Caution with the new DJI FPV

[theDRONEranger]

Dear forum members,

I strongly urge each and every one of you to seek advice concerning the new DJI FPV drone combo. With the new FPV proffering comes responsibility. As each and every country has different rules pertaining to piloting a UAS, I would highly recommend you check your home country rules of flight. Rules of UAS with and without FPV very well may be different. I strongly urge you to review and ask questions to your governing body if in doubt. The new FPV will give thousands, around the globe, a new perspective on flying a UAS. Be safe and be lawful. Learn and know the rules of your country. Above all, be safe!

Many happy flights to all.

Jeffrey

 

[old man mavic]

@theDRONEranger well said Jeffrey ,it does have the potential in untrained hands to be capable of causing considerable damage and injury if it hits someone ,or something,especially when in the ACRO mode

 

[eaglesurfing]

Very well said and only a couple years to go in the USA before the a whole new set of problems will be presented.

 

[Macinfo]

While the speed and performance of the DJI FPV does put it into a class of its own from DJI, that info can apply to any drone. While we focus largely on DJI drones in this forum, there are slews of other models out there with various sizes and capabilities and home brews that can be equally dangerous if not used safely.

 

[FASTFJR]

I wonder how long it will be before we see a firmware update knocking the speed down to half of what it can do now. It will only take a few people flying manual going 90mph and hitting a building, car or god forbid a person

 

[Macinfo]

I wonder how long it will be before we see a firmware update knocking the speed down to half of what it can do now. It will only take a few people flying manual going 90mph and hitting a building, car or god forbid a person

I doubt that would happen, it would make take most of the reason for making the FPV drone in the first place.. There are slews of drones out there that can go that fast that are home brew or other makes, to always assume that someone is going to always damage someone or something is highly pessimistic, sure there are foolish people out there, and they do foolish things, but they aren't always flying drones to do it..

 

[shaneb50]

From what I have heard about this new drone, it’s going to be a very fast drone and even in the beginner mode, I would recommend that the person who buys one should have experience on FPV drones.
However this looks to be a great drone and should be interesting to watch the first video about the drone. I’m already excited
[emoji106][emoji3]

 

[Mike Mas]

The DJI FPV will solely be responsible for taking down the few rights that remain for aerial drone pilots.

The internet is full of idiots flying these rocket-ships at 80-100+ mph diving at them selves and others. There is going to be injuries and new laws as this drone reaches a mass level of new pilots which have no idea just how dangerous this drone is.

Mike

 

[Skerrabrae]

The DJI FPV will solely be responsible for taking down the few rights that remain for aerial drone pilots.

The internet is full of idiots flying these rocket-ships at 80-100+ mph diving at them selves and others. There is going to be injuries and new laws as this drone reaches a mass level of new pilots which have no idea just how dangerous this drone is.

Mike

This is what I fear. All it takes is one high profile incident where a person is injured.

Now I don't think it would result in over reaching regulation, at least in the short term, but do think it will tarnish public opinion of the hobby more than it already is. There are many people who currently consider drones invasion of privacy or annoying. Now they can add dangerous to their list.

Especially since any incident that makes the news will be sensationalized.

 

[spsphotos]

Remember that you WILL need a VO when you fly...in the US anyway...FAA rules on VLOS, goggles don't allow for VLOS. .

As for speed, maybe they drone software should be made to throttle the drone speed until you reach a specific number of flight hours?

 

[Dbez1]

The DJI FPV will solely be responsible for taking down the few rights that remain for aerial drone pilots.

The internet is full of idiots flying these rocket-ships at 80-100+ mph diving at them selves and others. There is going to be injuries and new laws as this drone reaches a mass level of new pilots which have no idea just how dangerous this drone is.

Mike

Yesterday I watched a young man flying a hand made fpv drone and it was unbelievably fast. Thankfully the pilot was skilled, but you are correct Mike, that thing could easily penetrate a car windshield and kill a passenger. You have to see it in person to believe it.

 

[Karlewski]

Was not sure I should even mention this but, an FPV, using googles, seems to me to be an FAA violation of the LOS rule right off the bat. . . without a spotter anyway. Personally I am interested but, I think I'll let the dust settle first. . .

