NFZ automatic flight restrictions

[EMI326]

Greetings, I am a new member here and am having some frustrations with my new Mavic Pro. It is my personal drone but I also use it for work purposes as it allows me to grab quick, simple footage without dragging out our hexacopter and a second operator.

I am in a unique situation as the university I work for is adjacent to a class C airport. We have a waiver from the FAA allowing us to fly under certain altitude and geographic restrictions, however, I can't convince my Mavic that the waiver is genuine.

As of a few days ago it tells me I am in a NFZ and will not allow me to take off. I have tried turning off the GEO but its still restricts my ability to even take off. Are there any workarounds or third party software that allow operators to circumvent the built in flight restrictions? I realize they are there for a reason but they clearly ignore the process in effect for gaining permission to fly in otherwise restricted zones.

Or am I just stuck with flying the beast every time I want to grab a few aerial shots from 40 feet?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

EMI

 

[Pushpak]

Greetings, I am a new member here and am having some frustrations with my new Mavic Pro. It is my personal drone but I also use it for work purposes as it allows me to grab quick, simple footage without dragging out our hexacopter and a second operator.

I am in a unique situation as the university I work for is adjacent to a class C airport. We have a waiver from the FAA allowing us to fly under certain altitude and geographic restrictions, however, I can't convince my Mavic that the waiver is genuine.

As of a few days ago it tells me I am in a NFZ and will not allow me to take off. I have tried turning off the GEO but its still restricts my ability to even take off. Are there any workarounds or third party software that allow operators to circumvent the built in flight restrictions? I realize they are there for a reason but they clearly ignore the process in effect for gaining permission to fly in otherwise restricted zones.

Or am I just stuck with flying the beast every time I want to grab a few aerial shots from 40 feet?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

EMI

DJI GEO System - Up-to-date Information On Where to Fly

DJI GEO System - Unlock Areas For Authorized Access

 

[alexjayryan]

Just wondering about these NFZs.

I was going to go out for a flight this arvo which is within the 3 nautical mile exclusion zone from sydney airport in Australia.

I thought this would be a NFZ so went onto the dji site to unlock the area, but it doesn't seem to be listed as a NFZ? This is very weird considering it is Australia's busiest international airport.

Australian pilots, is this because of the recent changes in regulating the use of <2kg rpas?

 

[EMI326]

DJI GEO System - Up-to-date Information On Where to Fly

DJI GEO System - Unlock Areas For Authorized Access

Thanks for the reply. I did this process and it is inaccurate. It thinks the warning zone is a restricted zone and just states NFZ, preventing me from even taking off.

 

[EMI326]

just got an email from DJI advising me to downgrade my firmware which, if I remember my part 107 training correctly, violates the license.

 

[alexjayryan]

I have a job coming up that is in a restricted area for military flying purposes, but the area is only active at certain times via NOTAM. When I looked on the DJI app it is not listed as an R area, which it really should be. I'm happy it isn't, because I might fly my Mavic in the harder to get to areas, but just wondering where DJI get their information from? In Australia there doesn't seem to be many NFZ at all, but our airspace is as complex as any. Also what happens with the DJI NFZs in areas like the one I have mentioned where the Restrictions aren't active all the time?

 

[Ryder]

Just discovered the NFZ hard limits (restricted) today. Called the tower, no objections... but she wouldn't spin up. Looking at the live map on the controller, a solid red circle enclosed the runways, and a yellow circle at what I estimate was 1.5 mi radius. I was between the two.

Not the worst idea in the world, but it does prevent those of us that go by the book from flying in certain circumstances.

 

[EMI326]

Ryder, exactly, its frustrating to jump through all the hoops to get permission to fly and then your copter refuses to cooperate. There must be some avenue for dealing with this?

 

[Ezay671]

Ryder, exactly, its frustrating to jump through all the hoops to get permission to fly and then your copter refuses to cooperate. There must be some avenue for dealing with this?

I am experiencing the same problem here on Guam. Its a small island with the Airport located at the center so most of the central areas of the island are in the NFZ. I registered my Mavic with the FAA and call the tower for clearance when i want to fly. The app says i dont need to unlock the zone, but my Mavic still wont take off in the zone. I can only fly outside of the NFZ, which really sucks cuz most of the places i want to fly are in the central part of the island.

 

[rhchan84]

This is one reason I haven't picked up the Mavic. I don't want DJI controlling what my drone does. Not that I want to do anything stupid but I live somewhat close to an airport but I can't even take off in my yard. Not that I'm going near airline heights but to play around in my yard. Maybe 50ft. But with DJI controlling it, I won't be able to play with it.

 

[topilot]

I hope this helps all those that are flying under a 107 license and have obtained a COA from the FAA for flying near a class D airport. I obtained the COA and went through the unlocking procedure with DJI. After I figured out how to unlock the area I had approval for, it basically lets me fly within the limits of the COA grid. The tower also received my COA and acknowledged my operation as long as I followed the COA altitude grid limits.

Today I went out to fly in the practice area away from my unlocked location. I could not take off because my controller stated I was in a NFZ. The area I was flying in was not a NFZ. I finally went through all of the menus and figured out I had to shut off the unlocking of the approved area by going to the general setting on the Go Fly App. I was now able to fly without any restrictions.

I do vaguely remember something in the unlocking instructions that stated to fly out of the unlocked zone, you had to shutdown the unlocking in the app.

 

[Lapeer20m]

The maps are strange and inaccurate.

I tried to fly within about 1.5 miles of a small non towered airport in northern Michigan so I could film the drawbridge while it was closing. this was NOT controlled airspace but mavic would not allow me to fly.

Today I needed to fly in super close proximity to a similiar size airport, probably within 200 yards of the runway. Mavic started up and flew just fine. I was kind of surprised.

(There was no air traffic at the airport today and we took several precautions to ensure a safe and uneventful flight)

 

[Drone Ranger]

I have the same problem, here in central PA. Under class D, University opposite me from the airport. I can fly, when I am able to connect with Wi Fi, but when out in the field, no Wi Fi, no connection, no unlock. Tried using the internet to unlock, didn't work . Contacted DJI, they were surprisingly polite and tried t be helpful, but I am not, after 2 months of trying, able to fly. DJI needs to back off on the denial of Mavics in areas they deem unsafe or illegal to fly in. The airport near me, told me I was ok to fly where I wanted to fly, but DJI's GEO fencing disagrees