Fess up- Have you broken the VLOS rule? (poll)

[vindibona1]

I'm just curious and wanted to take a poll.
Let's be honest and those of us who have ever broken the VLOS rule fess up and say so in this poll. I maintain that there are probably only a few of us who hold the power of DJI drones in their hands who didn't fly losing sight of their drone, whether we were near trees where the drone didn't have to go very far to be out of VLOS, or you wanted to see how far you could send it. I know from personal experience that the farthest I could see it during the day, with strobes was 1600' (500M) and it is very difficult, especially in heavily wooded areas to maintain VLOS.

I'm not suggesting that you write it here in the text to become evidence that you've broken the rule, but the attached poll will remain anonymous for obvious reasons. If you've only flown once BVLOS you get a Mulligan for an unintentional act.

Secondly, asking for opinions, not confessions, I'd like to know if you consider breaking the VLOS rule (while maintaining legal altitude and distancing rules) any more of a violation than driving your car 65mph in a 55mph zone on the highway? [BTW- Here if you're not doing 70mph or better on the highway you'll get run over]. In your opinion are there shades of gray where there might be circumstance where breaking VLOS is a minor infraction to where it becomes a major no-no?

 

[bumper]

This is silly, you are asking people to admit to breaking the law. You should have asked: If you have never flown beyond VLOS please so indicate.

I have never flown byond VLOS. However, I have unintentionally lost sight of my drone. On an earlier Phantom 1 (no camera) RTH was the only thing that saved it a couple of times.

 

[vindibona1]

This is silly, you are asking people to admit to breaking the law. You should have asked: If you have never flown beyond VLOS please so indicate.

I have never flown byond VLOS. However, I have unintentionally lost sight of my drone. On an earlier Phantom 1 (no camera) RTH was the only thing that saved it a couple of times.

You've proven that this is not silly. If you unintentionally lost sight of your drone you were BVLOS. It happens. I too have unintentionally lost sight of my drone and was aware each time that I needed to to bring it back. I always fly with strobes to be able to mainting visual position. If you read the text that describes the poll it does not ask for a stated confession, but essentially asks "hey- have your ever done it...or done it a lot?".

Also, in actuality (not legally) is the violation the same if you're flying over the desert with nothing or no one around for miles as opposed to flying farther than you can see where there are people or cars (even though not flying directly over them)?

 

[DoomMeister]

Losing sight of the aircraft for a few seconds is not breaking the VLOS rule. A dark aircraft against vegetation can cause you to lose sight temporarily (strobes help immensely in these conditions). A light colored aircraft against clouds can be difficult to regain sight of. The glare of the sun can cause loss of acquisition also.

The VLOS rule is intended to keep the pilot aware of not just where the aircraft is, but to be able to know what is happening in the vicinity of the aircraft. Staring at a video feed may tell you where your aircraft is, but if it is blocked from your view by obstacles or so far away that you cannot determine its attitude with a few stick movements. It is BVLOS (maybe it should be changed to Out Of Visual Line Of Sight - OOVLOS). If it is BVLOS, you cannot know what is going on other than where the camera is pointed.

Your roads sound like US23 south of Flint during the mad dash to work in the morning. If you aren’t doing 80 you better be on the shoulder.

 

[Terencejames1975]

I've gone about 1800 metres away a couple of times before I really knew the regs. It was over farmland though and no one was about.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The idea is if you fly beyond VLOS you bring it back, How would you not fly beyond VLOS to know you did in the first place, Guidelines are common sense.

Once you know your own Eyes limits , than you dial it down but every flyer is going test his or her limits in the sky and in order to do that you fly past.

With the Rescue Jacket on the Drone we get 3000 ft
Without the Rescue jacket we get 1800 ft but someone with younger eyes may do better ,
Others will add lights to there drone and again , you have to test the flight to see your own limits.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on water.

 

[Mavikhan]

I need a fourth option:
o Yes. I fly beyond VLOS every time I go up since there is no one around for miles, and even if there were, I would probably do it anyway because I am a cranky old man.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Never beyond but have briefly lost track after looking at the monitor

 

[dirkclod]

Easy there ?

because I am a cranky old man.

I resemble that.?‍

 

[old man mavic]

well this ,(have been called a cranky old man by the missus ) so called cranky old man ,has on a few occasions lost sight of my drone ,after as others have said, glancing at the screen ,and then trying to regain sight of my drone and to that end i have now got lights on the front arms, and the rear of my MPP, which increase my ability to see it at distance for my old eyes thats around the thousand foot mark ,and that is plenty for me, i have in very overcast dull conditions ,in open countryside, gone out to the 16046 ft ,or 500m max mark and can still see the lights clearly ,but not in bright sunlight

 

[Deleted member 133794]

Same as other comments really, have sometimes lost sight briefly when i look
at the screen but soon regain it again. To be honest i'm to worried about losing
the dam thing so if i can see it ......all is good. I've just covered it in a black carbon
skin so i may have made things more difficult for myself, looks good though.

 

[A.O.]

Yes I'll admit I do fly BVLOS here and there, but I rarely drive 55 either!!

