DJI drops AirMap and increases size of airport No Fly zones.

[JSKCKNIT]

DJI drops AirMap and increases size of airport No Fly zones. - sUAS News - The Business of Drones

 

[gnirtS]

This is a good thing. The airmap data is grossly inaccurate and unusable outside the US for most areas.
Replacing it with data that isn't a simply circle and based on reality is an improvement.

 

[sar104]

Yes - this is a big improvement. Hopefully the implementation will be competent.

 

[ac0j]

This is good.
Too bad there will still be people that ignore it.
DJI needs to make it impossible to fly there, then the FAA can give up on treating toys like manned aircraft.

 

[EyeFlightDrone]

No easy solution to humankind's progress.

 

[Nickalo]

This is good.
Too bad there will still be people that ignore it.
DJI needs to make it impossible to fly there, then the FAA can give up on treating toys like manned aircraft.

Amen brother.

 

[dvarapala]

Hopefully the implementation will be competent.

I am cautiously optimistic about that.

 

[BIGDAVE]

I am cautiously optimistic about that.

I hear you dvarapala

 

[Photo Booth]

Yes - this is a big improvement. Hopefully the implementation will be competent.

I am cautiously optimistic too. But if I start getting warned that I am in Class B airspace at ground level at my home (when, in fact, Class B doesn't start until approx. 2,500 feet above our home), I won't be a happy camper. This new bowtie airspace implementation can extend over our house but it sure better not extend all the way to the ground.

As the crow flies, we are approximately 13 miles from San Diego Airport. It appears (from the graphic in the article) that DJI's warning zone bowtie will extend approximately 10 miles. So, I should be okay (fingers crossed).

The closest small airport (with ATC) is about 7 miles away. We are south of that airport and its runway is laid out east/west. So, the new bowtie configuration should actually allow me to fly closer to the airport (south side) than is possible now. Based on the graphic, even a medium risk airport's lateral warning zone would be 6 km (3.7 miles). That's 1.3 miles closer (south or north sides) than the current circle arrangement.

Mark

 

[sar104]

I am cautiously optimistic too. But if I start getting warned that I am in Class B airspace at ground level at my home (when, in fact, Class B doesn't start until approx. 2,500 feet above our home), I won't be a happy camper. This new bowtie airspace implementation can extend over our house but it sure better not extend all the way to the ground.

As the crow flies, we are approximately 13 miles from San Diego Airport. It appears (from the graphic in the article) that DJI's warning zone bowtie will extend approximately 10 miles. So, I should be okay (fingers crossed).

The closest small airport (with ATC) is about 7 miles away. We are south of that airport and its runway is laid out east/west. So, the new bowtie configuration should actually allow me to fly closer to the airport (south side) than is possible now. Based on the graphic, even a medium risk airport's lateral warning zone would be 6 km (3.7 miles). That's 1.3 miles closer (south or north sides) than the current circle arrangement.

Mark

I think one of the primary purposes of the new system will be to avoid those kinds of issues. I doubt that any Class G airspace will be restricted except around untowered airports under 700 ft Class E.

 

[EyeFlightDrone]

All words are made up. They really are just primate grunts that we chose to agree to have meaning. I wouldn't get too uptight.

 

[Photo Booth]

A friend just reminded me that the small airport closest to our house (about 7 miles away) has a second runway that runs north/south. It is a longer runway and it isn't used very frequently, but it's there. So, this new bowtie arrangement might effect me at my house because we are due south and, for a medium risk airport, the warning zone is about 10 miles.

Mark

 

[zocalo]

DJI needs to make it impossible to fly there, then the FAA can give up on treating toys like manned aircraft.

Or not. There are valid usage cases for drones to do things like survey work within no-fly zones like airports, given suitable safety controls, but a better system to stop the idiots is definitely a good idea. It should definitely be *very* hard to override though, and ideally in a way that could only be done by DJI (or whoever) on a geofenced area by area basis. An additional level of security on top of current the geofence override mechanisms, basically.

As an example, a project I worked on at a major international airport had to arrange a helicopter to do a site survey for a new terminal - which had to cross both flight paths and taxiways to get to the survey area, then operate exit again afterward. That was every bit the PITA you might imagine it would be to arrange. We could quite easily have done the same thing from a drone operating entirely within the construction area, and below the altitude of the cranes that were on site, well clear of any moving aircraft. Sure, we'd still need approvals and liaisons with the tower, etc. but given no changes to normal aircraft operations would be required that should be at least somewhat easier.

Andy

 

[Bigbird48]

I live near many single runway private grass strips with no towers or control center that maybe land a small single engine plane a few times a year. Yet I still get warnings that I have to contact the CT , if they make these so I can't fly there I miight as well get rid of my drone

 

[ac0j]

I live near many single runway private grass strips with no towers or control center that maybe land a small single engine plane a few times a year. Yet I still get warnings that I have to contact the CT , if they make these so I can't fly there I might as well get rid of my drone

I dont think those would count. But you only need to be outside the 5 mile circle for most airports anyway. If you live near an airport that is restricted, and you are not willing to go somewhere else that is safe to fly it, maybe a flying toy is not for you right now. Try RC cars or trucks.

 

[Bigbird48]

well I hope they dont count as it would be very hard to find and area were one of these small farmer strips didn't exist.

 

[ac0j]

well I hope they dont count as it would be very hard to find and area were one of these small farmer strips didn't exist.

Do they show up on your GO4 app as a yellow circle? If not I think you would be safe IF they ever implemented it.

 

[Bigbird48]

yes they do like my map is covered with intersecting circles

 

[Andrew F]

I dont think those would count. But you only need to be outside the 5 mile circle for most airports anyway. If you live near an airport that is restricted, and you are not willing to go somewhere else that is safe to fly it, maybe a flying toy is not for you right now. Try RC cars or trucks.

Wow. You have a very stringent view of the drone world. He lives MILES away from a grass runway and you sardonically say he should give up drones. Totally disagree. He is not a threat using his drone as any plane using that "runway" would have a glide path well above his potential flight elevation. Just look at ALL of the accidents that have happened . . . Uh. None.

 

[Andrew F]

This is a good thing. The airmap data is grossly inaccurate and unusable outside the US for most areas.
Replacing it with data that isn't a simply circle and based on reality is an improvement.

And how do you know it won't be even MORE grossly inaccurate? The map has two no fly zones near me for a grass runway unused for decades but still registered and for two "helipads" never used as far as I can tell. The restrictions like these are a joke and completely degrade the system. I am not a fan of yet more restrictions. I am not a threat to these unused ports yet DJI says I can't fly there.