DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

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

Have you broken the VLOS rule (more than once)?

  • Yes. I've gone beyond VLOS a very few times.

    Votes: 92 31.9%
  • Yes. I often fly beyond VLOS, but pay attention to the other rules.

    Votes: 129 44.8%
  • No. I never fly/have flown beyond where I can maintain visual contact with my drone.

    Votes: 67 23.3%

  • Total voters
    288
Status
Not open for further replies.
Some might not like my answer and it might be incorrect. The FAA (IMO) allows you to check your telemetry from time to time to aid in flying. But you are required to be able to monitor & re-acquire visual sight of your RC aircraft within a reasonable time in order to be able to see and avoid manned aircraft or cause any other damage. No I'm not sure it's actually the written rec law but has been that way for years in the fixed wing community. The laws are somewhat vague and I don't know why some try to nitpick it to death in the venture to claim flying BVLOS is no big deal. You are simply responsible for your actions. I'm guessing 107 rules are more strict because of the type of work involved to perform a job which may require use a spotter if necessary. The speeding rule is a poor comparison IMO. Here is another one...you blink your eyes don't you, so how can you maintain full VLOS? I doubt either scenario will work well in court if an incident occurs.
I realize that alot of this is semantics, but the law says "...must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight...". It does not say that the pilot must be looking at the aircraft throughout the entire flight. Blinking, scanning for other aircraft, etc. doesn't violate the rule.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vindibona1
I realize that alot of this is semantics, but the law says "...must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight...". It does not say that the pilot must be looking at the aircraft throughout the entire flight. Blinking, scanning for other aircraft, etc. doesn't violate the rule.
I agree. I can see my drone quickly after scanning the skies and looking at my telemetry.
 
I realize that alot of this is semantics, but the law says "...must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight...". It does not say that the pilot must be looking at the aircraft throughout the entire flight. Blinking, scanning for other aircraft, etc. doesn't violate the rule.
If you wanted to take this to the nth degree, one could say, while wearing FPV goggles, that while for most of the flight he was not seeing his drone, the ability to remove the goggles at any time where the drone was visible would suffice to satisfy the VLOS, no? But would the FAA see it that way? Or, would the pilot require a spotter even though he could periodically check the visual position?
 
Per FAA, "Keep your drone within your visual line of sight, or within the visual line-of-sight of a visual observer who is co-located (physically next to) and in direct communication with you."

It's kind of vague. My guess is in the future the FAA will modify the rule to be a little more specific. For now I look it as driving a vehicle. You must watch the road but are also allowed to glance at your gauges from time to time while operating the vehicle. But you are still responsible for your actions. Whether within or beyond VLOS, if something goes wrong I'd prefer to look like I'm in basic compliance rather than looking negligent. To me it's just common sense.
 
If you wanted to take this to the nth degree, one could say, while wearing FPV goggles, that while for most of the flight he was not seeing his drone, the ability to remove the goggles at any time where the drone was visible would suffice to satisfy the VLOS, no? But would the FAA see it that way? Or, would the pilot require a spotter even though he could periodically check the visual position?
Wear goggles... you must have a spotter, .... and FAA specified to be close enough to you for unaided voice communication.
 
  • Like
Reactions: vindibona1
i am going to lock this thread for now as there does not seem anything constructive to add to the OPs question i am sure that if i am wrong then the powers that be will reverse my decision
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,589
Messages
1,554,143
Members
159,592
Latest member
MaxRichu