 

[theDRONEranger]

The DJI FPV will solely be responsible for taking down the few rights that remain for aerial drone pilots.

The internet is full of idiots flying these rocket-ships at 80-100+ mph diving at them selves and others. There is going to be injuries and new laws as this drone reaches a mass level of new pilots which have no idea just how dangerous this drone is.

Mike

Mike,

The FPV does NOT negate the safe and responsible action of a pilot. Yes, there will be some idiots who just have to see how fast and high and far they can go. If they break the rules/law, they deserve the punishment.

But, I have to disagree. The rules pertaining to UAS piloting have not changed, in that respect, and indicate there is no need to. A search of the rules results simply in the fact if you cannot see the UAS, you use a VO. All other rules apply! Nothing has changed.

What I do envision, is simply nothing more than law breakers pressing their luck as they do now! Fortunately, for us, the forum members, at least, promote safe and lawful operations for UAS activities.

As to the max speed, what is the official FAA designated max right now? Hint: 100 mph, for 107 pilots, has been for long time. If anything, maybe pilots will become more cognizant of their actions. I have yet to find an upper limit for recreational flights only. My opinion, FWIW is speed is identical to 107 limit.

But, a query to the FAA may provide an answer. Please us know what you find.

 

[tlswift58]

The DJI FPV will solely be responsible for taking down the few rights that remain for aerial drone pilots.

The internet is full of idiots flying these rocket-ships at 80-100+ mph diving at them selves and others. There is going to be injuries and new laws as this drone reaches a mass level of new pilots which have no idea just how dangerous this drone is.

Mike

FPV's ARE NOT NEW. Many people build their own and there are a lot out there already.

GA is crap anyway, with their overreach on not allowing drones AT ALL in state parks. Many states have followed that idiocy, so we have far fewer places to actually fly. Don't even mention National Parks - they have gotten bounced here recently on their FEES & RULES for creating video's - so maybe the time is now for ALL DRONERS to stand up and shout back at the BS.

Drones have had the "wild west cowboys" since day 1 and that is never going to end. Have seen people posting on social media with the "roll out" of the FPV by DJI and you can easily see WHY us legit droners have fewer and fewer places to fly legally. The common sentiment is this - "My drone, so I'll fly wherever, whenever, however "I WANT" to. Those are the people that need to be targeted by everyone, including us to put a stop to the wild west shows. I don't mind them doing their thing far far away from people, but we all have the same rules whether any of us like it or not - sometimes created by those very same cowboys who go do what they want to do - to heck with everyone else.

It's far easier to keep what e have than trying to go back an undo all the negatives - rules and such - from cities to federal. The more people stay within boundaries, hopefully we can get some of the more stringent and ridiculous rules removed.

I love flying freestyle like anyone else, yet I know when, where, and how I can do that without harm to property or people. When those conditions are not applicable - then we all need and have to follow safety practices that may one day get us a little more FREEDOM in those areas.

 

[Mike Mas]

Regretfully, unlike past regulations which were only in place to protect other rights to privacy and infringement on private, state and federal owned properties, The FPV is in a class of its own because unlike aerial drones which are flown for aerial filming purposes, FPV drones are flown in a reckless manner with speeds that could kill or mane other pilots or observers.

I come from old school and seen this exact thing happen when 3D came about with RC helicopters. In just one year there were two deaths, one to a pilot and another to an observer being hit with an RC helicopter flown in reckless manner.

Keep in mind, vision latency at 80+ mph, means you could already have hit an object or person even before you reach them in your visor.

Unlike Aerial drones where pilots post images of their flight, most FPV pilots will post images of their wreckage as shown below.

Fly Safe - Mike

 

[Ken-Mav-Mtl]

Was not sure I should even mention this but, an FPV, using googles, seems to me to be an FAA violation of the LOS rule right off the bat. . . without a spotter anyway. Personally I am interested but, I think I'll let the dust settle first. . .

Karlewski is right.
Most drone regulations require VLOS and that is not possible with enclosed googles.
I would love to fly DJI FPV but I know I will be in violation of the rules without an observer next to me.
And if an accident does happen with such a fast drone, the fact that it may have occurred during illegal usage could give FPV drones a bad reputation.
I wonder if they could design googles that would allow the user to keep VLOS.

