FLying Through Vehicles

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All,

We are planning to use the Solo for video shoots of vehicles. They are larger vans. We plan to fly through the vehicle itself.

Does any one have any advise as to this? How the drone will respond? Will GPS be affected? Manual mode is too unpredictable (the drone seems to float to the right all the time once you let go of the direction control). Does flying too near things above (roof) affect control?

Thanks.
 
make sure you post the videos that crash should be one for the records

honestly don't count on GPS, Manual is the only way you might pull that off and you better be on heck of a pilot
 
I agree... manual is the only way to go, use your most skilled pilot with a direct view of the route through the vehicle.
It should be a piece of cake with proper planning.
Good Luck.
Hope for the best, plan for the worse.
 
Yea same as above, I tried to get any satellites in the convention center downtown with no luck and I managed in manual mode. I doubt you'll have much luck with gps, even trees mess with mine at low altitude.

If I were you I'd grab some prop guards, it'll be worth the 50 bucks even though that's a bit steep for what they are. They should keep you in the air even if you bump something and may save the vans from any damage as well. If you have a large garage or some way to take wind out of the equation it shouldn't be bad, otherwise it may be kinda difficult if you get a good gust while your in the cab. There were huge vents at the ceiling where I flew inside and the breeze from them was a bit of a battle. I was flying under balloon Canopies and around boats, but didn't have much time before opening so I didn't take my chances inside any boats. Just did a favor for a family member a few weeks back. With no wind and balanced props the drift should be manageable though, Good luck.
 
make sure you post the videos that crash should be one for the records

honestly don't count on GPS, Manual is the only way you might pull that off and you better be on heck of a pilot
Pyrate hit the nail on the head: forget about GPS- the van roof might block the signal and I don't think it's accurate enough anyway.

513 had a good suggestion about blocking the wind if you can.
Solo is stabile enough to do this with practice and a good pilot.

Manual mode is only unpredictable in the hands of an unskilled pilot.
Where are you filming this? I might be able to fly it for you.:)
 
Can be done, but would only recommend manual to do it. A skilled pilot can do wonders. Check this out, just 9cm of clearance and he flies back and forth through it...
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for this kind of shot why not use a camera on a slider or steadicam?
Just suspend the Solo from an arm or pole with the props removed or don't even start the motors.

You will have the gimbal working for you, and can still use the Solo app to create your video. It's about the most manual flight you could have without worrying about GPS lock, air currents, stray magnetic Flux interference, or damage to your Solo or flight crew. Easy!
 
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Yea, unless you need/want a seamless fly through - outside to inside and back to outside and maybe right into a pull back or fly around, it just seems far more risk than it's worth to try to fly into a vehicle, even a big one. If it's just a pull out from inside to out (or vice versa), attaching Solo to a poll and just using it as a Steadicam seems like a much better idea. You'll still be able to pitch the camera up/down with the controller, and you could whip up a swivel so you could pan the entire solo if need be.

Keep in mind, in an enclosed environment, you're going to be generating a LOT of air currents which will effect stability in all kinds of ways. If you get too close to the roof, it'll generate a low-pressure bubble directly overhead and the Solo will get sucked up. You can see this flying a small (micro) quad or heli indoors - get within a few inches of the ceiling, it'll get sucked up and you won't be able to get it to come down until you drop the throttle WAY below that necessary to keep it in the air. When it finally falls from the ceiling, you have to gun the throttle to keep it from plummeting to the floor. Beyond the roof, you're going to have all kinds of air currents and turbulence inside that will make precision flying difficult to impossible.

Of course, with something the size of the Solo, it would probably get sucked up within 1-2 feet of a ceiling, and it's not going to just sit there skimming the ceiling, it's going to hit something, bust a prop and come crashing down.

Unless you're talking about some seriously large vans, I'm just not seeing this as a good idea, unless your intention is to destroy the Solo or money is no object and it's worth a shot in the chance that it actually works.
 
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Can be done, but would only recommend manual to do it. A skilled pilot can do wonders. Check this out, just 9cm of clearance and he flies back and forth through it...
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Ha! Posting a video from Russia is probably not a good example. Throwing caution to the wind seems to be part of the Russian identity! :D
 
Ha! Posting a video from Russia is probably not a good example. Throwing caution to the wind seems to be part of the Russian identity! :D
True! Kind of like the new DJI Phantom 4 intro video where they were flying at the ski lodge. Not a good example.
But none the less, the above pilot has some skills.
 
But none the less, the above pilot has some skills.

Skill and luck can look like one another, but given the number of times he flew in and out, yea, I'd have to admit to it being skill in this case!

Sounded like he skimmed the doorway with the props on one pass. That is pretty impressive.
 
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Skill and luck can look like one another, but given the number of times he flew in and out, yea, I'd have to admit to it being skill in this case!

Sounded like he skimmed the doorway with the props on one pass. That is pretty impressive.

Here is one he did 2-3 years ago. Created a lot of talk back then about how he did it. I know now, but the discussions were great back then. Take a look and see if you can guess how it was done. This one was in Thailand and in just 1 take..
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copter mobi is one of the best disco pilots in the world. check out his practice regimen.

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Here is one he did 2-3 years ago. Created a lot of talk back then about how he did it. I know now, but the discussions were great back then. Take a look and see if you can guess how it was done. This one was in Thailand and in just 1 take..
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were you on fpvlabs? yeah we figured out how he did it. in one of his later videos you can even 'see' it.
 
were you on fpvlabs? yeah we figured out how he did it. in one of his later videos you can even 'see' it.
Hi Frank, Yes I was. Haven't even been on there for 2-3 years I guess. Mobi wasn't an example for safe flight, but definitely had the skills and I enjoyed watching his flying abilities.
 
Here is one he did 2-3 years ago. Created a lot of talk back then about how he did it. I know now, but the discussions were great back then. Take a look and see if you can guess how it was done. This one was in Thailand and in just 1 take..
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So are you going to clue us in?
I'm guessing:
1) rear projection (green Screen)
2) he was holding the drone and riding on a hoverboard.
 
copter mobi is one of the best disco pilots in the world. check out his practice regimen.

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Is he really flying or is a "trick" of some kind?
 

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