The Flying Dutchman corner

[JoostGT3]

Welcome mate!
You guys sitting there watching the skies as well? I've had my Mav since April now, and it has only been stormy ever since... every now and then one or two good days, but mostly **** to fly... Tomorrow looks a bit better though, maybe we'll be lucky!

 

[deal01]

Wow, already two people from De Meern, one from Utrecht and one in Vleuten. Its going to be a controlled airspace over here, controlled by Mavics, that is.

I just joined and live in De Meern

Hi all back in again. I had a crash with my Mavic a while a go. Had it fixed with DJI. Receive a brand new one back.[emoji3][emoji1360]
So I am flying again. Leaving to Bulgaria tomorrow want to take the Mavic to but have to find out if this is granted. Let you Guy's know What I did. Let's meet after I am back next friday. Somewere in De Meern perhaps??

 

[JoostGT3]

Hi all back in again. I had a crash with my Mavic a while a go. Had it fixed with DJI. Receive a brand new one back.[emoji3][emoji1360]
So I am flying again. Leaving to Bulgaria tomorrow want to take the Mavic to but have to find out if this is granted. Let you Guy's know What I did. Let's meet after I am back next friday. Somewere in De Meern perhaps??

Bulgaria? Oh you definitely need to goe here if you find the chance:
Buzludzha - Wikipedia

 

[Wolffman]

Hi all back in again. I had a crash with my Mavic a while a go. Had it fixed with DJI. Receive a brand new one back.[emoji3][emoji1360]
So I am flying again. Leaving to Bulgaria tomorrow want to take the Mavic to but have to find out if this is granted. Let you Guy's know What I did. Let's meet after I am back next friday. Somewere in De Meern perhaps??

Have fun, let me know when you get back

 

[RudiNieuwenhuis]

Hi Fellow Dutchies.
Got mine just a couple of days ago and loving it. So easy to fly.
I would like to know if any of you guys have ever experienced people complaining about your Mavic or trouble with the law. The rules here are said to be quite severe compared to surrounding countries and there are plenty of places i'd love to film but are forbidden. Is it always completely forbidden to fly in "bebouwde kom" (habitated area?) or are there ways to get temporary permits to fly over town-centers. How does this work exactelly?

So far I've flown only in my neighborhood but i'd love to explore the area some more and fly in areas with more buildings, roads, ports, railways, industry, etc etc. I do not want to get into trouble though. I did see this map at Kaart - Vlieg je drone veilig but the legenda states: dark blue:CTR, but i don't see any dark blue, just lots of purple in my area.

 

[JoostGT3]

Rudi, regulations state no flying over "aaneengesloten bebouwing", which rules out villages, cities, etc., which I adhere to.

Ormally, I tend to find quieter spots, for fear of people complaining, sending me away, etc. However, until now I have only met people who were generally interested or downright enthusiastic. I guess that changes quickly though when you start flying over people's backyards...

There are probably ways to get permits, but my estimation is that authorities will probably prefer to tell you that you can't fly somewhere, rather than that they have to find out how to provide you with a permit. I spoke with a guy who was in "police school" last week. He was personally very interested and loved the mavic, especially when I let him fly ot for a bit. But when I asked him about what he was taught in his education, he mentioned that they werent taught anything... My guess is that most policemen in the street will be clueless, and I haven't found out for example how you can contact the tower of small airfields to check if they will let you fly in their airspace.

 

[RudiNieuwenhuis]

Rudi, regulations state no flying over "aaneengesloten bebouwing", which rules out villages, cities, etc., which I adhere to.

I found some information on different locations online, and to say the least: its a bit confusing:
Drone no-fly zones | ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu
https://www.dronewatch.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/EH-ENR-6-2-1-A2m.pdf
So the area i live in is marked restricted, but what those restrictions are is mentioned nowhere.
I agree that flying over town centers isn't something you should let anyone do. For this I think licenses should and could be demanded.
However i read somthing that you can't fly over water-routes neighter which is a bit exaggerated i guess. I flew over a small and rather calm part of the river "De Linge" this morning and a couple of boats passed. The chances of anything going really wrong there are very slim, these boats go just a couple of knots and as long as you do not fly straight over their heads, what could be so life-threatening that it should be forbidden by law?

Anyway, I found this on licenses for flying commercially:
Drone Centre - Netherlands Aerospace Centre but there is nothing mentioned about drones lighter then 4kg or non-commercial stuff.

how you can contact the tower of small airfields

I've been a skydiver for over 20 years so I've been around small airports (and bigger ones). Airplanes use radio's and transponders to contact the tower/airport control, but you can't just pick up the phone to call them.
If you want to organize an event somewhere you need to get a NOTAM, notice to airmen. This can be done here for RPAS:
http://www.lvnl-ohd.nl/content/bijz...Aanvraagformulier_NOTAM_RPAS v5.22_Extend.pdf, similarly to the one you'd need to organise a skydiving event but it can take up to a couple of weeks to get one.

I'm getting the impression that there is still a lot of grey area when it comes to drones, at least here in NL.

 

[JoostGT3]

I found some information on different locations online, and to say the least: its a bit confusing:
Drone no-fly zones | ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu
https://www.dronewatch.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/EH-ENR-6-2-1-A2m.pdf
So the area i live in is marked restricted, but what those restrictions are is mentioned nowhere.
I agree that flying over town centers isn't something you should let anyone do. For this I think licenses should and could be demanded.
However i read somthing that you can't fly over water-routes neighter which is a bit exaggerated i guess. I flew over a small and rather calm part of the river "De Linge" this morning and a couple of boats passed. The chances of anything going really wrong there are very slim, these boats go just a couple of knots and as long as you do not fly straight over their heads, what could be so life-threatening that it should be forbidden by law?

