How best to fly in hilly areas? (Newbie question)

David DelMonte · Aug 21, 2016

Hi, I'm a new P4 owner, and this is my first drone. I have a dozen or so flights under my belt, but they have been extremely cautious efforts (up/down, small circles, etc).

I want to make a fly-by of my house which is located in a rural area. The house sits on hilly land. The only place I think I can fly from, is at the property's lowest point. I don't think there is any way I can maintain vlos during a house tour. (I'm trying to attach an image to this post to show more info).

Is there a (good) way to manage this?

Richard R · Aug 21, 2016

Your bird may have to take off from the lowest point on your property, but you don't have to be there too. You could station yourself at an intermediate point where you could see both the launch site as well as your house. As an aside, don't forget to account for the differences in ground elevation when you plan your route. Remember, the phantom tracks altitude as the height above the launch or home location. Plan both your orbit and RTH altitude to take that into account.