Flying below takeoff altitude

[5r49cfu]

hi,

If I take off from the top of a overlook, am I able to fly down below the takeoff altitude?

I didn't want to try it, in case it thought it should be landing and did something unexpected.

Thanks!

 

[Jubalr]

hi,

If I take off from the top of a overlook, am I able to fly down below the takeoff altitude?

I didn't want to try it, in case it thought it should be landing and did something unexpected.

Thanks!

Yes, this has been discussed several time on the board and you may want to use the search feature for more information. But flying below takeoff alt is no problem. Solo still knows the takeoff alt and is simply going negative while below it.

 

[peppys]

I was wondering the same few days ago
Nothing went wrong. It just shows 0 altitude but doesn't go below negative

 

[EyeWingsuit]

Yes, this has been discussed several time on the board and you may want to use the search feature for more information. But flying below takeoff alt is no problem. Solo still knows the takeoff alt and is simply going negative while below it.

Solo still knows the point of takeoff/launch, but the display can only show "-0" on the display. It would be useful if the altimeter properly displayed the altitude. My skydiving equipment uses some of the same components, and it not only displays the negative altitude difference from point of takeoff, it also tracks the negatives and allows users to off-set the difference for safety reasons.

 

[Joe Horn]

It just shows 0 altitude but doesn't go below negative

Solo still knows the point of takeoff/launch, but the display can only show "-0" on the display. It would be useful if the altimeter properly displayed the altitude.

That's not been my experience. Yesterday I flew down into a canyon and the display correctly showed the negative altitude:



I was also delighted to discover that pressing Return To Home when down there first climbed to zero altitude (takeoff altitude) and then climbed 150 more feet (that was my safety setting) before returning to Home GPS coordinates. I had been afraid that RTH from the bottom of a canyon might cause the Solo to hit the side of the canyon... but it doesn't.

 

[EyeWingsuit]

interesting. Which version of the software are you running? Mine merely stayed at zero.

That said, I'd expect RTH to climb to the correct AGL value vs merely climbing your default height above present altitude.
GPS indicates/is aware of the difference between AGL and MSL.

 

[Jubalr]

interesting. Which version of the software are you running? Mine merely stayed at zero.

That said, I'd expect RTH to climb to the correct AGL value vs merely climbing your default height above present altitude.
GPS indicates/is aware of the difference between AGL and MSL.

Remember, GPS is not used for altitude. Accuracy is only about +/- 100' with GPS. Interesting that the display goes negative now. Wonder if that was updated in the last release.

 

[EyeWingsuit]

GPS is not used for altitude, but it is certainly aware of altitude. While GPS is coarse by comparison, it is more than accurate enough for these sorts of measurements (contrary to what many believe).
We use GPS and only GPS to plot the course of altitude change in the FAI competitions. The GPS in the competition systems read the lowest and highest hMSL for purposes of internal processes. I *believe* Solo uses this same data, but honestly have not dug that deeply (hasn't been that important).

I'm glad the display now demonstrates negative numbers; that's a nice improvement.

 

[Joe Horn]

interesting. Which version of the software are you running? Mine merely stayed at zero.

App - 1.3.1 (running on an iPad Mini 4)
Solo - 1.3.0
Autopilot - 1.2.19
Gimbal - 1.2.0
Controller - 1.3.0
Controller Firmware - 1.2.6