what I thought the OP was asking about.

 

[ATW]

An amazing place I have been to several times has a steep walled gorge, at the bottom are trees, and a small creek, on the one side are sand hoodoos. I would like to get a closer look at them, and pictures not just from the top, where a fence has been erected to keep people from falling over the edge. I had considered an attempt to climb down, after all I am young and fit. But chickened out after I had climbed over the fence, it must be 300' deep, and is seriously steep. A tumble to the bottom would almost certainly include serious injuries, and even if not hurt, it would not be an easy climb up. Different place, is a waterfall that is likely 100' tall, I would like to video it on the way down, and subsequently the creek at the bottom.

 

[EyesWideShut]

An amazing place I have been to several times has a steep walled gorge, at the bottom are trees, and a small creek, on the one side are sand hoodoos. I would like to get a closer look at them, and pictures not just from the top, where a fence has been erected to keep people from falling over the edge. I had considered an attempt to climb down, after all I am young and fit. But chickened out after I had climbed over the fence, it must be 300' deep, and is seriously steep. A tumble to the bottom would almost certainly include serious injuries, and even if not hurt, it would not be an easy climb up. Different place, is a waterfall that is likely 100' tall, I would like to video it on the way down, and subsequently the creek at the bottom.

If you ever get the courage to fly it, be sure to post some video. I'm sure there would be a lot of viewers who would like to see it. I have a flight I'd like to do that sounds similar but I'll let you do it first...

As mentioned, be careful with Line Of Sight and signal loss from the gorge walls and tree foliage.