Mavic Flying In The DC Area

CCRyder · Feb 23, 2017

I Just bought a Mavic. I live in Rockville, close to Bethesda. I tried to fly today at a local park. No Go. I really appreciate the information in regard to the GEO system and "unlocking" zones. The map is a little weird. I am just trying to find out if there is any way whatsoever to unlock in a red zone. I only need to fly at very low altitudes. What is your advice for this?

I'm right at the edge of the zone...

Andrew F · Feb 24, 2017

My advice is to throw up your hands in frustration! Perhaps buy a lower quality quad copter. The problem is, anything that "solves" your problem could also be used nefariously. I doubt you will receive much support here for breaking the no fly zone in DC or near airports. Sorry!

alekaras · Jul 23, 2018

I'm all for safety and as someone who hates flying would want to ensure that commercial flights are fully protected. But completely not allowing any UAV flying in no-fly zones is a bit over the top. Why not just limit the range and altitude of the drone to say 40 ft height and 100 ft distance when in an no-fly zone. Surely that can be easy to do, no?

seowashdc · Jul 25, 2018

Unless you are close to the Naval Academy and on top of KANP airport, you could find some places in Annapolis, which is where I live. My biggest issue is that all Anne Arundel County parks don't allow drone flying, and much of the other scenic areas are privately/government owned, which further restricts flying, but it's not impossible...just challenging.

I'm going to head over to find places on the Eastern Shore that are also wide open.

I do a lot of flying at a local middle school, which has a huge athletic field; it's great to practice helix, dronie and other processes that need room.

nneves57 · Jul 27, 2018

I live south of the NFZ inside the yellow self unlocking area. but when I try to start my mavic, it tells me that I am in the NFZ. For some reason the maps do NOT match the actual GEOLOCATION. I have contacted DJI a few times and they have done absolutely NOTHING about fixing it.

seowashdc · Jul 29, 2018

Yeah, I've told them 2X about W29 on the Eastern Shore, that they need to put the airport on the map because it's an incredibly active flying school. I oughtta know; that's where I got started.