Altitude Mini 2

[Zbip57]

I read on the Federal site that the 400foot rule does apply to the sub 250 drone class as well.

We're talking specifically Canada here, right?

None of the section 901 requirements referring to registration, licensing, line-of-sight, max altitude, operating near an aerodrome or in controlled airspace, Basic vs Advanced operations, etc, etc, etc, none of those apply to under-250 gram micro-drones. Check the links I posted above. You can read for yourself the actual legal requirements there.

Yes, Transport Canada has posted Guidelines on their website for micro-drones, but those are not regulations. Those are sensible recommendations, but not legal requirements.

That said, if you choose to ignore those Guidelines and insist on your "rights" to fly above 400 ft (which is not illegal for under-250 gram drones), you risk having your actions interpreted as being reckless or negligent.

And worse, if you flaunt your legal "right" to fly in such a manner, you risk having Transport Canada impose more severe legal restrictions on under-250 gram drones. And nobody wants that.

 

[Zbip57]

We're talking specifically Canada here, right?

Since this is an international forum, I should also point out this little tidbit which applies to tourists visiting Canada.

Qualifications To Be a Registered Owner of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft
901.03 No pilot shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft system unless the registration number issued in accordance with section 901.05 is clearly visible on the remotely piloted aircraft.
901.04 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person is qualified to be the registered owner of a remotely piloted aircraft if they are
(a) a citizen of Canada;
(b) a permanent resident of Canada;
(c) a corporation incorporated under the territorial, provincial or federal laws of Canada; or
(d) a municipal, provincial or federal entity.
(2) No individual is qualified to be the registered owner of a remotely piloted aircraft unless that individual is at least 14 years of age.
----
You can't fly a remotely piloted aircraft system unless it's registered. But you can't register unless you're Canadian and at least 14 years old. That means tourists visiting Canada cannot fly their drones here. Unless...

901.25 (1) [...], no pilot shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft at an altitude greater than
(a) 400 feet (122 m) AGL; or
(b) 100 feet (30 m) above any building or structure, if the aircraft is being operated at a distance of less than 200 feet (61 m), measured horizontally, from the building or structure.

Just like this max altitude restriction of 400 feet, as I explained in my previous posts, all of the section 901 regulations apply to SMALL remotely piloted aircraft system. By definition, that's anything greater than 250 grams up to 25 kg.

None of the 901 restrictions apply to sub-250 gram micro-drones. Ergo everyone, including tourists to Canada, can fly their Mavic Mini here. But for anything over 250 grams, tourists are out of luck unless they can secure a Special Flight Operations Certificate. Last I heard, Transport Canada has altogether stopped processing those requests from tourists.

 

[wdbryant]

I believe it is a breach of regulations for manned aircraft to fly below 400 ft unless they are approaching for landing in controlled air space (no fly for UAS).

Not sure about the Police, but technically they are in breach of airspace regulations if they are flying too low. The flight ceilings do not (and should not) overlap.

By the way, you will always wrongly estimate the height of a large aircraft. Whatever height you estimated, it was probably wrong.

Manned aircraft are supposed to stay above 500' AGL unless in a landing approach or an emergency.

 

[Rich QR]

Manned aircraft are supposed to stay above 500' AGL unless in a landing approach or an emergency.

In the USA, not necessarily. See FAR 91.119(c). If they are over a sparsely populated area or open water, they are only required to maintain at least a 500 ft distance from any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. And helicopters aren't even bound by that rule.

Even if a plane is where it's not supposed to be, a drone operator is still required to avoid it.

 

[TheDude]

In the USA, not necessarily. See FAR 91.119(c). If they are over a sparsely populated area or open water, they are only required to maintain at least a 500 ft distance from any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure. And helicopters aren't even bound by that rule.

Even if a plane is where it's not supposed to be, a drone operator is still required to avoid it.

Thank you, my CFI side couldn’t help wanting to post 91.119...

Drone pilots shouldn’t expect other aircraft to be >400’ AGL all the time.

 

[Thomas B]

Yes! The key is situational awareness.

 

[Paleomanjim]

G

I wounder if anyone has ever tried it

I have never tried this in a drone, but there are videos on Youtube showing the Mini 2 approaching 14,000 ' going up a Mountain in Colorado. I would have to guess that the Mini 2 is capable of much higher, probably more like 18.000' or so regardless of what the specs say. Wonder if anyone in South America or Europe has tested this? I have hiked several peaks over 14,000' and was surprised to see ravens soaring at that altitude with no apparent effort. I also saw a video showing Canada geese flying over 30,000' during migration! Back in my flying days (70's) a buddy and I tried to see how high we could get a Cessna 150 to go and it was very interesting. Engine power drops off above 10,000' from lack of oxygen for the engine. Airspeed continutes to drop off above that as you go higher partly due to lack of horsepower. The thinner air requires a higher angle of attack to maintain altitude so as we approached 12,000' it was necessary to pull back on the stick more and more to maintain lift to hold the plane up in the thinner air. A point if finally reached (around 13K feet in our case) where the plane just hangs in balance at that altitude, full throttle is maintained. Pulling back even slightly on the stick resulted in a loss of altitude due to increased drag and approaching stall speed. Pushing forward on the stick also resulted in a loss of altitude but of course increased speed! The same would be true of any drone at full throttle, it would reach a point where any changes in the left stick would result in loss of altitude (left stick would be pegged).

 

[previtij]

The Mini 2 can fly up to 1650 ft i believe although its illegal and we are limited to 400ft but whats stopping the Drone going higher than the max hight ??

I saw a video not long ago of a guy flying in a high mountain pass over 12,000 ft and near 0 degrees. He got some warnings from the drone but it flew with no problems.

 

[ReggieDroner]

I swore I saw a video of someone in Maui flying it up past 15,000 feet.

 

[Photoman phil]

15,000 ft the Mini 2 max altitude is 1,650ft were you on a space ship or something ??

 

[old man mavic]

the max altitude from the take off point ,is not the same as the absolute maximum height that the drone can attain

 

[Camino Ken]

15,000 ft the Mini 2 max altitude is 1,650ft were you on a space ship or something ??

You can easily fly up to 15,00 ft if you take off from 13,351 ft.

 

[Sheppie]

So is there any country you can fly your Mini 2 legally above 400ft?

Antarctica?

 

[Photoman phil]

Arctic

 

[Meta4]

I swore I saw a video of someone in Maui flying it up past 15,000 feet.

Probably not.
The highest point on Maui is 10,000 feet

 

[ReggieDroner]

15,000 ft the Mini 2 max altitude is 1,650ft were you on a space ship or something ??

No. The aliens released me years ago.

 

[Rich QR]

15,000 ft the Mini 2 max altitude is 1,650ft were you on a space ship or something ??

The third day I had it, I flew my Mini at over 7500 ft.

It was only about 50 ft AGL, and around 20 ft above the takeoff point, max.

 

[Photoman phil]

No. The aliens released me years ago.

Thank god for that

 

[ninja_geezer]

seen a youtube video with a guy at 8000 foot up using a mavic pro

 

[ninja_geezer]

found this as well