Can i fly mavic 2 in Germany?

[paulatkin73]

Subj, as a tourist?

From online research i see that one needs to buy an insurance to fly there. I would, but other research shows that only a citizen can do that. Is it true? Have anybody had a personal experience - we will be driving from Berlin via Drezden down to Prague.

 

[kem]

I am going to fly there. I live in Switzerland and I got an insurance and it is valid for all the counties.

 

[Manfred Waldmeyer]

As a German model airplane and drone pilot, flying MA for more than 55 years I will try to give you some detailed information.

As stated by paulatkin73 you always need a liability insurance as a pilot whether you fly recreational or commercial.

If your model aircraft / drone weighs more than 2 Kilogram and less than 5 Kilogram and you don't fly commercially you also need a so called "Kenntnisnachweis". (Proof of Knowledge)

In case of commercial operation you need a "Drohnenführerschein" (drone-drivers-license) similar to 107.

So if you, like me, fly a DJI Mavic or DJI Air you can fly if you have an insurance, stay below 100 meter and fly VLOS at daylight.....

BUT...

Germans love to forbid :-( and the European community produces more don't s than do's and therefore comes along with a bunch of "hard to understand why" regulations.

The area where you can fly as you like is very sparse.

You may not fly over buildings and properties without the owners consent.
Streets, waterways, power lines are also to be stayed clear by at least 100m distance.
And due to the ecologic mindedness of our government you may not fly over "Naturschutzgebiete" (nature protection zone) AND these are almost everywhere!
The smallest creek is fenced by such an zone and the whole seaside to the North and Baltic sea is off limits for drones.
Hard to understand why, because you may fly over these areas with a manned aircraft at 150 m!

If you want to see what all that means, take a look at Germany with the "AIRMAP" App. But please be seated before you do so in case you faint! ;-)

Finally, like in the US and IMHO all over the world privacy is very important.

Some unteachable Idiots ( I can't call them "pilots") created some issues in the past, which were cannibalized by the media and therefore created a strong resentment against drones.

 

[JPLEagle]

As a German model airplane and drone pilot, flying MA for more than 55 years I will try to give you some detailed information.

As stated by paulatkin73 you always need a liability insurance as a pilot whether you fly recreational or commercial.

If your model aircraft / drone weighs more than 2 Kilogram and less than 5 Kilogram and you don't fly commercially you also need a so called "Kenntnisnachweis". (Proof of Knowledge)

In case of commercial operation you need a "Drohnenführerschein" (drone-drivers-license) similar to 107.

So if you, like me, fly a DJI Mavic or DJI Air you can fly if you have an insurance, stay below 100 meter and fly VLOS at daylight.....

BUT...

Germans love to forbid :-( and the European community produces more don't s than do's and therefore comes along with a bunch of "hard to understand why" regulations.

The area where you can fly as you like is very sparse.

You may not fly over buildings and properties without the owners consent.
Streets, waterways, power lines are also to be stayed clear by at least 100m distance.
And due to the ecologic mindedness of our government you may not fly over "Naturschutzgebiete" (nature protection zone) AND these are almost everywhere!
The smallest creek is fenced by such an zone and the whole seaside to the North and Baltic sea is off limits for drones.
Hard to understand why, because you may fly over these areas with a manned aircraft at 150 m!

If you want to see what all that means, take a look at Germany with the "AIRMAP" App. But please be seated before you do so in case you faint! ;-)

Finally, like in the US and IMHO all over the world privacy is very important.

Some unteachable Idiots ( I can't call them "pilots") created some issues in the past, which were cannibalized by the media and therefore created a strong resentment against drones.

Hi Manfred,
nothing to add. Perfectly described. For living here and suffering all this, I only can say, sadly it is exactly like you described. In the past I was an RC pilot also (hells) and now I am flying a Magic Pro.
Viele Grüße

 

[Manfred Waldmeyer]

Well, I forgot one important information:

To legally fly a model airplane UAS in Germany (and drones are categorized as such) the UAS MUST carry a FIREPROOF sign with the owners name and address / contact information.

The size does not really care (not like the FAA registration, where LEOs should be able to read from a safe distance).
It's for liability reasons in case the UAS crashes into something.

