Pointer for landing in narrow spaces

[Lord Albert]

Took off from the side of a high way to have solo shoot some beautiful rocks in Jos Nigeria, after I was done I had a narrow space to land between a sea wage and the highway, I couldn't tell how close it was to landing where exactly I wanted and with the little wind tossing it slightly left to right it made it harder.
Couldn't come too low to determine the spot till I'm certain bc we had heavy duty vehicles on the road as well.

If solo could do something to help us know the exact spot Solo will be landing it would be better.

 

[Joe Horn]

Landing in a tight spot is easier if you aim the camera straight down before landing, and then steer the Solo strictly via video feed. If it's a VERY tight spot, like landing on a small table (dangerous!), be sure to keep in mind that the camera is not in the middle of the drone.

 

[Adimuzio513]

I always feel safest taking off or landing in manual, all my gps issues since release were below 15 feet and the added benefit landing is you get a feel for how the winds affecting solo the whole way down. Just a thought, I'd be too nervous trusting something landing at a point with gps, just me though I've had a couple glitches since release that have made me like and trust manual more.

 

[Dash Hewes]

I agree, landing and (t/o) in manual is your safest option, having the camera looking straight down is a must for reference as stated above. With that said, I would practice for tight landings just for proficiency so you have the confidence when the situation dictates . Have fun and fly with confidence, it will always be more enjoyable. Here's a pix of a very tight landing spot.

 

[aidanlou]

Were there obstacles in the air you were trying to avoid or was it just a small landing area?

 

[Lord Albert]

Landing in a tight spot is easier if you aim the camera straight down before landing, and then steer the Solo strictly via video feed. If it's a VERY tight spot, like landing on a small table (dangerous!), be sure to keep in mind that the camera is not in the middle of the drone.

Thanks that never tot of using the camera as a guide, that was helpful.

 

[Lord Albert]

Were there obstacles in the air you were trying to avoid or was it just a small landing area?

Small landing area only

 

[Lord Albert]

Thanks

I agree, landing and (t/o) in manual is your safest option, having the camera looking straight down is a must for reference as stated above. With that said, I would practice for tight landings just for proficiency so you have the confidence when the situation dictates . Have fun and fly with confidence, it will always be more enjoyable. Here's a pix of a very tight landing spot.

View attachment 4056

Thanks a lot

 

[aidanlou]

Small landing area only

Got it. Using the camera as a reference is useful but in my experience (lots of forests and urban areas) it's always seemed safer to use the camera for general location spotting and use line of sight for landing.

 

[Rusty Jones]

Got it. Using the camera as a reference is useful but in my experience (lots of forests and urban areas) it's always seemed safer to use the camera for general location spotting and use line of sight for landing.

BINGO!

Why are you trying to land via FPV?

 

[mecummings.cr]

I flew some property in Costa Rica with heavy vegetation and even though I had great GPS signal in the air I was concerned about tree cover impacting the signal so I took off and landed in manual mode. I took off from the floor mat in the photo but landed in the sand as the copter started to drift a bit but fortunately everything went well with the flight.

 

[Ben J]

I prefer to be in control while landing even if using RTH or auto-land. Solo still allows you to move the drone around with the sticks as it is landing. I have done this many times as it is coming down to adjust where the Solo will actually touch down.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

A tight LZ is most likely tight due to surrounding buildings, vegetation, or terrain. All those are bad news for GPS. And losing GPS in a tight location is a bad thing. If the GPS gets flaky, the solo could drift trying to make false corrections. And if the GPS is lost completely, it will drift with the wind. Proficient FLY:MANUAL mode piloting should be considered a requirement for this kind of thing. Manually take off and land, and don't put it in FLY until you're clear of the obstructions.

 

[Dash Hewes]

Good point, tight t/o and landing points could lack GPS, however if you go straight up to clear obstacles you will get a GPS lock to RTH. For me, it has yet to be a problem.

Note: If you land at another location with a higher elevation be sure to add the increase in altitude at landing point (MSL) to the enroute RTH altitude.

example: t/o altitude 3000 MSL, landing altitude 3100 MSL set RTH to 220 ft so if it does RTH it will be 120 ft above ground level (AGL).