Interesting survey question from DJI related to recent changes to FAA rules

[ckoerner]

I recently bought my first drone, a Mini 2. A few days ago I received a notification from the DJI Fly app asking to take a survey. This was one of the questions. Seems rather relevant to recent discussions and thought I’d share.

“If DJI offered an accessory package for Mini 2 that enabled legal flight over people and moving vehicles(if your drone is registered under part 107) , but the flight time would be reduced to 12 minutes per battery, how likely would you be to buy the accessory package?”

 

[Phantomrain.org]

So you need to start the Poll but I would imagine that 12 minutes is enough for most focused flights like that.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mini 2 in the Rain and Land on Water.

 

[anotherlab]

What would be the point in cutting the flying time down by 50%? Is it making it any safer by cutting down the time before you have to land? If the goal is to limit the flying time over people, all you would have to do is to swap batteries or launch a second drone.

I agree with Phantomrain.org, that you only probably need a few minutes of footage, but this isn't the way to do it.

 

[WooZie]

Maybe they want to sell us a parachute and the time will decrease because of the weight, who knows what they have in their mind

 

[Mavic 57]

What would be the point in cutting the flying time down by 50%? Is it making it any safer by cutting down the time before you have to land? If the goal is to limit the flying time over people, all you would have to do is to swap batteries or launch a second drone.

I agree with Phantomrain.org, that you only probably need a few minutes of footage, but this isn't the way to do it.

I think it's about reducing the weight to make it safer, battery weight reduction would result in less Watts to fly.

 

[Altanore]

Sounds like they plan to make lighter batteries. I would if I was planning to film over people/moving vehicles. Then use the regular batteries for everything else.

 

[DJayI]

For me, it would depend on knowing what those accessories are.

Maybe it is a large padded full cage that won't hurt if you crash in to someone's head, but who's extra weight slices in to flying time.?

 

[anotherlab]

I think it's about reducing the weight to make it safer, battery weight reduction would result in less Watts to fly.

Dropping the battery size for a Mini 2 to enable to cut the flying time in fly would save maybe 50 g. That;s roughly the weight of 2 AA batteries. I still don't see what the benefit would be.

 

[MMPerrish]

I’d imagine it would be some sort of protected cage around the rotors. Isn’t that near the same effect of the Mini’s Fly More cages on flight time?

 

[SethB]

This is likely related to FAA announcements about the hardware requirements for upcoming availability of flights over people. One of the reqqs is that the propellers not be able to lacerate the skin. That’s a lot of cage on a small drone, I’d think the 12 minutes battery time relates to keeping the drone in the air with the added weight of the prop cage(s).

The other area of requirements has to do with the impact (kinetic) energy of a drone (falling out of the sky). There’s some formula that computes kinetic energy based on weight of the drone vs. surface area/wind resistance. I can’t help but wonder if the Mini 2 comes out ahead for flights over people because it’s so light. Heavier drones need expensive parachutes. Could it be that adding a cage is all you will need for legal flying of an M2 over people under the new regs?

 

[tck444]

The bigger question: How can DJI guarantee what the future FAA regs will be? Buy their package and rules change next month?

 

[BigAl07]

The bigger question: How can DJI guarantee what the future FAA regs will be? Buy their package and rules change next month?

Next month? Have you been following any of the regulation changes over the last few years? Nothing changes "next month" with the FAA. They have to go through the same process as any other regulatory creator and it takes a long time to get changes approved and added to the registry.

 

[theDRONEranger]

To me, $ound$ like DJI forward thinking.
1. Lighten the load to reduce injury. (Public Safety) First, you lighten the overall weight of the UAS in flight.
2. Potential $ell$ of flight safety device, ie: parachute. Then you bring the weight back up by marketing/including a new safety feature.

 

[SethB]

I would definitely answer “Yes” to this survey question!

We are getting so close now to flights over people without having to go through the (3 month) waiver process.

Although I’m as interested as anyone in flying/filming natural features and scenic landscapes, safe/legal/inexpensive flying over people will dramatically increase access to tell stories about people. Maybe even in those scenic landscapes.

This is a big deal in filmmaking. Sign me up! Kudos to DJI if they certify an affordable drone for flying over people; many people I know in video/film production will be interested in this capability.

 

[tck444]

Next month? Have you been following any of the regulation changes over the last few years? Nothing changes "next month" with the FAA. They have to go through the same process as any other regulatory creator and it takes a long time to get changes approved and added to the registry.

Some Governor wakes up one morning in a bad mood and decides that you cannot fly a drone today? Takes about 2 minutes! Have you been following that? How can you trust any government "process"?

Latest government "Health Mandate". No screaming on roller coasters. True story, look it up, !

 

[BigAl07]

Some Governor wakes up one morning in a bad mood and decides to lock you in your house? Takes about 2 minutes! Have you been following that? How can you trust any government "process"?

Latest government "Health Mandate". No screaming on roller coasters. True story look it up, !

You're mixing oranges and buttermilk here. I've been deeply involved with the FAA and they do nothing quickly unless there is an incident and then it might be quick.

Leave the rest of your Govt trash talk for some other forum not Drone Pilots forums. Stay on topic or just skip the thread entirely.

 

[tck444]

You're mixing oranges and buttermilk here. I've been deeply involved with the FAA and they do nothing quickly unless there is an incident and then it might be quick.

Leave the rest of your Govt trash talk for some other forum not Drone Pilots forums. Stay on topic or just skip the thread entirely.

I think the larger point is that a DJI package cannot "enable legal flight" in any given situation, as was implied by the question. FAA has nothing to do with it. Try flying a drone from inside your house?

 

[ckoerner]

I think it's about reducing the weight to make it safer, battery weight reduction would result in less Watts to fly.

Yeah, my take on this question was that the accessory would add weight (maybe wind resistance) and take some of the existing batter juice to power, therefore a shorter flight time.

 

[ckoerner]

I think the larger point is that a DJI package cannot "enable legal flight" in any given locality, as was implied by the question. FAA has nothing to do with it. Try flying a drone from inside your house?

I don't understand what you are saying here. Could you clarify what you mean?

 

[anotherlab]

To me, $ound$ like DJI forward thinking.
1. Lighten the load to reduce injury. (Public Safety) First, you lighten the overall weight of the UAS in flight.
2. Potential $ell$ of flight safety device, ie: parachute. Then you bring the weight back up by marketing/including a new safety feature.

If you want to reduce the risk of injury, wouldn't it make more sense to require prop guards when flying over people? The risk of injury is more likely coming from the props rotating at 5000 RPM, not from the relative mass of the drone.