Flying under a bridge

[bruiser]

Hey guys, has any Solo owner here flown under a bridge? I've got a shot I want following a river and it goes under a bridge about 20m wide, and conceivably Solo could lose GPS lock in the couple of seconds it's under the bridge. I'd like to know whether it carries on in the chosen orientation and altitude for a short period, enough to go under and regain lock after the bridge — or whether it's just going to crash as soon as lock is lost, even for those few seconds.

 

[Adimuzio513]

Just map manual to a or b, use manual for the bridge then back to fly and you'll be fine.

 

[Adimuzio513]

I lose GPS a lot latley and swap to manual mode, long as you do it as soon as you notice odd movement from GPS you never lose control of it. Manuals great for under trees, bridges and anywhere that GPS is iffy, just practice a bit before cause solo will drift with wind and won't hold position.

 

[Marich]

Yup, I've gone over/through/around/under more than half a dozen old covered bridges nearby, and had nary a probl m.

 

[Earldgrayjr]

I agree. Just do it in Manual. Then there won't be any question of it auto swapping modes. Manual isn't that hard. It is just different. A little practice and you will feel comfortable...

 

[bruiser]

Great feedback, guys. Appreciate it. So far I've been a bit timid and never tried Manual so I didn't know whether to expect a bucking bronco kind of craziness if I were to take it off Auto mode. Will give it a go.

 

[Earldgrayjr]

Take off in fly, so you have a GPS home point if you need it. Go to manual for your bridge. Then back to fly.

I would also do this before your bridge flight in an open space to practice manual. Start in fly and get up high '(200 ft or so) and practice manual.

It isn't hard, it just slips side to side, and it is very important to know your orientation.

By learning up high, you can get the hang of it without having anything around to hit, and you can always hit Fly if you get in trouble.

People sometimes make the mistake of learning Manual down low thinking it is safer. Reality is there is more to hit, less time to recover, and lyou are ess likely to have GPS if you get in trouble.

 

[bruiser]

Good advice, thanks. I'll follow it through and report back.

 

[erikgraham]

If it transits under the bridge quickly enough, then it may work. GPS fail safes don't kick in until there is prolonged loss of signal.

I would test it with a Cable Cam or a short mission planned in Tower. Just be ready to take over quickly by setting Manual to the B button. That way if it seems to be drifting toward danger, you can get it out from under the bridge yourself and then switch back to GPS by hitting FLY. If your not familiar with this procedure, I'd practice it a couple times in a safe location. It's great to have it down to instinct. I predict it will allow you to save your Solo many times over the next year of flying - it's certainly been handy for me (flying too close to a cliff in Iceland, too deep into a gorge in Iceland, and under tree canopy right in my own yard).

Keep in mind that bridges made from steel can play havoc with the Solo's compass. They are even worse than power lines. So even if it retains GPS the Solo can still get confused about heading and start moving in an unexpected and unpredictable direction.

 

[bruiser]

Thanks, Erik, more good advice. Unfortunately I have the iOS affliction so no ability to run Tower. I'm hoping more and more of Tower's functionality will find its way into the official Solo software.

I take your point re: bridges and steelworks. In fact, the only time in my 2 months of Solo experience where it's misbehaved was on a disused railway bridge. The rails and obvious steelwork had been removed, but I noticed before take-off that the drone was taking a long time to calibrate. When it did declare itself ready to fly, I hit FLY and it took off sideways into the bridge railings. If anyone had been in its path it would have been embarrassing and painful.