Flight above treetops

[Peter Goldwing]

I wondered what this road looks like so I took a look.
The flight was about 17 Min. Returning home I still had about 1/3 battery level.
The height 118 ft,
I set the speed for the waypoints at 18 MPH but coming home was at 12 MPH I do not know why or where to set the return home speed in "mission"
The app quit working at the farthest point and I never regained video even when was on top of me.

VERY IMPORTANT
I programmed this mission from my home with no connection to drone or remote. I drove to the site where Im building a house for the take off. The mission was to end with "return home" which in this case was where it took off from. The drone did not returned to me but continued towards my home where I programmed the flight. Since I had no video I watched the return home distance get shorter and shorter till around 1000 ft. Then the distance started increasing. I pressed"home" and the drone flew to me.
Looking at the video I realized the drone was heading to the place I was when I programmed the flight

 

[ebphoto]

That’s pretty strange! I wonder if anyone else has had this happen?

 

[Atomic08]

Peter..
Interesting flight !
How far was your flight from STOP (Start Take Off Point )
Looks like a couple of miles !
Where was this recorded ? I ask because it so flat and I could never get a long distance flight at 118 feet where I live because it's so hilly.
To get any distance I have to fly at 400 ', and that is only in a couple of directions down the valley.

As to your Return to home remark, That's interesting because in the few missions I programmed, it always returned to HOME.
I did have one instance where I lost video also, but it completed the mission and returned home, completing the video.
I was nervous but it was one of my first missions test and I was watching the EVO with my fingers on the HOME Button.

I have a couple of programmed missions to test, but its been raining for the last few days, but I will fly them and see if that happens again.

BTW...What program are you suing to edit your videos? I have always used Pinnacle but got tired of it always crashing so I am learning DaVinci Resolve.
I'll say it a different animal and has been a steep relearning curve but it doesn't crash and renders fairly quickly on my new build.

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

I wondered what this road looks like so I took a look.
The flight was about 17 Min. Returning home I still had about 1/3 battery level.
The height 118 ft,
I set the speed for the waypoints at 18 MPH but coming home was at 12 MPH I do not know why or where to set the return home speed in "mission"
The app quit working at the farthest point and I never regained video even when was on top of me.

VERY IMPORTANT
I programmed this mission from my home with no connection to drone or remote. I drove to the site where Im building a house for the take off. The mission was to end with "return home" which in this case was where it took off from. The drone did not returned to me but continued towards my home where I programmed the flight. Since I had no video I watched the return home distance get shorter and shorter till around 1000 ft. Then the distance started increasing. I pressed"home" and the drone flew to me.
Looking at the video I realized the drone was heading to the place I was when I programmed the flight

Interesting and concerning as I have a few lengthy missions planned that are far away from my home where I programmed them off-line. Haven't tested yet, but could be disastrous if it did the same as you experienced. Think I may have to test a shorter route more local in the next few days.

 

[claudius62]

This is absolutely normal, when you program at home, point S is placed where the GPS (on the tablet) locates you on the tablet. It is necessary to think of moving first this point S to the place where you will start your flight and then you put the following points of mission and you end the course by putting the last point near the point S.

@Peter, next time, think of lowering the camera by 6 to 8 °, we will not see the propellers and you will have a horizon image 1/3 - 2/3.

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

This is absolutely normal, when you program at home, point S is placed where the GPS (on the tablet) locates you on the tablet. It is necessary to think of moving first this point S to the place where you will start your flight and then you put the following points of mission and you end the course by putting the last point near the point S.

@Peter, next time, think of lowering the camera by 6 to 8 °, we will not see the propellers and you will have a horizon image 1/3 - 2/3.

Not sure I follow. I dont see an "S" anywhere when I pull up a waypoint mission I've programmed (per your comment above - maybe im misunderstanding). Let's say for simplicity I have 2 waypoints (1 and 2) and at the end of the 2nd waypoint I have the action RTH. I would assume the RTH location is where the EVO takes off from - not my house 15 miles away where I created the mission off-line the night before. Again, I don't see an S anywhere, including the place where i created the mission. I use Andriod and create the mission going through the camera view. What am I not following here?

 

[Atomic08]

Heckmaniac..
Go Here
Way point mission
you should see the "S" in the photos
Remember "S" is not your home point
After you program your mission, you go to your site and set up and take off.
THAT is your home point.
For me, I take off near Waypoint3 (The Parking lot)
The EVO Flys to the "S" and that is the start of the mission
While it is flying there, I turn on the Video and set the camera angle and wait for it to start the mission
Hope that Helps !

