Pushing limits ?

[Pacefast]

As a Captain on corporate jets for 25 years and not that long into drones, now with an Air 3 , rather than relying more and more on automatics I find I hand fly nearly all the time and seem to be switching off obstacle avoidance more and more !
This is because my flights are becoming more and more challenging where I need complete control !
I also get very close or use trees to frame pictures meaning I sometimes back the drone into foliage gaps
But main theme is getting more and more dramatic scenes
Do others do this or is it switching on all the whistles and bells ?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I rarely fly with OA on.
Flying into tight spaces, especially IN gaps in foliage, is risky, you do it at your peril.
A gust could cause a crash, remember not only the drone can be blown about but so to can the foliage.
There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots!

 

[BigAl07]

I routinely fly with all the "Training Wheels Off" as well. And, like you, I like to FLY the aircraft (ole Stick & Rudder guy here) and only utilize "autonomous flight" when it improves the final product (Orthomosaic and 3D models).

It's funny you mention this... I have a professional photographer here local who added Drones to her inventory 3 years ago. To this day she still calls me to do the "Technically Complicated" flights because she's not comfortable unless it's pretty much wide open. So I get to fly through the trees, into holes in the tree canopy, and fly through the houses.

Hone your skills and you could be the "Go To Guy" for those technical shots as well. Be warned, it's not a matter of IF you'll catch a bad break but when LOL! That's also why I always carry a full back-up Drone in our tool kit. In business, One camera is NONE and 2 cameras is ONE!

 

[Ty Pilot]

Another vote for actually flying the drone. I think relying on automation can have its place, but it should be limited. I feel a pilot that is fully engaged and 'inside the cockpit' so to speak has far better Situational Awareness and is able to notice danger and/or hazardous conditions and react quicker.

 

[Pacefast]

I have already lost one Air 3 on a waypoint trip with a selected hight to clear tree tops only I made a mistake with one that stood proud ! Drone was in normal mode with obstacle avoidance on ! the tree top filled the screen and the drone flew into it ! Had i hand flown I could have pitched it up and cleared!
I must admit to admiring those guys who film a sailing boat in heavy seas or another who filmed an active volcano ! Maybe the challenge

 

[old man mavic]

in some ways its quite strange how the OA system, actually makes the drone harder to control if you are moving the drone manually ,especially when moving the drone left or right, using the sticks with bypass on , it becomes oversensitive and quite jerkey ,both my Mini 3 pro and Air 3 share this characteristic, but either with the OA set to brake ,or off completely, then things get much smoother , with the Air 3,using the OA set to bypass ,DJI have tried to smooth things out,with their nifty mode ,which make smooth progress through obstacles ,more predictable , although they do warn you, not to fly to fast ,as the drone may not react in time,to miss the obstacle, OA has its place in the auto modes ,but at the end of the day ,it is no substitute for actually flying the drone yourself

 

[Desert Drone Works]

in some ways its quite strange how the OA system, actually makes the drone harder to control if you are moving the drone manually ,especially when moving the drone left or right, using the sticks with bypass on , it becomes oversensitive and quite jerkey

Good point. I have also experienced this on the Air 3 and M3P even. The aircraft sees a ghost and you can sometimes see it in the footage.

 

[Meta4]

Trees are the natural enemy of drones and flying close to trees is asking for trouble.
My flying philosophy is that if you think obstacle avoidance is the answer, a better answer is to fly where that you don't need OA.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

As someone who captures the Most Intense Rain Storms with there drone , I also found it much easier to have full control of the drone as well .

I also prefer to make my own circles as well as shoot Panos Manually.

One thing I do because of the Risk involved with Storm Captures is I have a Remote Landing spot ready to engage , which gives me more mental clarity on each of my flights out..

Gear to fly your Air 3 in the Rain.
Phantomrain.org

 

[Cafguy]

Sounds like you are using your Air 3 like a Cinewhoop
The Air3 is a pricey drone to be turning off obstacle avoidance. BUT Even with it on, flying close to trees will get your drone killed anyway.
If you can't get the kind of shots you want with a combination of zoom and staying a little farther away, I would look into a Cinewhoop.- Before you wreck you Air3.

