So, if I wanted to fly at night... lets just ssy... is there anything I can do to safe guard the drone? Is the big problem the VPS sensor on the bottom of the drone?  Can you cover it with black electrical tape?  Just a theory? Any ideas would be great! Tks. In advance,  Joey...

Never had an issue flying at night. Had a lot of issues in the rain but never at night... Rain I usually get drops on the sensor but a quick thrust forward and backwards in sports mode will usually clear that issue up.

Amazon and EBay sell strobe lights for safety. I know on the p3p you can turn the VPS off in settings so you should be able too also for spark. You really don’t need to worry about VPS at night, no big deal but if you fly over water trun it off if you fly low.

I also have no issues flying at night.

Fly safely
Alex

Thank you guys great information as always, the one thing I'm a little bit confused about is on the spark I don't believe there is a way to shut off the VPS on the bottom of the Drone?

VPS is IR not visible light so the spark doesn't know if it's day or night when it's flying, you won't get great landing precision but it works fine. I like to fly at night better easier to see LED's and normally less wind .Plus I like night photography. This is a pano with the spark, i normally use the Mavic for my night photography but the spark will work just fine, make sure you use manual camera settings      

In some countries it is illegal to fly a drone at night e.g. Australia. Check with your local aviation authority!

Hi, thanks for the inquiry. We highly recommended flying your drone in the daytime as the sensor of the aircraft may not work properly during night time and for us to avoid an incident. Thank you for continued support.

@strobing_NYC Thank you my friend,  I also live in NYC. not in the city though,  yes I love night photography as well, I am dying to try this.  Happy Holidays!

Don't tape your vps! The tape could be "ground", that the bird would try to avoid and avoid and .... (you get the picture, methinks)

Right -- definitely don't tape over the bottom sensors.

Making your Spark more visible at night is a great idea. You could attach something like a Flytron STROBON Cree light.

If you live in USA (which your profile says you do), then unless you have registered your drone under part 107 of the FAA and have a Remote Pilot Certification, then night flying is illegal. I was just checking on it this morning, and it says it directly on their website. If you have a certification, then you are allowed to with proper anti-collision lighting. If you are only registered under 336 like most people, then you can’t fly at night.

I've flown at night a few times,  To be honest I didn't enjoy it one little bit.  

I think the Spark would be very hard to control and safely get back if it went into ATTI mode at night.  And extra hard to find once it was lost.  Going into ATTI mode is always a possibility.  Flying as if it won't go into ATTI mode is poor planning.  

Strobing_NYC Posted at 2018-12-24 16:05
VPS is IR not visible light so the spark doesn't know if it's day or night when it's flying, you won't get great landing precision but it works fine. I like to fly at night better easier to see LED's and normally less wind .Plus I like night photography. This is a pano with the spark, i normally use the Mavic for my night photography but the spark will work just fine, make sure you use manual camera settings      
[view_image]

very nice pics.

Just tried flying in my backyard at night for the first time. Did not go well, Spark would not hold position and drifted all over the place, especially while landing.

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-12-26 06:54
Don't tape your vps! The tape could be "ground", that the bird would try to avoid and avoid and .... (you get the picture, methinks)

I agree with not taping the sensors !,

I have no problem flying the spark or my p3p at night. Mostly up to an hour after sunset. The Spark looks like a ufo flying at night when video is on. The front red lights are off and the back green lights blink fast. I have a strobe light I use made by firehouse. You can check it out on Amazon.  

very nice pics

pianoplayer7 Posted at 2018-12-26 16:30
If you live in USA (which your profile says you do), then unless you have registered your drone under part 107 of the FAA and have a Remote Pilot Certification, then night flying is illegal. I was just checking on it this morning, and it says it directly on their website. If you have a certification, then you are allowed to with proper anti-collision lighting. If you are only registered under 336 like most people, then you can’t fly at night.

You have it backwards.
There is no night restriction for section 336 (future part 101E)
https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/

Daylight and civil twilight operations only for Part 107 with anti collision lights
https://www.faa.gov/uas/media/Part_107_Summary.pdf

Check that you set your camera manually. Once I've flown at night with auto WB so footage had these wierd blinks.

Flies fine at night:

Have flown at night with no issues, though found it almost terrifying. If there’s a large field away from buildings, people , trees etc that you can practice with initially, that would be a good place to start. Spark is easier to see at night because the lights can be more easily seen. Wait for GPS lock and that your home point has been set before take off too.
Good luck.

pmshop Posted at 2-16 23:40
You have it backwards.
There is no night restriction for section 336 (future part 101E)
https://www.faa.gov/uas/recreational_fliers/

So recreational fliers are ok to fly at night? Awesome!
Here and I thought I was doing something illegal, uhm, I mean I thought my friend was doing something illegal.