The reality is that given the small size and white color (of the Phantom series) against the sky, it's virtually impossible to never exceed VLOS on many types of typical missions. If VLOS is adhered to as a rigid rule then then a drone as advanced as the P4P would have very limited utility, you might as well buy a Parrot. And obviously DJI knows this or they wouldn't be engineering multiple-mile range and advertising it as a feature.
Poll: Do you ever fly beyond visual line of sight?
- Thread starter Donald Brent
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Just my $.02 worth. I'm a Private Pilot (Cessna 172), Light Sport Pilot (Rans Coyote) Ultralight Pilot (Powered ParaGlider) R/C Pilot (yes I have AMA and 20+ planes), and now a P3A Pilot. Yes I follow the law as my Private license would be on the line if something should happen where I was a fault.
I think the biggest problem that most pilots have with UAS is that they feel the UAS pilots don't follow the laws, and simply don't care about where they fly. I believe that communication is the key, and forums like this are a great place to start. I would bet that there's a huge number of UAS that were received for Christmas where the new owner isn't even aware that they need to register.
I think the biggest problem that most pilots have with UAS is that they feel the UAS pilots don't follow the laws, and simply don't care about where they fly. I believe that communication is the key, and forums like this are a great place to start. I would bet that there's a huge number of UAS that were received for Christmas where the new owner isn't even aware that they need to register.
That's AWESOME! I just spoke to one of our CFI's last week about starting up a program like that. Great job!
The FAA listened to the hobbyists because they had no choice. The law clearly states the FAA has zero power to regulate hobbyist flight. It was all a dog and pony show that benefited both the FAA and AMA. Also the FAA isn't the one that mandated hobbyists work under the guidelines of a CBO. Congress did that in 2012. FAA does a good job of pretending they did though.
The rest of your post I totally agree on.
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Pretty easy answer if we want to be honest. It is very difficult to see the drone past about 300 yards. Of course, lighting conditions affect visibility. One also needs to consider that even if one sees the drone that far away, one can not judge proximity to some object nearby nor altitude over ground. So, for all intents and purposes, we all fly beyond "useful visual range" most of the time. When it comes to the expression "line-of-sight" of course, we will be mostly within line of sight simply because we will loose communications if we don't. But, we could be 3 miles away with absolutely no visual of the drone, but still be in line-of-sight.
I live very remote. I am in a flight path for jets for a major airport 100 miles away. But they are still a few thousand feet up over me. So I may go above 400, but not in other areas. I also have crop dusting planes and helicopters, and medical flight helicopters that may come past. I keep a watchful ear tuned and dart down should I hear one.
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This is what I think is going to happen,
The more we have people who see rules as "guidance only" and fly read crash, there drones into the Space Needle or over populated cities into peoples windows the more pressure is going to be placed on the FAA to do something and enforce the rules.
It's only a matter of time before a P4 or a Mavic (God forbid) is sucked into the intake of a jet engine because some fool is flying at 600 feet around the approach to JFK. There is already a video of a drone smacking into a wing of a jumbo jet.
My guess is and this is only a guess, but the FAA is going to want to regulate ALL drones and there operators. Be it commercial or hobby all Drones and there owners are going to have to be registered, especially if they allow BVLOS as a rule.
My money is on a "License/Registration for everyone" system similar to how the FCC administers Amature radio.
You wanna fky in the NaS then you need to be registered and tracked.
The more we have people who see rules as "guidance only" and fly read crash, there drones into the Space Needle or over populated cities into peoples windows the more pressure is going to be placed on the FAA to do something and enforce the rules.
It's only a matter of time before a P4 or a Mavic (God forbid) is sucked into the intake of a jet engine because some fool is flying at 600 feet around the approach to JFK. There is already a video of a drone smacking into a wing of a jumbo jet.
My guess is and this is only a guess, but the FAA is going to want to regulate ALL drones and there operators. Be it commercial or hobby all Drones and there owners are going to have to be registered, especially if they allow BVLOS as a rule.
My money is on a "License/Registration for everyone" system similar to how the FCC administers Amature radio.
You wanna fky in the NaS then you need to be registered and tracked.
The drone hitting the jet wing is fake by the way.
