Poll: Do you ever fly beyond visual line of sight?

[WJS]

I live in a heavley wooded area and if I had too stay visual all the time I might b able to fly about a hundred yards,,, not much fun in that but it took a long time too get used to it and I can say I still fell uneasy about it and I try and stick too cutlines and trails whenever I can

 

[smiller]

I live in a heavley wooded area and if I had too stay visual all the time I might b able to fly about a hundred yards,,, not much fun in that but it took a long time too get used to it and I can say I still fell uneasy about it and I try and stick too cutlines and trails whenever I can

Out of curiosity how much do the trees impact your range when they are between you and the aircraft? Trees can do a pretty good job blocking 2.4-5.8 GHz.

 

[joet]

Hello, first post here.

Living in Miami one thing I've noticed is how low helicopters and smaller planes fly, specially around coastal areas. Though it's not completely accurate I've been using the Flight Radar 24 app while I fly the drone. A park Downtown I usually fly the drone at usually has tour helicopters flying 200 and 300 feet above, this with a wall of 400'+ buildings on one side. I'd hate loosing sight of my drone and having a close call with one of these guys.

Half of the YouTube videos of drones in South Florida fly near or directly over cruise ships. There is very little information on this but a drone (and everything else) is to stay 100 yards away and not fly directly over. Some of these guys go well beyond the line of sight into the ocean in windy conditions following ships and get quite close, even flying over. I'd hate for our disinformed elected officials to create a blanket ban on drones, I think they're already trying to up in Orlando.

The local mosquito control helicopters here in the Tampa area routinely fly below 200' - a fact I would not have known had I not talked to some of those pilots. While the chances of a conflict with them isn't high, it's not zero either. They could hit your drone from the side coming from a direction that mitigates your ability to hear it in time to react - and since it was so far away that you couldn't see it, you wouldn't likely know what effective maneuvers to take.

What would be more reasonable to expect and for the FAA to permit is close-in NLOS - behind a house, for example - as opposed to a mile away where you have no clue what's going on around it.

 

[WJS]

Out of curiosity how much do the trees impact your range when they are between you and the aircraft? Trees can do a pretty good job blocking 2.4-5.8 GHz.

The trees block it big time but you just get used too where you can fly and where you can't. When I start too lose signal I usually try and go straight up till I regain signal again but it can get a little hairy.

 

[AlecW]

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

Good post. I've always been interested in having a rc hobby but rc cars don't interest me in the slightest and the cost of admission (both time and money) to pre-quadcopter flying put me off. I've always been into photography so I'm loving this new hobby with a hovering machine than I can stop at anytime, get my bearings and take photos and video.

VLOS is weird for me. I can't see mine that well at all at 400feet straight up above me for some reason I but can see it about 1/4 mile away. Thing is, I look down at my screen to adjust horizon / camera settings or the sun gets me and boom, no VLOS and generally I just can't find it again in the sky. The first time it happened I hit RTH (semi panic) but now I just fly it back to sight with the screen which really isn't any different than flying with the screen to begin with. To say that I 100% fly VLOS would be a lie unless I never ventured more than a few 100 feet away.

Not saying I am right or wrong here.

 

[KingDad1985]

The local authorities in my town have no idea what any of the drone rules are. I've ran into a few while flying and they are clueless. I always fly legally anyways but I feel like if I wanted too fly crazy around here no one would think twice. Also I have not seen a single person in my town with a drone, I also feel as if me and the wifey are the only drone owners here.

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[mark farrell]

Yep.


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[mark farrell]

When it is really far away then it is really far away. If you lose rc connection then it is your challenge to bring it home.


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[joet]

FAA Rules for hobbyist flying became law on the same day as part 107. Part 101 was modified on that day to include sub part E titled special rule for model aircraft. eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations While nothing in the rule specifically prohibits BVLOS, paragraph 101.41.b requires "The aircraft is operated in accordance with a community-based set of safety guidelines and within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization"

So if you're intending to claim the AMA as your CBO you can't fly BVLOS legally as that is not allowed per their safety guidelines.

Actually, LOS is law - you just have to look further up in Part 101:

§101.1 Applicability.
(a) This part prescribes rules governing the operation in the United States, of the following:

<snip>

(5) Any model aircraft that meets the conditions specified in §101.41. For purposes of this part, a model aircraft is an unmanned aircraft that is:

(i) Capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere;

(ii) Flown within visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft; and

(iii) Flown for hobby or recreational purposes.​

...Therefore if it is not flown within LOS of the operator (note that this precludes the use of a spotter/visual observer as in Part 107), it is not flown under Part 101 - and 101/107 are the only laws that authorize UAS flight. Ergo, flying outside YOUR visual line of sight is unauthorized.

​

eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

 

[Steven Graham]

Thanks Joet, If I'd seen that previously I'd forgotten it.

 

[Rootjuice]

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 your post makes the most sense of anything I've read. I hold a FAA commercial license and flight instructor rating. Currently awaiting my FAA Commercial sUAV rating. I have worked to hard and have to much invested in this to throw all of it away by doing something stupid with a drone.

 

[Fatcat1]

All the time bro, but not hurting anyone doing it


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[Droneted]

This may be off off topic. I rarely fly out of sight. No reason why. Just me

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[AerialZ]

Professionally, flying beyond VLOS is necessary and allowed for 'brief, temporary periods of time' under 107. Is this going to cover an operator that has an incident 1+ mile out? No, not even close. Many aspects of FAA guidelines and laws require something that quite a few people do not understand... Common Sense. Commercially, the FAA relies upon and encourages licensed operators to police themselves. Part of that 'policing' is making sure to help educate people that do not know or understand the guidelines and laws. What's the frustrating part about that? Listening to the fluff when sharing that information amongst careless operators with the Casey Neistat Syndrome. I've never personally flown any of my A/C over 400' and after years of RC experience, have a difficult time understanding why anyone would want to. All you're really accomplishing is adding entries into your flight logs that may one day come back to bite you. As far as VLOS goes, this is a debatable topic. If location, conditions, and common sense all line-up, I personally do not see an issue understanding that you are personally responsible for making sure that operation is safe.

 

[a31burgervan]

Erm - I might do........ perhaps, maybe


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