Pikes Peak tomorrow

[Dronebow]

Going up to pikes peak tomorrow and wondering if anyone else has flown at 14,000 feet. Planning on getting some great video and pics. It's going to be cold at 7 degrees and I'll have to judge the winds. I may not be able to fly based on that alone. Will see.

 

[halley]

Most discussions about drone altitude center around the maximum altitude above takeoff point (ATO) or above ground level (AGL) but rarely height above mean sea level (AMSL). Aerodynamics of lift are different as the barometric pressure drops in high altitude. Breathing is harder too.

Let us know how the Mavic performs at 14kft AMSL. I see Phantoms have flown at 11kft.

 

[WolfgangStiller]

Most discussions about drone altitude center around the maximum altitude above takeoff point (ATO) or above ground level (AGL) but rarely height above mean sea level (AMSL). Aerodynamics of lift are different as the barometric pressure drops in high altitude. Breathing is harder too.

Let us know how the Mavic performs at 14kft AMSL. I see Phantoms have flown at 11kft.

I have flow a few times above 14,000 and the Mavic does great. Note, you are not allowed to fly on the actual summit of Pikes Peak. That's against the rules according to the rangers but you can fly nearby and get some great mountain shots. I have flown at Devil's Playground (13,000 ft) away from the highway (I think the highway is off limits to drones). Also the winds look to be a bit rough up there tomorrow.

Here's a video from a flight above 14,000 ft at Mount Democrat:

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[WolfgangStiller]

Most discussions about drone altitude center around the maximum altitude above takeoff point (ATO) or above ground level (AGL) but rarely height above mean sea level (AMSL). Aerodynamics of lift are different as the barometric pressure drops in high altitude. Breathing is harder too.

Let us know how the Mavic performs at 14kft AMSL. I see Phantoms have flown at 11kft.

Mavics (mine) have flown above 14K msl.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

Max service ceiling is 16404ft MSL (5000M), according to the manual. You should be fine but fly cautiously as performance could be affected. Considerably less air density will mean more RPM for same lift, decreased climb performance, shorter flight times, and less room for error when descending into VRE, same as any other rotor wing aircraft..

 

[Andrew F]

Dude I am SO jealous. Please send us videos even if only 10 feet off the ground. PP is on my bucket list.

 

[Dronebow]

Never made it to the top of the peak. The tracks were frozen past about 12,000'. I did fly some at the 10k area where we stopped. I posted about some serious camera shake so you can see the video there. Still not sure what happened but it was probably due to the cold weather and perhaps an SD card that isn't up to spec.

 

[WolfgangStiller]

Never made it to the top of the peak. The tracks were frozen past about 12,000'. I did fly some at the 10k area where we stopped. I posted about some serious camera shake so you can see the video there. Still not sure what happened but it was probably due to the cold weather and perhaps an SD card that isn't up to spec.

Did you give the Mavic ten to fifteen minutes or more to acclimate? If not, that may be all it is. How were the winds up there?

 

[Dronebow]

Did you give the Mavic ten to fifteen minutes or more to acclimate? If not, that may be all it is. How were the winds up there?

Curious. Why would the Mavic need time to acclimate? As far as the winds, where I was able to fly they were easily manageable. Maybe 20mph gusts at best. Went to the Royal Gorge a couple of days later and the winds were really bad. No way I was getting it airborne in that kind of wind. I think they were saying 45mph gusts with about 30mph sustained. They had shut down the gondola and zip line due to the winds. We were the last ones to do the sky coaster and they shut that down afterward too. That whole bridge was spooky to walk across in those winds too. But man, I wanted to fly that canyon... ah well..

 

[Andrew F]

Never made it to the top of the peak. The tracks were frozen past about 12,000'. I did fly some at the 10k area where we stopped. I posted about some serious camera shake so you can see the video there. Still not sure what happened but it was probably due to the cold weather and perhaps an SD card that isn't up to spec.

Sorry for your frustration with the video anomaly. What a pain. I haven't recorded that cold or high so I haven't experienced that issue.

 

[Dronebow]

The pictures were awesome though!

