Do you ever fly over 400 ft in US?

Knight48 · May 16, 2020

Didn't any of you see this?
Yeh, That's why this **** pisses me off..
F tards like this !

ChipDjipro · May 16, 2020

With all the crap that’s going on in this world right now trust me I got other things to worry about besides how somebody flies There toy.

Gealousy · May 17, 2020

ChipDjipro said:
With all the crap that’s going on in this world right now trust me I got other things to worry about besides how somebody flies There toy.

I’m new to it all so just learning but I can say I already have a distaste for calling these toys... I liken it to calling firearms toys really...

gnirtS · May 17, 2020

jonatious said:
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

While most probably are over 400ft, a lot of high resolution survey top down shots that look high are actually shot from low altitude and stitched into an orthomosaic.

A good quality, high resolution image of a square kilometer could easily be 400+ images stiched taken from 200ft for example.

Although as i said, most arent.

jonatious · May 17, 2020

gnirtS said:
While most probably are over 400ft, a lot of high resolution survey top down shots that look high are actually shot from low altitude and stitched into an orthomosaic.

A good quality, high resolution image of a square kilometer could easily be 400+ images stiched taken from 200ft for example.

Although as i said, most arent.

I should probably explore stitching photos. That sounds like a good alternative for me

bmwbob · May 17, 2020

In California we have mountains and valleys! I go below and above 400 feet due to terrain variations!

dawgpilot · May 17, 2020

KB9Radio said:
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.

You are incorrect about hobby and 107 having the same limits. Hobby fliers do *not* have the legal ability to fly 400 feet above a structure. It's a strict 400 AGL limit.

WeymouthJohn · May 17, 2020

BMWBob

Nice video

arcticfrost · May 17, 2020

Which brings up the question... vultures (and other birds) can fly upwards of 20,000 and can cause the same or more damage to planes...

Knight48 · May 17, 2020

dawgpilot said:
You are incorrect about hobby and 107 having the same limits. Hobby fliers do *not* have the legal ability to fly 400 feet above a structure. It's a strict 400 AGL limit.

True, you are not commercial and therefore no need to go above a tower.

Knight48 · May 17, 2020

arcticfrost said:
Which brings up the question... vultures (and other birds) can fly upwards of 20,000 and can cause the same or more damage to planes...

gnirtS · May 17, 2020

jonatious said:
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

Example below.

It clearly *looks* like it was shot from way higher than 400ft and if it were a single image that would be true.
However it was shot from 180ft and is several hundred images combined.

So yes, although lots of people ARE breaking the 400ft mark, not all are. You can be sure, especially from top-down images.

The image is actually a 562 megapixel with roughly 2cm/pixel gsd resolution and part of a mapping project.

( Nangthong main road ) full size.

ChrisOutdoors · May 17, 2020

gnirtS said:
Example below.

It clearly *looks* like it was shot from way higher than 400ft and if it were a single image that would be true.
However it was shot from 180ft and is several hundred images combined.

So yes, although lots of people ARE breaking the 400ft mark, not all are. You can be sure, especially from top-down images.

The image is actually a 562 megapixel with roughly 2cm/pixel gsd resolution and part of a mapping project.

( Nangthong main road ) full size.

Great point! I'm a big fan of orthomosaics, make them all the time! Biggest one I've made was 3000 acres, took a long long time to snap the photos!

nencmeister · May 18, 2020

jonatious said:
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

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jonatious to answer your question, absolutely I have maxed it out at 1600+ ft one time only, to see how far it can go. I was in the middle of the woods yesterday, just me and my MA2. However I usually do not fly over 400 ft.

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I wish we were in person to see half of you guys tell me to my face that you have not flown over 400ft.

You all get a reward for being outstanding citizens when no one is looking, but a delusion and a white lie are different things.

Gealousy · May 18, 2020

nencmeister said:
-------------

jonatious to answer your question, absolutely I have maxed it out at 1600+ ft one time only, to see how far it can go. I was in the middle of the woods yesterday, just me and my MA2. However I usually do not fly over 400 ft.

-------------

I wish we were in person to see half of you guys tell me to my face that you have not flown over 400ft.

You all get a reward for being outstanding citizens when no one is looking, but a delusion and a white lie are different things.

I haven’t. I’d tell you that to your face because it’s true. Thanks. What’s my reward? lol

jonatious · May 18, 2020

gnirtS said:
Example below.View attachment 101650

It clearly *looks* like it was shot from way higher than 400ft and if it were a single image that would be true.
However it was shot from 180ft and is several hundred images combined.

So yes, although lots of people ARE breaking the 400ft mark, not all are. You can be sure, especially from top-down images.

The image is actually a 562 megapixel with roughly 2cm/pixel gsd resolution and part of a mapping project.

( Nangthong main road ) full size.

Wow. Is there a tool to do those stitchings?
Does it do it automatically or someone manually stitches 100 photos?
Is there any trick of how the photos should be taken?

gnirtS · May 18, 2020

Most software will stitch panos. Lightroom, Photoshop etc.
If you want ortho-rectified images then DroneDeploy, Metashape,Pix4d and plenty of others will do it.

jonatious · May 18, 2020

gnirtS said:
Most software will stitch panos. Lightroom, Photoshop etc.
If you want ortho-rectified images then DroneDeploy, Metashape,Pix4d and plenty of others will do it.

I am just a hobby drone pilot and I cannot afford any subscription, just for some good pictures once in a while.
Firstly, not sure if there are any apps for taking photos automatically to get the images.
Lastly, can all those images be fed to regular photoshop apps to stitch them together?

gnirtS · May 18, 2020

If you just want a pretty picture (but not an accurate projection, measurements etc) then lightroom will do just fine for stitching (or photoshop).

If you want a few photos, manual is easy enough. If you want a lot use something like Pix4d/Dronedeploy to automate the picture taking process. Those are free.