NFZ with permission - DJI says "no"

[Astropin]

I can see why DJI does it (Liability). I also see NO reason not to do exactly what the OP did and take matters into your own hands.

DJI is off the hook and the pilot gets right back to being responsible for his own actions....as it should be. At least there is a workaround.

 

[cdusher]

What about the Litchi app? Will that not work?

 

[Astropin]

What about the Litchi app? Will that not work?

Good question....anyone?

 

[cdusher]

I don't see why not. It appears to still have the option to turn off GPS location if one needs to for any reason.

 

[vps_dxb]

When you applied to DJI for the NFZ tonne removed, did you send them an official letter from the airport to your company, naming you, make, model, serial number, date, time, coordinates? Was the letter signed and stamped?

Did you also send a separate request letter from your firm, copy of your business licence, passport or copy of valid ID?

If you just send a casual email, of course they will reject.

 

[Ren57]

i am super-heated up right now - and either need talked off the ledge - or - a mavic pro alternative. i am a part 107 licensed UAV PIC & professional videographer. i have permission from the airport tower to fly in their restricted airspace & i cannot launch because a chinese company wants to police my movements. i've spoken to the airport director, i've spoken to the tower - and now i have sent dji an email to jump through their hoops to fly in this space.

NOT flying in this space will cost me $23,000. needless to say the mavic pro is the last dji product i will purchase. btw - all my dji stuff will likely be for sale soon ... so keep an eye out for that.


sorry for the rant -- i really AM looking for a solution

Seems simple to me. Sue DJI for the lost $23,000. Job done.

 

[cdusher]

Dji aside, would you not have to apply to the FAA under 107?

 

[dewster]

I have my Mavic "NFZ free" and a dumb drone minus telemetry. I'll have to work at keeping my Mavic completely off line with a dedicated device to run DJI 4. I'm happy with the performance of 700 firmware.

I couldn't hover inside of my house because GPS picked up NFZ location. Now I can.

 

[cderoche]

i am super-heated up right now - and either need talked off the ledge - or - a mavic pro alternative. i am a part 107 licensed UAV PIC & professional videographer. i have permission from the airport tower to fly in their restricted airspace & i cannot launch because a chinese company wants to police my movements. i've spoken to the airport director, i've spoken to the tower - and now i have sent dji an email to jump through their hoops to fly in this space.

NOT flying in this space will cost me $23,000. needless to say the mavic pro is the last dji product i will purchase. btw - all my dji stuff will likely be for sale soon ... so keep an eye out for that.


sorry for the rant -- i really AM looking for a solution

did you say $23,000?

 

[Deleted member 21971]

Sorry I do not. I have built several quads and bought a couple before I picked up the DJI mavic and it will be my last DJI product also!! I believe if someone is irresponsible and causes accident or injury they should be punished not everybody else. There are millions or close to it of drones sold here in the US from cheap all the way to pro and barely a handful of dummies doing bad things with them. I could understand them forcing more restrictions and control if let's say if it was 10% 15% of the quad owners were causing accidents or injuries. But that is not the case. I live in a county with 1 million people and many others here on vacation and I have yet to see more than two random quads and both of the two that I had seen were out on a Causeway and they were 8 months apart.

Sounds like they're doing the same thing as they do with gun owners. Some idiots misuse one, and they want to disarm EVERYBODY!

 

[cderoche]

You are wrong, it does not matter what DJI does, people looking to cause trouble will find a way, there are other options. DJI made these changes after purchase, which is wrong. Nobody forced me to buy DJI, however what I bought changed after the purchase. The product DID NOT have these limitations before buying!

You are 100% correct. Don't sell me an apple and later turn it into a lemon. Even if the fine print says that they can, that's a very bad business practice, to constantly change a product for the worse over and over. I know when that time comes I hope someone has a better drone I probably won't buy another DJI, unless mods are still an option. Lots of guys on this forum drank the DJI Koolaid long ago, and will defend DJI to the end. Wouldn't be surprised at all if they worked for DJI. I know DJI has bribed some guys on here to stop talking about the mods and stuff. And it worked.

If you're not from USA I can maybe understand, but most of us folks from the US kinda like our freedom, with everything. Glad the gun manufacturers aren't like that. Well, you know that 15 round Glock 9mm you bought 10 years ago, just in case someone ever does something bad with a gun, we decided here at Glock to limit you to only one round per magazine. Oh, and before you can shoot, you have to get our permission. Just tell that burglar to hold tight.

 

[cderoche]

Sounds like they're doing the same thing as they do with gun owners. Some idiots misuse one, and they want to disarm EVERYBODY!

If certain factions of society and government had their way no one would have a gun, except their body guards, police and military. Now who was it that disarmed all their people right before they tried to do one of those world takeover thingies?? Wasn't it that guy that had syphilis and that weird half a mustache?

 

[cderoche]

They were there. The reason you don't hear about people complaining about it back then is probably because us early adopters who had the very small number of units available at that time actually read what we were getting into.
Of course new zones etc have been added over time, but, that was expected since the mechanism was there and you were thus aware of it, as well as of the online page where you can check for zones before buying / flying.
All DJI machines since mid 2015 or so have had a form or another of flight restriction zones. Hard to ignore.

What will be hard for DJI to ignore is the number of people not buying another one of their products. Anybody that got burned like the OP certainly won't.

 

[cderoche]

I agree, I have been using the Mavic for commercial jobs filming in retail stores and bank vaults, it's been fine with a little caution, the quality is fine IMO.

Do you fly inside the bank vaults or just hand carry it?

 

[cderoche]

You can make a small fortune very quickly with your Mavic IF you know how.

Is there a howto YouTube video on this?

 

[NormsMavic]

I fly within the 5 mile ring at my class C airport with tower approval. I get the Mavic restricted warning but click the 2 messages and commit, then it leaves me alone to fly in the restricted area.

 

[cderoche]

Stop playing with words.

Anyone who bought a Mavic with the necessary amount of research knew that:
- It came with a system for restricting flight in some locations
- Those locations would be by nature evolving over time, some being added and some removed
- There is a place to check whether flight in a given location is allowed or not in advance
- If it is not there is a procedure to unlock it in advance.

Again we both disagree about them doing that, but you can't claim you didn't know. Not happy? Don't buy it. If you do so anyway, arrive on a job with a Mavic without having a clue about that system even existing yet... you have not done any decent research on how to do their job, so much for presenting themselves as "professionals".

There's a reason there are people and companies specialised in filming aerials with drones - unlike some random producer who has no idea about the current state of the market, they do and know how to prepare a job properly.

If OP got himself into that situation and throws the fault on the Mavic or DJI, remind me never to hire them.

Good thing DJI doesn't manufacture nail guns. No one would ever get another house built!

 

[TylerDurden]

You know the limitations before buying. I also find it hard to believe a professional videographer would use a mavic.
Countless idiots were and are routinely ignoring no fly zones and other rules. This means DJI has to police it or regulation will be far far stricter.
Nobody forced you to buy DJI and nobody is forcing you to use DJI. You agreed to their terms and conditions.

You are wrong on all counts

 

[cderoche]

I cant see why DJI cannot verify through their own resources such as ringing the tower on a supplied number to speak with personnel about your request.

Weeellll..... see the deal is.......
Customer support at good old DJI hasn't been at the top of the charts...

 

[cderoche]

did just that. sent them the number. here is what they require:

Maybe that's a side business for them. Identity theft.