Night flying

[Sithsquirrel]

Want to try out my Mavic Pro 1 for night flying but not sure how it will behave

 

[Old Aviator]

I wonder how long it will take for the FAA to approve a waiver to make the flight legal.

 

[Alien Landscape]

remember to turn off your front leds

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to Mavic Pilots .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[Former Member]

Welcome to Mavicpilots.com. If you ever need advice or repair questions, feel free to reach out to the forum.

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Best regards and good luck,

Rob

 

[AMann]

I wonder how long it will take for the FAA to approve a waiver to make the flight legal.

If he’s in the US, the question is he flying as a Hobby or 107? Some say it’s not illegal as FAA regs are not specific if one flies as a hobby with anti collision lights at night, its only specifically illegal for Part 107 flights after dark. For me as a hobby flier, I’m not sure I’d step through that loophole though.

 

[Sithsquirrel]

remember to turn off your front leds

Front leds or sensors?

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

You're gonna need some extra lights on it to keep VLOS. The STROBON Cree LED lights are probably your best bet, these can be seen up to 3 miles. You'll need 3 sets, 1 red, 1 green, and 1 white. You can get 3d printed mounts for the drone of your choice.

I wouldn't recommend flying at night unless you have a lot of experience flying. I certainly don't recommend flying at night if you haven't got additional lights.

Flytron, Strobon Cree LED's

 

[Jackcutrone]

I wonder how long it will take for the FAA to approve a waiver to make the flight legal.

They are actually in the process of posting a proposed regulation that will loosen restrictions on night flights and flights over people. Or will once the shutdown is over. And I have a pretty firm opinion about who’s to blame for that but won’t go into it because this forum shouldn’t be political.

 

[Porky]

Flying at night is a totally different ball game than flying daytime. I’ve done it a few times now and was quite surprised how much more you need to concentrate on the surroundings and the drone. I’ve not got any extra strobe lighting but I must admit I didn’t fly to far from the home point, I had VLOS via the standard LEDs, never took my eye off the drone, only to take photos. Landing is also different at night compared to daytime.

If you’re going to do it, just be extra vigilant

 

[jeplane]

Flying at night?
Your Mavic 1 will not know that it is, so it won't behave any differently. (Mavic 2 would, as the obstacle avoidance sensors will not work)
You, as a pilot, is a different story, as you will have to pay attention a lot more to the obstacles near you, especially during launch and approach path.

Also, keep it mind that it might be fun for a few times to say " been there, done that", but from a videography/photography point of view, there might not be much interest there, mostly because... You guessed it!...it's freaking DARK!

However, going 30 minutes before sunrise or 30 minutes past sunset will be a lot better, as you now have details in the sky. As theses two pictures show, taken at those times....

 

[Porky]

Flying at night?
Your Mavic will not know that it is, so it won't behave any differently.
You, as a pilot, is a different story, as you will have to pay attention a lot more on your obstacles near you, especially during launch and approach path.

Also, keep it mind that it might be fun for a few times to say " Been there, done that", but from a videography/photography point of view, there might not be much interest there, mostly because... You guessed it! it's freaking DARK!

However, going before 30 minutes before sunrise or 30 minutes past sunset will be a lot better, as you now have details in the sky. As theses two pictures show, taken at those times....

View attachment 59398View attachment 59396

Nice photos

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Flying at night?
Your Mavic will not know that it is, so it won't behave any differently.
You, as a pilot, is a different story, as you will have to pay attention a lot more on your obstacles near you, especially during launch and approach path.

Also, keep it mind that it might be fun for a few times to say " Been there, done that", but from a videography/photography point of view, there might not be much interest there, mostly because... You guessed it! it's freaking DARK!

However, going before 30 minutes before sunrise or 30 minutes past sunset will be a lot better, as you now have details in the sky. As theses two pictures show, taken at those times....

View attachment 59398View attachment 59396

Wow, that 2nd picture really is something else! Amazing photo and I really mean it, looks very professional.

I could easily imagine that image hanging on someone's wall, well done you!

Care to share the setting you used? Was any photoshop done after?

Big

 

[jeplane]

The settings? oh boy. I dunno, and it would take me a while to retrieve them.

However, I'm lazy while flying, and often just use the aperture as priority, and let the speed be what it might be, depending on the light. (the reason is that I prioritize being a pilot, vs being a photographer. It's hard to do both well at the same time, as humans are notoriously bad at multitasking)

So at night, I tend to fly at the widest aperture, so as to reduce the ISO as much as possible. And I have the "5D button" on the RC set to increase/decrease the EV value, which I use a lot.

The pics are taken in RAW, and worked afterward in Lightroom. (I do not do videos. And grabbing a still from one would reduce the quality too much)

Apparently, it's "good enough"... Richard (@jeplane) • Instagram photos and videos

PS: And no ND filters please! Never used them on the drone, and never will! They are designed to reduce the amount of light going to the sensor.
I am already working with low light to begin with!

 

[Sithsquirrel]

Flying at night?
Your Mavic 1 will not know that it is, so it won't behave any differently. (Mavic 2 would, as the obstacle avoidance sensors will not work)
You, as a pilot, is a different story, as you will have to pay attention a lot more to the obstacles near you, especially during launch and approach path.

Also, keep it mind that it might be fun for a few times to say " been there, done that", but from a videography/photography point of view, there might not be much interest there, mostly because... You guessed it!...it's freaking DARK!

However, going 30 minutes before sunrise or 30 minutes past sunset will be a lot better, as you now have details in the sky. As theses two pictures show, taken at those times....

View attachment 59398View attachment 59396

Simply wow!!!!

 

[Drbobk]

I wonder how long it will take for the FAA to approve a waiver to make the flight legal.

I believe I read just yesterday that they are going to approve night flight and flights over people (under very rigid guidelines for people, based on weight of drone, etc.)