 

[claudius62]

You don't end a mission with an RTH, it's a lazy job. We keep control of his drone. With Hover, and we bring it back to ourselves.
The "S" is the point where the mission starts "S = Start".

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

Heckmaniac..
Go Here
Way point mission
you should see the "S" in the photos
Remember "S" is not your home point
After you program your mission, you go to your site and set up and take off.
THAT is your home point.
For me, I take off near Waypoint3 (The Parking lot)
The EVO Flys to the "S" and that is the start of the mission
While it is flying there, I turn on the Video and set the camera angle and wait for it to start the mission
Hope that Helps !

View attachment 6792

Right I don't go through the mission prompt in the beginning - I go through camera, then through intelligent flight modes where I choose waypoint. I'm familiar with both ways - thanks for clarifying.

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

You don't end a mission with an RTH, it's a lazy job. We keep control of his drone. With Hover, and we bring it back to ourselves.
The "S" is the point where the mission starts "S = Start".

??? Common now - I think we're all capable of choosing our own method of post mission actions - no need for further instruction or critique on that aspect...

 

[Peter Goldwing]

I know S is the start of the mission. The drone took off from my construction site went to S which was the beginning of the trail . Like I said it was expected to return to me and it didnt.
Also 4 min into the flight I got the transmitter saying "uploading mission" I said' What the hell the mission was uploaded already"

 

[Peter Goldwing]

Peter..
Interesting flight !
How far was your flight from STOP (Start Take Off Point )
Looks like a couple of miles !
Where was this recorded ? I ask because it so flat and I could never get a long distance flight at 118 feet where I live because it's so hilly.
To get any distance I have to fly at 400 ', and that is only in a couple of directions down the valley.

As to your Return to home remark, That's interesting because in the few missions I programmed, it always returned to HOME.
I did have one instance where I lost video also, but it completed the mission and returned home, completing the video.
I was nervous but it was one of my first missions test and I was watching the EVO with my fingers on the HOME Button.

I have a couple of programmed missions to test, but its been raining for the last few days, but I will fly them and see if that happens again.

BTW...What program are you suing to edit your videos? I have always used Pinnacle but got tired of it always crashing so I am learning DaVinci Resolve.
I'll say it a different animal and has been a steep relearning curve but it doesn't crash and renders fairly quickly on my new build.

Atomic, The trip was 1.61 miles in Edgewater FL. We are about 2 miles from Indian River and have A LOT of empty space around where I can fly the drone. I had the drone go from home to construction site one, then to second then went to visit a friend and finally returning home. Yep it was a nail biter and finally I got in the car with my son to look for it. It passed me overhead on its way home and as I caught up with it , it was landing.
What an amazing machine
I dont edited per say, just clip the ends. I downloaded Da Vinci but I dont have any real professional videos. I just share them with friends. Im sure your area is nice and Im looking forward to watch some of your videos

 

[Atomic08]

Peter, Our area is very bland except in the fall.
Thanks for taking an interest in our area !

I haven't done any videos from the EVO, except for our July 4th Fireworks
Here:

Here are a couple of videos I did with my Typhoon H a few years ago, the FOG one is interesting but the Winter Storm is usually what we have
most of the time.
November Fog:

Winter Storm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7MjYI_M30c

 

[ebphoto]

Very nice! Love the above the fog view, really stunning

 

[BirdDog]

I figured Florida from the Sabal palm trees and the flat Earth. I was going to say Ocala National forest.

I wasn't going to send this because I don't want to be considered " that guy" but I just want to offer a suggestion.... not to sound like a fuddy duddy, but these videos appear to show violations of the federal regulations. Unless you had visual observers positioned every so often, the drone went way beyond visual line of sight. This is even more apparent in a heavily wooded area such as this, there was no way to maintain the visual line of sight. Additionally it overflew many houses that might have had people in the front or back yards (I saw one guy standing in his driveway, and a vehicle towing a trailer that passed underneath. These could be additional violations....
I would hate to see you or anyone else hang yourself with your own videos.....as it could result in very steep fines and/or imprisonment. This is why everyone needs to understand the Part107 rules. Even if you're just a hobbyist or recreational user, you need to know and follow the regs. Remember, just because someone might not know the law, doesn't mean they can't be prosecuted for violating it.

