Probable encounter with MOD helis

Tony Weller · Nov 7, 2020

I reside on or near a training path UK for Chinook, Sea king, helicopters that fly very low as the area is flat. I have been used to this from childhood as Hercules pilots trained where I grew up, I know where they are coming from and going to as I have worked on the electrics. They fly very low, possibly lower than my Mp2 (got to 350 ft today) the shock wave from the blades rocks my house! That doesn't scare Horses but my buzzing drone does; go figure...and drives the neighbors dog mental but she brings it on a lead to chat while I'm mid flight but I digress. There is no data on the flight plans for obvious reasons.
Point of note Chinook top speed is (196 mph, 315 km/h) (Wiki) and I don't want to be infamous for getting my flying camera sucked into a turbine although I'm pretty sure the blades could take the hit after seeing the testing facility, not sure about the windcreen.

Sod's law says this will happen one day! do I try to drop, go higher, sideways? what would you do before I have a panic freeze moment.

Think I posted in the wrong place

Deleted member 103366 · Nov 7, 2020

What drone?
If really close I think you have no option but to do a CSC, stop the motors, let it drop and hope you can restart and throttle up enough to halt the fall once it is closer to the ground.
That said the drone would need to have the CSC response set to allow it TO STOP THE MOTORS, with the mini and M2P the default setting only allows the motors to stop after the collision etc.
If you have warning then get it down as quickly as possible in which ever flight mode gives the fastest descent speed

All that said it might be better to find a safer location to fly.

old man mavic · Nov 7, 2020

@Tony Weller with the greatest of respect ,Tony,i would suggest that the prudent thing to do would be as @PhiliusFoggg suggested and find a different location to fly your drone, sorry to be so blunt

Terry777 · Nov 7, 2020

Surely this would be a restricted space/path?

That's asking for trouble, BIG TROUBLE! If you need to ask what you should do, i think you should give up on drones buddy.....

You're probably going to get someone killed and/or yourself a healthy stint in the pokey!

Holy moly!

Deleted member 103366 · Nov 7, 2020

I remember someone like Sar104 wrote that they were a member of an RC model club, the club flew at an airfield used by search and resue. If you were flying and the scramble alarm went off the instructions amounted to "put it in the ground"

GregS · Nov 8, 2020

Some excellent blunt responses! You did not say how close you are to the airfield, but sounds like you are in restricted airspace. You can hear a helo coming from a great distance. Don't know why you didn't just come down quickly. My guess is according to your photo, you cannot see your drone since you might fly beyond LOS, and you just might not know your surroundings by just looking through those goggles.
Find another place to fly that things and save a crews life!

Tony Weller · Nov 8, 2020

M2P
Thanks for the blunt responses.
Not in a restricted airspace as far as the MOD don't publish their flight paths for obvious reasons
I am nowhere near a MOD base just on the flight path between 2
Goggles are only used for lining up a photo, I always fly LOS
It was a rhetorical question, the situation has never occurred
Don't fancy ditching it at all.

Thanks for your inputs, I'll find another place to fly...