Max Altitude slider on DJI Fly app goes to 1640ft(500m)?

[ylr]

My DJI Fly app Max altitude setting slider now goes to 500 meters. When I go past 400ft on the slider, a safety warning box pops up and says "You are now modifying the max flight altitude. Setting flight settings over 120 m(400ft) may violate local laws and regulations or subject to restrictions. By doing so, you bear full responsibility for the resulting impact. Fly with caution."

Needless to say, I did not try this. I feel that in the RID era, it could be a trap to bust folks who take the bait and fly to 500 m. I did set the slider to 376 feet, and the drone stopped at that altitude. I searched the forums for a similar thread, but did not find one. I'm assuming I'm not the only one who noticed this?

 

[Meta4]

Needless to say, I did not try this. I feel that in the RID era, it could be a trap to bust folks who take the bait and fly to 500 m.

A trap?
Why would DJI be trying to trap you?

I did set the slider to 376 feet, and the drone stopped at that altitude. I searched the forums for a similar thread, but did not find one. I'm assuming I'm not the only one who noticed this?

It's not a trap at all.
Your drone is only aware of how high it relative to the launch point, but rules relate to how high the drone is above the ground below it.
Not all of the world is pancake flat and many flyers fly above ground that's higher than their launch point.
it's completely legitimate to move that slider and it's up to you to fly legally, not to stay within 400 ft relative to the launch point.

 

[mavic3usa]

My DJI Fly app Max altitude setting slider now goes to 500 meters. When I go past 400ft on the slider, a safety warning box pops up and says "You are now modifying the max flight altitude. Setting flight settings over 120 m(400ft) may violate local laws and regulations or subject to restrictions. By doing so, you bear full responsibility for the resulting impact. Fly with caution."

Needless to say, I did not try this. I feel that in the RID era, it could be a trap to bust folks who take the bait and fly to 500 m. I did set the slider to 376 feet, and the drone stopped at that altitude. I searched the forums for a similar thread, but did not find one. I'm assuming I'm not the only one who noticed this?

Agreed with Meta on the previous post. The slider prevents your drone from flying higher than 500 meters above the take off point. There is no law in the US that says how high you can fly over your take off point. Unless you have a waiver, the law generally says you must not exceed 400 feet or 120 meters over the ground beneath you. It's been awhile so I don't remember exactly but this should have been covered in the TRUST. None of the DJI drone settings are a trap and RID is not going to be used by the FAA to secretly catch you exceeding the legal limits.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

The slider governs the maximum permissible height relative to the take off point.
The law relates to the maximum permissible height of the drone above the ground directly beneath the drone ( AGL ).
It looks like Lewisport has some hills to the north and south, if you take off on the river's flood plain then you can legally fly up those hills to heights of more than 400ft relative to the take off point providing the drone remains within 400ft AGL.

 

[Starz]

it could be a trap to bust folks

Probably not going to see a handful of FAA or L.E. representatives parked along the side of a road every five miles or so waiting to find some unfortunate drone law violator doing his or her thing. It will be interesting to see as this RID implementation moves along just how closely we all will be watched. Good that you are gathering information to be safe.

 

[Cafguy]

Some drones are made without a settings "slider" of any kind [or telemetry for that matter]
Remember it is YOUR responsibility to fly your drone legally- NOT DJI's.
There are many reasons for the choices given in your settings. These give you more freedom when using your drone at differant elevations. It is not an option to trick you into getting in trouble.-- Obey the Regulations and ignore the settings beyond that, and you will never have a problem.

 

[Crashdummytest]

My DJI Fly app Max altitude setting slider now goes to 500 meters. When I go past 400ft on the slider, a safety warning box pops up and says "You are now modifying the max flight altitude. Setting flight settings over 120 m(400ft) may violate local laws and regulations or subject to restrictions. By doing so, you bear full responsibility for the resulting impact. Fly with caution."

Needless to say, I did not try this. I feel that in the RID era, it could be a trap to bust folks who take the bait and fly to 500 m. I did set the slider to 376 feet, and the drone stopped at that altitude. I searched the forums for a similar thread, but did not find one. I'm assuming I'm not the only one who noticed this?

