Mavic Flying In The DC Area

[Reynolds]

Happy New Year, guys! I spent the morning running around outside the 15 mile NFZ looking for fun places to fly my Mavic. Every stop told me I was in a NFZ regardless of how far outside the 15 mile circle I was...which I was following along on the FAA site on my iPhone. Very frustrated.

Where are good places to fly this wonderful machine in the DC area? I live in Arlington so, that's out for sure. What are you thoughts? Or, it is just a fact of life and I need to give up on it all and sell my Mavic?

Many thanks~~

Reynolds

 

[PRnNJs FINEST]

In live in Northern Va and from my experience, I've had luck in the Dumfries area all the way down to Fredericksburg. I know that's a haul and unfortunate but I believe anywhere south of Springfield is game.


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[Andrew F]

If you are physically outside of the no fly zone as you report it then you "ought" to be allowed to fly. I'd take some time chatting with DJI about their no fly curtain before selling your Mavic. It is incredibly fun to fly. Try the b4ufly app before you give up and see what it reports.

 

[guesserit]

I work in Springfield and it's a no go there but I live in Fredericksburg and it's fair game there. Use the app B4UFly it will show you all the FAA restrictions on your local map.


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[barmav]

Maryland outside the beltway. I live in Greenbelt and still have to drive 15 min to Bowie to fly! 15 miles NFZ not.....more like 30 miles! "Peace and hair grease!"


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[ascension]

There are two rings that comprise the Washington airspace.
One is a 15 mile prohibited area.
The other extends another 15 miles for a total 30 miles, and it is possible to fly there.
It is described here:

No Drone Zone

Regarding the 15-30 mile ring, it states:

Flying a UAS for recreational or non-recreational use between 15 and 30 miles from Washington, D.C. is allowed under these operating conditions:

• Aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (including any attachments such as a camera)
• Aircraft must be registered and marked
• Fly below 400 ft.
• Fly within visual line-of-sight
• Fly in clear weather conditions
• Never fly near other aircraft

 

[GetDatMoney]

Hey guy's..I live in Hyattsville not too far from FedEx field. I use the B4UFly app to seek out places to fly and the closest place for me is off of Rt 301 just after Rt 214 Central Ave. From the look of things Southern Md seems to be wide open places like Brandywine, Waldorf, a few spots in Upper Marlboro.

 

[Reynolds]

You guys are great! Thanks for all of this.

 

[Reynolds]

Thanks, Ascension....will certainly comply with all of that.

 

[Sean]

I didn't see this thread but I actually just created another thread regarding this. My family lives in fairfax and it gives the NFZ alert too. I recommended they call DJI because they are outside the 15 mile radius according to their map but they still have issues.


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[kvn_roberts]

I took my Mavic down to Occoquan Regional Park in Woodbridge and had no issues flying at the baseball fields there. It was midday on Friday, no one in the park at all. Flew for about 20 minutes and had to retreat to my car because my hands started to freeze. The park was about a 30 min drive from Alexandria. The park is also along the Occoquan River and provides some good scenery for video or pictures.


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[Heavysledz]

You can go to your DJI account and at the bottom of the page, there is a link to unlocking restricted areas. Click on the link and follow the instructions and it will allow you to temporarily fly your drone in a restricted airspace. Please note that this in no way is giving you permission but assumes you have taken it upon yourself to contact the appropriate authorities and have been granted permission. Then the next time you connect the Mavic remote and phone/tablet to the internet, it will upload the geo data so you don't get the warnings. It is only good for a period of 24 hours so you would need to plan ahead or do it on your phone/tablet while you have an internet connection prior to flight. Here is the link in case you want to read up on it...

DJI GEO System - Unlock Areas For Authorized Access

Also, I believe there is a setting on the DJI GO app that lets you disable the GEO system as well. Again, the responsibility lies with the pilot to ensure they are flying within the proper air space or has the required permissions needed...

 

[Sean]

You can go to your DJI account and at the bottom of the page, there is a link to unlocking restricted areas. Click on the link and follow the instructions and it will allow you to temporarily fly your drone in a restricted airspace. Please note that this in no way is giving you permission but assumes you have taken it upon yourself to contact the appropriate authorities and have been granted permission. Then the next time you connect the Mavic remote and phone/tablet to the internet, it will upload the geo data so you don't get the warnings. It is only good for a period of 24 hours so you would need to plan ahead or do it on your phone/tablet while you have an internet connection prior to flight. Here is the link in case you want to read up on it...

