Creating flight paths- Phatom 4 PRo/Mavic 2 Pro(Map Pilot)

MAp Pilot settings

In Map Pilot’s “settings” tab, adjust the settings as follows:

  • Model set to “Phantom 4 Pro or ADV/X4S”, or applicable aircraft

  • Units set to imperial (turn metric off)

  • Turn off, “slow aircraft according to light conditions”

  • Turn on, “enable glide radius” and be sure it is set to 500m

  • Turn on, “auto clear image points”

MaP pilot “create new mission”

  • Click “create new mission”

  • Find your desired location on the screen

  • Double tap to set your movable 500m radius, use this to be sure your mission falls within that veil. If not, you should fly the site in multiple flights.

  • Now tap and hold to create orange points that will make up the border of your project

  • Once your boundary is created, tap the magnifying glass and the boundary icon above it on the left hand side of the screen to expose the flight height slider and the metrics of your flight that are dependent on flight height.

  • Use the battery and duration metric along with the accuracy you need and any site specific obstacle considerations to find the correct flight height for your project

  • Tap the lowest left tab with the map symbol and tap the floppy disk symbol for “save”

  • Name your project and save it offline for later use.

For a more extensive tutorial on Map Pilot products and features visit their site here.

Important considerations

When planning your flight boundary, be sure you examine the flight lines closely. Be sure they are placed far enough outside the boundary you need data on. It is important to note that the furthest flight line of photos will have features in them that are in very few additional photos, leading to accuracy trailing off on the edge of the photos taken. Directly related to this, be sure that your ground control points are all flown over by atleast 1 extra flight line towards the outer edge of your project.

Bumping your flight area out by a flight line may add a few minutes to your mission, but those few minutes are insurance for collecting too little data and having to re fly the entire mission again.