In a way you misunderstood. It is 500m above 'take-off point', not above 'ground level'. A very important difference, especially in hilly destinations .

 

[GregS]

I was flying in a deep valley in Oregon and wanted to climb up the side and get some video/photos of Mt Hood. Got to 400' and it stopped. At the time I did not know I could slide the max altitude up. I now have it very high so I won't miss those opportunities. Perfectly legal since I'm staying below 400' AGL, not take off point.

 

[EssenYVR]

Without the ability to ascend 500m above the launch point I would never have been able to take this shot, all while flying within 120m of the ground. I would like to have been able to get even higher into the snow line...

 

[ylr]

Thanks for the replies; I understand the reasoning now. Went on a trip out West earlier this year where I could see the additional altitude would be of great help. Here, in relatively flat W. Ky., the most extra I could go up would be 100-150 ft.

As for the "trap" statement, I know it wasn't some conspiracy from DJI to entice people to break the law; by "trap", I mean there are a lot of people out there who would be enticed to fly that high, and potentially(low odds, I know) be busted for breaking the law.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I now have it very high so I won't miss those opportunities. Perfectly legal since I'm staying below 400' AGL, not take off point.

I would suggest that that is not a wise thing to do if the high limit is not required, I would suggest that setting the max ceiling and RTH to what ever is appropriate should be done for each location or even in flights over different terrain from the same location.
Why?
There have been flights where a drone climbed out of control and the climb was stopped when it hit the set ceiling, other, worse malfunctions, have gone straight through the ceiling. The former has reduced the number climbing to undesirable heights. There's not much you can do about the latter except perhaps a CSC.
Secondly, given the horrible limit setting sliders, if the max ceiling is set 'way up there' then it leaves RTH height open to being set equally high.
Early I'm my mini flying days I ended up with a mini at 700ft+ AGL because I had accidentally dragged the RTH height up whilst setting the max height to allow for a climb up a hill. I lost connection when the drone was back down low and up it went, it took a long time to get it down from there and I was 'clenching' the whole way down.

 

[GregS]

But the high limit is required. And I set these parameters for each flight. When I'm flying in mountainous terrain, I set my ceiling to less than 400' above the highest terrain where I fly. I don't have sliders in Go4 for my older drones. I just pick an altitude.
I'm prepared, but I don't worry about 'what if's'. If I did, I might not fly at all.
Perfectly legal and allows me to get the video I want.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

But the high limit is required. And I set these parameters for each flight.

Fair enough.

 

[Droning on and on...]

The 500m limit is a CYA for DJI. The number of their customers that hit this under legal flight operations is so tiny as to be justifiably handled on a complaint/request basis because they're nice, and there is a mechanism to remove this limit when necessary. They could be ignored entirely with no measurable impact on DJI.

1000-10,000ft is the highest density active airspace near populated areas. keeping the curious scofflaw out of that airspace saves DJI a potential PR (or worse, tort) disaster.

They trade some complaining by a tiny tiny portion of their customer base for ensuring that Yabbo and his cousin Jaboney don't go buzzing around at 5000' "looking for airplanes" with their new Christmas toy.

 

[mavic3usa]

I have to ask again because I'm not so sure I got the answer the last time:

Often we see reports of drones being seen at 12,000 feet and I didn't think it was possible except if a drone got carried away, got loose and there was a flyaway. Ok but my question is if you set the max height to 500 feet and your drone malfunctions and experiences a flyway, is that 500 feet limit in the drone itself (now disconnected from the controller) such that even with a good GPS signal, your drone won't go any higher than 500 feet as it flies off into the heavens?

 

[Meta4]

is that 500 feet limit in the drone itself (now disconnected from the controller) such that even with a good GPS signal, your drone won't go any higher than 500 feet as it flies off into the heavens?

It depends on the malfunction.
Mostly the drone would stop at the limit.
In some rare cases, drones have gone beyond the set limit.
I'm not sure why you mention GPS signal as that has nothing to do with the scenario you are asking about.

 

[EssenYVR]

...if you set the max height to 500 feet and your drone malfunctions and experiences a flyway, is that 500 feet limit in the drone itself (now disconnected from the controller) such that even with a good GPS signal, your drone won't go any higher than 500 feet as it flies off into the heavens?

