Flying in Fog or Mist

[The Helmet]

Today in the NE of England after 3 days of sun am 06-00 I awoke to find Fog - I waited until after mid day to travel to the coast to fly my drone - I now wish I had not - I could see a bank of mist travel out to sea and return however I could not see what the drone could once it took off - Not noticing my drone had GPS 10 Sats on lock at 32 feet the drone went into Atti mode - then went on one - spinning then descending heading towards rocks with me frantically trying to bring it under control - RTH was pressed and the drone cleared the barriers and rocks heading towards a cliff when 6 feet away the forward radrd avoidence set to work the drone landed after 60 seconds of my 90th flight

It was a learning experience I would never like to happen again to me or my fellow pilots - I could not see the thin vale of mist - It was my 2nd flight of 2019 season I was eager to fly but waht you see on the ground is not what the drone can see in the air

GPS can not penetrate Fog or Mist to enable 15 to 28 sats to track the drone and this was my fault never to be repeated - If i havent got at least 15 Sats on my head up I will not fly the drone A valuable Lesson learned.

 

[Spark 317]

The Fog will affect the VPS as well.

Look at some these threads.

Fly safe.

 

[Gavieboydgi]

Today in the NE of England after 3 days of sun am 06-00 I awoke to find Fog - I waited until after mid day to travel to the coast to fly my drone - I now wish I had not - I could see a bank of mist travel out to sea and return however I could not see what the drone could once it took off - Not noticing my drone had GPS 10 Sats on lock at 32 feet the drone went into Atti mode - then went on one - spinning then descending heading towards rocks with me frantically trying to bring it under control - RTH was pressed and the drone cleared the barriers and rocks heading towards a cliff when 6 feet away the forward radrd avoidence set to work the drone landed after 60 seconds of my 90th flight

It was a learning experience I would never like to happen again to me or my fellow pilots - I could not see the thin vale of mist - It was my 2nd flight of 2019 season I was eager to fly but waht you see on the ground is not what the drone can see in the air

GPS can not penetrate Fog or Mist to enable 15 to 28 sats to track the drone and this was my fault never to be repeated - If i havent got at least 15 Sats on my head up I will not fly the drone A valuable Lesson learned.

Just use litchi and turn VPS off. I was flying in it all day today without any problems. It's all this crap they are spraying in the sky's as well I noticed all that today absolutely tons of it when you are flying you can see the stuff.

 

[dat1]

Still, you need a good GPS connection to use litchi...

 

[tmtwomey]

I've navigated boats with GPS for years and have never noticed fog or rain to make a noticeable difference in the GPS signal. I have often been in fog so thick you could not see beyond the bow of the boat, but the GPS was dead on. Mist and fog will, however, definitely screw up the VPS sensor..

 

[lmel2005]

Today in the NE of England after 3 days of sun am 06-00 I awoke to find Fog - I waited until after mid day to travel to the coast to fly my drone - I now wish I had not - I could see a bank of mist travel out to sea and return however I could not see what the drone could once it took off - Not noticing my drone had GPS 10 Sats on lock at 32 feet the drone went into Atti mode - then went on one - spinning then descending heading towards rocks with me frantically trying to bring it under control - RTH was pressed and the drone cleared the barriers and rocks heading towards a cliff when 6 feet away the forward radrd avoidence set to work the drone landed after 60 seconds of my 90th flight

It was a learning experience I would never like to happen again to me or my fellow pilots - I could not see the thin vale of mist - It was my 2nd flight of 2019 season I was eager to fly but waht you see on the ground is not what the drone can see in the air

GPS can not penetrate Fog or Mist to enable 15 to 28 sats to track the drone and this was my fault never to be repeated - If i havent got at least 15 Sats on my head up I will not fly the drone A valuable Lesson learned.

Problems with VPS in fog are known, but I didn't understand what happened (sorry for this, English is not my native language).

Did spark rth successfully after all?
What error messages did you get?
Did it spin uncontrollably (descending or not)?

Thanks for sharing your experience though.
I think that flight logs would be useful for finding out what happened.

 

[Andre Levite]

Fog is not a barrier to GPS signal. If that were true than clouds and rain storms would render GPS useless which is not the case.

I'm sure that there have been plenty of flights in fog without problems but on the forums they usually end otherwise. Issues with VPS errors and condensation are common with fog. Most of the threads come to agreement that is best to avoid fog altogether.

But if you are really brave then turning off VPS on Litchi is an option. Just keep in mind Spark won't sense the ground distance or home point as accurately upon landing.

 

[pmshop]

Sounds like the solution would have been to wait for more sat locks.
I take off when she says the home point is set.
Usually 8-9 sats.
But that is in the clear.
I will wait till 12 or 14 in fog/ potential bad weather.