Unlocking fly zones coming real soon?

[m0j0]

I think it has a long way to go. The zones seem pretty arbitrary. If they actually made them reflect real hazards it would make more sense. E.G. you can't fly at a national park so that would be a place to have a yellow zone but not 20 miles away from or the entire county.. Just silly at this point.

 

[ScatSpeak]

you can't fly at a national park so that would be a place to have a yellow zone but not 20 miles away from or the entire county.

Actually they seem to be pretty clearly based upon airport/airspace restricted areas.

The National Parks are not a NFZ, they just have separate regulations about sUAS flying and DJI GEO is not intended to constrain flight (yet) based upon non-FAA/CAA jurisdiction locales it seems...

For example, Yosemite GEO overlay below, only the airport locations require auth requests and there are no red zones present:

 

[alirz]

Indeed, I can see that to the East of Montreal you've got quite a saturation of Yellow zones that will require authorization requests... can't tell what those are, maybe heliports?.... what happens if you try to fly in those areas today?... does the P3 identify these as NFZ's?


Yes, there's an airport there... even today, to fly responsibly on that island you would need to consider the airport and usual no flying within at least 4 miles since approach altitudes to islands are commonly lower since the fish don't complain and need noise abatement... still, even once GEO is active, I honestly can't see how spending 10 seconds to request a 3-day authorization period is a problem... it should be part of your pre-flight planning for safety, yes?

The airport is about 26km away from me. There is only another small airport south of the island and one north about 100km away...still there are dozens of yellow zones in other places far far away form the air ports.
I wouldn't mind 10 sec authorization if it took 10 seconds. As it stands right now, you need to request the authorization 24hrs in advance

 

[4wd]

At the moment this looks a mess with huge new areas imposed where you will have to approve yourself online before taking off.
I have no idea why such large yellow areas are now being put on the maps.
Frankly for many it looks unwise to update firmware to anything with this functionality.

Locally I see a huge new authorisation zone from the Humber to the Tees covering hundreds of square miles.
A lot of this area is very rural and does not have any mobile phone cover - so you won't be able to authorise yourself unless you do it at home on wifi beforehand.

Here is the map - scroll down and find your location.
DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

 

[sticky photography]

Staffordshire is similar, a massive blanket coverage :-(
I see Manchester is also wiped out, very unfortunate for the CAA approved training businesses there.
What will happen with emergency search and rescue UAV flights in these areas I wonder?

 

[Flyingoak]

I'm not having that.

Time to firewall my tablet I think.

 

[Trackman1]

Just looked at the map. It's crazy. I live 5 miles outside of a small town and I can't even fly in my own back yard.
There is a small municipal airport 4 miles away. I stop there frequently when I am out on my motorcycle.
The only time I have seen any planes is on the annual fly in breakfast.

I am moving into the NO-Buy zone. I had a P3P on order. It got back ordered. I just canceled.

 

[DAP-UAV]

Well it it because of all the idiots out there that are flying near airports etc. We are fooling ourselves to think the good ole days would never end. I am ok with this, it allows us to still fly. If they didn't do something and someone causes a plane to crash, it will be over.. Period! I know it is painful.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

That's exactly what they are trying to avoid. I think it is inevitable and they are trying to mitigate the risks.

 

[DAP-UAV]

Absolutely. Being objective about it, it's kind of ridiculous that anybody can buy a drone off the shelf and fly it to maximum range absolutely anywhere, out of the box without any sense of responsibility or common sense. Such people are out there in vast quantities - we read about them every day. Very tight restrictions are inevitable.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

AND NECESSARY for all the reasons you have already stated. The FAA is playing catch up and the cat is out of the bag. So to speak.

 

[Trackman1]

Just noticed something else. At the top of the map it states "Unlocking lasts 24 hours"

Where you get the authorization it states "Please note that your authorization will be valid for 3 days starting from 12:00 am today to 23:59 pm the day after tomorrow." WHich is it?

 

[Trackman1]

I cannot even seem to get any no fly zones in Europe (France, Germany) must be doing something incorrect..

Just type Germany or a city name in the box next to map-satelite

 

[Wibble]

At the moment this looks a mess with huge new areas imposed where you will have to approve yourself online before taking off.
I have no idea why such large yellow areas are now being put on the maps.
Frankly for many it looks unwise to update firmware to anything with this functionality.

Locally I see a huge new authorisation zone from the Humber to the Tees covering hundreds of square miles.
A lot of this area is very rural and does not have any mobile phone cover - so you won't be able to authorise yourself unless you do it at home on wifi beforehand.

Here is the map - scroll down and find your location.
DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

I can't see the map it wants me to login to the DJI store.
Guess what - I am not going to and I am never updating ANYTHING!!!
I wanted Litchi but I am scared to use it because I refuse to update!

 

[Wibble]

Can someone post a map like that of Wales for me please? I can't get it to load.
Also there are large areas around here with no signal. Also weather is atrocious so I fly if I get a small chance - impossible to predict in advance!!!

 

[4wd]

For some reason it won't zoom out to all of Wales but here's your part.
Not quite so bad, but what could that big area in the Irish Sea be for?

 

[DownUnder]

For some reason it won't zoom out to all of Wales but here's your part.
Not quite so bad, but what could that big area in the Irish Sea be for?

