Idiot attempts world record at 3.4 Km/11.000 feet

rene van der meer · Mar 4, 2016

This was published yesterday on dronewatch.nl

An anonymous person (upload name Tollymaster) flew a P2 to 3.4 Km / 11.000 feet.
It was a attempt to settle a world record. When landing the battery had only 4% left.

kjar211 · Mar 4, 2016

To risky and dangerous

Sinisalo · Mar 4, 2016

I agree it is risky and dangerous but there are birds that can been seen flying over 30,000 feet, even mallard ducks can fly higher than 20,000 feet. This person should be arrested for sure but the media needs to stop painting drones as if their existence is going to create the apocalypse.

souldronedlyer · Mar 4, 2016

Why is it too dangerous if his connection with the drone is intact/under control and flying over remote area?

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Sinisalo · Mar 4, 2016

souldronedlyer said:
Why is it too dangerous if his connection with the drone is intact/under control and flying over remote area?

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

it is not a remote area

XJoeyX · Mar 4, 2016

souldronedlyer said:
Why is it too dangerous if his connection with the drone is intact/under control and flying over remote area?

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

My first thought is that you would have a 2.2 pound projectile falling from the sky when his battery died at 11k feet...

Then, of course, there are the unknowns at that altitude, mainly wind. Winds aloft can be FAR greater than what a Phantom can fly against, so he could lose control THAT WAY, even WITH good strong telemetry... Then, it WOULD run out of power, and possibly fall on some unsuspecting person, structure, or vehicle...

I can't honestly say that I have never THOUGHT about seeing how high my drone would go, but there are just too many variables, not to mention the cost if my drone just didn't come home, or fell out of the sky... I think I'll just keep mine to a perfectly legal 399 ft agl...

TheDroid · Mar 4, 2016

Well said X joey X i agree. I will keep mine under the 400 ft level and thats too high for even me i would worry my money spent wouldnt come back.

kandelin16 · Mar 4, 2016

For a second there I thought he got high enough to see the curvature of the earth!!! Stupid fisheye...

eaglegoaltender · Mar 4, 2016

souldronedlyer said:
Why is it too dangerous if his connection with the drone is intact/under control and flying over remote area?

Seriously! That's just gotta be a trick question? Hardly considered a remote area - and that's not the intent when mentioning flying in "remote areas".

XJoeyX said:
Then, of course, there are the unknowns at that altitude, mainly wind.

Not to mention planes! Just plain idiotic to be flying at that altitude and even more idiotic to brag about and then post it.

Sinisalo said:
the media needs to stop painting drones as if their existence is going to create the apocalypse.

Agreed 100% - but at the same time people gotta stop giving them reason to do so.

NRJ · Mar 4, 2016

XJoeyX said:
My first thought is that you would have a 2.2 pound projectile falling from the sky when his battery died at 11k feet...

Then, of course, there are the unknowns at that altitude, mainly wind. Winds aloft can be FAR greater than what a Phantom can fly against, so he could lose control THAT WAY, even WITH good strong telemetry... Then, it WOULD run out of power, and possibly fall on some unsuspecting person, structure, or vehicle...

I can't honestly say that I have never THOUGHT about seeing how high my drone would go, but there are just too many variables, not to mention the cost if my drone just didn't come home, or fell out of the sky... I think I'll just keep mine to a perfectly legal 399 ft agl...

Well if you really want to test the capabilities of your drone, just take it out to the desert or any deserted place. The weather of the area is up to you. Then do it. Stop complaining about what this guy did and do your own test. Just do it. Lol. Then report back to us and some will complain about you too. You can't satisfy everyone. Have fun.

cheebs · Mar 4, 2016

From that picture, that flight took place in an area that can in no way be considered as "remote." The Netherlands (it is a Dutch site after all) is one of the most densely populated countries on Earth, there are NO remote areas there!
If I were to even consider such a boneheaded record attempt, I would do it on a truly remote island that has no airport. That is the only way you can be (almost) sure there are no other aircraft operating in the area.
Every time I've flown commercial in Holland and Belgium, there is always a lot of air traffic visible at every operating level!

TheDroid · Mar 4, 2016

Lets see some video proof.

XJoeyX · Mar 5, 2016

NRJ said:
Well if you really want to test the capabilities of your drone, just take it out to the desert or any deserted place. The weather of the area is up to you. Then do it. Stop complaining about what this guy did and do your own test. Just do it. Lol. Then report back to us and some will complain about you too. You can't satisfy everyone. Have fun.

