Can a plane navigate a mission without the compass?

ArduPlane Plane 3.7
1

I recently ran a mission where Mission Planner reported the “Bad compass Health” alarm. The heading was changing correctly on the ground so I took off and tried a short mission. The plane completed it accurately and successfully, with the Bad Compass Health showing the whole time.

I just read that the Bad Compass Health means that the compass has “not sent a signal for at least half a second.”

Since my Bad Compass Health alarm was in effect for the entire flight, did the plane use dead reckoning and the GPS instead?

Thanks,

Paul

2

It can fly fine without. When compass is disabled before flight, or by EKF saving the day regardless of compass error.

3

Thanks Andre. Is this possible because an airplane is always flying forwards?

1 Like
4

Thanks Andre. Is this possible because an airplane is always flying
forwards?

Yep. That’s exactly what the EKF is told.

The EKF gets very annoyed with you if you carry your plane sideways or
backwards on the ground…

5

Thanks Peter, very interesting. Paul