How do you feel about launching from parking lots and sidewalks?

[DSRT_VLTR]

ALL my Mini 2 flights (61) have been from half-empty public parking lots. I'm much to lazy to park my vehicle AND search for another location! So far no one has given a ****.

 

[snowghost]

What is the legality on this...

You’re going on a walk and you bring along your drone bag/case along. Maybe you find a nice bench on the sidewalk, so you sit and setup your bird for a launch. Is it cool to do this or can a cop see you and pull over and ask about it. I mean obviously you don’t want to have a cop within line of site if you when you launch out.

Parked in a parking lot of a local park. Can you launch out (say next to your car) from there?

A few years back I went to a local fire station asking if they objected to me taking pics of an old air raid siren on the property. Their response was that if I took off from the sidewalk they couldn't do anything about it. So I launched but used my case to shield any rebar.

 

[baddog]

I keep hearing that but it's no problem from my Chevy Silverado or my buddie's Toyota Tundra. I'm sure there are problems with some cars but not ours.

The one reason I never take off from anything other than the ground is this; So, you are in midflight and you lose connection between the drone and the controller, this drone is now a fly away drone, no control capabilities.

I had this happen to me only one time, with my DJI M2P. I was in the an open meadow with very tall grass but there was a small 5 ft hitop table in this little clearing, with a couple of chairs. I decided to take off from the table, seemed reasonable. When I lost connection and after the drone realized it had lost all connections to the controller. The drone initiated the failsafe RTH.

I was now 50+ yards away from the drone and the drone was way closer to the home point then I was. In the end, 2 legs landed on the table, the other 2 landed on air. The drone toppled to the ground, broke or cracked all the props and damaged/cracked one of the front legs (Attenna).

So I don't do that anymore...

 

[lilewis]

I'm most comfortable using empty business parking lots when the businesses are closed and nobody around, same for church parking lots, city park athletic fields, and school athletic fields when school is out and they're empty. Recently I pulled into a local school parking lot and a police cruiser was sitting there. I told him I planned to fly my drone in the athletic field and he replied: "Go ahead and have fun". I was really surprised because the police station was almost directly across the street. I'm least comforable flying from my back yard because although my immediate neighbors don't care, it's a big neighborhood and I don't know if anyone outside the half dozen neighbors I know well would have issues with it. I fly only 1-2 times year from my back yard when the seasons change and even then all I do is go straight up to 400' take a few photos, including a 360, then come strait down and land.

 

[julius13]

I frequently take off from parking lots. Never from a sidewalk because I’ve never needed to do that. I’ve only been approached a couple of times and both times I was able to diffuse the situation. Parking lots can be fair game to most people as in my opinion who has the authority to prevent you from launching? Security Guard maybe? parking lots are private property…or are they? I think the worst thing that could happen is that you are asked to leave the premise.

I’ve noticed a tremendous difference in peoples attitude about drones over the last 5 years. They don’t seem to be so paranoid now that drones are more prevalent. More curious than anything.

 

[Filthy13]

I decided to set up a landing pad arrangement that left my drone elevated from the metal parts of my Tacoma. Very useful when there isn't a good launch/landing surface or space in a parking area.

This is a great idea. Love the simplicity of it - especially you don't have a cover.

 

[dronerat]

The one reason I never take off from anything other than the ground is this; So, you are in midflight and you lose connection between the drone and the controller, this drone is now a fly away drone, no control capabilities.

I had this happen to me only one time, with my DJI M2P. I was in the an open meadow with very tall grass but there was a small 5 ft hitop table in this little clearing, with a couple of chairs. I decided to take off from the table, seemed reasonable. When I lost connection and after the drone realized it had lost all connections to the controller. The drone initiated the failsafe RTH.

I was now 50+ yards away from the drone and the drone was way closer to the home point then I was. In the end, 2 legs landed on the table, the other 2 landed on air. The drone toppled to the ground, broke or cracked all the props and damaged/cracked one of the front legs (Attenna).

So I don't do that anymore...

Yikes was there concrete under the table? Or did it fall on grass? Sounds like it really took a beating. I dropped mine from arm level into the sand at a beach and just got some cosmetic scratches and one broken propeller. Have been a little worried about it but it seems to work ok after that mishap

 

[Photo guy]

I usually take off and land where noone is around on sidewalks or parking lots. If someone shows up, I fly to a nearby spot and land there.

 

[GaryFlorida]

Air 2S user here: Hood of my vehicle works perfectly. Never had a problem with having to recalibrate the compass from metal interference. Super convenient to just comfortably sit in car while flying, unobstrusive to others, if they even notice. Also makes monitoring of landing spot easy. And if I have to make the last 100 feet or so of descent manual because of home point "drift" a foot or two, I'm ON it, literally!

 

[Heavydpj]

How do you feel about launching from parking lots and sidewalks?

