Mavic Flying In The DC Area

[CCRyder]

I Just bought a Mavic. I live in Rockville, close to Bethesda. I tried to fly today at a local park. No Go. I really appreciate the information in regard to the GEO system and "unlocking" zones. The map is a little weird. I am just trying to find out if there is any way whatsoever to unlock in a red zone. I only need to fly at very low altitudes. What is your advice for this? I'm right at the edge of the zone...

 

[Andrew F]

My advice is to throw up your hands in frustration! Perhaps buy a lower quality quad copter. The problem is, anything that "solves" your problem could also be used nefariously. I doubt you will receive much support here for breaking the no fly zone in DC or near airports. Sorry!

 

[alekaras]

I'm all for safety and as someone who hates flying would want to ensure that commercial flights are fully protected. But completely not allowing any UAV flying in no-fly zones is a bit over the top. Why not just limit the range and altitude of the drone to say 40 ft height and 100 ft distance when in an no-fly zone. Surely that can be easy to do, no?

 

[seowashdc]

Unless you are close to the Naval Academy and on top of KANP airport, you could find some places in Annapolis, which is where I live. My biggest issue is that all Anne Arundel County parks don't allow drone flying, and much of the other scenic areas are privately/government owned, which further restricts flying, but it's not impossible...just challenging.

I'm going to head over to find places on the Eastern Shore that are also wide open.

I do a lot of flying at a local middle school, which has a huge athletic field; it's great to practice helix, dronie and other processes that need room.

 

[nneves57]

I live south of the NFZ inside the yellow self unlocking area. but when I try to start my mavic, it tells me that I am in the NFZ. For some reason the maps do NOT match the actual GEOLOCATION. I have contacted DJI a few times and they have done absolutely NOTHING about fixing it.

 

[seowashdc]

Yeah, I've told them 2X about W29 on the Eastern Shore, that they need to put the airport on the map because it's an incredibly active flying school. I oughtta know; that's where I got started.