Aloft LAANC vs DJI FLY

[Denox78]

Hey everyone,

It’s been 3 days i’m trying to acknowledge and understand every rules and laws before buying my First Drone
But I have to admit it’s not very clear to me so i would appreciate if you can clear my doubts!!

I live in France and I intend to buy or rent a DJI Mini 4 Pro (from my country) for my next vacations in USA this summer
I’ll be there few weeks in California and Nevada

I’ve read some information from the FAA website saying that I need to register and pass a TRUST test (this sounds pretty clear to me!)

What’s not clear to me is where i can actually fly…
From what I’ve read here https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/b4ufly

The FAA says there are some official recognized applications such as Aloft
Which allows me to request LAANC authorization to fly at some maximum altitude in different zones

So I did check these apps to see where i could actually fly in Los Angeles… and i’m a little surprised to be able to request fly permission close to the Hollywood Sign for example
Or in West Hollywood above the city (there’s no color so no restriction ?)




Few questions :

• In France, you are not locked by the DJI app and can takeoff from a red zone (except very restricted areas like Military, Nuclear…). Is it the same in the US ? Can you give me few examples of what areas can be locked for flying ?
• Should I rely on the DJI Fly App or Aloft LAANC App regarding where can I fly ?
• If I have LAANC from Aloft - is it possible to be locked from the DJI app and not be able to fly even though my drone has been bought in France ?

Thanks for your help, hope i can understand better..

 

[PHZ]

Via this forum, if you can connect with one of its stellar pilots and knowledge gurus in some of those areas, and share some flying together, they could provide you with some great tutelage.
Welcome to the US and I hope you enjoy your flying and time here.

 

[twickers14]

PHZ is right, you will get a load of pinpoint accurate feedback on your questions. There is a very good search function on the site too and you could do worse than have look at relevant topics that have recently been posted. One key point, make sure your software is bang up to date as there is now Remote ID to be managed in the US. First step is to Register your drone with the FAA. Have fun.

 

[Drbobk]

Hey everyone,

It’s been 3 days i’m trying to acknowledge and understand every rules and laws before buying my First Drone
But I have to admit it’s not very clear to me so i would appreciate if you can clear my doubts!!

I live in France and I intend to buy or rent a DJI Mini 4 Pro (from my country) for my next vacations in USA this summer
I’ll be there few weeks in California and Nevada

I’ve read some information from the FAA website saying that I need to register and pass a TRUST test (this sounds pretty clear to me!)

What’s not clear to me is where i can actually fly…
From what I’ve read here https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/b4ufly

The FAA says there are some official recognized applications such as Aloft
Which allows me to request LAANC authorization to fly at some maximum altitude in different zones

So I did check these apps to see where i could actually fly in Los Angeles… and i’m a little surprised to be able to request fly permission close to the Hollywood Sign for example
Or in West Hollywood above the city (there’s no color so no restriction ?)

View attachment 173881
View attachment 173882

Few questions :

• In France, you are not locked by the DJI app and can takeoff from a red zone (except very restricted areas like Military, Nuclear…). Is it the same in the US ? Can you give me few examples of what areas can be locked for flying ?
• Should I rely on the DJI Fly App or Aloft LAANC App regarding where can I fly ?
• If I have LAANC from Aloft - is it possible to be locked from the DJI app and not be able to fly even though my drone has been bought in France ?

Thanks for your help, hope i can understand better..

I don’t pretend to know anything about non-US citizen access. I’m sure that’s well covered elsewhere. But aside from that, there are two aspects to flying here - is it legal (do you have proper permission from gov’t entities) and 2) is it possible to take off given DJI geofencing. These are two completely independent problems, and both have to be solved to fly legally.

