I was flying at 450 metres in an area which is not restricted and there are normally no aircraft although some police or military helicopters will pass by once in a while . While I was taking pictures, I heard the sound of helicopters coming up behind me and turned around to look. Saw two military choppers approaching although they were not actually on a direct course to where my drone was. Rather than manoeuvre left or right, I decided that the best move would be to descend as quickly as possible since the choppers are unlikely to go lower. They passed by at some distance and continued off.
I must say again that this is rare and so I wasn't breaking any law. But expecting such a thing to happen and descending would seen the safest thing to do. If the pilot does see the drone, at least an indication of a clear vertical descent would allow him to decide what he wants to do. Wandering around thinking you can avoid the chopper would be bad, just as a pedestrian who crosses the road and then moves back and forth in panic makes it harder for a driver to decide which side to go.
Actually, dropping quickly is counter to what I conditioned myself to do when my early months of experience saw me losing a drone when I was disorientated and didn't know where it was in the sky (had not learnt to use the map then). It had been blown away from where I thought it was and in a panic, my first instinct was to bring it down. That was a mistake as it was actually over a jungle and before I could do anything, it had already dropped into a mass of branches on tall trees. It's still there and actually near my house but I can't retrieve it. I should have sent it higher and hovered till I calmed down and figured out where it was.
I must say again that this is rare and so I wasn't breaking any law. But expecting such a thing to happen and descending would seen the safest thing to do. If the pilot does see the drone, at least an indication of a clear vertical descent would allow him to decide what he wants to do. Wandering around thinking you can avoid the chopper would be bad, just as a pedestrian who crosses the road and then moves back and forth in panic makes it harder for a driver to decide which side to go.
Actually, dropping quickly is counter to what I conditioned myself to do when my early months of experience saw me losing a drone when I was disorientated and didn't know where it was in the sky (had not learnt to use the map then). It had been blown away from where I thought it was and in a panic, my first instinct was to bring it down. That was a mistake as it was actually over a jungle and before I could do anything, it had already dropped into a mass of branches on tall trees. It's still there and actually near my house but I can't retrieve it. I should have sent it higher and hovered till I calmed down and figured out where it was.
I think descent is probably the right thing to do, as long as you are relatively sure that the copters are above you, which can be hard to tell when they are further off. Did you feel you had a clear idea of their height compared to you ?
