Hi everyone,

Time to stoke up the 400ft AGL discussion again!

I'm registered as Part 107. I stopped near a mountain and wanted to get a rolling shot going over it. As I was filming, I reached the 400ft limit and wasn't even halfway up the mountain.

Question:

Best practices to get around the software setting and not feel like a criminal. Should the drone be detecting how high it really is, or does it set height based on RTH point and never change it (the latter seems to be the case).

Should I increase the Maximum Flight Altitude limit and kind of eyeball how high I really am as I move over the mountain?

Are there better ways of doing this? Please share what you guys do in this situation. =D

Trek to the top of the mountain then you can fly another 400 feet of the top of the mountaim. Problem solve! otherwise problem will NOT be solved,

dronist Posted at 2018-4-25 20:19
Trek to the top of the mountain then you can fly another 400 feet of the top of the mountaim. Problem solve! otherwise problem will NOT be solved,

Riiiiiiiiiight....

I’m trying to film the ascent, maybe that wasn’t clear. I guess I could trek up, then fly the drone to the valley then film the ascension...

ChaosKnign Posted at 2018-4-25 21:07
Riiiiiiiiiight....

I’m trying to film the ascent, maybe that wasn’t clear. I guess I could trek up, then fly the drone to the valley then film the ascension...

Use another drone (not a mavic) to fly the mavic to the top of the mountain - take off - fly down the mountain to film the ascent.  

ChaosKnign Posted at 2018-4-25 21:07
Riiiiiiiiiight....

I’m trying to film the ascent, maybe that wasn’t clear. I guess I could trek up, then fly the drone to the valley then film the ascension...

Seriously though you can configure the maximum limit up to 500m (1640ft) in the app.  I'm not sure this works for the air.  There is also a cheat/bug to go higher by flying to max altitude pushing RTH and ascending during the RTH - then cancelling RTH. Never tried that one personally.
Look into the Dynamic Homepoint feature and terrain follow mode - probably what you want.

Just set the max to 500m. As long as you are less than 400 ft AGL you are ok.
Just don't use RTH when doing this as that will not be legal.

Use google maps to find the altitude of the mountain and subtract google's home point altitude, then set your max level to how high you want to be above that. Add a bit of altitude for trees and google errors to be on the safe side. If you stay relatively close to the mountain, you should be able to stay legal and fly up to the 500 meter max.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Kinda what I was thinking.

Thanks for the Google Maps tip The Farmer, didn’t think to look there for elevation info.

I guess my workflow would be to calculate numbers beforehand and eyeball altitude as suggested. =)

Thanks again, everyone!

ChaosKnign Posted at 2018-4-26 16:22
Thanks for the replies, guys. Kinda what I was thinking.

Thanks for the Google Maps tip The Farmer, didn’t think to look there for elevation info.

Aloha Chaos,

     Be sure to note that mountains, tall trees, towers, buildings, etc. are considered "structures" by the FAA.  The "inner" 400 feet of structures are the drone zone.  Then there is a 100 foot buffer and outside of 500 feet is the manned aircraft airspace.  As noted by other posters, DJI allows a computer controlled maximum altitude of 500 meters, or 1640 feet.  Many other posters also noted the many ways you can make this information work for you.

     Just be aware that helicopters are not controlled by these airspace limitations.  As the drone pilot, you will be responsible to avoid any manned aircraft at any location.  If you are going to explore these beautiful and challenging areas, you have to learn how to quickly race to the structure as a refuge to get out of the way of helicopters without loosing your signal.  It is actually kind of fun and leads to interesting stories.

Aloha and Drone On!

Right on Cetacean!

Thanks!

Cetacean Posted at 2018-4-27 01:50
Aloha Chaos,

     Be sure to note that mountains, tall trees, towers, buildings, etc. are considered "structures" by the FAA.  The "inner" 400 feet of structures are the drone zone.  Then there is a 100 foot buffer and outside of 500 feet is the manned aircraft airspace.  As noted by other posters, DJI allows a computer controlled maximum altitude of 500 meters, or 1640 feet.  Many other posters also noted the many ways you can make this information work for you.

ChaosKnign Posted at 2018-4-25 21:07
Riiiiiiiiiight....

I’m trying to film the ascent, maybe that wasn’t clear. I guess I could trek up, then fly the drone to the valley then film the ascension...

Just messing with you

One thing you can do is to hack the MP but you need the .700 firmware or older. BUT as ALOHA dude said, you got know what your doing so you can run in and out...