 

[WolfgangStiller]

Sorry for your frustration with the video anomaly. What a pain. I haven't recorded that cold or high so I haven't experienced that issue.

I have flown the Mavic from 8 F to almost 80 F but in the cold temps I will get some jitter or jello effect until the Mavic camera/gimbal has time to acclimate to the cold temps when moving from warm to cold. When I backpack in in cold temps (as was the case with my 8 degree F flight), I have had no problems.

 

[WolfgangStiller]

The pictures were awesome though!
View attachment 3417 View attachment 3418 View attachment 3419

Yeah! The shots were really nice!

 

[WolfgangStiller]

Curious. Why would the Mavic need time to acclimate? As far as the winds, where I was able to fly they were easily manageable. Maybe 20mph gusts at best. Went to the Royal Gorge a couple of days later and the winds were really bad. No way I was getting it airborne in that kind of wind. I think they were saying 45mph gusts with about 30mph sustained. They had shut down the gondola and zip line due to the winds. We were the last ones to do the sky coaster and they shut that down afterward too. That whole bridge was spooky to walk across in those winds too. But man, I wanted to fly that canyon... ah well..

Good idea. The Royal Gorge would be an awesome place for some aerial photography!

My guess is that when going from warm to cold the mechanics and/or optics of the gimbal or camera is changing while the components are cooling down and not working smoothly.

 

[Gary Vaughan]

Going up to pikes peak tomorrow and wondering if anyone else has flown at 14,000 feet. Planning on getting some great video and pics. It's going to be cold at 7 degrees and I'll have to judge the winds. I may not be able to fly based on that alone. Will see.

I just found this. I'm going to Pikes Peak and Mt. Evans on June 9-10. Did you get hassled about flying at Pikes? I checked on B4UFLY and it looks like it's legal, but I just wanted to make sure. So if anyone on this thread has an update on the legalities of flying, let me know.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Dronebow]

I just found this. I'm going to Pikes Peak and Mt. Evans on June 9-10. Did you get hassled about flying at Pikes? I checked on B4UFLY and it looks like it's legal, but I just wanted to make sure. So if anyone on this thread has an update on the legalities of flying, let me know.

Thanks,
Gary

Never made it to the top. It was too iced over. But I could tell you that it looked really windy up there. Flew at the 10k mark and it was fine but be sure to get some filters for your Mavic because it's very bright.

Good luck.

 

[bennohimself]

Max service ceiling is 16404ft MSL (5000M), according to the manual. You should be fine but fly cautiously as performance could be affected. Considerably less air density will mean more RPM for same lift, decreased climb performance, shorter flight times, and less room for error when descending into VRE, same as any other rotor wing aircraft..

What is VRE?

 

[WolfgangStiller]

I just found this. I'm going to Pikes Peak and Mt. Evans on June 9-10. Did you get hassled about flying at Pikes? I checked on B4UFLY and it looks like it's legal, but I just wanted to make sure. So if anyone on this thread has an update on the legalities of flying, let me know.

Thanks,
Gary

The city owns the road and the summit and does not allow drowns over what they control. (They actually can't stop you from flying...technically I think it's just taking off) But as I understand it, you can fly in the NFS around the peak just fine. I have flown my Mavic on other 14ers including over 14K over Pikes Peak but not the summit area because I like to keep good relations with everyone. The rangers on Pikes Peak specifically stated that "You can't fly your down here".

 

[Big Fil]

Like others have mentioned you won't get the same performance because of the lower air density. This means more power used and less flight time. One thing, which I think is the larger issue, is that batteries don't do well in cold weather. Make sure you keep your batteries warm. If they've been sitting outside or in a cold car they will be weak and can potentially cause power issues during flight. Best idea would be to have them warmed up prior beginning your flight. If you have to start them cold I would just do a low hover for a couple of minutes to warm the battery up before going off and flying. You'll get a warning message on screen that the battery temp is too cold until it's warmed up.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

What is VRE?

VRE is vortex ring effect or VRS vortex ring state, same thing. It means that you descend into your own descending air and cannot maintain lift even with full up throttle stick.
Vortex ring state - Wikipedia