Anyway, I found this on licenses for flying commercially:
Drone Centre - Netherlands Aerospace Centre but there is nothing mentioned about drones lighter then 4kg or non-commercial stuff.


I've been a skydiver for over 20 years so I've been around small airports (and bigger ones). Airplanes use radio's and transponders to contact the tower/airport control, but you can't just pick up the phone to call them.
If you want to organize an event somewhere you need to get a NOTAM, notice to airmen. This can be done here for RPAS:
http://www.lvnl-ohd.nl/content/bijzondere_vluchten/modelvliegen/Aanvraagformulier_NOTAM_RPAS v5.22_Extend.pdf, similarly to the one you'd need to organise a skydiving event but it can take up to a couple of weeks to get one.

I'm getting the impression that there is still a lot of grey area when it comes to drones, at least here in NL.

Yeah, agree... it is a bit of a mess. I try to stick to the rules, and observe common sense in case it is not clear.

 

[SOEP2005]

Hi everyone, greetings from Doorn (Utrecht)!

 

[JoostGT3]

Hi everyone, greetings from Doorn (Utrecht)!

Hi soep, welkom!
Doorn? I went to school there! Any tips on good flying locations? Tried Huis Doorn yet?
Groeten Joost

 

[Case K]

Greetings from a newbee[emoji213][emoji219]from the ultimate depth (or low?) of the Dutch polders: Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel.

In The Netherlands we have the Luchtverkeersleiding Nederland, LVNL, that manages airspace. You can mail or call them with generic questions at [email protected] or 020-406 2000.
The Operational Helpdesk LVNL gives directives for special flights, activities etc. There is info for flights with balloons and kites, not specially for drones (yet). They can be contacted via [email protected], 020-4062201, (07.00-17.00 local time).

And lastly there is an official and free(!) app that gives information about flight restrictions and conditions in The Netherlands: EasyVFR Basic, directed at civil aviators. It gives temporary directives as well, contrary to the map on vliegjedroneveilig.nl. This app is however not providing all the restrictions for drones, like around airports.

 

[JoostGT3]

Kees, thanks so much for this information!
I have often wondered if it is possible to contact central/local luchtverkeersleiding in case of questions. I know for example when I was paragliding, we had an SRZ (Special Rules Zone). We had to call a certain authority in case we were using that field and then this would be placed in the NOTAMs and stuff like that. Never found this information for drones though.
Cheers Joost

 

[Basztor]

Iemand uit de buurt van Alkmaar?

 

[crooz77]

Greetings to all my fellow countrymen/woman (if there are any out there). Anyone reading this from the east, near Enschede?
I'm a little embarrassed to say, I have my Mavic Pro since August and haven't flown it yet. At first I was somewhat afraid for fear of totally destroying this thousand euro quad. Decided to invest in a micro (tiny whoop) quad to learn the basics of steering the craft. It's helped immensely, but I've heard from others that flying the Mavic is tons easier. Frankly, I believe that to be true, cuz the little sucker is NOT easy to fly. It doesn't have the ability to hover constantly in one spot. The flight time with a tiny whoop is about 4 minutes, if you're lucky. Half of that time is spent adjusting the aileron and elevator trim on the transmitter just to keep it flying somewhat straight. It seems every time I replace the battery with a new one, the trim is always off for some reason.
For some reason it seems I'm wasting my time with the tiny whoop. Sure, I did learn the basics of flying, but enough of that. Time to do a maiden voyage with the Mavic - ah... now the weather is getting wetter and colder. Gotta slice some air.

 

[JoostGT3]

Ha Crooz, welcome mate!
From the centre of the country here.

I do believe that whatever helps you get some confidence is not lost, but quite frankly; people are right, you are wasting your time with the woop. I have flown a lot of those little micro RC helicopters and also quads just for fun, and they are in no way comparable to the Mavic.

Just get yourself a calm day and a wide open field and switch on the Mavic. Take some distance, and let it auto-takeoff. Keep your hands on the sticks, and be prepared to set it down if it does anything weird (but it won't). Let it hover for a bit and get a feeling for how it responds... you'll be delighted! Then fly it around, don't focus on the camera just yet, just on the flying. When you get some confidence, take it further step by step, in a pace that you are comfortable with.

There is only one major mistake you can make with the Mavic: DO NOT FLY IT IN THE HOUSE!!!!
It will not have GPS lock, so it will start drifting, and then that spaceous living room area will suddenly feel very small, and those props are going to destroy everything in their path untill they hit a wall, and those will destroy your Mavic. I am not ashamed to say I ruined my first set of props this way, and I am lucky that was all that was broken.

Take care, and let us know how your first real Mavic flights went!

Cheers Joost

 

[bonaerial]

Greetings from another pilot. Calling in from The Hague

 

[JoostGT3]

Hey Rob, welkom! New mavic pilot or have you had it for a while already?
Not a lot of room to fly around he Hague, except for the beach, right?
Cheers Joost

 

[Stingels]

Hi All! So I have my Mavic Air

I live in Amsterdam, which is obviously not a great place for flying, so wondering if someone has some cool spots close to Amsterdam that I can reach by bike to fly.

I work in Utrecht once a week, so also interested where the Utrecht pilots fly outside of the city.

 

[M3d4r]

Hey guys gelderland/Zutphen here... Plenty of wide open spaces to fly here...

 

[M3d4r]

Hey guys gelderland/Zutphen here... Plenty of wide open spaces to fly here...

A sample of the view here.