I'm curious as to whether you fly under a bridge without running into GPS loss or control loss.
Haven't tried it yet, but would like to at some point.

You shouldn't.

The cases we have seen here almost all ended up with GPS loss, Spark going into RTH and ascending, crashing into the bridge and then falling into the water. Question answered? ;-)

I flew under a single track road bridge in the summer and lived. I wouldn't think you'd do well trying to fly in the Rotherhithe Tunnel but as they say "no guts no glory" ;)

Thanks.  Maybe sport mode will be fast enough to go under before the rth can activate?

Depends on the bridge, width, construction material, etc.
Test the waters.

ZarcTheSpark Posted at 2017-12-30 13:56
Thanks.  Maybe sport mode will be fast enough to go under before the rth can activate?

You can always try, just don't complain afterwards ;-)

ZarcTheSpark Posted at 2017-12-30 13:56
Thanks.  Maybe sport mode will be fast enough to go under before the rth can activate?

That’s the spirit.

In search of a good bridge....

ZarcTheSpark Posted at 2017-12-30 13:56
Thanks.  Maybe sport mode will be fast enough to go under before the rth can activate?

Why not just fly over the bridge?...Problem solved!

From last summer.

Spark & bridge

very nice movie, and thanks all for the comments.  I'll be trying it when the weather gets better.  I assume OPTI mode under a bridge with no GPS would work just like inside.

ZarcTheSpark Posted at 2017-12-30 16:48
very nice movie, and thanks all for the comments.  I'll be trying it when the weather gets better.  I assume OPTI mode under a bridge with no GPS would work just like inside.

I doubt OPTI would work unless the ground was near enough for it to pick up on its cameras.  The flight sounds risky with very little pay off.  Borrow your friend's Spark to minimize your risk??

"Borrow your friend's Spark to minimize your risk??" A very sound advice Gunship9 LOL

See video below.


Was flying the Spark under the bridge at slow speed.. Then compass error.. no gps.. Atti mode.. and crashed into the water..

Dirty Bird Posted at 2017-12-30 16:35
Can't comment on the Spark but I routinely fly under bridges with P2/P3/P4/Mavic & have never lost GPS or experienced an issue.

Try that with the Spark and report  back, please. ;-)
All this other drones are double failsafe equiped

djiuser_tGYKEfH Posted at 2017-12-30 19:38
See video below.

But if I remember your case/video right, it was very slow, very narrow, and you weren't prepared for that.
How about doing it again. ;-)
Happy new year, mate

That is one of the situation when manual switching to atti mode would be desirable. One would then be able to switch to atti and fly under bridge. Unfortunately Spark does not have an option to switch to atti on user's request.

if you can walk under the bridge with the spark in hand , watch the dji go app to see the problems you will get

I totally agree with _pk

I have flown a couple of times under road bridges with no issues at all, the true is that I always have flow in and out with no delay, but I think the worst thing that could happen is your drone going in to ATTI mode, so you just need to be prepared for that.

I've flown under a small pedestrial/bike bridge.

Footage Favours the Brave.

I fly under smaller bridges all the time, haven't had any issues or loss of GPS signal but I don't spend a bunch of time under them either.

very nice, thanks

at least I got some opnions.. thank you

Oh man,, this sounds risky, and surely going to read later about a Drone falling into the water..

smithe Posted at 2017-12-31 10:42
I fly under smaller bridges all the time, haven't had any issues or loss of GPS signal but I don't spend a bunch of time under them either.

https://youtu.be/IbZieCIkd6I

Very nice.  But you might want to try and set your camera settings to manual.  That way you dont get the apeture changess as to travel thru light/ dark/ light.

I did not long after I first got my Spark.  The video in the link shows how close to a disaster it was as well as my friends Mavic which also nearly ended in tears!
Not something I've done since and I'm a much better pilot now.  I'm not saying I never would again but it should definitely be done with extreme care and experience!

I flew under a steel one lane bridge. Wind currents were the biggest problem I found.

depicus Posted at 2017-12-30 13:37
I flew under a single track road bridge in the summer and lived. I wouldn't think you'd do well trying to fly in the Rotherhithe Tunnel but as they say "no guts no glory" ;)

I fly under the metal bridges here in Bundaberg occasionally. I’ve never experienced any GPS dropouts or other issues. Maybe I’ve just been lucky!

This may be a silly question, but not having flown under a bridge or indoors, what's the difference? I know the risk is different (carpet v's water) but how would the flying be different? Both have no GPS and both would confuse OPTI. Isn't it down to pilot control in both cases?

depicus Posted at 2017-12-30 13:37
I flew under a single track road bridge in the summer and lived. I wouldn't think you'd do well trying to fly in the Rotherhithe Tunnel but as they say "no guts no glory" ;)

Big lol to the "Rotherhithe Tunnel" driving in that is bad enough...wonder if you'd get away with it in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, that's a bit shorter!