Unlock 400' Altitude Restriction?

[Airmaxx23]

We do quite a bit of hiking in the Adirondack Mountains and I'd like to be able to take off at the base of some of them and fly up towards the peaks. It's not really possible with the 400' altitude limit, is there a away to unlock it?

 

[Ice_2k]

I don’t think there’s a 400ft enforced limit, unless you configured the max height like this from the app. The enforced limit that can’t be breached is set at 500m

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Its 400 Above Ground Level (AGL), so if the drone is flying up the face of the mountain, its the distance between the drone and that part of the mountain its over, not where you are standing. When you come back down, be sure to maintain that same relationship and you'll be fine. If you fly out away from the face, then you'd probably exceed the 400 AGL

 

[old man mavic]

just set the max altitude to the height you need to go too but remember that you must still stay at 400 ft AGL where the drone is flying

 

[Airmaxx23]

If that were the case if I take off and hover at 100 feet then fly forward and eventually over a 50 foot drop the altitude on my screen should change to 150 feet or the quad should drop 50 feet, nether of those things happen. If it isn't aware of that happening how would it adjust to the side of a mountain? Am I missing something? I'm pretty sure the altitude is based on your take off point alone.

 

[Vol4Life]

If that were the case if I take off and hover at 100 feet then fly forward and eventually over a 50 foot drop the altitude on my screen should change to 150 feet or the quad should drop 50 feet, nether of those things happen. Or am I missing something?

The altitude you see stays relative to the home position that you take off from.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

If you are flying up from the base of the mountain, you'd need to maintain a distance of no more than 400 feet above whatever ground you were over, all the way up, and same on the way down. Its really that simple. So fly up above yourself 100 feet, then start your way up the mountain, using your FPV and line of sight to to ensure you are close enough to the grade that you are safe. The metrics are not going to make a lot of sense as you get higher. The software wont measure the distance from the drone to the ground.

 

[Airmaxx23]

If you are flying up from the base of the mountain, you'd need to maintain a distance of no more than 400 feet above whatever ground you were over, all the way up, and same on the way down. Its really that simple. So fly up above yourself 100 feet, then start your way up the mountain, using your FPV and line of sight to to ensure you are close enough to the grade that you are safe. The metrics are not going to make a lot of sense as you get higher. The software wont measure the distance from the drone to the ground.

How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?

 

[Airmaxx23]

The altitude you see stays relative to the home position that you take off from.

That's what I thought but that's not what others are saying.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?

You might want to check the elevations of where you are looking to fly beforehand with Google earth perhaps. Unless you antcipate 400 foot drop offs as you climb the side of the mountain, you've nothing to fear.

On my property I have several ridges which rise about 150 feet higher than where I usually take of from if flying at home. So I can take my drone up to 550 feet as shown on the fly app as long as I am over top of one of those ridges. If flying over the valley between the two ridges, I am obligated to lower the altitude of the drone accordingly. Hopefully that is clear. So if you are not planning to maintain 400 feet above ground level all the way up the mountain, instead perhaps 100 feet, you have lots of leeway and you need not worry about breaking the height rule.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Just to add, you would want to change the maximum height setting in the app to reflect the top of the mount's altitude above your take off point. You may encounter a warning as you fly past the 400 mark in the app, you can ignore it. You are still less than 400 AGL (the distance from the drone to the ground immediately below it)

 

[dawgpilot]

How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?

The drone doesn't know. The advice here is what you are required to do to stay legal with the FAA.

 

[Ice_2k]

Guys, you’re talking about two separate issues. Staying 400ft above ground level is the legal requirement. The drone doesn’t have the concept of AGL. The drone just knows the altitude relative to its takeoff altitude.

 

[jetlag]

Guys, you’re talking about two separate issues. Staying 400ft above ground level is the legal requirement. The drone doesn’t have the concept of AGL. The drone just knows the altitude relative to its takeoff altitude.

