Night flights

[Arnu69]

I've twice flown at night. First time just went straight up 150ft and stayed very close and in pretty much a hover just in case of disaster. Quite a bit to look at so I was quite happy with the video and I guess it was up there maybe 20 minutes without any problems. Just a poor light warning pre take off but input my garden light on and that solved it.

Thought I'd do the same just now. Nice conditions, got the poor light warning but proceeded to take off . No wind at all tonight so as she climbed to 60-70 ft suddenly started going round in maybe a 3 metre circle totally on its own. Message came up " lighting condition too dark visual positioning inaccurate proceed with caution". Well I proceeded with caution and landed it and put it back in its case. Scared the life out of me. The app requested I recalibrate so I did that just before putting the drone away.

I trust this isn't odd and maybe night flights with the mm should be kept to a minimum.

 

[E90RAW]

I've twice flown at night. First time just went straight up 150ft and stayed very close and in pretty much a hover just in case of disaster. Quite a bit to look at so I was quite happy with the video and I guess it was up there maybe 20 minutes without any problems. Just a poor light warning pre take off but input my garden light on and that solved it.

Thought I'd do the same just now. Nice conditions, got the poor light warning but proceeded to take off . No wind at all tonight so as she climbed to 60-70 ft suddenly started going round in maybe a 3 metre circle totally on its own. Message came up " lighting condition too dark visual positioning inaccurate proceed with caution". Well I proceeded with caution and landed it and put it back in its case. Scared the life out of me. The app requested I recalibrate so I did that just before putting the drone away.

I trust this isn't odd and maybe night flights with the mm should be kept to a minimum.

Hmmmmmm....here's the thing. If you are going to fly at night you may want to take a $20 course to prepare you. Someone on this site turned me onto this. "avgroundschool.com ". Weird things occur at night. You seem to perceive things that arent happening. The longer your out the more intense the perceptions. The course is worth the money and will prep you for the basics of night flying.
1. Size and distance illusion.
2. Autokinesis.
3. False depth Perception.
4. Reversible Perspective.
5. All the rules of "twilight flying(the only legal way to fly at night without a waiver)
et cetera. Check it out and see what you think.

 

[Mossiback]

Sounds like a compass error. The logs should show if that was the case. Were there at least 10 satellites detected at launch?

 

[Arnu69]

Sounds like a compass error. The logs should show if that was the case. Were there at least 10 satellites detected at launch?

Good call, I looked at the log and the flight commenced with 10 satellites and as it hit 16metres dropped to 9 then 8 then back up to 14. Thanks, I was thinking it might be a fault with the drone.

 

[Phochief]

5. All the rules of "twilight flying(the only legal way to fly at night without a waiver)
et cetera. Check it out and see what you think.

Just FYI, only Part 107 pilots flying for business need a night waiver. If flying as a hobbyist or for fun you can fly at night without a waiver. All night flying requires anti-collision lights on the drone.

Here’s the link for the night drone flying school.

 

[ThorDar]

Good call, I looked at the log and the flight commenced with 10 satellites and as it hit 16metres dropped to 9 then 8 then back up to 14. Thanks, I was thinking it might be a fault with the drone.

Were there any tall obstacles near where you were flying such as tall buildings?

 

[Arnu69]

Were there any tall obstacles near where you were flying such as tall buildings?

I was in my garden on the patio up close to the house. I have a loft conversion so my house is effectively 3 storeys high. Yes I'd considered that may have been why the initial take off was a bit awkward but once I'd got up and higher than the house it'd be fine. Clearly not. It is another learning experience I guess we gave to go through to improve.

 

[ThorDar]

I was in my garden on the patio up close to the house. I have a loft conversion so my house is effectively 3 storeys high. Yes I'd considered that may have been why the initial take off was a bit awkward but once I'd got up and higher than the house it'd be fine. Clearly not. It is another learning experience I guess we gave to go through to improve.

That'll do it. Always launch from an open area. Large nearby obstacles can interfere with the initial GPS and compass lock which can then lead to ongoing errors in positioning calculations even after clearing those obstacles. Most of the time it will correct after getting higher up but not always.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Hmmmmmm....here's the thing. If you are going to fly at night you may want to take a $20 course to prepare you. Someone on this site turned me onto this. "avgroundschool.com ". Weird things occur at night. You seem to perceive things that arent happening. The longer your out the more intense the perceptions. The course is worth the money and will prep you for the basics of night flying.
1. Size and distance illusion.
2. Autokinesis.
3. False depth Perception.
4. Reversible Perspective.
5. All the rules of "twilight flying(the only legal way to fly at night without a waiver)
et cetera. Check it out and see what you think.

Or you can check out this free resource:

Watch Out for These 5 Night Flight Illusions - Hartzell Propeller

NIght flying is a new way to experience the joy of flying, but it comes with risks. Here are some night flight illusions pilots should know.

hartzellprop.com

 

[Airbeaver]

Where did you take off exactly? I had a very similar thing happen MM took off with a mind of its own, almost lost it and I was just barely able to steer it and ultimately land it.

Turned out to be compass interference from the rebar in my driveway. Maybe an underground pipe or something else where you took off?

 

[Arnu69]

Where did you take off exactly? I had a very similar thing happen MM took off with a mind of its own, almost lost it and I was just barely able to steer it and ultimately land it.

Turned out to be compass interference from the rebar in my driveway. Maybe an underground pipe or something else where you took off?

I'd previously had a successful incident free night flight from the same position. I guess it was a combination of being very close to the house and the lack of satellites. In fact previously I had 15 satellites thru out the flight. When it dropped to 9 then 8 was when the drone went into self initiated circles. I'm convinced that was the issue here. But I'm sure being up close to the house could also be not the best of ideas.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Where did you take off exactly? I had a very similar thing happen MM took off with a mind of its own, almost lost it and I was just barely able to steer it and ultimately land it.

Turned out to be compass interference from the rebar in my driveway. Maybe an underground pipe or something else where you took off?

Concrete surfaces are often problematic because of hidden rebar. Parking garages are the worst! I prefer using a small, foldable wooden TV tray, getting everything up off the ground, and then I don't have to crawl around on the ground to turn the battery on, nor worry about the camera initialization hitting anything on the ground. Tops of wooden fence posts work, too. Also, before launch, make sure the camera orientation on the map agrees with the actual orientation!

 

[E90RAW]

Or you can check out this free resource:

Watch Out for These 5 Night Flight Illusions - Hartzell Propeller

NIght flying is a new way to experience the joy of flying, but it comes with risks. Here are some night flight illusions pilots should know.

hartzellprop.com

Or you can check out this free resource:

Watch Out for These 5 Night Flight Illusions - Hartzell Propeller

NIght flying is a new way to experience the joy of flying, but it comes with risks. Here are some night flight illusions pilots should know.

hartzellprop.com

Ah if only I had this site before I spent the $20.

 

[davinchi2000]

my first night flight

 

[GadgetGuy]

my first night flight

Night flights are also a great way to test your camera for dead pixels that show up as a white dot in the frame against the black sky! Eerie how they look like a UFO streaking around as you turn the aircraft! Yours doesn't show any, but mine did!