 

[akdrone]

I rarely fly with OA on but I absolutely use it at times. I typically land on the hood of my car so OA is off for that and normally off unless I have some unusual need for it.

 

[shb]

As a Captain on corporate jets for 25 years and not that long into drones, now with an Air 3 , rather than relying more and more on automatics I find I hand fly nearly all the time and seem to be switching off obstacle avoidance more and more !
This is because my flights are becoming more and more challenging where I need complete control !
I also get very close or use trees to frame pictures meaning I sometimes back the drone into foliage gaps
But main theme is getting more and more dramatic scenes
Do others do this or is it switching on all the whistles and bells ?

Why don't you post some of your videos?

 

[Dave Maine]

I agree that the most visually exciting footage is created by flying manually. Started flying that way with my original P3 4K and never looked back.

 

[Peterson]

This would be like driving my Tesla with all the OA features turned off. Then you’re just driving a Ford. Get the right tool for the purpose and not risk the money invested. Understand the thought behind the desire but not the path to get there. Just saying……

 

[Yaros]

Do others do this or is it switching on all the whistles and bells ?

I do fly the drone manually almost all the time, I don't like the automatic features because I don't find them that safe.
The only automatic feature I use sometimes is POI to orbit an object and adjust the drone position slowly so I get a smooth shot when speed ramping it.
Sometimes I also use quick shots when flying with friends for a quick video.

But other than that, I don't really rely on obstacle avoidance, I do have it on, just in case, but I don't like to be reliant on tech that can fail and potentially make me lose my drone.

I come from a DIY drone background, back from Ardupilot's days, and there I was in Angle mode most of the time (where throttle is manual as well, so, even harder than ATTI). And even when flying DJI drones I find that I'm calmer when I feel in control rather than when using Waypoints or other automatic features.

I kinda wish DJI drones had a fully automatic mode, hard to accidentally get into, but it would save some experienced pilots in hard situations like for example when the compass fails, you have to rely on the drone itself to detect an anomaly in its readings, which it might be too late.

 

[jeff Voigt]

As a Captain on corporate jets for 25 years and not that long into drones, now with an Air 3 , rather than relying more and more on automatics I find I hand fly nearly all the time and seem to be switching off obstacle avoidance more and more !
This is because my flights are becoming more and more challenging where I need complete control !
I also get very close or use trees to frame pictures meaning I sometimes back the drone into foliage gaps
But main theme is getting more and more dramatic scenes
Do others do this or is it switching on all the whistles and bells ?

I mostly fly with the OA off as well. The drone (Mavic 3 Pro) flys more smoothly with the OA off. I found this to be true of the Mavic 2 Pro and more recently, the Mini 4 Pro. You just have to be very careful in the vicinity of objects.

 

[YVRGUY]

Pacefast, I have both a Mini 2 and a Mini 3 Pro. For 3 years I’ve flown my Mini 2 sans OA and sans accidents. LOV is important to ensuring a collision free flight and it pays off. There are ways to sneak into tight areas without OA…we all have different methods. Yorkshire_Pud says it best…”you do it at your own peril”. Know your drones abilities and know your environment and all the cause and effects. I fly comfortably with OA off 90% of my flights. I will enable OA on my Mini 3Pro when RTH has been activated in hilly and wooded areas or I have lost LOV.

 

[Pacefast]

I did some property eork for sn estate agency and backed the drone into a 3 foot opeing in a tree to get the foliage to frame the property ! Obviously you need to watch winds etc but OA would have a nervous breakdown
Like with flying business jets you meed to be able to hand fly every situation inc multiple tasks by hand before using automatics and even then do not trust the automatics which have limitations

 

[Vic Moss]

First thing I do when I get a new drone is turn off sensors. I fly way too close to things for me to leave them on. If I have to turn them back on, it usually takes me a couple of minutes to figure out how.

And I also don't use any automatic flight modes. Those just can't take the place of the human eye when it comes to critical creative decisions.

 

[PakNheat380]

Hello to a fellow corporate pilot. I flew corporate from 1974 to 1988. I fly my drones mostly with OA on as I live in NW Montana in the mountains and lots of towering trees. The exception is when I am flying the drone from my boat.