I think they test surface to air missiles in that area. I think if they fire from the Irish side and miss it'll only land on Wales. So no harm done

 

[Radar335]

I find this a little hard to support, because I don't understand how this will improve safety. At least not proportional to all the efforts put into it.
As I understand, there will be no evaluation or check before you are authorized to fly. So in reality, it is still up to you to make the safety judgement before flying - just as before.

I am a pilot, so it is easy for me to check NOTAMs, classified airspace etc, but I guess most people dont have a clue. I am willing to bet most aren't checking anything at all - they just apply for the authorization. Actually that itself may impose a risk, as some may think that this authorization makes it safe to fly at places there really are dangers..

For most people some simple rules will be more efficient, and they will make the airspace safe.

• Fly no closer than 5 km from an airport (regulation here in Norway).
• Do not fly higher than 400 feet AGL. That should keep you separated from air traffic as minimum altitude for VFR traffic is 500 feet AGL.
• Do not fly close to hospitals and other places with helipads for the emergency services.
• Do not fly over prohibited areas like military bases, environmental protected areas and other airspace closed for security reasons.

The problem is that very wide areas are marked yellow, and that doesn't make sense to people. The result is lost respect and awareness for the real safety issues.
A large part of mountains and rural areas here in Norway is marked yellow. The reason is that the Air Force has assigned these areas for low flying training (min. 200 feet) I can assure - I've been walking and flying these mountains for 40 years, and I've never ever seen a low flying military aircraft. Besides, the airspace is class G, and open to all aircraft flying VFR without any reporting. A small aircraft can also be hard to see for a fighter low level at 500 kts, and imposes a bigger threat than a 5 lb quad. (After all the fighters are designed to survive a bird strike, but certainly not a C172 strike.) The chances of a quad/fighter encounter in this enormous areas may be one to a quadzillion. Birds, on the other hand - there are thousands upon thousands of 5 lb birds up there....

And the question is also whether the zones are properly updated. One large yellow zone I noticed used to be a shooting range for antiaircraft artillery. I know - I had my basic officers training there, and knew the no fly sector very well. The Air Force station is gone, closed and sold 20 years ago, and flowers are growing in the remains of the gun emplacements. They're beautiful, and I wish i could show you some nice aerial pics, but ...

Is overkill an appropriate word?

 

[Nakelp86]

tried to upload picture here with just part of no fly zones but cant figure this one out LOL.
But for all Iphone users there is an app "B4UFLY" and in my case there is almost no place to fly if you consider all helipads (which most of the time are just there but never used .

 

[WetDog]

The system is currently in "beta." The details may or may not change.

Based on the current setup, you will be authorizing yourself. In a green zone, you will get a "fly safe" notice. In a yellow zone, you will have to go online and "authorize." This seems to be a process which is verified by having a credit card on file. You pick your yellow zone(s) and can "unlock" them for a 3-day period which starts up to 24 hours from the time you unlock.

Yes, you can "bypass" any yellow zone, including airports and military bases, That doesn't mean you are allowed to fly there - just that the software will not stop you. Of course, having your "unlock" request on file theoretically makes it easier to find you if you break the rules.You might also expect a knock on your door if someone else broke rules in that zone when your unlock was active.

The system itself seems pretty clear. What is puzzling is the placement and size of many authorization zones. Not to mention the lack of zone "red" zones where there should be some.I think the real fun will start when the trained chimps who created the map start to make adjustments and corrections. It is going to create confusion and bad will as people get locked out of more and more areas.

It is a "cute" idea with a horrible implementation. Wait until the first time the servers go down. Or when hundreds of thousands of people realize that a China based company has all their credit card data on file.

DJI doesn't have your credit card number. What happens is they get a 'token' from a CC authorization company that simply proves it is a valid CC. You can use somebody else's CC, you can use a burner CC (and a burner phone). It is the same system that a number of companies have used in the past to give some assurance that you are a meat Popsicle.

Now, there are lots of things not to like about the system. For one thing, it relies in DJI not screwing up a firmware update. And we are all really comfortable with how they've managed in the past, yes? It also requires the servers to be up 24 x 7 and for DJI to remain solvent enough to run the servers for the life of the craft. The mechanism for 'pre authorising' flights if you are going to an area without cell phone coverage is pretty clunky AND, the kicker, IMHO, if you don't have tablet that has cellular, you either have to create a personal hotspot or your are again SOL.

Further, it is an attempt to end run the FAA by creating a fait accompli in hopes the FAA accepts this as reasonable and doesn't pull any really nasty stunt like 100% geofencing. That may work, may not. It does put DJI in the position of determining who can fly where and how which is something I am not terribly happy with. Of course, I would not be happy with strict geofencing either.

The DJI VP for legal affairs has been active on an RCGROUPS thread - his basic argument is that a) it allows for flights that are currently completely blocked (red zones) and b) is less onerous than anything the feds are likely to cook up on their own. The first statement is undoubtably true, the second is reasonable but just an informed opinion.

 

[Wibble]

For some reason it won't zoom out to all of Wales but here's your part.
Not quite so bad, but what could that big area in the Irish Sea be for?

Thanks for that. Aberporth in West Wales is a missile testing area - we shoot up the Irish all the time!
Seriously though it doesnt cover that big an area and is a very busy tourist spot - they should ban all the caravanners instead!!!

 

[Wibble]

Just looked - is there nothing over Cheltenham? Or is GCHQ fair game? Would be great fun to land in their doughnut!!!
Whoops now we are all on a list!!!