Edgewater has Massey Ranch airpark which is less than 3 miles from your start point. You are also flying within Alert area A294 which extends up to 4000 feet. Your flight path also put the Evo very close to Tully airpark and its airport operations pattern. Also, if you try flying to the North of Massey field be careful of LAANC altitudes and New Smyrna Beach Class D. Go to ArcGIS Web Application to see the altitude restrictions in that area.

I just want people to know what they may be exposing themselves by posting videos on youtube that clearly put themselves in the hot seat. I'm not the FAA or law enforcement but its very easy for anyone else to see these videos on youtube and start taking notes....Make sure to read the full set of Part107 rules and follow them and make sure you're not doing any commercial flights (if you don't have your 107 certificate) and that will go far to keep you out of trouble with the FAA investigators or local law enforcement (who are now trained by the FAA on how to handle drone police calls).
The simplest solution is to just get your part107 certificate..... it will keep you, the community, and the airspace safe, satisfy the legal people and keep our hobby/profession free from the imposition of more restrictive regulations.

Peter, you have registered the Evo with the FAA and its registration number is written on the outside of the drone as required by the regs...right?

I've been to Massey airport several times (great little airport )and I fly over New Smyrna on my way to Daytona Beach all the time.... lots of low flying aircraft trying to stay under the Class C Daytona airspace. Be careful!

Nighttime fireworks video person, do you hold an FAA night time waiver? do you have anticollision lighting that is visible at least 3sm miles away that needed to be turned on during this flight? Is the drone properly registered and displaying the registration number on the outside of the drone in case one of the embers or an errant mortar hit the drone and it crashed? Failing to have any of these would be a federal violation. Did you see the laser hitting your drone? Do you know what that could've been and why it pointed at you twice?

Sorry if this sounds like I'm preaching.......just want everyone to stay safe and out of trouble. I love the exchange of technical info for the safety of everyone, just be careful of the videos you post on youtube....

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

I figured Florida from the Sabal palm trees and the flat Earth. I was going to say Ocala National forest.

I wasn't going to send this because I don't want to be considered " that guy" but I just want to offer a suggestion.... not to sound like a fuddy duddy, but these videos appear to show violations of the federal regulations. Unless you had visual observers positioned every so often, the drone went way beyond visual line of sight. This is even more apparent in a heavily wooded area such as this, there was no way to maintain the visual line of sight. Additionally it overflew many houses that might have had people in the front or back yards (I saw one guy standing in his driveway, and a vehicle towing a trailer that passed underneath. These could be additional violations....
I would hate to see you or anyone else hang yourself with your own videos.....as it could result in very steep fines and/or imprisonment. This is why everyone needs to understand the Part107 rules. Even if you're just a hobbyist or recreational user, you need to know and follow the regs. Remember, just because someone might not know the law, doesn't mean they can't be prosecuted for violating it.

Edgewater has Massey Ranch airpark which is less than 3 miles from your start point. You are also flying within Alert area A294 which extends up to 4000 feet. Your flight path also put the Evo very close to Tully airpark and its airport operations pattern. Also, if you try flying to the North of Massey field be careful of LAANC altitudes and New Smyrna Beach Class D. Go to ArcGIS Web Application to see the altitude restrictions in that area.

I just want people to know what they may be exposing themselves by posting videos on youtube that clearly put themselves in the hot seat. I'm not the FAA or law enforcement but its very easy for anyone else to see these videos on youtube and start taking notes....Make sure to read the full set of Part107 rules and follow them and make sure you're not doing any commercial flights (if you don't have your 107 certificate) and that will go far to keep you out of trouble with the FAA investigators or local law enforcement (who are now trained by the FAA on how to handle drone police calls).
The simplest solution is to just get your part107 certificate..... it will keep you, the community, and the airspace safe, satisfy the legal people and keep our hobby/profession free from the imposition of more restrictive regulations.

Peter, you have registered the Evo with the FAA and its registration number is written on the outside of the drone as required by the regs...right?

I've been to Massey airport several times (great little airport )and I fly over New Smyrna on my way to Daytona Beach all the time.... lots of low flying aircraft trying to stay under the Class C Daytona airspace. Be careful!

Nighttime fireworks video person, do you hold an FAA night time waiver? do you have anticollision lighting that is visible at least 3sm miles away that needed to be turned on during this flight? Is the drone properly registered and displaying the registration number on the outside of the drone in case one of the embers or an errant mortar hit the drone and it crashed? Failing to have any of these would be a federal violation. Did you see the laser hitting your drone? Do you know what that could've been and why it pointed at you twice?