That should be the case. For example, we know that the RTH height is in the drone because it's intended to be used when the drone looses contact with the controller. I see no reason why the maximum height setting would be any different.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Ok but my question is if you set the max height to 500 feet and your drone malfunctions and experiences a flyway, is that 500 feet limit in the drone itself (now disconnected from the controller) such that even with a good GPS signal, your drone won't go any higher than 500 feet as it flies off into the heavens?

All height limits, including DJI's 'firmware' limit, are stored in/on the drone, they have to be otherwise a disconnected drone wouldn't know them.
As additional proof .... to deliberately breech the 500m hard limit ( Mav 3's excepted ) requires the drone's firmware to be hacked.

Yes the drone should, in theory, stop at the limit but some malfunctions appear to result in the drone going through it.
If it DOES stop at the limit, lowering the limit might force the drone to descend ...... it does with a functioning correctly Mavic Mini or Mini 2.

I think the highest malfunctioning drone I have seen climbed to 4700ft+ and literally got blown away in the wind. I recollect a Mavic Mini ignoring the set limit but for some reason halting some what above it, if I remember correctly it subsequently fell and amazingly survived.

 

[DARKSeifer]

It's always been that way, 500m is the default DJI max altitude, although it can change depending on where you are, like the recent 120m limit on the Mini 4 in Europe. In general the legal limit worldwide is 120m above ground, measured from the drone, and you have that +/-500m margin on the app in case you fly in mountain areas.

You can hack some DJI drones to bypass this limitation, for example the Mini 2 is fully hackable (FCC mode, no geofencing and no altitude limit) even on its latest firmware. And of course, I climbed to its max altitude (limited by the battery), which is around 1.600m. It has enough juice to go up a bit more, but the battery safety kicks with 60% left or so and enters forced landing mode. It doesn't take into calculation that descending is basically free, as you have a ton of potential energy.

When it enters forced landing mode it also makes the drone slower, so you can have a flyaway easily if there is some wind.

I have to ask again because I'm not so sure I got the answer the last time:

Often we see reports of drones being seen at 12,000 feet and I didn't think it was possible except if a drone got carried away, got loose and there was a flyaway. Ok but my question is if you set the max height to 500 feet and your drone malfunctions and experiences a flyway, is that 500 feet limit in the drone itself (now disconnected from the controller) such that even with a good GPS signal, your drone won't go any higher than 500 feet as it flies off into the heavens?

If you can get to 1.600m with a Mini 2... if you can hack a Mavic 3, which climbs twice as fast and has more than double the flight time... yes, you can reach that altitude within the battery limits. As for being seen at that altitude... that's completely false. Most "drone" sights at high altitude are balloons (DIY satellite/atmospheric hobbyist and students). While you are flying a plane, you can't see a tiny <900g drone flying around unless it's already hitting your windshield.

DIY drones can also climb that high as they have no babysitting software, the thing is temperature descends at around 6.5ºC every 1.000m, so if you are at 25ºC at ground level, it's dangerous to go past 3.800m or so, as frost can quickly build up on the props (specially inside a cloud), and it will basically fall at its terminal velocity to the ground, which is not a desirable scenario.

Apart from testing purposes, there's usually no interest in going above the 500m limit, and usually, 120m is just fine for most photos/videos.

If you want to fly high and stay legal, just search for a mountain nearby, climb it and take off from there. Then you'll have the mountain altitude + 120m. Which is basically what you had to do in the past for landscape photography... unless you were millionaire and had a copter.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

and you have that +/-500m margin on the app in case you fly in mountain areas.

-500m ?????
First I have heard of a 'below the take off point' limit.

It doesn't take into calculation that descending is basically free, as you have a ton of potential energy

I disagree that a controlled descent is "free", it consumes power just like any other phase of the drone's flight. I also disagree with the power consumption not being taken into account.
The attached is from the DAT of a drone sent up to 1579m, not my flight nor my drone, its from a 'problem thread' on the DJI forum.
It was basically a vertical climb and descent.
The reliable descent information starts around 598 seconds, the motors were stopped around 638 seconds using a CSC.
You can see that the Right Front motor was drawing around 3A @11V during the powered descent.