This forum made me not buy the Mavic Mini today. Why?

[lannes]

Wasn't his fault though - there weren't any signs.... These are the people causing the hobby problems.

Where was the common sense, tourist in a foreign country just taking things for granted

In Oz we have the drone police , aka grandmothers who tell you off all the time LOL

 

[Sebastian P. F.]

Thank you all for the comments!

 

[Sebastian P. F.]

No, it happens that he is posting the same pattern on all posts that are involving drones videos from Spain. If it's true or not, or how he feels about it is his business, we need to respect his point of view.

In other words, use common sense and do your research. If you read and document yourself, you are going to be ok. The Worst case scenario is that you know that you are not allowed to fly, thus avoiding the fine.

Let's post some links (official ones):
1. Spain - Regulations - Drone Rules -> recreational use is permited.
2. Basic rules for flying drones -> ENAIRE.es (the spanish authority) allows recreational flying. The Mini itself is under 250 gram. This is according to their site (Spanish ENAIRE) allowed to fly over people and houses.
3. ENAIRE Drones -> Go to enaire site and check the recreative interactive drone map where you are allowed to fly. This way you can know for sure where you can fly. Sure some places are not allowed, but it's not a complete lock down over Spain.

Thank you, man. Bear with me a little longer, please. So from the ENAIRE Drones map I located Malaga, which is covered in three layers of red:


What would you do in that case? Would you fly a Mavic Mini there (let's say not in the deepest red, but in middle one - the one that covers those presumably beautiful yacht ports)?

 

[netsonic]

What would you do in that case? Would you fly a Mavic Mini there (let's say not in the deepest red, but in middle one - the one that covers those presumably beautiful yacht ports)?

The political correct answer is that I would not fly there. This is based on the interactive enaire map that is updated every 28 days and is up to date. This is what I would do after I have done the research, and I am fully aware of what is allowed or not. You can of course decide for yourself and gamble all on one card.

Just to communicate the proper message, I would take my Mini and find other plethora of places where I can fly and enjoy the sights. And I would keep the videos for myself and not post them on youtube.

 

[MaxE1955!]

All actions have their rewards and risks! Ride a bike wrong in Paris or Madrid CAN get you fined. Fly a kite near an airport can get you fined. Drive a car in Australia can get you arrested if your used to driving on the “right side” of the highway. But common sense is a must in all things. Whatever you’re doing in your area or foreign soil requires some eduction of the local rules, laws and regulations! Not sure why anyone flying a UAV would be any different. Photography and video recording can get you arrested and/detained in certain areas! Just familiarize yourself with local customs and laws for crying out loud and if there is any questions..... leave it in your hotel room or vehicle! Common sense doesn’t appear to be very common these days.

 

[Sebastian P. F.]

The political correct answer is that I would not fly there.

So... based on the ENAIRE maps it turns out what that guy said about Malaga and Madrid (that they are definitely NO Fly zones) was actually right? I just can't believe that not a single person in the capital of Spain (and Malaga) is allowed to fly a drone. What do they use them for, then? Only flying and shooting in the countryside? All this information is confusing - you can fly a 249gr drone in sight not above 20m and over people (but not crowds) says the "Basic rules of ENAIRE", but that map s**ts all over the cities. Maybe I should ask ENAIRE about the MM, see what they come up with.

 

[MrYKBQdV]

No, it happens that he is posting the same pattern on all posts that are involving drones videos from Spain. If it's true or not, or how he feels about it is his business, we need to respect his point of view.

The only thing that is not true is your statement "he is posting the same pattern on all posts that are involving drones videos from Spain". That's a fallacy, don't FUD just to give yourself some credibility and cover your up your third-hand knowledge of local regulations.

In other words, use common sense and do your research. If you read and document yourself, you are going to be ok. The Worst case scenario is that you know that you are not allowed to fly, thus avoiding the fine.

Worst case scenario is that you DO NOT know that you are not allowed to fly, thus causing an accident. Just the other day a fellow forum member posted a video flying in the approximation to the runaway / CTR of the International Airport next to where I live. How would YOU feel about it?

Let's post some links (official ones):
1. Spain - Regulations - Drone Rules -> recreational use is permited.
2. Basic rules for flying drones -> ENAIRE.es (the spanish authority) allows recreational flying. The Mini itself is under 250 gram. This is according to their site (Spanish ENAIRE) allowed to fly over people and houses.
3. ENAIRE Drones -> Go to enaire site and check the recreative interactive drone map where you are allowed to fly. This way you can know for sure where you can fly. Sure some places are not allowed, but it's not a complete lock down over Spain.

