A Drone Flying Above The Clouds

[SpyderSkeets]

Here's my two cents: Before I got my 107, I did not know about the 500/2000 ft rule for clouds. I also didnt know about the visibility rule, not withstanding the VLOS and 400 foot rule, and several more rules that apply to 107 pilots. If you are a hobbyist and you are not accessing 107 material, you may not know that that rule even exists. (I've been flying for over 17 years, and never knew it) The FAA has the cloud rule under part 107 regulations, so while I personally wouldnt fly above the clouds (as a hobbyist), I could see how people think it is not illegal to do so, again not withstanding the common "Community Based Organization" rules.
Back in my younger days, I had a ultralight trike and was learning to fly with an instructor.

(not me, but I had the exact same one)

We had no radio and flew through the clouds several times and I always thought that what if another plane happened to be there. I realize a drone is alot smaller than an ultralight trike, but my point is, at least back then, the FAA seemed a little less restrictive than what they would later become with drones.

 

[Roy Rogers]

Same mountain same take off point from the video . Its on Fire I took this with my phone today .
It odd the smoke is in the same place the fog was I filmed a few weeks ago {:4_167:}

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

Here's my two cents: Before I got my 107, I did not know about the 500/2000 ft rule for clouds. I also didnt know about the visibility rule, not withstanding the VLOS and 400 foot rule, and several more rules that apply to 107 pilots. If you are a hobbyist and you are not accessing 107 material, you may not know that that rule even exists. (I've been flying for over 17 years, and never knew it) The FAA has the cloud rule under part 107 regulations, so while I personally wouldnt fly above the clouds (as a hobbyist), I could see how people think it is not illegal to do so, again not withstanding the common "Community Based Organization" rules.
Back in my younger days, I had a ultralight trike and was learning to fly with an instructor.

View attachment 66328 (not me, but I had the exact same one)

We had no radio and flew through the clouds several times and I always thought that what if another plane happened to be there. I realize a drone is alot smaller than an ultralight trike, but my point is, at least back then, the FAA seemed a little less restrictive than what they would later become with drones.

The cloud rules are to comply with VLOS. However, if you live in a mountainous area, and you are above the cloud bank when you take off, you area still able to maintain VLOS. So you are good to go. The problem is those that take off below the clouds, fly through the cloud bank and flt above the clouds where they have no VLOS with their UAV. For those that question how to know how high the clouds are should read the stucy material for their 107. It will explain how to determine the cloud height. You then subtract 400' from the height of the cloud and you will know what your max altitude is for flying.

 

[Ctrlx]

Rather than telling people to read the YouTube description, why not just post that info here with the video??

That's because he's just trying to get people to his youtube channel for views and subs...simple trickery...

 

[Roy Rogers]

That's because he's just trying to get people to his youtube channel for views and subs...simple trickery...

Thanks for watching

 

[Roy Rogers]

Pretty irresponsible!

You don't know what your talking about

 

[aneal321]

My two cents: I can't possibly see where flying above a cloud thats 150' AGL isn't totally safe. As someone else mentioned, no pilot of a manned aircraft should ever be in that airspace. However, I just tested and passed my part 104. The FAA says that if you can't stay 500' below or 2,000' horozintally away from clouds, you shouldn't be in the air. Again, I don't agree, but I also don't make the rules.

How do you know what the altitude of the bottom of a cloud is before flying? How do you know that you are 500' below the bottom of a cloud? thanks,

 

[JDFMavic]

METARs contain the information that describes all predicted weather conditions including wind, rain and cloud ceiling to all manned and unmanned aircraft pilots. I got my Part107 unmanned air craft license to learn how to be a responsible drone operator. It's actually required only if you're flying commercialy , but there's a lot of good information for all drone owners.You can find enough information online to be able to pass the test. Having it gives you more credibility when dealing with people who are skeptical about where and when you are allowed to fly your drone.

 

[aneal321]

METARs contain the information that describes all predicted weather conditions including wind, rain and cloud ceiling to all manned and unmanned aircraft pilots. I got my Part107 unmanned air craft license to learn how to be a responsible drone operator. It's actually required only if you're flying commercialy , but there's a lot of good information for all drone owners.You can find enough information online to be able to pass the test. Having it gives you more credibility when dealing with people who are skeptical about where and when you are allowed to fly your drone.

so it METAR says cloud ceiling is 800' you could fly at up to 300' within the rules providing all other circumstances are acceptable? I'm just starting to study for 107. And if conditions change while you are in the air what happens? i.e. cloud ceiling drops. Thanks for your response.

 

[JDFMavic]

METAR's contain a lot of meteorological information. They also contain a time these conditions should start and end with probability of change. Predicting the weather is not an exact science, but it gives pilots a better idea of what to expect. I think as unmanned pilots, as long as we make an honest attempt to follow the rules we will be ok.

 

[aneal321]

METAR's contain a lot of meteorological information. They also contain a time these conditions should start and end with probability of change. Predicting the weather is not an exact science, but it gives pilots a better idea of what to expect. I think as unmanned pilots, as long as we make an honest attempt to follow the rules we will be ok.

thanks again for this great response. I just started looking at the METAR information for part 107 and the embeded codes.