DJI has “geofenced certain areas, like airports, to prevent every dummy from launching a drone into oncoming air traffic. If you want to fly in one of these areas, you must work with DJI to make the flight “possible.” Some areas can be “self-unlocked” and others require intervention by DJI. They provide you with a license that you get onto your mobile device while in a wifi environment, and then when you try to launch a drone in that restricted area, you “transfer” the license to the drone to allow it to take off. In DJI Go4, you’ll see “cannot take off” in the upper left of your screen, and you’ll need to tap the “…“ in the upper right, then scroll down to “unlocking license” and transfer to the aircraft. Then it can be powered up for flight.

If you’re in controlled airspace (where most of the geofencing is most restrictive) you will also need to use LAANC to get FAA permission to make the flight legal as well as possible. Without LAANC approval, you will be able to take off but will be flying illegally. An app like Aloft’s “Air Control” works very well and you’ll get approval for flights up to the altitude limits allowed almost instantaneously.

Note that some places are forbidden for flying - National Parks, for example. And any time there’s a game in a large arena or stadium, flight is prohibited in the area before and during the game. There are plenty more rules, like not flying near firefighting, or where first responders are doing their thing, as rescue helicopters might not be able to enter the area if they know a drone is in the air. Common sense helps.

 

[DougMcC]

I live in Long Beach in Southern California. I have flown in southern CA and extensively in far northern CA around Redding. I would be happy to provide info but email is so much easier. My email is [email protected].

 

[GFields]

a little surprised to be able to request fly permission close to the Hollywood Sign for example
Or in West Hollywood above the city (there’s no color so no restriction ?)

Requesting and gaining authorization are not the same. LAANC authorization through Aloft should be made 72 hours before the date of the flight. If a request is made that requires the FAA to approve it, it may take longer. When applying through the FAA they say to apply 90 days before the date of the flight.

They were approving them in about two weeks, but now that has changed. I have requests from June (submitted in May) that they haven't reviewed yet.

I would suggest spending my time flying in areas that don't require the hassle. (IMHO)

 

[AliasFlyer]

Requesting and gaining authorization are not the same. LAANC authorization through Aloft should be made 72 hours before the date of the flight. If a request is made that requires the FAA to approve it, it may take longer. When applying through the FAA they say to apply 90 days before the date of the flight.

They were approving them in about two weeks, but now that has changed. I have requests from June (submitted in May) that they haven't reviewed yet.

I would suggest spending my time flying in areas that don't require the hassle. (IMHO)

I'm confused, using the Hollywood sign as an example, it appears that you can use LAANC to get immediate authorization up to 300 ft. Is there some new requirement to request LAANC 72 hours prior to flight? Also, are you saying that you submit request directly to the FAA instead of using LAANC through Aloft, or is that some other request?

 

[MS Coast]

I'm confused, using the Hollywood sign as an example, it appears that you can use LAANC to get immediate authorization up to 300 ft. Is there some new requirement to request LAANC 72 hours prior to flight? Also, are you saying that you submit request directly to the FAA instead of using LAANC through Aloft, or is that some other request?

Normal requests go through the automated LAANC system. Unless you're asking for something outside the normal parameters for LAANC authorization, it should be almost immediately available. Even so, it's probably good practice to apply in advance if the operation is important.

Any requests for higher than standard altitude limits and such require a separate process - a "further coordination request." I've used only the automated/immediate authorizations, but I understand the manual requests can take quite a while.

Here's some detailed information from the FAA:

UAS Data Exchange (LAANC) | Federal Aviation Administration

Starting on February 20 Recreational Flyers may request an airspace authorization to operate in controlled airspace at night through LAANC and before you fly, make sure you meet all of the requirements of the Exception for Limited Recreational Operations of Unmanned Aircraft.

www.faa.gov

 

[GFields]

I'm confused, using the Hollywood sign as an example, it appears that you can use LAANC to get immediate authorization up to 300 ft. Is there some new requirement to request LAANC 72 hours prior to flight? Also, are you saying that you submit request directly to the FAA instead of using LAANC through Aloft, or is that some other request?

Post #8 says it well