I didn't realize I was complaining...

Someone said "Why shouldn't he do it?", and I merely posted a reply as to why I thought he shouldn't. But you are right, if you are out in the middle of nowhere (literally), it's not illegal, and you don't mind the thought of losing a $500 to $1400 quad, then by all means... Let it all hang out!!

kennedye · Mar 5, 2016

Regardless of the height issues, it seems highly unlikely that this was a visual line-of-sight flight...

XJoeyX · Mar 5, 2016

kennedye said:
Regardless of the height issues, it seems highly unlikely that this was a visual line-of-sight flight...

This is true. A couple of weeks ago, I was spotting for my cousin on a commercial photo flight with his P3P. He was roughly 400 feet high, and about 1200 feet away. Using what I remember from algebra and geometry, this placed the drone at roughly 1249 feet away from my eyes, and I could BARELY see him against a bright, overcast sky.
Now remember, I don't know what the laws are in the area that this incident happened, so perhaps this flight was totally legal, and this whole discussion is a moot point. However, IF this were in America, or IF there is a "line of sight" rule there (wherever "there" is), then there is NO WAY anyone could see, unaided, a Phantom at 11,000 feet.

kennedye · Mar 5, 2016

XJoeyX said:
This is true. A couple of weeks ago, I was spotting for my cousin on a commercial photo flight with his P3P. He was roughly 400 feet high, and about 1200 feet away. Using what I remember from algebra and geometry, this placed the drone at roughly 1249 feet away from my eyes, and I could BARELY see him against a bright, overcast sky.
Now remember, I don't know what the laws are in the area that this incident happened, so perhaps this flight was totally legal, and this whole discussion is a moot point. However, IF this were in America, or IF there is a "line of sight" rule there (wherever "there" is), then there is NO WAY anyone could see, unaided, a Phantom at 11,000 feet.

Yeah, from threads I've read 1000-1500 feet seems to be the threshold for many people. That's with a stock unit; I suppose painting it in a contrasting color scheme or adding a light kit might make a difference though. Heck, with the right conditions and a bright enough light you could probably still make it out at a mile or more. (Obviously the P5 needs to come with Boeing-level landing lights.)

rene van der meer · Mar 6, 2016

cheebs said:
From that picture, that flight took place in an area that can in no way be considered as "remote." The Netherlands (it is a Dutch site after all) is one of the most densely populated countries on Earth, there are NO remote areas there!
If I were to even consider such a boneheaded record attempt, I would do it on a truly remote island that has no airport. That is the only way you can be (almost) sure there are no other aircraft operating in the area.
Every time I've flown commercial in Holland and Belgium, there is always a lot of air traffic visible at every operating level!

The location was Hellevoetsluis which is very close to Rotterdam Airport.
Dutch regulations require an unaided line of sight (naked eye) and a maximum height of 120 m. If you stay away from no fly zones and villages there a enough places for safe flying.

J3lle · Mar 6, 2016

TheDroid said:
Lets see some video proof.

The video got deleted by the author.

vgt · Mar 6, 2016

Sinisalo said:
I agree it is risky and dangerous but there are birds that can been seen flying over 30,000 feet, even mallard ducks can fly higher than 20,000 feet. This person should be arrested for sure but the media needs to stop painting drones as if their existence is going to create the apocalypse.

This has what to do with this example of a drone operator violating the law? Last I checked, birds don't need to follow the law. Also, there has been *one* recorded incident of a duck flying that high.

GoodnNuff · Mar 6, 2016

vgt said:
This has what to do with this example of a drone operator violating the law? Last I checked, birds don't need to follow the law. Also, there has been *one* recorded incident of a duck flying that high.

High Altitude - Ducks usually migrate at an altitude of 200 to 4,000 feet but are capable of reaching much greater heights. A jet plane over Nevada struck a mallard at an altitude of 21,000 feet—the highest documented flight by North American waterfowl. And a 1954 climbing expedition to Mount Everest found a pintail skeleton at an elevation of 16,400 feet.
Waterfowl on the Move

The bar-headed goose can reach 8,800 metres (29,000 feet)
The common crane has been recorded flying across the Himalayas at heights up to 10,000 metres (33,000 feet)
Rüppell's vulture has been found at heights up to 11,300 metres (37,000 feet)
A flock of whooper swans was recorded by radar flying at 8,200 metres (27,000 feet)
The list goes on....
List of birds by flight heights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia