HI all, im new here, so bare with me.
I fly near a dam wall alot. My max height limit is set to 120 meters (legal limit in Australia)
If i fly at 50 meters above the dam water height, and then go over the dam wall, will my mini 4 pro dive and crash ?
stands to reason if i fly over the edge its going to hit the limit and dive like a stone.
Anyone done it or have thoughts ?
Appreciate any help
When you come to 120 meter, you will get a message saying you have reached the maximum limit, and the drone will not proceed further up. If you fly in, you may of course loose connection, but if you do so and have set that the drone should return to Home when connection is lost this is not a problem. The limit of 120 meter is the same all over I belive, and it is set from the take-off height. This is a drone limitation. As a drone pilot, you are allowed to fly at a maximum of 120 meters above the ground or in proximity to a wall, so if it had not been for the drone limitation, you could fly 120 meters above the dam when reaching the top. Still you are also bound from the VLOS limitation, so you have to be able to see your drone at any time. I had the same issue hiking in the mountains followed by my Mini 4 Pro and decided to upgrade to C1, because then I am allowed to increase the maximum height)but will of course have to make sure that I always keep the drone less than 120 meters above ground (not really an issue anyway when I use ActiveTrack.
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No, height is set to 0.0 at launch. During the flight height is relative to that take off point. Height is not relative to the ground.
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ty for the answer. Merry Christmas.
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ty for the answer. Merry Christmas
One final point that has not been discussed is wind, over the Dam face. If you take off from that platform over the reservoir, you might be outside the turbulence zone and not feel any breeze at all. So, you might want to be very careful when you launch as your drone rises up, it may suddenly be caught in the breeze and do some strange things like if the breeze is blowing downstream the drone may suddenly be pushed over the dam and even below the dam face. That’s not likely as the GPS positioning is pretty good and your drone will resist the sudden movement, but please be aware of that you drone may start acting very unpredictable… More than one drone has been lost due to the wind turbulence caused by even falling water near a waterfall…
Good Luck and send us some videos of that beautiful area.
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I can’t offer any advice about the height issue but there are instances of taking off before the drone has completed its self-checks and established its GPS positions and in a few instances the drones found themselves inside a restricted GeoZone and once it was inside, it could not fly outside of the zone and return to the original launch position. In one case, the pilot watched his drone fly back and forth along the “Zone Wall” and ultimately drop into the sea when the battery exhausted.
Have you ever played with the range and height restrictions on your drone… When I take the grandkids to the park to fly my drone, I set the height to a max of 100’ and the range at 200’. This way the kids can’t lose my drone. It really is quite amusing, it is like watching a fish swimming around a fish bowl. At 100’ the drone will fly no higher and at 200’ distance, the drone will fly up, down, left, and right, but no farther…
So, the moral of all this is, let your drone do all of its self-check and establish its Home Point. I turn up the volume on my phone and tablet so I actually hear the notice…
I like it and the music and sound effects!
I saw the door rising behind you like a haunted barn… I also saw the bushes and trees branches blowing in the background. One of the tricks I impress my friends with who do not know about the power of the GPS, I hover the drone about 5’ off the ground, I place the controller on the ground, and then I walk over and take ahold of one of the drone’s legs, and start pulling the drone out of position. My friends are amazed at how the drone cranks up its motors to try to stay in position, but I keep pulling the drone about 3 feet away and then I release it and drone races back to its original position and then I exclaim, “Good Drone…”
I saw your shirt, as for your choice of “music” in this video, well I did not care for it, and will not “come over to the dark side…” L 
L . . .
Yes, I am in the States, Virginia specifically… More on that in a moment… I do not understand why you would have to drive 20-minutes to fly legally… I look around the distance in your video and I would not imagine that you even have a neighbor within 20-minutes… What is causing the restriction, are you near a military base?
As for flying in the States, there are many areas that you can fly freely, but we also have many restrictions as you do, line of sight, 400’ max, etc… We also have public, municipal, state, and federal restrictions. Many cities and counties have restrictions on flying from their property, such as parks, schools, municipal buildings, etc…
I have a Part 107 Certification, that is like having a commercial license. Recreational pilots only have to take a Free, on-line course, to fly their drones. I took a 60-question exam that costs $175 to prove that I am knowledgeable and would most likely be a safe and responsible drone pilot, which also allows me to seek authorizations to fly in places that the recreational pilots cannot fly and it has to be renewed every 2-years.
For instance, due to my proximity to an Air Force Base, I could not even fly in my own yard when I was only a recreational pilot. Now, with my Part 107, I am able to get an authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), our federal agency that controls the airspace over the United States.
