Do you ever fly over 400 ft in US?

[Housenotes]

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.

And you posted for the first time just to troll me?! My comment was along the lines of what chipdjipro posted. Just saying.

 

[Knight48]

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.

WRONG! Sorry Pal.
I’ve been flying RC for 20 years and also flew real planes for a while. It’s not that hard to tell OK!
So if you think it’s OK to fly over 400 feet disregarding filming a tower then you shouldn’t be flying drones

 

[Kcmusa]

As far as being able to tell if a video is over 400 feet. What if it’s a different camera, wide angle, zoom, etc. you don’t know the details.
as for me, I would never admit in a public forum flying over the rules.

 

[ChipDjipro]

As far as being able to tell if a video is over 400 feet. What if it’s a different camera, wide angle, zoom, etc. you don’t know the details.
as for me, I would never admit in a public forum flying over the rules.

Exactly.

 

[Knight48]

Read my Post again there Mr Chip!
I SAID (appears to be ) over 400 ok?
I don’t care if you flew navy jets before, if I see you post something that APPEARS to be over 400 I’ll turn it in.
I’m sick and tired of idiots ruinIng things for everyone else OK! You’ll thank me later son.
If everyone was like me maybe we all wouldn’t have to deal with all this bull crap all the time. Think about it

 

[ChipDjipro]

Read my Post again there Mr Chip!
I SAID (appears to be ) over 400 ok?
I don’t care if you flew navy jets before, if I see you post something that APPEARS to be over 400 I’ll turn it in.
I’m sick and tired of idiots ruinIng things for everyone else OK! You’ll thank me later son.
If everyone was like me maybe we all wouldn’t have to deal with all this bull crap all the time. Think about it

Not saying I fly over 400 feet or out of line of sight. ? I sure wouldn’t be dumb enough to post it. Rules are made to be broke. ?

 

[Knight48]

Not saying I fly over 400 feet or out of line of sight. ? I sure wouldn’t be dumb enough to post it. Rules are made to be broke. ?

Fair enough. Like I said man, I’ve been in this sport for over 20 years and I’m just freaking tired of the idiots that are ruining it for all of us. I mean, don’t you agree at all? And like I also said if we all start turning these people in maybe things will get better, I don’t know. It’s worth a try

 

[ChipDjipro]

Fair enough. Like I said man, I’ve been in this sport for over 20 years and I’m just freaking tired of the idiots that are ruining it for all of us. I mean, don’t you agree at all? And like I also said if we all start turning these people in maybe things will get better, I don’t know. It’s worth a try

To be honest I’ve been flying helicopters airplanes drones RC cars RC Boats for over 30 years. And trust me I have seen a lot of people do a lot of stupid things. Do I worry about it absolutely not as long as it doesn’t affect me. We are always going to be people out there to push the limits nothing you can do about it. Honestly it’s only going to get worse before it gets better just the way it is. People think they can just charge a battery charge the RC and go flying. I have seen people crash very expensive planes and helicopters and I just laughed. People will always do stupid things. I just laugh.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

This topic is hilarious.

 

[ChipDjipro]

This topic is hilarious.

??

 

[Knight48]

To be honest I’ve been flying helicopters airplanes drones RC cars RC Boats for over 30 years. And trust me I have seen a lot of people do a lot of stupid things. I worry about it absolutely not as long as it doesn’t affect me. We are always going to be people out there to push the limits nothing you can do about it. Honestly it’s only need to get worse before it gets better just the way it is. People think they can just charge a battery charge the RC and go flying. I have seen people crash very expensive planes and helicopters and I just laughed. I said as long as it doesn’t affect my life I really don’t care.

Well that’s not cool ONLY worrying about yourself ! I mean WTF bro!
How worse do you want it to get? Maybe if we have a manned plane crash, that will be the worst ? Maybe it is so bad because nobody does nothing about it.
And sorry but I don’t agree that rules are MADE to be broken, really ?
I was brought up to learn that rules were made to be followed. No ?