Sorry if this sounds like I'm preaching.......just want everyone to stay safe and out of trouble. I love the exchange of technical info for the safety of everyone, just be careful of the videos you post on youtube....

You dont need waiver to fly at night if flying as hobbiest (went into agonizing detail in another post - search "Clarification on flying?"). Yes need anti-collision lighting and registration and normal VLOS rules apply. Other stuff agree with in principal, but very preachy if you ask me. Most who go to the trouble to be part of this forum know the rules and every time one isn't followed someone is sure to jump all over them to remind them ?...

 

[Tufargon]

You don't end a mission with an RTH, it's a lazy job. We keep control of his drone. With Hover, and we bring it back to ourselves.
The "S" is the point where the mission starts "S = Start".

If that's the mindset then doing a mission would also mean "it's a lazy job". The buttons and app options are there for people that want to use them. All in all, we all have our ways of doing things. It doesn't mean someone is lazy because they don't do it your way.

 

[BirdDog]

You dont need waiver to fly at night if flying as hobbiest (went into agonizing detail in another post - search "Clarification on flying?"). Yes need anti-collision lighting and registration and normal VLOS rules apply. Other stuff agree with in principal, but very preachy if you ask me. Most who go to the trouble to be part of this forum know the rules and every time one isn't followed someone is sure to jump all over them to remind them ?...

Just trying to keep them out of trouble. I'd sure appreciate the knowledge if I was doing something that could jam me up.... this should also be a place where others can mentor and help the others that might not know.... keep them out of trouble and as well protect the industry from intrusive regulations that might come as a result of accidents. As for the night waiver...you better be damn sure FSDO doesn't determine that it is a commercial flight. Its all in the interpretation..... to fly at night without waiver..no problem as a recreational flyer only but...once you post videos to youtube...you've just entered the grey area.

 

[Heckmaniac`s Drone]

Just trying to keep them out of trouble. I'd sure appreciate the knowledge if I was doing something that could jam me up.... this should also be a place where others can mentor and help the others that might not know.... keep them out of trouble and as well protect the industry from intrusive regulations that might come as a result of accidents. As for the night waiver...you better be damn sure FSDO doesn't determine that it is a commercial flight. Its all in the interpretation..... to fly at night without waiver..no problem as a recreational flyer only but...once you post videos to youtube...you've just entered the grey area.

I can see helping if someone asks for clarification, but if you've been part of this forum for any amount of time, you know there are many self appointed rule professors that think no one has heard them before - they/I have, far too many times to recount. Thanks for the reminders again and the yt advice - message received.

 

[Madhungarian]

I wondered what this road looks like so I took a look.
The flight was about 17 Min. Returning home I still had about 1/3 battery level.
The height 118 ft,
I set the speed for the waypoints at 18 MPH but coming home was at 12 MPH I do not know why or where to set the return home speed in "mission"
The app quit working at the farthest point and I never regained video even when was on top of me.

VERY IMPORTANT
I programmed this mission from my home with no connection to drone or remote. I drove to the site where Im building a house for the take off. The mission was to end with "return home" which in this case was where it took off from. The drone did not returned to me but continued towards my home where I programmed the flight. Since I had no video I watched the return home distance get shorter and shorter till around 1000 ft. Then the distance started increasing. I pressed"home" and the drone flew to me.
Looking at the video I realized the drone was heading to the place I was when I programmed the flight

Peter, I have some advice for you.
Change your name on youtube to Peter G. Edit your videos into sections. This way you can always explain yourself if you need to. Do not worry about Birddog, his words should be interpreted on how to learn from your mistakes, he needs to realize that he's not the FAA, he's just known as the "drone police" in the drone community and on youtube. Trust me most pilots do not like these type of accounts. He does not have anything better to do then to point out "possible" violations. The FAA has WAYYY more other issues to attend to, then to scan thousands of videos on youtube and to determine even if they have a case . Yes stay away from air traffic and over crowded areas which you did. I would have started out with a smaller route until I got familiar with the app LOL, could have been nerve racking waiting for your drone to show up and see the distance start increasing. This was why I never did it with my Bebop 2, yet there are videos like this one that go for 14km over a city!

Have fun and be safe. If plan on flying over houses be prepared to land somewhere accessible if needed because if your drone ends up in someones property like the drone police, you could never see it again.