VLOS

[catowner7]

Visual-Line-Of-Sight, what does that actually imply? That you must be able to see (1) the drone or (2) the location of the drone?

 

[old man mavic]

Visual-Line-Of-Sight, what does that actually imply? That you must be able to see (1) the drone or (2) the location of the drone?

it simply means that you need to be able to see the drone wherever it is with your own eyes, but not with visual aids other than prescription glasses or contact lenses,so in reply it is number (1)

 

[Olav van Gerven]

Under VLOS, you are able to see the drone and determin the moves without using technical equipment (simple glasses you always have do not count as technical equipment). So if VLOS is reuiered, you have to be able to do so. For me, it means that I cannot fly my MA more then about 400 meters from where I stand, since I am not able to see the MA then (experience, good conditions).

 

[msinger]

In Spain, the law requires that either you (the operator) can clearly see the drone with your eyes or a visual observer is able to see it and is in direct contact with you. See more details here.

 

[RichR]

For a small, light coloured drone like a Mavic Mini on a cloudy day, VLOS can be as little as 100m. On another day it could be five or six times that though. It's important because it means you know whether you're about to hit anything and anything is about to hit you (such as another drone, or a landing aircraft which has come below the 500' minimum height for manned aircraft).

 

[catowner7]

Ok thanks all. This leads to another thing with the new EU rules that are planned, saying not flying closer than 50m to uninvolved people. Would this include car drivers, meaning that we would need to be at least 50m from any street or road? Probably nobody knows now but still an interesting question imho.

 

[RichR]

Those aren't new rules as such, they're already in place in most EU countries (including the UK) for drones over 250g. Just spreading to the rest of the EU, with some new sections which help split drones into different classes. So a little kid's toy Cheerson isn't treated the same as a big commercial hexacopter for example, but still has some sensible restrictions to help prevent accidents.

You must stay 50m away from people, building and vehicles not in your control - except when taking off or landing. In practice that just means climb to about 50m if you're passing near a road, but you can descend once past it.

 

[FoxhallGH]

Ok thanks all. This leads to another thing with the new EU rules that are planned, saying not flying closer than 50m to uninvolved people. Would this include car drivers, meaning that we would need to be at least 50m from any street or road? Probably nobody knows now but still an interesting question imho.

Anybody who you have not personally briefed about the flight you are making, and who are not aware of any 'safety' procedure that should be adopted in case something goes wrong, are 'uninvolved people' - so yes - If that uninvolved person was driving along and had a drone suddenly splat into his/her windshield like a giant bug - it could cause a massive accident involving injury or death. At the moment we are asked to maintain a 50 metre clearance from people or groups of people, but it looks like EU regulations due out soon, might 'extend' that rule to prevent drones hovering or lingering directly over people ... in other words, the authorities will be looking to minimise the risk of a drone falling onto people if it e.g. popped a battery!

 

[ChipDjipro]

You’re supposed to be able to see the drone when you’re flying it. Do people actually follow that rule no.

 

[RichR]

You’re supposed to be able to see the drone when you’re flying it. Do people actually follow that rule no.

And should your drone hit someone and injure them, you want to be certain that when you're up in court you can honestly say that you could see it at all times. So yes, quite a lot of people do follow the rules and make sure they can see it at all times - and if they lose sight stop and try to regain sight of it before they fly into danger. It's like knowing what speed you're doing when driving. If your defence when caught speeding is that you didn't know you were, it doesn't look good for your competence at driving safely.

 

[ChipDjipro]

 

[ChipDjipro]

 

[mithatrone]

And should your drone hit someone and injure them, you want to be certain that when you're up in court you can honestly say that you could see it at all times. So yes, quite a lot of people do follow the rules and make sure they can see it at all times - and if they lose sight stop and try to regain sight of it before they fly into danger.

I am a complete newbie with my 3 weeks old Mavic Mini.
Reading this thread, I wonder why DJI and other manufacturers boast about the range of how far the drone can go away from the controller? What is the point of OccuSync 2 etc? ?
Is there a higher qualification you can acquire that would exempt you from this rule?

 

[fRog2]

You’re supposed to be able to see the drone when you’re flying it. Do people actually follow that rule no.

I would have thought that the majority do follow the rule (I certainly do). Of course what we see and hear about are the minority who don't.

 

[ChipDjipro]

I am a complete newbie with my 3 weeks old Mavic Mini.
Reading this thread, I wonder why DJI and other manufacturers boast about the range of how far the drone can go away from the controller? What is the point of OccuSync 2 etc? ?
Is there a higher qualification you can acquire that would exempt you from this rule?

Call experience. ?

 

[ChipDjipro]

Let’s face it people are already hitting things even though they fly in the LOS. It’s going to happen regardless if you’re not careful. I know a lot of people that fly miles out for years have never had a problem. Does that make those people bad people absolutely not. Are you less likely to hit things when you fly in the LOS. You would think so but a lot of people still hit things in the LOS So what does that say about them. We can debate this all day long fact is people do it.

 

[fRog2]

I am a complete newbie with my 3 weeks old Mavic Mini.
Reading this thread, I wonder why DJI and other manufacturers boast about the range of how far the drone can go away from the controller? What is the point of OccuSync 2 etc? ?
Is there a higher qualification you can acquire that would exempt you from this rule?

Some of it is obviously for marketing reasons. I'd also say that given 2 drones equal in every other way, I would opt for the one with the longest range regardless of whether or not I intended to use that.

We are often subject to radio interference, particularly on the standard wifi drones such as the Mini which will considerably reduce the published distances.

I know I have seen the mini complain about low signal when it hasn't been far away at all (nothing that couldn't be sorted by changing the antenna angle, but a warning!)- whereas my M2P has been rock solid.

 

[Olav van Gerven]

I normally fly VLOS not really because it is requiered, but I am not in the financial position to replace my drone if I crash it somewhere "out of sight".

There is one exception though: Flying in Sweden, I did fly out to get a view of a bay and the approach to the small beach where I was standing. I used Litchi to fly the mission, sending it out about 500 meters direct into the sun to return in an altitude of 50 meters to where I stood. This was a well planned mission, no public close (5 am, not likely to have public then) and over the water, so if there would have been a crash, it would have been a submarine-drone.

I do have to admit, I did not feel well flying this mission and was happy to get the drone back in clear sight, I even heard it before I could see it against the sun.

 

[mithatrone]

I do have to admit, I did not feel well flying this mission and was happy to get the drone back in clear sight, I even heard it before I could see it against the sun.

Please do not take this as an offense, but I think younger you are, more you tend to trust technology and rely on it to do what it should do than worrying about "What if it fails"!!
Having said that, I have seen a few people complaining about their Mavic Pros dropping down from the skies due to swollen batteries. This happening when the quad is out of VLOS could be very dangerous!!!

 

[mithatrone]

There is a youtube channel "MilesDeep" and there you will find videos done exploring areas with a Mavic Mini and I don't think the operator could maintain VLOS doing all that..!

MilesDeep

Insta: @milesdeep8

www.youtube.com

(I hope I haven't broken forum code and grassed anyone up!! - this is a cool community isn't it?)