In your copy & paste of the information that I have provided many times before you missed the actual law. The actual law where they explain that you can't fly in controlled airspace. Controlled airspace like the CTR of an airport. Oh casually Madrid, Málaga and San Sebastian are all covered by a CTR.

 

[MrYKBQdV]

So... based on the ENAIRE maps it turns out what that guy said about Malaga and Madrid (that they are definitely NO Fly zones) was actually right? I just can't believe that not a single person in the capital of Spain (and Malaga) is allowed to fly a drone. What do they use them for, then? Only flying and shooting in the countryside? All this information is confusing - you can fly a 249gr drone in sight not above 20m and over people (but not crowds) says the "Basic rules of ENAIRE", but that map s**ts all over the cities. Maybe I should ask ENAIRE about the MM, see what they come up with.

Certainly that guy was right
There is actually an overlapping number of reasons why you can't fly. The most important reason is that those places are part of a CTR, therefore controlled airspace, therefore you can't fly recreatonally. If you were a professional pilot, holding a valid license, insurance, flight plan, etc you might be able to fly in coordination with the airports/heliports/etc.

 

[Lastrexking]

So... based on the ENAIRE maps it turns out what that guy said about Malaga and Madrid (that they are definitely NO Fly zones) was actually right? I just can't believe that not a single person in the capital of Spain (and Malaga) is allowed to fly a drone. What do they use them for, then? Only flying and shooting in the countryside? All this information is confusing - you can fly a 249gr drone in sight not above 20m and over people (but not crowds) says the "Basic rules of ENAIRE", but that map s**ts all over the cities. Maybe I should ask ENAIRE about the MM, see what they come up with.

It's like that in most places though. I live in a village in England, and I can't fly my drone here - it doesn't matter how much it weighs. So, I have to go out to places I can fly it.

 

[MrYKBQdV]

Thank you, man. Bear with me a little longer, please. So from the ENAIRE Drones map I located Malaga, which is covered in three layers of red:
View attachment 90786

What would you do in that case? Would you fly a Mavic Mini there (let's say not in the deepest red, but in middle one - the one that covers those presumably beautiful yacht ports)?

Even if you were to fly in the CTR, which is already a very concerning violation of local laws and very dangerous (so DON'T FLY)...
...that area is also covered with a prohibition of photographic flight. So totally forget about taking pictures or videos with your UAV.
TLDR No flying+No photos.

 

[netsonic]

That's a fallacy, don't FUD just to give yourself some credibility and cover your up your third-hand knowledge of local regulations.

Mate, first I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, this was not my intention. I wrote this as I looked at your profile and checked your posts. Almost all your comments are pretty much the same, asking the other person, how they managed to fly there. This is a fact, not FUD. This leads to other comments and passive-aggressive arguments like this one. I'm not trying to say anything here, just what I've observed and everyone can see for themselves, if they open your postings. This is a forum, where we help each other, no one claimed that we know better.

And just to come back to the point, I wrote that I would not fly there. I've also apologized above and provided some facts. What else do you want ?

Worst case scenario is that you DO NOT know that you are not allowed to fly, thus causing an accident. Just the other day a fellow forum member posted a video flying in the approximation to the runaway / CTR of the International Airport next to where I live. How would YOU feel about it?

Please go back and reread my words as it translates to these 3 points:
1) If you know that you cannot fly, then
2) you do not take off and
3) if you do not take off, you have no reason to be fined.

Or 4) If you fly reckless (see the example with Louvre or the CTR airport space) than it's your own responsibility as you cannot claim that you did not know, sure you can but no one is going to believe that you did not see the airport or runway.

I would not feel anything about it. This is dangerous and should not happen. Please read again the thread from the beginning and you'll see that Sebastian is self aware of the dangers and possible fines, this is why he started the thread in the first place, to ask. I don't speak on his behalf, as he is able to speak for himself.

Whether others fly or not, it's actually none of my business and it should not be yours. Sure you or me can give advice, but you or me cannot enforce. If anyone wants to fly even with restrictions in place, they will find a way to do it, this is another fact. Just google these keywords "malaga port drone video" and you'll see for yourself.

Safe flights to everyone!

 

[Sebastian P. F.]

Very disconcerting news.

 

[Bernie707]

The main take away I got from this thread is to be glad I live in the US of A!

 

[Ivan_LCF_666]

Hello,
First, let me start this thread by saying a big, fat THANK YOU to all the users here. I'm reading mavicpilots for a day now, but, surprise-surprise, this doesn't look like any ordinary forum. The amount of answers and information to all kind of questions, the quick response, the sheer attitude and willingness to help others make this place look really cool! Maybe it's because flying drones is a relatively new hobby.