Also it's already illegal to fly 600 feet on the approach to JFK so what will passing more laws do exactly?
Rules are rules. Guidelines are guidelines. There is a difference.
People are stupid no matter what kind of laws you pass.
An interesting discussion. I am a Private pilot and while there is some sneering at UAV's from my peers, most of it is just good natured "mine is bigger than yours". Most of the guys at my club RC field are airline pilots. We really do NOT hate uav's. Just scared of the people operating them sometimes.
It's only a matter time before they have to junk the current vLOS regs as technology and need will overwhelm the regs. Mapping, pipeline/road/train track inspection, Law Enforcement, Medical emergency response and tasks we never thought of will force the change. Small ADSB transponders may help calm the fed's worries. I think all of us want two things. 1) don't hit airplanes. 2) don't fall on people. The first is pretty easy unless your an idiot. The second is a little harder to prevent in a city. If I lived way out, the 400ft/vLOS rules would mean nothing. Since i live about 6 miles from DFW, I do not let my P4 get higher then the regs permit.
It's only a matter time before they have to junk the current vLOS regs as technology and need will overwhelm the regs. Mapping, pipeline/road/train track inspection, Law Enforcement, Medical emergency response and tasks we never thought of will force the change. Small ADSB transponders may help calm the fed's worries. I think all of us want two things. 1) don't hit airplanes. 2) don't fall on people. The first is pretty easy unless your an idiot. The second is a little harder to prevent in a city. If I lived way out, the 400ft/vLOS rules would mean nothing. Since i live about 6 miles from DFW, I do not let my P4 get higher then the regs permit.
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fortunately it is the drone and litchi that broke the law, you just observed them doing it maybe.
(probably even yelled at them to stop that, being the good citizen you are)
Think about it. you fly across the sun you can't see it, so technically you are breaking the law. flying at night, those lights could be swamp gas or weather balloon as well. You can't see the drone to verify.
Here's the way I look at it. I've been flying VLOS since 1985. The big draw and appeal to the Phantoms for veteran RC guys is that you have an FPV camera to see what you are doing beyond visual line of sight. Add to that the inherent stability of just releasing the sticks to stop and hover in place. All of us at our club can keep an airplane/heli/glider near us and make the necessary corrections to bring our aircraft back safely. While flying our "dumb" aircraft, you're usually not relaxing. It takes a while to become comfortable in RC to relax while flying. Phantoms are relaxing to fly, and are relatively easy to control for an RC pilot past the trainer phase. Our hobby has never had the technology in the past to fly beyond LOS. If you couldn't see it, you couldn't fly it. Not any more. The rules need to keep up with the technology. Those who have been flying sUAS for decades realize how out of date the "rules" are.. Phantoms really are the entry level of RC aircraft skills. Anyone with pod and boom RC heli experience can attest to this. We spent a whole YEAR just learning to hover safely, and land it again in one piece. That's how steep the learning curve is. Not anymore.....
SD
SD
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N017RW
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well stated, solar diety... i have some limited, previous experience in rc... crash by wire planes, crash by radio heli's and the like. but my first flight, my first impressions of the phantom p4p was an overwhelming excitement mixed with a peculiar sense of calm and relaxation simultaneously. im hooked!
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Bottom Line is be safe! It's just a matter of time before some idiot or "nut job" does something really bad with one of these things and we're all grounded!
See video below of where I test the limits of mine. It would have to travel miles to reach civilization if something went terribly wrong.
(this is with my P3P - I've only gone about 1600' with the P4P - still getting a feel for it)
Jump to 2:15 to see where it loses communication.
See video below of where I test the limits of mine. It would have to travel miles to reach civilization if something went terribly wrong.
(this is with my P3P - I've only gone about 1600' with the P4P - still getting a feel for it)
Jump to 2:15 to see where it loses communication.
I notice that when you lost signal the aircraft backed up towards the home point during RTH. In my experience if RTH is triggered the unit will always stop, then yaw until the heading points back towards the home point before returning home. Why did yours back up?
I have no idea! It turns to home point, then turns back to original direction. You can tell that it starts to elevate as it returns. I was using DJI Go. I do have Litchi, but didn't use it that day.
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