Do you fly within VLOS?

[Rangerider]

... The problem is people flying BVLOS creating a hazard to people and property but especially manned aircraft.

I think that drones are at least as visible to manned/womaned aircraft as birds are and a lot more predictable in terms of flight path! Ask me how I know.

 

[Rangerider]

VLOS adherence limits the search area, so they can quickly locate the pilot and interrogate them!

I will not be interrogated without my lawyer present!

 

[dronerdave]

I use FPV. It is much safer with the bird's eye view if you ask me. I'm almost legally blind and can't hear either so FPV is for me! It's those pesky bird attacks from the side that get me every time.

Hopefully it won't be a pesky airplane coming at you from the side or from behind that gets you!

I think that drones are at least as visible to manned/womaned aircraft as birds are and a lot more predictable in terms of flight path! Ask me how I know.

Fact is the FAA doesn't agree with you. You are entitled do as you please but if a mishap occurs, I'd think you will be responsible for your actions of not adhering to the FAA rules. But at the same time I do believe some of the rules could be tweaked more in our favor. FPV park flying is an example. They generally stay low at or lower than tree level.

 

[Thomas B]

Hopefully it won't be a pesky airplane coming at you from the side or from behind that gets you!

Fact is the FAA doesn't agree with you. You are entitled do as you please but if a mishap occurs, I'd think you will be responsible for your actions of not adhering to the FAA rules. But at the same time I do believe some of the rules could be tweaked more in our favor. FPV park flying is an example. They generally stay low at or lower than tree level.

Stay lower than tree level?

 

[dronerdave]

Stay lower than tree level?

Yeah that was probably off topic. Maybe I should say some do during competition events. Seems like everything is lumped into one mold. I wouldn't have an issue with certain controlled events having unregistered operators being able to fly. Same with fixed wing... if it's a sanction event that follows AMA rules. I still don't know how many of these slope fliers or glider folks deal with the 400' rule. They generally keep w/i VLOS but fly well above 400' or at least in the past they did.

 

[passedpawn]

I only fly within VLOS when I can actually see the drone

 

[Tractorguy]

I consider that to be far-fetched since if that happened your aircraft would be in the forward sector of the other aircraft so he would be able to see yours

An aircraft climbs with a nose up pitch attitude which makes it impossible for the pilot to see over the nose creating a blind area straight in front of them and therefore the ability to see other aircraft in their forward sector. Mid air collisions happen to vigilant pilots like this all the time. Not far fetched at all. It also happens when a faster aircraft descends on top of a slower aircraft because of the same blind spot caused by the aircraft nose. This is not to mention that many threats come at you from the side and not head on. FPV is pretty cool stuff but it has it's limitations too.

 

[Kilrah]

But in both of those cases the pilot of the other aircraft would be unlikely to see the incoming one either unless he was facing it +/- some angle, making it not much different to the FPV case.

I didn't say that VFR collision scenarios don't happen, only that those that might happen in FPV would likely also happen with manned aircaft, and what is far-fetched is one that is specifically due to FPV.

 

[Tractorguy]

But in both of those cases the pilot of the other aircraft would be unlikely to see the incoming one either unless he was facing it +/- some angle, making it not much different to the FPV case.

I didn't say that VFR collision scenarios don't happen, only that those that might happen in FPV would likely also happen with manned aircaft, and what is far-fetched is one that is specifically due to FPV.

The FOV of FPV is much inferior to that of a human in the cockpit.

 

[Kilrah]

With a Mavic yes, but when flying fixed wing we use 120° lenses or more.
Still the probability is very low, especially when deconflicting by altitude which if you follow the guidelines you're already doing.

 

[Rojillio Santoro]

This exact question was asked a few months ago.

I wasn't around then. VLOS is 100ft or so with a spark and my eyes, probably a little more with a Mavic. Pretty boring

 

[wdbryant]

I come from the world of flying r/c airplanes,you don't dare lose sight of your aircraft or bad things happen quickly. I have that so firmly ingrained my psyche that I can hardly look down long enough to change from video to stills.....lol

 

[Rangerider]

With a Mavic yes, but when flying fixed wing we use 120° lenses or more.
Still the probability is very low, especially when deconflicting by altitude which if you follow the guidelines you're already doing.

Do those lenses fit on your sun glasses?

 

[Skyskipper]

As a aviation pilot and a commercial drone pilot it seems to me that the the FAA has drones categorized in something along the lines of VFR (visual) rated aircraft following some VFR rules. For a aviation pilot to fly IFR (instrument) rated the pilot must be IFR rated, IFR current, use IFR instruments, the instruments inspection must be IFR current, back up instruments, and back up flight systems, use transponders, be in communication with ATC, provided with assigned altitude and monitored by flight Center. And stay on a precise pre-approved flight plan. Visual or VFR regulation means you are looking from your planes advantage point with your own eyes not using monitors or instruments like IFR rated pilots do.