Let me explain... I live on 100 acres mostly woods and my drone has yet to leave the property. For instance, the last couple days I've been working on flying through the woods instead of over them. My drone is probably within 100 yards of me the whole time but seeing through sometimes dense woods is impossible, I can hear it , get glimpses of it, know where it is and watch it go in then come out of the woods.
I lose it here and there flying over the woods also but I know exactly where it is at all times. And I'm in the middle of nowhere the only planes flying over are normally 30k high.

 

[vindibona1]

The idea is if you fly beyond VLOS you bring it back, How would you not fly beyond VLOS to know you did in the first place, Guidelines are common sense.

Once you know your own Eyes limits , than you dial it down but every flyer is going test his or her limits in the sky and in order to do that you fly past.

With the Rescue Jacket on the Drone we get 3000 ft
Without the Rescue jacket we get 1800 ft but someone with younger eyes may do better ,
Others will add lights to there drone and again , you have to test the flight to see your own limits.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on water.

Good response. 3000 ft with rescue jacket? Impressive. You must have really good eye sight. I get about 1600' or so with strobes on the average day. My eyesight is 20/20 with glasses to correct astignatism (about the only thing left on my body working right :0 ). I haven't yet tested without strobes but I suppose I should do that sooner or later. As I've posted in other threads, at night I've gone 10,000 ft and could still barely see it. I have to wonder what the difference without strobes would be on a sunny day vs a cloudy day. I also have to wonder how much further I can see my M2 vs my MM2. With strobes it probably doesn't make any difference.

Question: How much battery life does the rescue jacket decrease from wind drag?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Good response. 3000 ft with rescue jacket? Impressive. You must have really good eye sight. I get about 1600' or so with strobes on the average day. My eyesight is 20/20 with glasses to correct astignatism (about the only thing left on my body working right :0 ). I haven't yet tested without strobes but I suppose I should do that sooner or later. As I've posted in other threads, at night I've gone 10,000 ft and could still barely see it. I have to wonder what the difference without strobes would be on a sunny day vs a cloudy day. I also have to wonder how much further I can see my M2 vs my MM2. With strobes it probably doesn't make any difference.

Question: How much battery life does the rescue jacket decrease from wind drag?

You would think with those Bright lights that even in the sun light you would have further distance than the Rescue Jacket but its simply not the case: We found the rescue jackets offered a bigger target and was much easier to see than the lights at 3000 ft in a bright sky. Its interesting to note my eyes are bad thus why I appreciate the Rescue Jackets when flying further out to the lake.

One of the members posted this video:
Whats really nice is how smooth the video is for flying with a Rescue Jacket:: Were amazed everyday.

 

[A.O.]

I just added an ARC V to mine and it doesn't help much if at all on a bright day.

Oh, and Phantom man, you need to add Orange to your line up... just a thought. I kinda like orange..

 

[vindibona1]

You would think with those Bright lights that even in the sun light you would have further distance than the Rescue Jacket but its simply not the case: We found the rescue jackets offered a bigger target and was much easier to see than the lights at 3000 ft in a bright sky. Its interesting to note my eyes are bad thus why I appreciate the Rescue Jackets when flying further out to the lake.

It has to be the contrast that make it more visible. While strobes do present more contast during the day, they are small and have to overcome the amount of lightness in the sky that it competes with. OTOH, the dark jacket provides more contrast as well as a bigger target. One day I'll have some extra cash flow to buy one of those and a rain suit. Right now business is totally shut down and 95% down since last March. Sucks the big one. At least I can get outside and practice flying my drone, though there is very little here at this time worth filming.

 

[RobertR]

No way am I letting the best part of £1000 out of my sight

 

[Stealth01]

Not intentionally... I’m new to drones and there is a built in apprehension to sending it out BVLOS! Having said that I’ve found adding strobes helps in extending the “visual range”. Currently running ARC IIs, one on the front and one on the back. Perfect? Hell no but certainly better than without strobes. With the improved mapping feature in 1.2.2 and as confidence grows I will probably feel more comfortable sending her out further but It certainly isn’t going to be measured in “miles of separation”!

 

[dronerdave]

IIRC prior to 2018, rec flying rules about VLOS were only an FAA suggestion where they asked us to fly under CBO rules (such as the AMA). It was IMO a gray area. Same with AGL. If we are discussing after the rule change, then no, I stay w/i VLOS. BVLOS to me means flying where there is no way for the operator to visually see their aircraft preventing the ability to see and avoidand manned aircraft. So I don't consider looking down at your screen to view flight stats from time to time violates the rule provided you can look up and reacquire sight of your aircraft within a reasonable time. But if the operator intends to put their RC aircraft where is is visually blocked by something that creates a hazard to any aircraft using the NAS, that is probably considered BVLOS.

 

[DoomMeister]

So I don't consider looking down at your screen to view flight stats from time to time violates the rule provided you can look up and reacquire sight of your aircraft within a reasonable time.

I agree 100%. All “pilots” scan as part of being aware of the surrounding airspace, and the instrumentation of the aircraft so they know the status of the aircraft. If all you do is watch your drone or only stare at the video feed, you are not piloting your drone. You need to be aware of the whole picture.