ATTN: German & Austrian pilots - trip advice please

[Brojon]

Hi guys - wie gehts. My wife has a conference in Basel Switzerland in July. Afterwards we'll be travelling to Nuremberg for her research.
The trip so far is roughly this route:
Basel-> Schwarzwald; Alpirsbach, Hohenzoller, Ulm over two days to Nuremberg where we'll be staying for a week.
Leaving Nuremberg we planned to go see a couple of Crazy King Ludwig's castles so
Nuremberg -> Garmisch : Zugspitze, Grainau, Schwangau via Oberammergau, then on to Lindau, Lake Constance and up the Rhine (Rhine Falls) back to Basel.

It appears Nuremberg is for the most part off limits for drone flying - how about the other stops? In between? Rules of thumb?
Any good vista points where drones are allowed to take off and fly to get aerials of castles and other scenics? Restrictions?
Absolutely ANY good tips on flying and restrictions in Germany/Austria

I'm aware of the tag requirement - trying to find anyone who can make one small enough for a Mavic - which is what I'll be taking as well as a Spark?
If flying near towns is too restrictive I may just bring my Phantom 4 Pro since it's a much better flyer for out in country - plus better quality.
Is there any drone insurance that is good in Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria?
My wife is from Heidelberg so we have some familiarity with the area and my wife of course speaks fluent Deutsch.

Thanks! (Danke!)

 

[MavicFT1P]

Jealous
This looks to be a good spot to Film. Nice Drone work for 65'

 

[Deleted member 94047]

The rules that apply without exception

1. You absolutely need to attach a fireproof tag to your drone with your name, address and contact details
2. You absolutely need liability insurance
3.You cannot fly above 100 meters
4. You must always maintain visual line of sight
5. You cannot fly in populated areas, over crowds, over or near (within 100 meters) of highways, rail roads, federal water ways, federal buildings, prisons, construction sites - the list goes on but I am sure you get the idea
6. You cannot fly in designated natural reserves

Unfortunately, the insurance providers I know of require you to be a resident in Germany. So I am unable to give you pointers on that front.

As to where you can fly check out Map2Fly and the DFS Drohnen app. Both of them will likely tell you you can't fly pretty much anywhere but they will give you a picture of where it is safe to fly.

I hope someone else can give you better advice because this is all I got and I know it ain't much. I am new to the game.

All the best of luck!

 

[Brojon]

Thanks - I read the laws but what I'm looking for is the practical flying guide. What is a "natural reserve", can you launch from a roadside and fly into the countryside? I just loaded Map2Fly and it looks like it will help a lot. I am curious why most roads are green which I read as naturschutzrectliche which from the limited German I can muster is the nature preserve (nature right of way?)
Does that mean you can't pull over and launch even though the edges of the road are all that are covered? Very odd.
The DFS Drohnen app appears to be only for Android.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

The DFs app is available for ios as well; see here ‎DFS-DrohnenApp

What is a "natural reserve"

I should have phrased that "nature reserve", my apologies. As to what exactly constitutes a nature reserve, there is a lot of confusion. But this might be of help List of nature parks in Germany - Wikipedia

Both the map2fly and DFS app tend to err on the side of caution and will tell you roads are off limits (even small roads between farms). But this is not because they are nature reserves but due to the restriction placed on flying near and/or over roads. Having said that, I have launched from road sides in the country side and I haven't had any problems (so far).

In my experience, the three big NOs are flying in/near cities and towns, flying without a liability insurance, and flying near/over major highways, rail roads and water ways. If you do any of these, you will definitely get in trouble. The rest, use your common sense.

But again, I have only been flying for four months now. I am new, so take my experience with a healthy amount of skepticism. I really hope some one more experienced than me will chime in.

 

[Brojon]

The DFs app is available for ios as well; see here ‎DFS-DrohnenApp


I should have phrased that "nature reserve", my apologies. As to what exactly constitutes a nature reserve, there is a lot of confusion. But this might be of help List of nature parks in Germany - Wikipedia

Both the map2fly and DFS app tend to err on the side of caution and will tell you roads are off limits (even small roads between farms). But this is not because they are nature reserves but due to the restriction placed on flying near and/or over roads. Having said that, I have launched from road sides in the country side and I haven't had any problems (so far).

In my experience, the three big NOs are flying in/near cities and towns, flying without a liability insurance, and flying near/over major highways, rail roads and water ways. If you do any of these, you will definitely get in trouble. The rest, use your common sense.

But again, I have only been flying for four months now. I am new, so take my experience with a healthy amount of skepticism. I really hope some one more experienced than me will chime in.

Thanks! That's what I meant by practical - it seems that major roads are assumed but I would think smaller roads I will be on to see the country would be ok. As far as waterways I see video from the Rhine and we plan to go to Rhine Falls - so flying not allowed?

 

[Deleted member 94047]

As far as waterways I see video from the Rhine and we plan to go to Rhine Falls - so flying not allowed?

If you go by the book, it is not allowed. I live right next to the Rhine in Bonn, I have not yet flown directly above it or across it. But I have made videos from about 100 - 200 meters away. It comes down to what you can get away with since the rules are so restrictive. About Rhine Falls specifically, I don't know. I haven't been there.

 

[Krieger’s Drone]

Hi guys - wie gehts. My wife has a conference in Basel Switzerland in July. Afterwards we'll be travelling to Nuremberg for her research.
The trip so far is roughly this route:
Basel-> Schwarzwald; Alpirsbach, Hohenzoller, Ulm over two days to Nuremberg where we'll be staying for a week.
Leaving Nuremberg we planned to go see a couple of Crazy King Ludwig's castles so
Nuremberg -> Garmisch : Zugspitze, Grainau, Schwangau via Oberammergau, then on to Lindau, Lake Constance and up the Rhine (Rhine Falls) back to Basel.

It appears Nuremberg is for the most part off limits for drone flying - how about the other stops? In between? Rules of thumb?
Any good vista points where drones are allowed to take off and fly to get aerials of castles and other scenics? Restrictions?
Absolutely ANY good tips on flying and restrictions in Germany/Austria

I'm aware of the tag requirement - trying to find anyone who can make one small enough for a Mavic - which is what I'll be taking as well as a Spark?
If flying near towns is too restrictive I may just bring my Phantom 4 Pro since it's a much better flyer for out in country - plus better quality.
Is there any drone insurance that is good in Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria?
My wife is from Heidelberg so we have some familiarity with the area and my wife of course speaks fluent Deutsch.

Thanks! (Danke!)

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www.drohnen-versicherung.info

 

[Flyboy007]

The rules that apply without exception

1. You absolutely need to attach a fireproof tag to your drone with your name, address and contact details
2. You absolutely need liability insurance
3.You cannot fly above 100 meters
4. You must always maintain visual line of sight
5. You cannot fly in populated areas, over crowds, over or near (within 100 meters) of highways, rail roads, federal water ways, federal buildings, prisons, construction sites - the list goes on but I am sure you get the idea
6. You cannot fly in designated natural reserves

Unfortunately, the insurance providers I know of require you to be a resident in Germany. So I am unable to give you pointers on that front.

As to where you can fly check out Map2Fly and the DFS Drohnen app. Both of them will likely tell you you can't fly pretty much anywhere but they will give you a picture of where it is safe to fly.

I hope someone else can give you better advice because this is all I got and I know it ain't much. I am new to the game.

All the best of luck!

Can you share those insurance companies? English would be preferable. Thank you.

 

[Brojon]

Can you share those insurance companies? English would be preferable. Thank you.

Just Google it - I had no problem finding at least a dozen