 

[Skyskipper]

As a aviation pilot and a commercial drone pilot it seems to me that the the FAA has drones categorized in something along the lines of VFR (visual) rated aircraft following some VFR rules. For a aviation pilot to fly IFR (instrument) rated the pilot must be IFR rated, IFR current, use IFR instruments, the instruments inspection must be IFR current, back up instruments, and back up flight systems, use transponders, be in communication with ATC, provided with assigned altitude and monitored by flight Center. And stay on a precise pre-approved flight plan. Visual or VFR regulation means you are looking from your planes advantage point with your own eyes not using monitors or instruments like IFR rated pilots do.

The point I’m trying to make is that flying out side of VLOS (as easy as it is) feels to me like flying IFR with a monitor that is not certified etc.

 

[Tractorguy]

I think that drones are at least as visible to manned/womaned aircraft as birds are and a lot more predictable in terms of flight path! Ask me how I know.

Just because it might be as visible as a bird doesn’t mean an airplane will have ample time to avoid it. A plane traveling at 150 mph/220 feet per second will have less than 3 seconds to react IF the bird/drone is spotted at 200 yards. It’s been my experience that you usually see the bird or birds a split second before they hit the windscreen. An Alaska Airlines 737 taking off from Juneau hit a salmon dropped by an eagle and which earned its nickname of Salmon Thirty Salmon. What are the odds?

Throwback Thursday: Windshield sushi - Alaska Airlines jet really did hit a fish in midair - Alaska Airlines News

The airplane that hit a fish is one of the most legendary stories in Alaska Airlines lore. Like all great fish tales, the size of the fish grows with every telling, but the story that made headlines around the world in 1987 is completely true. (Although it probably didn’t help that newspapers...

blog.alaskaair.com

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yeah that was probably off topic. Maybe I should say some do during competition events. Seems like everything is lumped into one mold. I wouldn't have an issue with certain controlled events having unregistered operators being able to fly. Same with fixed wing... if it's a sanction event that follows AMA rules. I still don't know how many of these slope fliers or glider folks deal with the 400' rule. They generally keep w/i VLOS but fly well above 400' or at least in the past they did.

The 400' rule has nothing to do with your launch point, unlike the elevation displayed in GO 4, which is only relative to your launch point. The 400' rule is always AGL, above ground level. If you are climbing a mountain from the base, you can fly up along the slope at up to 400' above the ground level, and still legally be 1640 feet above your launch point, as displayed in GO 4. Without parameter mods, DJI still won't let you fly more than 500m above your launch point, but that is not an FAA limitation.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I come from the world of flying r/c airplanes,you don't dare lose sight of your aircraft or bad things happen quickly. I have that so firmly ingrained my psyche that I can hardly look down long enough to change from video to stills.....lol

You know you don't have to swap to camera on the viewing device to take a photo, even while a video is recording ?
All you do is click the camera photo button on the RH side of the controller, video is stopped and it takes a pic.

I actually only just realised this myself a couple of weeks ago, when I accidentally did this while videoing !!

I'm not 100% sure, but I expect if you then clicked the video button on the LH side of the controller, it would resume video again (new clip).

 

[dronerdave]

With a Mavic yes, but when flying fixed wing we use 120° lenses or more.
Still the probability is very low, especially when deconflicting by altitude which if you follow the guidelines you're already doing.

A lot of fixed wing folks I fly with say "you couldn't hit another RC plane if you tried to". It is rare to run into another flier. We usually fly up to 6 planes at one time in a pattern direction determined at the field. So far this year no mid air collisions. But in the past year I've had to land a few times due to incoming (full sized) aircraft well below 400'. Not that I was anywhere close to being in line for a hit, just made way

The 400' rule has nothing to do with your launch point, unlike the elevation displayed in GO 4, which is only relative to your launch point. The 400' rule is always AGL, above ground level. If you are climbing a mountain from the base, you can fly up along the slope at up to 400' above the ground level, and still legally be 1640 feet above your launch point, as displayed in GO 4. Without parameter mods, DJI still won't let you fly more than 500m above your launch point, but that is not an FAA limitation.

@ GadgetGuy Were you trying to quote what I said about RC glider pilots? Many of the glider guys in the past often flew at 1000-2000' AGL on flat terrain. From what I've been told by those guys is it was common.

 

[sdold]

I wouldn't assume a pilot will see your drone, especially if it's below the horizon. Like birds, they're visible once you see them, but they don't easily catch your attention and you should just assume they won't be noticed by a pilot.