Do you ever fly over 400 ft in US?

[jonatious]

I see a lot of drone photography page with top down pictures and from the size of the area covered, I can say for sure that the drone is way higher than 400 ft. I am not sure if they are Part 107 certified and get special permission.

But as a hobbist I wonder is it unsafe to fly over 400 ft? I generally do not, but would love to

 

[naiku]

I regularly fly over 120' usually around 200' or so. I have the maximum set to 390' in DJI Go 4, so as not to go above the 400' recommendation from the FAA

 

[jonatious]

I regularly fly over 120' usually around 200' or so. I have the maximum set to 390' in DJI Go 4, so as not to go above the 400' recommendation from the FAA

Wait I meant 400 ft. 120m.

Updated the thread

 

[dronerdave]

Nope, not after they specified the rules. I did have an ATTI mode incident that cause me to reach over 800 feet AGL but the only thing I was worried about was getting my quad back to my LZ in one piece. Personally the views that high suck anyway. I'm rarely over 200 feet AGL.

 

[jonatious]

Nope, not after they specified the rules. I did have an ATTI mode incident that cause me to reach over 800 feet AGL but the only thing I was worried about was getting my quad back to my LZ in one piece. Personally the views that high suck anyway. I'm rarely over 200 feet AGL.

For a straight shot yes, 200ft is around the best height. But to cover larger area from top down view, 400 ft feels very low

 

[dawgpilot]

Only if I'm within 400 feet of an object, up to 400 feet above the object, as I'm permitted to under the Part 107 rules.

Under the recreational rules it's strictly illegal to exceed 400 feet AGL.

 

[Stan1915]

As for me personally the risks vs reward is not worth it.

 

[naiku]

Wait I meant 400 ft. 120m.

Updated the thread

That makes more sense.... as for those images that look higher than 400ft, I'd bet they likely are above 400ft, and is because a large number of people are either ignorant of the rules/regulations or aware of them but don't care. Similar to how so many people don't register with the FAA, ignorant of the rules or don't care.

 

[ChipDjipro]

Normally I stay 250 feet. But I have gone 700 feet for a short time.

 

[dronerdave]

For a straight shot yes, 200ft is around the best height. But to cover larger area from top down view, 400 ft feels very low

For me a max limit of 400' AGL is fine to capture what I want/need and I have no reason to exceed that level. YMMV and that's fine. I stay away from populated areas for the most part. But higher altitudes can produce a desired effect especially at dusk and dawn maybe even night.

 

[Knight48]

Not to be the drone Police but if I see a video that looks to be over 400 feet I am going to start reporting them. It is because of these people, there are so many rules and regulations that are hurting our hobby and because of the time and effort I put in to be legal I just don’t feel like my fun should be ruined by them.

 

[ChipDjipro]

Not to be the drone Police but if I see a video that looks to be over 400 feet I am going to start reporting them. It is because of these people, there are so many rules and regulations that are hurting our hobby and because of the time and effort I put in to be legal I just don’t feel like my fun should be ruined by them.

People have been breaking the rules for years have been and always will be. It’s only gonna get worse it’s not gonna get any better. Personally to report people for doing it I got better things to do.

 

[GregS]

I see a lot of drone photography page with top down pictures and from the size of the area covered, I can say for sure that the drone is way higher than 400 ft. I am not sure if they are Part 107 certified and get special permission.

But as a hobbist I wonder is it unsafe to fly over 400 ft? I generally do not, but would love to

Do you always drive the speed limit? 400 ft AGL or above an "approved" structure....period.
Drive fast...get a ticket....fly too high....gives the public another reason to bad mouth droners.

 

[Housenotes]

Not to be the drone Police but if I see a video that looks to be over 400 feet I am going to start reporting them. It is because of these people, there are so many rules and regulations that are hurting our hobby and because of the time and effort I put in to be legal I just don’t feel like my fun should be ruined by them.

For someone that appears to be new to the drone world (joined 4 days ago-7 posts) I would be impressed that just by looking at a video you can determine with enough accuracy to report someone of flying over the 400’ limit.

 

[Guitarzan]

People have been breaking the rules for years have been and always will be. It’s only gonna get worse it’s not gonna get any better. Personally to report people for doing it I got better things to do.

Exactly!

 

[Brevanskc]

That would be a no for me. As already stated above the risk/reward is a gamble but for me, more importantly, I do not need the extra height to capture a scene in still or video shots.

 

[Codeweaver]

For someone that appears to be new to the drone world (joined 4 days ago-7 posts) I would be impressed that just by looking at a video you can determine with enough accuracy to report someone of flying over the 400’ limit.

How do you know that he is not experienced in the aviation world in other ways? Perhaps experience as a real pilot would allow him to determine how high a particular video was shot at. So maybe you should be impressed. Feel free to slag away as this is my first ever post here. Oh by the way, ATPL rated aviator and 30 years in the Biz.

 

[Coco 60]

Even at permitted 300' or 400' some choppers are flying pretty low too !! have to be carefull all the time.?

 

[jeaves]

I've found my best video is shot around 325 feet about ground level, however, a few times, and by a few I mean less than 5 have I've gone over 400 feet. Over 400 feet the winds can become very unstable quickly, especially in the spring in middle Tennessee.

 

[KB9Radio]

I see a lot of drone photography page with top down pictures and from the size of the area covered, I can say for sure that the drone is way higher than 400 ft. I am not sure if they are Part 107 certified and get special permission.

But as a hobbist I wonder is it unsafe to fly over 400 ft? I generally do not, but would love to

I do not, and have my altitude limit set to 120 meters. If you are flying within 400 ft of a tall structure or hill (I have neither in my area), you can fly 400 ft over it. Part 107 and hobby have the same altitude limits. There are folks who don't follow the rules or use common sense. That's the reason for most new rules and ID discussions.