400 Foot Altitude Quiz

I say that you drive up to the bridge, and that makes you the same height as the bridge because the AGL is from the point you are on. But let's flip the scenario. You are on the bridge and fly down to the river. Can you fly back up? Technically, you are -XXXX feet below where you began. We all can read into this or that. And what if you fly over an Eagle's nest, DNR will scream, and PETA will say you made it abort a new egg. Dept of Foresty will have the butt because the Redwood tree felt the vibration from the props and stunted its growth. While shaking, it registered on the Richter Scale and Japan is freaking out. DJI will shut down, and nobody will have their crappy customer service to complain about since they are closed waiting for the aftershock. All this; do this or don't do that is, "Killing me Smalls." Fly wrong pay the fine, fly straight out the gate.
 
I'm a newbie, have not flown my P3s yet... Just doing my research and tutorials now. Doesn't the DJI GO app tell you what altitude your copter is, and send a warning if over 400?
 
I'm a newbie, have not flown my P3s yet... Just doing my research and tutorials now. Doesn't the DJI GO app tell you what altitude your copter is, and send a warning if over 400?
Your Phantom will give you a continuous readout of your altitude.
But it's the altitude above the level of your home point.
The Phantom has no way of telling how far it is above ground.
If you fly in 3D terrain you have to factor the height differences yourself.
 
You can set a max altitude, but otherwise it would not care until you reach the max ceiling.
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I never set max distance, but always set max altitude (400ft, 120m). And yes Kate, when you hit that, it does give you an audible warning, Also, your craft will stop there -- it doesn't just warn you, it keeps you from going higher.

But as Traveler points out, you don't have to have that set, in which case it keeps going. Although you'll note from Traveler's screen shot, there is a hard-wired maximum of 500 meters (not 500ft). Things aren't generally very interesting at 500m when it comes to photos and videos -- everything is too small and far away.

As meta4 points out, that's the altitude above your home point, which the craft will record at the point you take off. I'm just adding this additional comment for clarity: that is AGL (Above Ground Level). If you take off on a hill that is 1,000 above sea level, that's home point and AGL, so you can legally fly to 400 AGL, which is 1,400 above sea level.
 
Well I used to be a pilot. To be frank, I haven't been in the left-hand seat for thirty-five years, the same length of time I've been married. It was part of my wedding vows. One of the best decisions/concessions I ever made. Thank you Lord...
Blimey... I think myself very lucky now, that all I had to vow was to never play golf, due to marrying a golf orphan!
 
Your Phantom will give you a continuous readout of your altitude.
But it's the altitude above the level of your home point.
The Phantom has no way of telling how far it is above ground.
If you fly in 3D terrain you have to factor the height differences yourself.
Indeed. Ideally, you should have an altimeter or a Topo map to tell you your launch altitude above sea level, before launch, so you can manually calculate true AGL during your fight, based upon the elevation of the ground level below your aircraft. :cool:
 
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Blimey... I think myself very lucky now, that all I had to vow was to never play golf, due to marrying a golf orphan!
A golf buddy yesterday had to decline to play in our foursome and drop back a group because a woman was added to our threesome by the Starter. Something about needing to "respect his marriage" which prohibited him from ever playing golf with any woman other than his wife! :eek:
 
Yea, I went off topic but this is my home and I grew up on that river and spent many nights climbing on the catwalks under that bridge with my friends as children.

You ever take the ladders in the tubes all the way down to one of the two "patios" on top of the pillars?
 
Kinda strange that over the 4th of July weekend I could go out and buy a Chinese flying lantern, light the wax square on fire and send it off into the sky with absolutely no control whatsoever. I saw many in the sky and some probably over the 400ft mark. But the FAA must not care about uncontrolled flying disc's of Flame's. As for my Lantern, it took off, caught a south breeze and flew very high and out of site. I never even had to put an FAA number on it. Strange huh?

Sent from my SM-G900V using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Kinda strange that over the 4th of July weekend I could go out and buy a Chinese flying lantern, light the wax square on fire and send it off into the sky with absolutely no control whatsoever. I saw many in the sky and some probably over the 400ft mark. But the FAA must not care about uncontrolled flying disc's of Flame's. As for my Lantern, it took off, caught a south breeze and flew very high and out of site. I never even had to put an FAA number on it. Strange huh?

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Wait, you didn't register your latern? For shame!
 
The 400 ft suggestion is not a law. It is a suggestion from the FAA

Its way more than that. Technically, all FAA aviation regulations apply to your drone exactly as they do on a Boeing 747, both the pilot and the craft are governed by to the same set of aviation rules and registration/license requirements. Except, if you comply with AMA safety guidelines for model aircraft. That and the new commercial drone license is the only thing that differentiates your phantom from a full scale helicopter and gives you an exemption from FAA regulation.

If you ignore those guidelines, which include a 400ft height, FAA can treat you like an unlicensed pilot flying an unregistered full scale airplane in a place where he is not allowed to fly. Civil charges and huge fines can be brought against you. So no, its not just a mere suggestion.
 
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Kinda strange that over the 4th of July weekend I could go out and buy a Chinese flying lantern, light the wax square on fire and send it off into the sky with absolutely no control whatsoever. I saw many in the sky and some probably over the 400ft mark. But the FAA must not care about uncontrolled flying disc's of Flame's. As for my Lantern, it took off, caught a south breeze and flew very high and out of site. I never even had to put an FAA number on it. Strange huh?

Sent from my SM-G900V using PhantomPilots mobile app

Its not strange. Its just not true. FAA rules apply to unmanned free balloons as well. Small balloons (<6 ft) are usually exempt, but not when they pose a hazard:

§101.33 Operating limitations.
No person may operate an unmanned free balloon—

..
(e) In such a manner that impact of the balloon, or part thereof including its payload, with the surface creates a hazard to persons or property not associated with the operation.


eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

I think there is a strong case to be made that a flying lantarn creates a hazard to property on the ground, and thus are not exempt from FAA regulation. And that risk is also why in many US states they are expressly forbidden:
Update on the legality of sky lanterns — banned in 29 states
 
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