I tried to use my Mini to take a picture of a roof for insurance purposes but it would not launch because I'm at the edge of an airport zone. 1 block away it's ok. The trees all around the whole neighborhood are 150' and all i want to do is fly over the roof which is less than 20' high so the max elevation i would fly would be 40'. It's obvious there would be no danger to any aircraft since they would hit the trees long before my drone. Is there a way to bypass the locked out zone?
I tried to use my Mini to take a picture of a roof for insurance purposes but it would not launch because I'm at the edge of an airport zone. 1 block away it's ok. The trees all around the whole neighborhood are 150' and all i want to do is fly over the roof which is less than 20' high so the max elevation i would fly would be 40'. It's obvious there would be no danger to any aircraft since they would hit the trees long before my drone. Is there a way to bypass the locked out zone?
Your're assuming the drone is in control.
If something goes wrong or flies away it can easily climb into a danger area or head towards the airport. Rules are there for contingency flight planning more than deliberate.
But yes, assuming you have full permission from the airport/FAA and the proper licences you can get DJI to unlock it.
I tried to use my Mini to take a picture of a roof for insurance purposes but it would not launch because I'm at the edge of an airport zone. 1 block away it's ok. The trees all around the whole neighborhood are 150' and all i want to do is fly over the roof which is less than 20' high so the max elevation i would fly would be 40'. It's obvious there would be no danger to any aircraft since they would hit the trees long before my drone. Is there a way to bypass the locked out zone?
DJI unlock is completely separate from FAA authorization. Before unlocking any DJI zone you must make sure that you are authorized to fly there by FAA regulations. If it is indeed controlled airspace (most likely it is if the DJI app restricts you, but not always) then you must obtain proper authorization first. Without that, then do not fly.
It does not matter if there are tall trees above your flight altitude. It does not matter if there is "no chance" of planes flying there. It does not matter if you believe you are flying safely. The regulations are clear and apply at any altitude as soon as you leave the ground.
As @gnirtS stated above, there's more involved than your perception of being safe.
I agree with the original poster... the logic is beyond me..... most of these drones you can limit the distance above ground you can fly.... by just putting that in the drone's flight plan / controller you should be able to fly just about anywhere except on the runway of an airport.... but I guess the lawyers forcing the software folks to put all those check offs in are smarter than me.... as for the comment that the drone can take off and fly off on its own ... well, if you take that view the answer is no one should be flying them ever......
I agree with the original poster... the logic is beyond me..... most of these drones you can limit the distance above ground you can fly.... by just putting that in the drone's flight plan / controller you should be able to fly just about anywhere except on the runway of an airport....
Except when they go wrong. Like a bug stuck across a sensor, an obstacle avoidance error or anything else this forum is full of happening with peoples drones.
but I guess the lawyers forcing the software folks to put all those check offs in are smarter than me.... as for the comment that the drone can take off and fly off on its own ... well, if you take that view the answer is no one should be flying them ever......
You don't understand the rules or they exist. They exist in a way that even if something goes wrong and control is lost the risks of anything serious happening are sufficiently low. Which is why you cant fly above crowds, built up areas and so on.
Safety rules exist mainly for when things go wrong, not when they go right.
But by your logic a bug could get stuck on that sensor and then the drone could just take off and fly a mile or more over to that airport or over the crown and do just as much damage......
we have created a world where everyone wants to be safe and no one can ever get hurt and we need big brother to make sure of it.... for some reason the voices in my head tell me that this is not liberty or freedom or even the abstract and outdated idea of taking responsibility for one's actions...
...but far more likely to damage near by. You reduce risk. You cant eliminate but reduce.
Thats why you dont fly 50ft from the runway centreline and assume everything will work.
Drones do climb out of control, they fly away, in the minis case they blow away REALLY easily. So you keep them far enough away from everything that if/when that happens they cause minimal damage and minimal risk.
These responses are much appreciate but so theoretical, in reality this property is a block away from being Out of the no fly zone and if my mini were to blow anywhere it would go straight into a tree because its in a forest area. It would literally have to climb almost 200' and then wander off several miles to get close to the airport and that's if it happened to wander in that direction. Also note this is not a public or busy airport, not that it matters much but it's hardly used.
Bottom line is if I could disable the No Fly I would, I would fly it over this roof and take the picture and be done with it regardless of what the rules are but since I haven't figured out how to do that I guess I won't.
Just curious - what is the altitude restriction for the area you wish to fly ? Are you Part 107 certified and tried to get a flight authorization? When I applied for my flight authorization it was easy and I received it within a day.
Sorry for my ignorance. The ground level altitude is 6200', I'm in Lake Tahoe and the airport is tiny and not used commercially. It's not an altitude restriction, it's a geographic restriction. I believe drones are allowed to fly up to 400', I walked 1 block away and I could fly up 400' but when I tried to get closer it would stop and would not allow me to get any closer to the property site. My goal was to fly over the house to take a picture of the roof for an insurance quote. I'm not 107 certified just a dummy mini pilot... Private planes do occasionally fly into this airport, the flight path is about a mile away with the airport about 7 miles away. At this part of the flight path the airplanes are still very high, probably 1,000 feet or higher and get closer to the ground as they get closer to the landing strip. There literally would be no danger in what I want to get done. I do understand why the rules are there and I think they should be but sometimes common sense doesn't play a role in rules so if I could defeat the control I would but it's not the end of the world if I don't. I can get a tall painters pole and take a picture with my cell phone or get a ladder and climb up there, just looking for the easy way out...
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Private planes do occasionally fly into this airport, the flight path is about a mile away with the airport about 7 miles away. At this part of the flight path the airplanes are still very high, probably 1,000 feet or higher and get closer to the ground as they get closer to the landing strip. There literally would be no danger in what I want to get done. I do understand why the rules are there and I think they should be but sometimes common sense doesn't play a role in rules so if I could defeat the control I would but it's not the end of the world if I don't. I can get a tall painters pole and take a picture with my cell phone or get a ladder and climb up there, just looking for the easy way out...
