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

[Hursty]

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?

Difference is 60 65 or 70 mph your always gonna see where YOUR going! but, flying your bird out of your sight,you dont know where its going

 

[A.O.]

Difference is 60 65 or 70 mph your always gonna see where YOUR going! but, flying your bird out of your sight,you dont know where its going

Well looking at the screen is just about the same as looking out the windshield.

 

[vindibona1]

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..

Where are you mounting the strobe? I find it (bottom mounted)helps in all conditions.

 

[jnatt]

I think like a lot of people i have accidentally lost VLOS.. but rarely.. I keep eye on drone because I don't want to loose it.. I have been in 2 places where VLOS is not law and flew a Litchi missions that went out of sight but its not something I would deliberately do here in the UK.. most of my flying is at 100-200m maximum from me and I fly to the rules..

 

[Fizzbang]

VLOS is like a 20mph traffic speed limit the sort you get when a road has been resurfaced. We all should not exceed it ever, but we most probably do as the surface hardens up.
We probably all fly mostly in VLOS plus.

To infinity and beyond.

 

[Rchawks]

30 30 30

 

[A.O.]

Where are you mounting the strobe? I find it (bottom mounted)helps in all conditions.

Mounted on bottom right behind the gimbal

 

[Camino Ken]

My interpretation of the VLOS regulation is it is more about having a view and awareness of the area the drone is flying and much less about keeping your eye on the drone. IMHO, regularly scanning the area, including behind you, is more important and more useful than continuously watching the drone.

 

[MavicMan64]

I've finally built up enough nerves and courage to fly my MA2 BVLOS and now this Poll .

I'm like some people, I never drive the speed limit unless I know there is a potential for a speeding ticket in that area. That being said, I don't go over the speed limit by much either (keeping up with traffic in the fast lane). We've all taken our drone out, look down at the screen and back up. And all of a sudden it's no where to be seen. Know your surroundings and not go to far BVLOS like YouTubers and all will be fine.

 

[MaxE1955!]

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.

Calm down and don’t be so literal. You say you’ve NEVER flown beyond line of sight, then admit to breaking that law by “losing sight of my drone unintentionally”. Having been unintentional doesn’t exempt you from having done exactly what you said you’ve never done! People get their panties in a wad over the dumbest things!
BTW, I unintentionally typed this result!!!! LOL.

 

[vindibona1]

As I think about this subject I realize that in my mind I was thinking in terms of distance and how far you can see. I read a couple of statements proclaiming never flying BVLOS. And I can see how they might say that. But I would have to ask them if they have ever flown around the backside of a building without moving position? I find it difficult to believe, if we're being honest, that we ALL haven't flown BVLOS at least once, even if inadvertantly- though I appreciate not wanting to admit any form of it in public.

 

[vindibona1]

I've finally built up enough nerves and courage to fly my MA2 BVLOS and now this Poll .

I'm like some people, I never drive the speed limit unless I know there is a potential for a speeding ticket in that area. ...

If we want to get off on a tangent, we could discuss how maintaining the "law" (not referring necessarily to VLOS) might be the least(or at least less) sensible thing in a given situation.

 

[Duckhunter50]

I have to say that apart from taking off and landing I fly looking at the camera view of the drone. I'm paying attention to what is being filmed and how it looks. Also for me I can fly it more accurately from the drone point of view. Every crash or near miss has been while I was looking directly at the drone and confused my left with the drones right and went the wrong direction. I understand that more practice can help with this but until that happens I will fly through the screen not looking at the drone itself.
Now while filming I scout out the area and if I fly sideways or circular pick a route to avoid obstacles. I don't typically fly backwards unless I'm very near it (10-50 meters). I also make a couple of practice runs looking at the drone then film it while looking though the screen.

 

[Rich QR]

If we want to get off on a tangent, we could discuss how maintaining the "law" (not referring necessarily to VLOS) might be the least(or at least less) sensible thing in a given situation.

Look up "necessity defense". It's a well-established legal principle that sometimes you may have to break a minor law in order to prevent a major harm, and you shouldn't be punished in such a case. But it has limits, varying somewhat by jurisdiction.

It's ok to swerve out of your lane if a strict adherence to the lane markings would cause you to crash into a child who suddenly darted in front of your car.

 

[Lets Fly]

I sometimes fly BVLOS over the ocean, and most of the time not intensionally on land. From what I understand the FAA has no infraction for BVLOS unless of course an incident occurs, then I assume the pilot could be held accountable.

 

[vindibona1]

I sometimes fly BVLOS over the ocean, and most of the time not intensionally on land. From what I understand the FAA has no infraction for BVLOS unless of course an incident occurs, then I assume the pilot could be held accountable.

Let's do a poll to see how many crashed their drones while looking straight at them? ? Even better, relative to the new IUD...err... RID rules I wonder how many here have had their drones do damage to someone or something other than doing damage to the drones themselves?

Of course if you're piloting a drone or driving a care and you cause damage that's you're fault you are both accountable and liable. That's why many of us carry personal liability insurance and when flying commercially have special commercial insurance as well.

 

[CJG]

Can anyone recommend lights to assist with VLOS; preferably ones that work with both the MM2 and M2P?

 

[JOE CHRONIC]

Has anyone seen my drone?...lol...

 

[MavicProAlbert]

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?

How 'bout driving 59 mph in that hypothetical 55mph zone?

 

[dlmvegas]

Never have let my drone out of my sight. I'm surprised the FAA hasn't gone after those who post videos of how they sent their drones out 2 miles from their location.