(Im mostly concerned about this from the legal persepctive, as I’m thinking of launching from a parking lot of a strip mall/plaza, or maybe a sidewalk in a nearby neighborhood)

A strip mall is private property, and they may legally bar you from launching and operating from their property. Look for signs. If you see none, I would assume it's ok, but be prepared for a guard to approach you.

Public sidewalks are public property, so it should be fine. Check your local laws.

 

[baddog]

Yikes was there concrete under the table? Or did it fall on grass? Sounds like it really took a beating. I dropped mine from arm level into the sand at a beach and just got some cosmetic scratches and one broken propeller. Have been a little worried about it but it seems to work ok after that mishap

Hard packed dirt ground, missed the grass by about 2 ft....

 

[NightFlightAlright]

A cop can always ask about it, there's nothing stopping them from doing that (maybe he thinks it's cool and wants to learn more). The cop may or may not know what the local rules are, so it's best if you do.

This ^^^ is the salient accurate useful advice...

 

[NightFlightAlright]

Well-built sidewalks have iron in them.....

So then, no sidewalks in Los Angeles..... LOL

 

[NightFlightAlright]

I've never had any real problem launching from the sunroof area of the vehicle I was in, and in fact I think I've had to do a compass recalibration more times when trying to launch from the ground than from the vehicle.

Come to think of it, I think I've had to do more compass recalibrations when trying to launch from the concrete of a parking structure, and this might make sense to the very substantial rebar that is in said parking structure.

I believe that rebar in concrete that is above ground is probably going to cause greater compass disturbance simply for the fact that it's large bars of iron that have been sitting in the earth's magnetic field that way for years, as opposed to the roof of a vehicle which is a thin contiguous sheet of steel that is never oriented in a particular direction for any significant length of time.

I would think there would actually be a bigger problem from the motors of the sunroof, depending on where they are located.

Simple test is take a basic handheld compass and hold it at different positions on the surface of the roof or hood of the car to see what kind of perturbations there are. I wonder if an old-school tape demagnetizer would be useful in eliminating any magnetization of car body parts...

 

[MickeyMoo]

Once it's in the air. Most folk are unaware that it's even there. I just put in on the car roof, get the satellites and ascend it immediately. That way you are not attracting attention to yourself.

 

[JOHNVOSS]

I've never had any real problem launching from the sunroof area of the vehicle I was in, and in fact I think I've had to do a compass recalibration more times when trying to launch from the ground than from the vehicle.

Come to think of it, I think I've had to do more compass recalibrations when trying to launch from the concrete of a parking structure, and this might make sense to the very substantial rebar that is in said parking structure.

I believe that rebar in concrete that is above ground is probably going to cause greater compass disturbance simply for the fact that it's large bars of iron that have been sitting in the earth's magnetic field that way for years, as opposed to the roof of a vehicle which is a thin contiguous sheet of steel that is never oriented in a particular direction for any significant length of time.

I would think there would actually be a bigger problem from the motors of the sunroof, depending on where they are located.

Simple test is take a basic handheld compass and hold it at different positions on the surface of the roof or hood of the car to see what kind of perturbations there are. I wonder if an old-school tape demagnetizer would be useful in eliminating any magnetization of car body parts...

I find an unobtrusive spot in a parking lot and hand launch Mini 2) out the window (I have long arms) then land right next to the car and get out and grab it quickly. No effect on the drone compass but the phone compass is affected by the metal in the car.
If I fly from a bench i try to find one a little off the beaten path and any encounters I have had have always been pleasant. But then again who's going to hassle a fat 82 year old harmless looking guy.

 

[Jeff A]

I decided to set up a landing pad arrangement that left my drone elevated from the metal parts of my Tacoma. Very useful when there isn't a good launch/landing surface or space in a parking area.

View attachment 157059View attachment 157060

Beautiful installation but my Mavic 2 Pro's compass would not be happy, nor would my Avata be happy. I cannot even sit next to my SUV without problems. Go figure!

 

[AlanL]

Beautiful installation but my Mavic 2 Pro's compass would not be happy, nor would my Avata be happy. I cannot even sit next to my SUV without problems. Go figure!

I think the only reason it works for me lies in the fact that the bed of my Tacoma isn't metal. I typically do hand catches with my Mavic 3 unless the wind is blowing and then I use the pad.

 

[akdrone]

I launched from the hood of my 2007 Chevy Silverado all the time. It’s never been a problem.

 

[NightFlightAlright]

I’ve noticed a tremendous difference in peoples attitude about drones over the last 5 years. They don’t seem to be so paranoid now that drones are more prevalent. More curious than anything.

I know the things a lot of modern drones are extremely quiet… Big drones like the Phantom were/are incredibly noisy. The DJI Mini 3 Pro is whisper quiet... 30 feet away and you can't even hear it, at least not in a noisy urban area like Los Angeles.

Small, quiet, unobtrusive, on the DL makes all the difference in the world.