This may be a silly question, so apologies in advance.


I have the Spark Combo and as a relatively new pilot, I'd like to try some cinematic shots in the Avon Gorge or Cheddar Gorge.


If I fly down into the gorge, will the Spark behave itself and return to home at the right altitude. If the altitude is above take off point, flying down into a gorge or lower than a mountain top should register a negative altitude.


Before I do something stupid, has anyone any experience please?


Cheers


Ian

Yes it does show a negative altitude in red, i often take off from a high sand dune to cruise over the sea without any problem on negative altitude, just keeping it in line of sight!Enjoy your Spark!
RTH works perfectly also, it rises up to the setted +altitude before returning home.
You will lose gps and wifi connection when you enter into a cave, so be careful...

I confirm that you can fly "lower" than takeoff point (or home point).  I flew up at my property a few weeks ago.  It's 40 acres on a mountainside.  I was taking off on the high points of my property to get the best views, and I was subsequently flying around the lower elevation portion of my property.  I had no issues, and the spark worked flawlessly.

I agree, I tried the fly lower than take off point and it does fly well in '-' negative altitude ... enjoy and keep line of sight.

If you fly lower than home point how high it will fly on RTH?  30m from the point of activating RTH or 30m above home point altitude?  

Your RTH height is always set from your take off point, so if it's 30 metres altitude from take off then it will raise to this height before returning.

One word of warning before entering gorge make sure you have good gps, if you don't and haven't raised your Aircraft above 16 ft, before you start descending you run the risk of your aircraft descending all the way down into gorge.

I had an issue with my P3A once where I was wanting to circle a POI that was lower than my TO point.  The app wanted me to have a minimum altitude before it would allow me to start and it was showing a negative.  Curious if that were true across platforms and intelligent flight modes.

Yes, you can,  but to ensure the safety, I would recommend you keep it in your line of sight.

WayneMHK Posted at 2017-9-6 12:24
I had an issue with my P3A once where I was wanting to circle a POI that was lower than my TO point.  The app wanted me to have a minimum altitude before it would allow me to start and it was showing a negative.  Curious if that were true across platforms and intelligent flight modes.

The minimum altitude of POI mode is 5 meters, you should make sure the altitude of the drone is within 5 m-500m.

Thanks everyone. I went off to try it today, being one of the first flight friendly days of the year and lo and behold, Firmware Update required

As the others above mentioned, yes it will be fine. I also think Diana's suggestion is good making sure to keep it in your line of sight. Sparky is an awesome little machine.

I have flown home and RTH many times with not issue.....

YES.......

Hi Pluggy,
Looking fwd to see that footage. (been there many years ago)
Be very very carefull ; when unexpected RTH pops-in its out of your control, if any obstacle is above your drone.....well, do not want to see that video!
Good luck.

Cheers
JJB