Below is a map of where I live. The Blue Circles represents military bases and these areas require an FAA Authorization to fly. The Green Circle represents a special authorization I that I get from the International Airport, and the Red areas are Federal Parks and no drone can fly there (permits can be granted, but not to just fun fly…) and the areas that do not have any special color over them are generally open for recreational flying.
Using my Part 107 certification, I have been granted permission to fly in many of the various restricted area, and my recreational pilot friends cannot fly there, they too have to drive a ways to fly legally…
You have heard the international news about the various drone sightings over the US and this has caused a rash of demands for further restrictions on us drone pilots who fly legally…
One final point, I noticed that when you took off and when you landed, you were not using any type of landing pad. You need to!!! The prop wash from your propellers will raise dirt and dust and it will get into the camera’s gimbal and also into the motors. If nothing else, use a piece of cardboard or an old piece of plywood and if using cardboard, make sure the wind cannot pick it up. One video I saw was a drone coming in for landing on a landing pad, but the pilot had not used anything to fasten it down. As he was landing, the wind picked up the pad and the video showed the pad smacking the drone out of the sky…
"One final point, I noticed that when you took off and when you landed, you were not using any type of landing pad. You need to!!! "…
I’ve always questioned this. I’ve flown several drones over the last 7 years and landed/took off on dirt about half the time. I’ve never had any problems with either gimbals or motors. I’ve not seen any reports from other pilots that dirty/dusty launch sites cause gimbal or motor problems. I am concerned though that prop wash could cause a landing pad to move.
In the video, thats 20 minutes north of home. I attached a local photo for you.
As you can see im right close to an Air base (Edinburgh air base)
Where i can fly is 20 minutes to the north. Just so happens my work has potato farm land there.
I can go to the east, but thats high density residential. Local law froms on drone in populated areas.
I can get in to virginia and fly on the football oval, but theres not alot there to make it fun.
Im still learning. As for the landing pad, ive been trying to find a big one.
Most i have seen are 70cm/27in square. When i RTH land my drone seems to be a foot to the side of where it set off from. so it brings it home but not to the exact spot. its on 15 or 20 satellites, but still misses by enough to warrent a bigger landing pad. I may end up making something with some fishing weights in the corners to keep it stable.
i just noticed you live in Virginia. I work in Virginia, but in south Australia.
Did i cover all your points? oh the music. i have a music maker. i can make any song i like in any style i like. just depends on the audience. The video i put up was aimed at my boss, so you got boss music lol
The license for drones here is a casa license. about $1750. i would like one of those, but im not smart enough to pass that.
Ok cheers from Australia. Hope you and yours had a safe Christmas.
Let me know your style of music
Im going to be doing alot of work out on the farm, which is always going to be takeoff and landing in the dirt. Ive not seen anything about it either, but, i think thunders right.
Logically fine sand will find its way into things pretty quickly.
Where i take off and land is almost powdery in some spots.
Just a few $$ for peace of mind, i can do that.
This is why i like forums. Different people, with different experiences, come together to find out what works in different situations.
Hope you had a good Christmas
Wow, I do believe that you are worse off than I am… I live about 4-miles NW of Langley AFB, you look to live on the Skirt of Edinburgh’s runway. I googled RAAF Base Edinburgh and it is described as a “Superbase” with lots of personnel, so it is a really active base. If your circumstances were mine, my Part 107 certification would not even allow me to fly that close without the base sponsoring me and it would have to shut the runway down… And that would not happen…
I think I would spend my time traveling west over to the gulf and find some nice quiet areas to fly, but that’s me… I had potatoes for supper this evening and a potato field wild not interest me… L L . . .
Here is a few of my videos… The first one is where I live today…
This one is my old hometown in Up State New York…
This video is something like I would expect to find in St Vincent Gulf…
Good talking you and do get yourself a landing pad. Merry Christmas and Have a Happy New Year! One final video with my kind of music… By the way, this is me…
Wow ok. i can see why you have a casa license lol
Amazing videos. I made a quick song in country and then dance, to cover the options for your music taste. ill admit i wasnt prepared for soft jazz. ill put the same words in and see if it will work with jazz. i never tried lol.
In your videos, majority of that wouldnt be available to me. we have so many rules. no closer then 30 meters to people and stuff. interesting on the fort. i used to work at fort glanville as a caretaker.
st Vincents gulf, well its a bit bigger then what you imply in the video. 73 km/43ml across.
your videos look heaps good. im just starting out so im no where near that quality lol
ok ill see what i can do with that song in a jazz format. sleep well, cheers from Australia
ok im trying to post the youtube link and it says im not allowed to post from that host ?
I tried direct link in text. not allowed. tried the chain icon, not allowed.
do i need to get forum status b4 i can post youtube in here ?
see if i can be sneeky with the link. take out the 4 spaces and it should work
https:// www.you tube.com/ watch?v= U0K5tn-z7tE