DJI Germany has issued a document where to attach the sign to avoid any interference with electronic components inside.
So my sign is only 17 by 7 mm large and is attached as recommended on the bottom side in the middle of the casing near the gimbal.

 

[webvan]

Wow...so, where can you ACTUALLY fly ? In your garden ! Unless you know a farmer who will let you fly over his fields ?

 

[paulatkin73]

thanks so much for all the replies - i expected something like that, so, will skip on hauling mavic 2 around this time... it is sad that would is so full of negativity toward responsible drone operators, but, it is what it is...
just recently, this very weekend, in my own town i saw somebody taking an inspire vehicle over all the houses toward the center of our town barely at 50m or so altitude, it was so loud that several neighbors got out of their houses to see what it was, and then it flew back to the same field i use to practice - which is almost a half mile away from the town center. it is a sort of behavior that then results with such draconian measures, it is just too bad... some people are just making it so hard on all the others and they just do not care of any consequences...

 

[Thomas B]

... i expected something like that, so, will skip on hauling mavic 2 around this time... it is sad that would is so full of negativity toward responsible drone operators, but, it is what it is...
just recently, this very weekend, in my own town i saw somebody taking an inspire vehicle over all the houses toward the center of our town barely at 50m or so altitude, it was so loud ... some people are just making it so hard on all the others and they just do not care of any consequences...

A resounding second to the above.
Another problem is the need to have regulations posted online by the agencies responsible, and easily available, in a few different languages so travelers can more easily comply.

 

[Manfred Waldmeyer]

Wow...so, where can you ACTUALLY fly ? In your garden !

Well it's not easy and you need some time of preparation but there are plenty of spots where you can fly.
As a member of a local model airplane club I can practice freely on our clubs model airfield (here it is: 53.731574, 9.627236)

The often demanded horizontal distance of 100m (328 feet) is not the problem.

When you rise to the allowed 100m height you get pretty nice panoramas and with the M2zoom and 1280p you can get good detailed video shots of objects on the ground with its extended digital zoom.

At that horizontal distance and in bright sunlight for me it becomes hard to recognize the drones orientation when it hovers at low altitude in front of trees. The red and green LEDs are IMHO not that bright to unambiguously define its direction. The same applies when the drone is right up above you.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I want to be able to safely pilot my "precious" back to my feet without relying on any screen display or RTH function. I already had two dropouts when Go4 crashed on my Samsung Note9. Fortunately the apps reloaded.

Yesterday was pretty windy and I exercised manual take off and landings from different distances and heights simulating a sudden battery low or any other "return immediately" condition in the shortest most time. I can recommend doing that until you have a good feeling that YOU pilot your UAS.

RTH and Way Points and all those fancy dronies, rockets, bumerangs etc. are borderline cases in Germany.
Autonomous flight is only allowed as long as you remain in VLOS, you continuously monitor your UAS, regard all given laws and restrictions and you can at any time intervene the flight and regain full control. I found these conditions on a FAQ Page of a drone insurance broker.

Unless you know a farmer who will let you fly over his fields ?

You may fly over uninhabited fields as long as you do not trespass the farmers property. So you need to start and land on public ground.

 

[webvan]

ok but it's not easy to know what's public and private though ?

 

[Manfred Waldmeyer]

ok but it's not easy to know what's public and private though ?

Well Germans love fencing in their properties. ;-) with some kind of hedge, fence or wall.
So it's quite easy to see the "border" and private roads are mostly clearly marked by a sign "Privater Weg" (private path) or signs like "Betreten verboten" (Do not enter) or "Durchgang verboten" (access denied). You need to park you car somewhere and that's usually a public roadside.
So that's where you can start... as long as you keep distance from inhabited buildings. Usually you are somewhere in more rural areas.

 

[paulatkin73]

i just came back from a trip, and got to say, i am glad i did not bother taking drone with me. it was germany - czech - poland - germany road trip, we visited quite some nice places. the scariest fine i saw was 50000 euros for flying a drone near a bastei bridge area. surreal place, a great one to get it with a drone, but - no cigar. and pretty much everywhere was the same, even in poland in completely deserted places there is always a sign. heck with them, it was not the point of the trip anyway, but, regretful. i guess, big thanks are in order to all the imbeciles who created such a bad reputation for this new technology.