First flight with Mavic 3 Pro but how to get LAANC approval?

New England Droning · May 10, 2023

Now this shouldn't have been an issue... shouldn't being the keyword but where I chose to fly tonight. It needed LAANC approval... Class D airspace near sunset. required light for 30 min prior to sunset ready and power on and the alert about inside restricted airspace but it would not let me do more than that... And I left my phone at home!!!???

So no launching tonight from here. A few miles from a small airport (class D)
Now I was thinking on the way home
How to achieve LAANC approval?
on my mini 2, it was hooked to my phone so it was easier.
I haven't found anything about a first flightin the manual and setting up a LAANC request on a Mavic 3 P but...
I got home and turned on wifi and Bluetooth. I paired my controller and drone with my phone. I'm purely guessing if I need to do this because I can find no guidance for when the phone is not connected to the controller???

I read through the manual for the M3P last night and there is nothing about getting LAANC approval in class D airspace. Since I left my phone at home this was a moot point. But what is the process?

- I assume that tomorrow afternoon when I try this again, and I hit aloft on my phone and get permission to fly. This is step one.

- Now being dense, how does the approval get to the controller? With the mini2 I got approval in ALoft and in the DJI fly app, I answered a few questions and went flying.
But since the DJI RC remote doesn't have cell capability or apps (just the DJI fly app), is the controller connecting through my cellphone via Bluetooth?

moldorf · May 10, 2023

completely unrelated, but I live in Salem too. Of course, Oregon is a long way from Massachusetts.

New England Droning · May 10, 2023

moldorf said:
completely unrelated, but I live in Salem too. Of course, Oregon is a long way from Massachusetts.

Well our drones won't meet in the skies over Salem anytime soon...

maggior · May 10, 2023

There are 2 things you need to do...first is get LAANC approval. Second you need to unlock the region through DJI. To make matters more confusing, DJI restricted areas are different from LAANC.

This video from Pilot Institute may help.

New England Droning · May 10, 2023

I took my training through them so I'm aware of "how" to get LAANC and I even did a Geo unlock this morning on the DJI fly safe page... I just got the approval for this area in Salem MA. BUT... My question is more specific to the DJI RC controller.
HOW... does the controller get the unlock info... I got a PDF from DJI this morning which is going to send me into the DJI fly app and I'm sure if I have my cell phone I can enter the unlock code that DJI gave me.
**************************************************************************************************
BUT??? What if I'm driving along and I see an image and I want to fly and photograph it. I open ALOFTand it says I'm in Class D airspace. ALFOT gives me LAANC approval but I do not have good cell service (Vermont Northeast Kingdom, this happens a lot) and I'm trying to figure out the RC controller that came with my Mavic 3 Pro (such a beast) and in DJI fly App when my phone was connected to the controller I just did the unlock and get a txt message on the phone from DJI and I was able to fly...
But the DJI rep said to make my phone a wifi hotspot (not everyone can do that) Which leads me to question that exact process...
This seems to be an issue DJI is trying to avoid...
So if anyone has their process for getting LAANC approval working with the DJI RC controller, I would love to hear it... Also what if anything they do in class airspace with no cell service? (or are we just out of luck unless we plan ahead?)

New England Droning · May 10, 2023

I think the basic answer is, there is not quick and easy process if you don't have the cell service and you are in a DJI restricted zone. You are out of luck!
You HAVE to connect to the DJI Flysafe website to unlock the area you are in and that is the answer. It would be so nice if DJI would make this process more clear...

maggior · May 10, 2023

It boils down to that you need to plan ahead, especially if you are flying in a spot with no or poor cell service. Since the controllers with built in screens don't have cell service, you need to tether the controller to your cell phone with your phone set up as a hotspot if you need to be online. This is true of the RC Pro and the original Smart Controller (that's what I have).

It would be nice if there was tight integration between LAANC and DJI approval. It's a complicated problem for DJI since each country has their own process.

New England Droning · May 10, 2023

maggior said:
It boils down to that you need to plan ahead, especially if you are flying in a spot with no or poor cell service. Since the controllers with built in screens don't have cell service, you need to tether the controller to your cell phone with your phone set up as a hotspot if you need to be online. This is true of the RC Pro and the original Smart Controller (that's what I have).

