RTH at night

[Droning on and on...]

Unless you’ve got some kind of waiver that Flight Protection Max Altitude should be set at 120m or 400ft! That’s why the RTH height was going up and up. As for Max Distance set at No Limit, you really don’t want to keep your drone.

I'm of the opinion that setting the max altitude to the regulated 400ft/120m creates additional risk, and potentially unsafe conditions.

Reason being a pilot may find themselves in a situation where the safest move is to violate the 400ft AGL limit. Also, it's easy to hit this above TO limit in a hilly area, and get in a bind around trees even though we'll within the 400ft AGL limit.

There are plenty of other scenarios. Bottom line is more control and degrees of freedom is always better than less. Learn to constantly monitor the telemetry, and keep the drone below 400ft AGL as a matter of piloting discipline.

 

[MS Coast]

That's good advice, especially at night when the drone can get confused. But there's still an issue if you lose contact with the drone for any reason and it tries to RTH on its own, then the OP could be in for a world of hurt while it "hunts" for a way home by rising ever higher in the sky since his max altitude setting was 500m.

Yes, indeed. I can't see a reason to have set it to that extreme altitude.

 

[Bad Santa]

I'm of the opinion that setting the max altitude to the regulated 400ft/120m creates additional risk, and potentially unsafe conditions.

Reason being a pilot may find themselves in a situation where the safest move is to violate the 400ft AGL limit. Also, it's easy to hit this above TO limit in a hilly area, and get in a bind around trees even though we'll within the 400ft AGL limit.

There are plenty of other scenarios. Bottom line is more control and degrees of freedom is always better than less. Learn to constantly monitor the telemetry, and keep the drone below 400ft AGL as a matter of piloting discipline.

Some people have opinions to validate their decision to not follow rules.
Although there "could" be reasons to climb above the 400 feet from launch site, the majority of flights probably don't need that.
I'm thinking a case by case thing is a better approach but you do you, boo.

 

[mavic3usa]

When I am in controlled airspace and there's a grid limitation like 200 feet then I will set my max altitude because not only do I want to avoid accidentally going too high but also I want to protect against a disconnect or malfunction that could at least provide a chance. This is particular true when I am flying FPV and the drone is moving really quickly (aka DJI FPV). There is hardly ever going to be a situation in controlled airspace where I will need to go above a manned aircraft that was flying too low, it seems around here they respect the limits.

 

[hank970]

When I am in controlled airspace and there's a grid limitation like 200 feet then I will set my max altitude because not only do I want to avoid accidentally going too high but also I want to protect against a disconnect or malfunction that could at least provide a chance. This is particular true when I am flying FPV and the drone is moving really quickly (aka DJI FPV). There is hardly ever going to be a situation in controlled airspace where I will need to go above a manned aircraft that was flying too low, it seems around here they respect the limits.

You fly FPV at high speeds in controlled airspace at night? Regardless of altitude limits, an even with prior authorization, that seems like a risky proposition.

 

[mavic3usa]

You fly FPV at high speeds in controlled airspace at night? Regardless of altitude limits, an even with prior authorization, that seems like a risky proposition.

Yeah it gets dark here pretty quickly and when I'm out flying in controlled airspace and it starts to get really dark, I don't always pack up and quit. My FPV drones have a lot of lighting and I've learned to fly them well especially in an area I am totally familiar with. Not a problem. It's quite easy to fly the DJI FPV at 60mph in sport mode pretty much anywhere. Where I live it's flat and there is nothing taller than 80 feet AGL except the cell towers.

BTW, the small airport that I live near shuts down after dark (and controlled airspace becomes class G) so I don't need further authorization to fly thru the night and the airport traffic slows to a crawl although I do continue to respect the altitude limits (but I guess I'm free to fly up to 400 feet).

 

[dangerd]

Just curious why 400 feet. My area is flat, nothing above 60 foot telephone poles. I'm about a mille from an airport and helicopters fly over a lot. They are supposed to stay above 500 feet but I think they sometimes dip below that, so I usually try to stay below about 300 to be safe. It is also very windy here and the wind is faster at higher altitudes.

Get yourself the air control app so you can see if you're flying in legal airspace, and if not get LAANC approval. 400 ft. Is the ceiling for drones. You should get familiar with the laws. If you're in the USA take the TRUST test. It covers the basics.

The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) | Federal Aviation Administration

What is TRUST? The law requires that all recreational flyers pass an aeronautical knowledge and safety test and provide proof of passage if asked by law enforcement or FAA personnel. The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) was developed to meet this requirement.

www.faa.gov

 

[dangerd]

Just curious why 400 feet. My area is flat, nothing above 60 foot telephone poles. I'm about a mille from an airport and helicopters fly over a lot. They are supposed to stay above 500 feet but I think they sometimes dip below that, so I usually try to stay below about 300 to be safe. It is also very windy here and the wind is faster at higher altitudes.

Get yourself the air control app so you can see if you're flying in legal airspace, and if not get LAANC approval. 400 ft. Is the ceiling for drones. You should get familiar with the laws. If you're in the USA take the TRUST test. It covers the basics.

The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) | Federal Aviation Administration

What is TRUST? The law requires that all recreational flyers pass an aeronautical knowledge and safety test and provide proof of passage if asked by law enforcement or FAA personnel. The Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST) was developed to meet this requirement.

www.faa.gov

 

[Droning on and on...]

Some people have opinions to validate their decision to not follow rules.

This was an uncalled for snipe. It was clear I wasn't suggesting this for the purpose of deliberately breaking the rules without good cause.

Although there "could" be reasons to climb above the 400 feet from launch site, the majority of flights probably don't need that.
I'm thinking a case by case thing is a better approach but you do you, boo.

This would make a lot more sense if the setting was a max AGL setting and not a height over take-off. Since it's the latter, it can often be unnecessarily restrictive, and create a ceiling that can get you in trouble when you may have seconds to react, and you're well below the 400ft AGL statutory limit.

I view the max distance setting the same way, and have it set to unlimited on all my drones. Not because I'm trying to make an excuse for flying BVLOS, but rather because I want to always have full control of my aircraft in any situation that may arise, no matter how unlikely.

In my opinion it's foolish to think you will have the time to go in to settings and change either of these limits in a situation where you may need to exceed them to avoid a helicopter, birds, treetops, and all sorts of things I can't think of.

 

[Rchawks]

I’ve had one flight at dusk with my A3S and when bringing it in for a landing it felt a bit wonky and I’ve avoided it ever since. I’ve flown multiple times with the A2 at night with no problems.

 

[PINEBARON]

Can't say I've flown my A3S at night but have flown my Mavic 4 Pro at night. The longest night flight was on July 4th where I did not want to go to a fireworks display very close to home, and chose to fly my Mavic 4 Pro, record 27 minutes of fireworks display from a distance, then played back on our TV/monitor at home. My maximum ceiling is set to 393ft and RTH height to 160' (primarily because there are 100' tall trees around where we live) and OA always active. The Mavic 4 Pro landed within centimeters of its takeoff position on the landing pad, amazingly accurate RTH landings each and every time, day or night, wind or no wind. My A3S on the other hand is comparitively less accurate, RTH is within a foot or so of takeoff point. As many of us do, I always keep a close watch on RTH landings, ready to cancel RTH and take control over for any reason.

 

[Rchawks]

I land manually 99.99% of the time. I've only used the RTH feature a few times. Mostly to check out the feature.