 

[jonatious]

Thanks for the input all. I know a lot of people fly over VLOS. I was wondering if people do this as well based on how strict the rule was. Looks like I will stay flying the same way I have been doing

 

[Knight48]

??

Thanks for the input all. I know a lot of people fly over VLOS. I was wondering if people do this as well based on how strict the rule was. Looks like I will stay flying the same way I have been doing

 

[Sandwich]

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

if I did...I wouldn’t announce it on this site. For me, most shots are best taken just far enough away to capture what I want. Open space is boring in most photos and videos. But I would advise not sharing info that’s outside the lines on this forum. There a large audience of people here, who want nothing else but to be critical. Before all the rules, the sport and chance at great photos was fun, and people complained. Now with rules in place, it’s less fun and people still complain.

 

[Knight48]

if I did...I wouldn’t announce it on this site. For me, most shots are best taken just far enough away to capture what I want. Open space is boring in most photos and videos. But I would advise not sharing info that’s outside the lines on this forum. There a large audience of people here, who want nothing else but to be critical. Before all the rules, the sport and chance at great photos was fun, and people complained. Now with rules in place, it’s less fun and people still complain.

Critical! Killing hundreds of people in a plane is being to critical !!
Losing your drone and crashes down in someone’s face ! To critical!
Haha. You’re something

 

[Deleted member 123036]

In the UK here (altitude restrictions are the same) and I keep it below 120m, no reason to go any higher really, especially with the Mavic Mini which is prone to strong wind warnings at high altitudes. Risk is not worth the reward.

 

[Knight48]

In the UK here (altitude restrictions are the same) and I keep it below 120m, no reason to go any higher really, especially with the Mavic Mini which is prone to strong wind warnings at high altitudes. Risk is not worth the reward.

I agree. Not worth it at all.

 

[LazerMan]

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.

are you that good that you can tell how high a drone is from looking at a picture or video wow

 

[Maviac]

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.

How are you going to confirm those folks are not operating under Part 107? Just call the police/FAA regardless of what

and you have never done anything illegal I'll call BS right now.

Well, of course, virtually all of us have broken the speed limit on occasion. The penalties are far different, though, at least in my state: except for State Patrol, they are not allowed to pull over anyone unless more than 9 over (RADAR and even LIDAR are not necessarily calibrated perfectly, although even when they do (assuming there was no collision) the worst-case scenario is a few-hundred-dollar fine. I can’t speak to any other states but I’m not aware of any that routinely charge more than a large fine for speeding except in the most egregious situations of recklessness unless there’s a wreck (if there’s a wreck that changes things, both civilly and criminally).

If the FAA has probable cause/suspicion to investigate, you’re looking at forfeiture of the drone, a multi-thousand dollar fine ($5000 seems common), and loss or suspension of your certificate or ability to register a drone. You can challenge the administrative decision, but you’d probably spent a lot of money on a lawyer. FAA lawyers charge a lot more than traffic ticket lawyers.

I’m not saying one is better or worse than the other as far as offenses go (we could debate whether the much likelier possibility of speeding causing a handful of deaths vs. the very rare possibility of busting altitude causing somewhere between a handful and hundreds of deaths is more worthy of worse punishment, but that’s an argument above my pay grade). But that’s the law. And if you delete the logs, the feds 1) can probably recover them and 2) can figure out you deleted them and use that against you.

As for my answer to the original question, I certainly fly above 400 ft. when allowed and necessary. I was at 600 or so today shooting some electrical pylons and a couple of months ago, I went much higher for a specific commercial job. Both well within FAA limits for 14 CFR Pt. 107. I’d feel perfectly comfortable showing every log from every flight I’ve ever flown to an FAA investigator.

 

[Knight48]

are you that good that you can tell how high a drone is from looking at a picture or video wow

Hey Genius, maybe you should re-read my post OK?
I said ) appears to be ) remember!
If something appears to be over 400 I’ll turn it in.
Lol. ?