No Fly Zone Solution - I can't believe it was this easy.

[TrayBoz]

So last year I took my MP took Isla Mujeres in Mexico (a tiny island off the coast of Cancun). I was very disappointed because I couldn't fly on most of the island (including right around our gorgeous resort) because there is an old, tiny, unmanned, unused "airport" there which creates a NFZ covering most of the island It doesn't look like an airport any more. It's just a short flat runway with lots of big weeds growing out of it. No buildings or control tower to speak. I'm told sometimes private pilots might land small aircraft there, but I've never seen or heard one in the 2 weeks I was their over the past 2 years.

So this year, before we returned, I followed the YouTube tutorial video on how to use Dumbledor to downgrade the firmware so I could change all the parameters and fly in a NFZ. It was time-consuming and a big hassle, but it worked. The only parameter I changed was turning OFF the Airport NFZ restriction. IT worked like a charm and I had fun and got a lot of great footage of our resort and the beaches and coastline around it.

While I was there, I ran into 2 other mavic pro owners. Both of them were able to fly around the island freely. I asked them if they also downgraded their firmware. "NO". It turns out, all they did (and all I would've had to do) is to go Online with DJI Customer Support, give them their Mavic Serial #, and they were immediately issued an unlock key and told to "fly at their own risk". It took them just a few minutes and "viola!" No fuss, no charge, no waiting, no problems.

Why didn't I think of that? I (incorrectly) assumed DJI would have problems and/or take forever tracking down the details of this old "airport" and take weeks (if do-able at all) to get me such a code. I guess I should've had more faith in DJI's process/customer service.

I'm guessing that getting a NFZ-Free-Pass code is probably much more difficult if you're near a major/ operable airport, but I've learned my lesson: Next time I'll ask DJI first, and save the effort of rolling back the firmware.

Hope someone else can benefit from my lesson/experience.

 

[Mavflyer]

But now you never have to worry about it again and you also have a fully modifiable mavic if you wish to do so.

 

[billem16]

So last year I took my MP took Isla Mujeres in Mexico (a tiny island off the coast of Cancun). I was very disappointed because I couldn't fly on most of the island (including right around our gorgeous resort) because there is an old, tiny, unmanned, unused "airport" there which creates a NFZ covering most of the island It doesn't look like an airport any more. It's just a short flat runway with lots of big weeds growing out of it. No buildings or control tower to speak. I'm told sometimes private pilots might land small aircraft there, but I've never seen or heard one in the 2 weeks I was their over the past 2 years.

So this year, before we returned, I followed the YouTube tutorial video on how to use Dumbledor to downgrade the firmware so I could change all the parameters and fly in a NFZ. It was time-consuming and a big hassle, but it worked. The only parameter I changed was turning OFF the Airport NFZ restriction. IT worked like a charm and I had fun and got a lot of great footage of our resort and the beaches and coastline around it.

While I was there, I ran into 2 other mavic pro owners. Both of them were able to fly around the island freely. I asked them if they also downgraded their firmware. "NO". It turns out, all they did (and all I would've had to do) is to go Online with DJI Customer Support, give them their Mavic Serial #, and they were immediately issued an unlock key and told to "fly at their own risk". It took them just a few minutes and "viola!" No fuss, no charge, no waiting, no problems.

Why didn't I think of that? I (incorrectly) assumed DJI would have problems and/or take forever tracking down the details of this old "airport" and take weeks (if do-able at all) to get me such a code. I guess I should've had more faith in DJI's process/customer service.

I'm guessing that getting a NFZ-Free-Pass code is probably much more difficult if you're near a major/ operable airport, but I've learned my lesson: Next time I'll ask DJI first, and save the effort of rolling back the firmware.

Hope someone else can benefit from my lesson/experience.

that is very interesting story, thanks for sharing. so, when contacting DJI, do they only unlock your NFZ for that specific location? or do they simply unlock all NFZ locks on your drone and just tell you to fly at your own risk? If so, I want to contact them and just fly at my own risk =)

also, where can I see the footage you got?!

 

[Kilrah]

They may, or may not. Someone I know just got a request refused on the basis that his authorization letter was going to expire "soon" (but AFTER the end of the requested unlock period).

Aka you never know, it can either go easy or be refused for absolutely no good reason, so you're totally at their mercy. Really unacceptable especially if you have professional requirements.