It would be nice if there was tight integration between LAANC and DJI approval. It's a complicated problem for DJI since each country has their own process.

Thanks, that is what I have come to realize as well... I hate planning, I'm spontaneous...

mavic3usa · May 11, 2023

Sounds like you need to keep an Autel drone with you as a backup!

GadgetGuy · May 12, 2023

mavic3usa said:
Sounds like you need to keep an Autel drone with you as a backup!

Or a Mavic 3 without the RID FW update, as RID isn't required until September!

cporter · May 12, 2023

Or get either a sat phone or get a cell phone booster. Keep a high gain antenna in the car with a 40ft collapsible pole

GadgetGuy · May 12, 2023

cporter said:
Or get either a sat phone or get a cell phone booster. Keep a high gain antenna in the car with a 40ft collapsible pole

Sounds like a job for a news crew in their van!

New England Droning · May 12, 2023

GadgetGuy said:
Or a Mavic 3 without the RID FW update, as RID isn't required until September!

I don't know if that is a possibility so that ship has sailed...
And what would RID have to do with this scenario?

New England Droning · May 12, 2023

GadgetGuy said:
Sounds like a job for a news crew in their van! View attachment 163977

More likely, I won't forget my phone at home ever again...

GadgetGuy · May 12, 2023

Salem-Drone said:
I don't know if that is a possibility so that ship has sailed...
And what would RID have to do with this scenario?

From what I have gathered, RID adds a new complication that requires cell service even if all unlocks have been approved.

New England Droning · May 13, 2023

GadgetGuy said:
From what I have gathered, RID adds a new complication that requires cell service even if all unlocks have been approved.

Well I'll be unhappy then, because I can think of several times last fall in Vermont and one place in Western MA that I had no cell service. I think a group could get together and sue the FAA for missed photographic ops. And what if you were in Africa or South America... or better yet... the guy who saved his life by flying his cell phone up to a higher altitude because his car was stuck last winter and he had no cell service.
I guess we'll see what happens...

GadgetGuy · May 13, 2023

Salem-Drone said:
Well I'll be unhappy then, because I can think of several times last fall in Vermont and one place in Western MA that I had no cell service. I think a group could get together and sue the FAA for missed photographic ops. And what if you were in Africa or South America... or better yet... the guy who saved his life by flying his cell phone up to a higher altitude because his car was stuck last winter and he had no cell service.
I guess we'll see what happens...

Upon further investigation, using the RC-N1 controller or flying an Avata requires a cell phone connection for the location of the RC to comply with RID. It appears that both the DJI RC and the RC Pro have the necessary GNSS receivers to transmit the RC location without cell service.

SethB · May 13, 2023

GadgetGuy said:
Upon further investigation, using the RC-N1 controller or flying an Avata requires a cell phone connection for the location of the RC to comply with RID. It appears that both the DJI RC and the RC Pro have the necessary GNSS receivers to transmit the RC location without cell service.

View attachment 164014

For clarification, reading @GadgetGuy posted graphic closely, a phone OR tablet with GNSS location services is needed for connection to the controllers that don’t have GNSS. No need for phone or data or internet connection, just that the combination of controller and mobile device has GNSS location services. At least that’s how I’m reading it!

GadgetGuy, can you please share a link for the screen shot you shared? I need to send that to a few people… Thanks for sharing the find, it’s the most definitive and clear statement about compliance of controllers I’ve seen.

GadgetGuy · May 14, 2023

SethB said:
For clarification, reading @GadgetGuy posted graphic closely, a phone OR tablet with GNSS location services is needed for connection to the controllers that don’t have GNSS. No need for phone or data or internet connection, just that the combination of controller and mobile device has GNSS location services. At least that’s how I’m reading it!

GadgetGuy, can you please share a link for the screen shot you shared? I need to send that to a few people… Thanks for sharing the find, it’s the most definitive and clear statement about compliance of controllers I’ve seen.

Can't find the exact one I found before, but it was a screenshot, too.
See post #44 in this thread
"If you are a user of a DJI remote controller without an integrated GNSS system, such as DJI RC-N1, you need to connect an external device with an integrated GNSS system such as a cell phone or tablet as a location source to it, and must run the DJI flight control app such as DJI Fly in the foreground and always allow the DJI flight control app to obtain its location information."