Two most important things in flying, altitude and....altitude

[tlswift58]

Since building and flying my own drones in the early 90’s I have learned that high altitude video footage is somewhat boring, and everybody can do it. Exiting scenes are taken from lower altitudes. However, this requires experience and thorough planning.

Digital zoom on the Air2 helps a great deal to keep fairly safe and yet zoom in on video. Sadly does not work in pic mode.

I fly waterfalls A LOT. When you're out a fair ways - it's hard to gauge how close you are to objects. The camera doesn't really help that much as well. So, I try to get as close as I feel comfortable and if still kind of far - I'll dial in some zoom on videos. Maybe 2x - 3x max, as 4x can get bad in wrong light conditions. The video then makes it seem I am much closer.

Now, if DJI could get zoom in to pics on the Air2 and fine tune the "digital" zoom - I'd be set.

 

[tlswift58]

I would not agree with the 300 foot mark you have set for yourself. I cannot think of a single time I have gone that high, and I have been producing videos for several years at my usual altitude of less than 150 feet, and most of the time, 60-80 feet. Of course I fly in clear areas. Being closer to the ground gives my photography a great vantage point that I did not have before. Please refer to some of the videos I have produced at these heights at Dale Davis,M.D.


Dale
Miami

Not always doable, esp if you live in the mountains or fly a lot there. Sure in flatland FL - who would need to fly above 200 ft. 200 ft in mountains is really restrictive, esp if you start low and want to go up one.

 

[maggior]

I understand the anxiety of going up to 300-400 ft in the beginning. It's ironic that flying that high is safer regarding obstacles. I start each flying session by going up to 400 ft, angling the camera down 10-12 degrees and panning the area. Then I will bring it down to about 200 ft and fly around the area looking for points of interest and trying to set up flyby shots. If it's a very flat area, I'll bring it down to 100ft which can make for more interesting footage.

I have also experimented very up close to see what it looks like in the camera when I am right above something. The camera in my MA2 makes things seem closer than they are. I think it's worthwhile practicing where you have a very clear view of how far you are clearing something and you can compare it to what the camera view is.

 

[AVLJMA]

I have been flying for about 3 months and have noticed several threads of taking off and flying into buildings and trees. Seems to me like a lot of the problem is altitude, the easiest problem to correct. Just the latest one of taking off, going a cross the road and hitting a tree. Every time altitude is the first thing I do after taking off and checking out the movement of the drone. Take off and at least hit the 300 mark before flying.

Absolutely correct. That is the same thing I do. And if flying in a new area it only makes sense not get up to 300 ft and survey the area. You can always drop down later if it is safe. And the signal RC signal remains stronger at 300 ft.

 

[halifax]

The tallest tree in New England is about 165' so I usually launch to 200' AGL, set focus and exposure, and fly or upload a Litchi mission.

 

[cgmaxed]

Fly over the ocean and you will never hit anything.

300' is pretty high. I rarely get up there unless I am insanely far away and having signal issues.

Your right about that. It's often the case; the further you go the more ground clutter/signal interference you get, thus you must fly higher to keep a signal. Otherwise, the drone is going to RTH. I have my RTH altitude set to about 350ft. If I lose signal, it quickly comes back as the drone gains altitude.

 

[Droniac]

Really - why some many crashes into the water

Point taken. That’s why I wear a very sharp looking neoprene wetsuit and someday get brave enough to order water landing gear. Electronics and water n/g. But Id enjoy the peace of a good Nor`Easter flight (never done so to date but I will). I’m geared up physically thanks to Phantom rain now it’s practice and gearing up my confidence ?

 

[LA 2020]

I have been flying for about 3 months and have noticed several threads of taking off and flying into buildings and trees. Seems to me like a lot of the problem is altitude, the easiest problem to correct. Just the latest one of taking off, going a cross the road and hitting a tree. Every time altitude is the first thing I do after taking off and checking out the movement of the drone. Take off and at least hit the 300 mark before flying.

Before I fly in an area I try to check the height of the highest thing I can see sometimes I even get close to it and fly straight up to measure it. Then if I program a mission I just make sure I'm above that height so I don't have to worry. I also have an electronic measurement device used for hunting where I can measure the straight distance to a target's top and bottom then with simple geometry I can determine the height.

 

[vindibona1]

I'm going compact a few things already mentioned and hopefully repeat them but in a different way.

The two most important things: 1) Skill and control. 2) Situational awareness. Altitude by itself isn't one of them. As someone else alluded to, with some exceptions, the higher you go the more boring the footage. What makes UAV footage so interesting besides the perspective of altitude is the smoothness at which you can pass over and between things that would be impossible without special ground equipment- or just impossible from a ground-bound camera. The closer you get to stuff the more skill and control you have to have. It doesn't take much skill to stay away from stuff at 300', but when you have 3' on either side of your drone it's a different story. Also a perfectly functioning and stable drone is critical. Having the settings right for stick sensitivity and the motion response of your drone, adding in the personal skill contributes to it all.

Situationals awareness is critical as you want to know where stuff is before flying, or at least be able to identify where it is. How high do you need to go to avoid obstacles. Google Earth is extremely helpful in determining things such as RTH altitudes. Sideways motions is always tricky when below altitudes where obstacles may reside. Even for pilots with decent skills it is so easy to misjudge what is positioned laterally to your drone. At least in descent you can point the camera down to see what's directly below.

It is interesting to me that while VLOS with naked eyesight is mandated by the FAA (without a VO) I find that I tend to be more spacially aware with goggles on even though I'm looking at essentially identically the same screen as my phone would show me. I think FPV with goggles is more helpful flying near obstacles than just flying off of the phone screen unless I can be directly in line with the drone. However, even being in line if the drone is more than a few feet away I'm better off with goggles for the most part. That's probably just me, and perhaps goggles just help me stay focused on the trajectory and help me identify objects in my path quicker and more effectively than with the phone's screen. And up in the air you do have to be more situationally aware of things that might be in the sky with you.

The thing is that if you don't push the envelope a bit this all gets boring very fast.

Edit: Here's me pushing the envelope in a practice session over an unpopulated golf course practicing low level maneuvers. I needed to make an S turn to continue between the trees and thought I'd gone far enough past the first tree for clearance. The mistake I made was using the left joystick too early as I didn't want to rely solely on yaw... and paid the price. I *thought* I had cleared the tree. It cost me a set of propellers. Perhaps FPV goggles would have been better for me in this instance? But this is an instance of practicing, pushing the envelope with limited risk. I couldn't have gotten the same experience 300' AGL. You can't develop skill through osmosis.

 

[stanbrown333]

The three most useless things in aviation:
- fuel on the ground
- runway behind you
- altitude above you

OK, so the runway part of course doesn't apply to drones but the other two definitely do.

 

[ricsrod]

When discussing altitude the following video covers it well.

Also everyone needs to take the Trust test.

Thank you for the video.
In my personal view I find it extremelly important that a drone pilot should be well aweare of the difference between AGL and MSL and what the hight displayed on the controller means in relation to the terrain over witch the drone is flying.