DJI GEO System - Unlock Areas For Authorized Access

Also, I believe there is a setting on the DJI GO app that lets you disable the GEO system as well. Again, the responsibility lies with the pilot to ensure they are flying within the proper air space or has the required permissions needed...

So just a follow up to this. We emailed DJI. Their R&D team said the address we are using is not an unauthorized area and should work completely fine with no restrictions. They are asking for the firmware and other drone data to research why it is classifying it as a NFZ.


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[barmav]

Sorry but the DJI NFZ is a 30 miles radius not 15 miles as DJI states. Yes you can fly other drones that don't use the NFZ within that radius but not a DJI drone! I know this for a fact so prepare to drive a little or get another backup drone like me for home use.

PS. DJI has a great product but along with the government they are trying to take the control out of our hands.....wonder why the government doesn't establish a NO SHOOTING ZONE (NSZ) for guns?

Peace & Hair grease


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[Heavysledz]

Have you tried to unlock the area as I had outlined in post #12? I'm not saying that you can but would hate for you to miss out on the opportunity to do so if there was a workaround...

 

[Sean]

Sorry but the DJI NFZ is a 30 miles radius not 15 miles as DJI states. Yes you can fly other drones that don't use the NFZ within that radius but not a DJI drone! I know this for a fact so prepare to drive a little or get another backup drone like me for home use.

PS. DJI has a great product but along with the government they are trying to take the control out of our hands.....wonder why the government doesn't establish a NO SHOOTING ZONE (NSZ) for guns?

Peace & Hair grease


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The website on DJI only shows 15 miles out. Are you saying the designated areas on the site are 15 and the drone has a different barrier? Curious as to why they would be different.


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[Sean]

Have you tried to unlock the area as I had outlined in post #12? I'm not saying that you can but would hate for you to miss out on the opportunity to do so if there was a workaround...

Yes, we started the process, but has not been approved yet and they stated they needed more documentation from us because unlocking a zone covers 20 km. So if they unlock for us to use then some of that area will be inside the NFZ… I am wondering if we are truly just a unique circumstance that wasn't accounted for when trying to program the NFZ and exceptions to when there are issues.

From DJI:
As the unlocking zone's radius is 20KM which [c]overes part of the red zones, please submit to us documentation of your authorization to fly in the designated area. Examples of such documentation include but are not limited to a certificate of authorization, operating license or permit from a national aviation authority, a letter of agreement with an airport, a statement of work from a facility that has hired you for the operation, etc.


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[ascension]

Yes, we started the process, but has not been approved yet and they stated they needed more documentation from us because unlocking a zone covers 20 km. So if they unlock for us to use then some of that area will be inside the NFZ… I am wondering if we are truly just a unique circumstance that wasn't accounted for when trying to program the NFZ and exceptions to when there are issues.

From DJI:
As the unlocking zone's radius is 20KM which [c]overes part of the red zones, please submit to us documentation of your authorization to fly in the designated area. Examples of such documentation include but are not limited to a certificate of authorization, operating license or permit from a national aviation authority, a letter of agreement with an airport, a statement of work from a facility that has hired you for the operation, etc.


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Send the the link from the FAA that I provided in post 6 on this thread.
Here it is, and it addresses the issue directly.

No Drone Zone

 

[Sean]

Send the the link from the FAA that I provided in post 6 on this thread.
Here it is, and it addresses the issue directly.

No Drone Zone

Yup! We actually used that link to get data to send to them. But you are right, we should send the actual link so they know it is from the FAA website. We had just referenced it before.


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[Sean]

An update. We have been going back and forth with DJI and received the below email this morning. Going to try and test it today or tomorrow. Hopefully it works!

From DJI:
We have adjusted the no-fly zone of Washington, DC. to follow the FAA regulations.

Please have a check via below map. Authorization Zones can be unlocked by yourself. Please confirm the address where you want to fly is a red zone or yellow zone.
DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography

To unlock a restricted zone, please use Individual unlocking in below link.
DJI GEO System - Up-to-date Information On Where to Fly


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