Amen, it is pretty darn simple, and splitting hairs over flying off a cliff, or whatever just makes it all confusing.. The 400' restriction is based on AGL altitude, and all it knows is AGL from its takeoff point. It is not nearly that smart, and thankfully, it doesn't know who the FAA is.

 

[BigAl07]

How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?

You either make an educated questimate or you spend some time reading maps and interpolating what your "indicated" altitude will be at certain locations and try to remain within those parameters.

There's no need to split hairs and try to be exact just try to stay reasonably close (or under) 400AGL from the piece of ground the aircraft is directly over.

 

[DashSolo]

Set max height and fly, your area will not have any air traffic or an FAA inspector. You may want to even go higher than you thought, it's not an issue. Get the shot you want and fly. Use common sense and battery management.

 

[JoelP]

You don’t say which drone you are flying, but I know that my Mavic Air and my friends Mavic Pro show both altitude above takeoff and AGL, but the AGL doesn’t work at large altitudes. If my memory serves me right the AGL reading comes from the downward sensors which don’t have a long range.

That leaves the question of how to know that you are 400’ or less from the ground as you climb or descend the mountain. One way is to fly a Litchi mission. This tool gives you the option to set waypoints with AGL. After you have done so, you should fly this mission with Virtual Litchi using Google Earth Pro and will see how close to the ground you are getting.

That said, you need to be careful with a Litchi mission to chose your waypoints carefully. Imagine that you have picked 2 100’ AGL waypoints on either side of a 200’ ridge as you climb. When you fly the virtual mission you will see your drone crashing into that ridge. It is better to put your waypoint on top of that ridge. The other thing to watch for is that Google Earth Pro isn’t perfectly accurate for features like trees, towers and power lines. You might need to inspect your route carefully before you launch your mission and correct it accordingly.

Have fun flying the mountain.

 

[BigAl07]

Set max height and fly, your area will not have any air traffic or an FAA inspector. You may want to even go higher than you thought, it's not an issue. Get the shot you want and fly. Use common sense and battery management.

No but there are people from the FAA on this forum and there's no sense advocating busting Federal Regulations.

You don’t say which drone you are flying, but I know that my Mavic Air and my friends Mavic Pro show both altitude above takeoff and AGL, but the AGL doesn’t work at large altitudes. If my memory serves me right the AGL reading comes from the downward sensors which don’t have a long range.
........

I'm not intimately familiar with every DJI model but the downward sensors are only active for very close proximity to the ground. Most (if not all) use Barometric pressure to sort of determine altitude AGL but it's all in reference to the Take Of spot.

 

[sar104]

You don’t say which drone you are flying, but I know that my Mavic Air and my friends Mavic Pro show both altitude above takeoff and AGL, but the AGL doesn’t work at large altitudes. If my memory serves me right the AGL reading comes from the downward sensors which don’t have a long range.

That leaves the question of how to know that you are 400’ or less from the ground as you climb or descend the mountain. One way is to fly a Litchi mission. This tool gives you the option to set waypoints with AGL. After you have done so, you should fly this mission with Virtual Litchi using Google Earth Pro and will see how close to the ground you are getting.

That said, you need to be careful with a Litchi mission to chose your waypoints carefully. Imagine that you have picked 2 100’ AGL waypoints on either side of a 200’ ridge as you climb. When you fly the virtual mission you will see your drone crashing into that ridge. It is better to put your waypoint on top of that ridge. The other thing to watch for is that Google Earth Pro isn’t perfectly accurate for features like trees, towers and power lines. You might need to inspect your route carefully before you launch your mission and correct it accordingly.

Have fun flying the mountain.

The downward sensors are giving height AGL (provided that the surface below is suitable), but that doesn't work above 10 meters or so, and so is not relevant to the 400 ft AGL requirement.

 

[Bigmacd]

We do quite a bit of hiking in the Adirondack Mountains and I'd like to be able to take off at the base of some of them and fly up towards the peaks. It's not really possible with the 400' altitude limit, is there a away to unlock it?

Not without modifying the app firmware using a 3rd party firmware tool.