UK NFZ 4.0.8 CAA and NATS

[gwlondonuk]

Any advice please...nfz is driving me nuts?!

It seems to me DJI has overstated no fly zones in the UK. I'm new to drones btw. Currently DJI record most airports with a nfz radius of 2-10+ miles preventing takeoff etc if Geo is on. These zones don't reconcile with NATS (the UK air traffic controllers) or their app Drone Assist (see pic).

So I contacted the Civil Aviation Authority (like the FAA) to ask for clarification. They confirmed that in the UK there are no restrictions/laws on flying near airports other than the DroneCode which is in effect the same as section 94, 95 etc of The Air Navigation Order 2016 (ANO) and Regulations.

So DJI's current NFZ radius around most airports is potentially wrong as it's perfectly legal to fly (with caution) near them (personally I would leave at least 1.5 miles for small airfields and several miles from major airports or no higher than 200ft).

So to take off even 2 miles from a small part time airfield you need to switch off Geo which then makes the system pointless? Surely it's up to the pilot to fly anywhere and the instrument to provide warnings not auto control?

Or have I got this all wrong?

 

[steveej22112]

I have just had my first encounter with the NFZ system. It was in an area where flying is permitted within the height parameters of the Mavic, but the DJI GEO-fencing had identified it as a NFZ, NATS dont. The display on the RC screen was 'Near NFZ' and although it would let me fly manually, the DJI Go4 app, and Litchi, would not connect to the drone. A pain really because I was there to take some photographs so needed the downlink display. The annoying thing I wasnt in the NFZ, I was near. The flight was going to be a straight up vertical manoeuvre, take the shot, then descend.