 

[Scubadiver1944]

Karlewski is right.
Most drone regulations require VLOS and that is not possible with enclosed googles.
I would love to fly DJI FPV but I know I will be in violation of the rules without an observer next to me.
And if an accident does happen with such a fast drone, the fact that it may have occurred during illegal usage could give FPV drones a bad reputation.
I wonder if they could design googles that would allow the user to keep VLOS.

Interesting. I already fly my Mavic with a headset of augmented reality Epson Moverio BT-300 smart glasses and wouldn't return to using a cell phone or small tablet. I get the view from the drone's camera which looks like viewing an 80" TV screen with 720p resolution at 5 meters distance, whilst still allowing one to see the drone over, under or through the glasses, thus taking care of the VLOS issue and not requiring a spotter.
I wonder if any of the technical gurus on the Facebook page "Epson Moverio Tips/Tricks/Support", (once they get their hands on the latest BT-40 or BT-40S models, which claim 1080p resolution looking at a 120" TV screen from 5 metres), might discover some way for these new AR glasses to allow use with the DJI FPV? At the moment they're waiting for the release of these new models so they can be evaluated for use with other DJI models before they can make a judgement.

 

[Barbara]

Just my opinion....
I don't think the DJI FPV drone will be a big problem in the long run. I can see many being sold initially as it trades on the DJI reputation for building a reliable, solid drone. I think the vast majority of those buyers are quickly going to find out how easy they are to crash and how expensive they will be to repair. There is a reason that the FPV market is full of very modular products and home built rigs.

Those that want to abuse the rules with their FPV drones are already out there.

I would consider purchasing one myself, but I already know I don't have the reflexes to operate one in full manual mode. And besides VR makes me, shall we say, uncomfortable (read-puke). So if I bought one I would use it mostly as a traditional camera platform. I already have two perfectly good drones, so....nah.

 

[tlswift58]

Regretfully, unlike past regulations which were only in place to protect other rights to privacy and infringement on private, state and federal owned properties, The FPV is in a class of its own because unlike aerial drones which are flown for aerial filming purposes, FPV drones are flown in a reckless manner with speeds that could kill or mane other pilots or observers.

I come from old school and seen this exact thing happen when 3D came about with RC helicopters. In just one year there were two deaths, one to a pilot and another to an observer being hit with an RC helicopter flown in reckless manner.

Keep in mind, vision latency at 80+ mph, means you could already have hit an object or person even before you reach them in your visor.

Unlike Aerial drones where pilots post images of their flight, most FPV pilots will post images of their wreckage as shown below.

Fly Safe - Mike

WOW - you use "RECKLESS" like it applies to every drone pilot. Your attitude is what many who do not fly drones have towards people who do - based mostly on 1-2 incidents. Had that been used for cars, planes, and other cool gadgets - we'd still be living in the Stone Age.

2 people killed in ONE WHOLE YEAR! That's outrageous and all those RC helicopters / airplanes should be banned immediately! <sic>

All of what you state is simply YOUR OPINE. If I bought one of the FPV's - I can guarantee you I'd NOT BE reckless. I WOULD HAVE FUN THOUGH! I'd say that would apply to about 75+% of this group. I "could" be very reckless if I built my own FPV for a couple hundred dollars. I have a buddy, while not truly reckless (in that term) - he does fly the limits and guess what - he has crashed several of his drones. Not into people, buildings, etc - but into water. I hope he doesn't hurt the water by doing so! Maybe you would know that!

My Air2 is cheaper than the DJI FPV and I am not rich or a Rockefeller, so losing a drone that costs over $1k would hurt quite a bit. The DJI won't be rebuilt if it impacts some dense object at 20-30 MPH; whereas a handbuilt one can sustain much higher damage and be rebuilt practically for nothing.

Drones, just like RC's are mostly for fun - while yes some do it for work / money. Should we BAN RC aircraft since they too can fly very fast.

 

[Brojon]

This really is a "preaching to the choir" kind of post.
Does anyone really think the majority of people on this forum are clueless to the legalities?
Who is the intended audience? By now even the Christmas n00bs have heard this refrain.
I don't get what folks get from wringing their hands over imagined problems.
Yes - imagined since it hasn't happened yet.