However - amidst all that information a noob like me can (and does) get confused. Today I almost bought the MM Fly More Combo. After weeks of watching youtubers praising the MM I decided to pull the trigger. 2 minutes before buying it I decided to check if the DJI Fly app is compatible with my Google Pixel 3a. Turns out - not yet. In search of info and users who can fly the MM with the Pixel 3a, I got to this forum and, voila, I don't ever want to own a drone.

Let's put aside the not 100% certainty the MM will fly with the 3a (some users in the net claim they have no issues), let's puts aside the wind and lost transmission issues on the MM of which I read here (and not a single "youtube influencer" spoke of), let's put aside CE/FCC horrors. etc. My main concern is legal flying. I live in Bulgaria, where hardcore laws aren't present, as I understand from both international and local sites and forums. However I plan some trips this summer - to Spain (Malaga, Madrid and San Sebastian), Ukraine (Kiev) and Italy (maybe Sicily or somewhere in Toscana). How can I be sure that I can take off and not be fined by the police thousands of euro?

Is that map - DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography accurate enough? When I tick the boxes of "Warning Zones" and "Enhanced Warning Zones" it gets pretty ugly. Let's take Malaga, Spain, for example. Without "Warning Zones" and "Enhanced Warning Zones" enabled, the site looks alright - No-Go are the airport, the area around it in blue and some prisons. But when I tick the "Warning Zones" and "Enhanced Warning Zones" boxes, all of Malaga gets colored - the orange area covers the area to the centre, and the yellow one completely covers the city, the beaches. Does this mean I won't be able to take off even in the yellow areas? Can I be fined just for flying it? Can I use it for filming in the city, above the traffic on a roundabout, or the rooftop of a cathedral? How can I be sure that my 499-bucks drone won't give me 4999-euro fine? What is the police definition of "over a crowd" - if there are 5-10 people on the beach in March in Malaga, and I pass over them, would that be considered bad? I read about some new laws in July 2020, what will happen to the MM? I surely don't want to buy it simply to take it on farms and Siberia-like fields.

So many noob questions, so few bullets - glad I'm not asking them f2f. Cheers, thanks in advance and keep up the good work!

Bro I also live in Sofia, Bulgaria - and I absolutely love my Mavic Mini! I fly it every single day, its the best drone ever! Its also my very first drone, but ever since I got it I've had no problems with it at all! Its just been the best experience ever! I love to fly it so much that I'm gonna buy me another 5 batteries, so I have 6 in total and can fly for long! I bought me a 128GB memory cards and I can record about 6.5 hours of 2.7K video.

I fly over people in the office all the time, this drone is 249g and so you can fly it over people bro, at least I do. Well, I live very near Hotel Pliska - if you ever wanna check out my Mavic Mini just write..

sweet

PS: me gonna go fly right now, love this lil bugger so much!!!

 

[Brojon]

So flying a drone in the Europe is not so bad, the DJI Fly app does assist in telling you where you can and how you can fly, the rest is the pilot having common sense and following the country or areas drone laws.
The basic rules are, fly below 120m and not within 50m of any people and within line of sight

I beg to differ. I packed my Mavic and Spark into Switzerland and Germany last summer and barely got to fly. Then when I DID get to fly once I had some guy running up and telling me I was violating his privacy - a HUGE deal in Europe at the moment. Out in the middle of nowhere it seems you can have protected areas for just about anything some bureaucrat decided you shouldn't fly around.
Oh, let's not forget the 1 million Euro personal liability insurance that is required in most places. Thanks to law in the EU they CANNOT sell it to someone outside that country.
You're visiting then you better be able to buy insurance that covers you where you're traveling to.
I have no idea when Europe turned itself into such a hidebound state but it has.
Dang shame as there's lots of interesting and beautiful things that would benefit from drone perspective.
Bottom line I won't be packing my drones in again.

 

[Brojon]

The main take away I got from this thread is to be glad I live in the US of A!

Although we're likely to get shafted by the FAA who want to turn the sky over to Amazon and others who want to make money with delivery drones.
No drones just may be on their last legs worldwide - too many restrictions on the things that make drones worth having. Seriously - you may as well have a paper airplane in the days to come if it keeps up.

 

[Brojon]

Bear in mind that any UAV (and the remote) flying in Spain must carry a fireproof license plate with SN, your name and contact details.

I got mine from this German company fast and really nice tags that weigh very little and actually fit on a an arm strut.
I got one for each of my birds complete with FAA registration number, address and contact phone as required by law.
Email them at [email protected]
Buy tags: Laseric

 

[Deleted member 113944]

Hello,
First, let me start this thread by saying a big, fat THANK YOU to all the users here. I'm reading mavicpilots for a day now, but, surprise-surprise, this doesn't look like any ordinary forum. The amount of answers and information to all kind of questions, the quick response, the sheer attitude and willingness to help others make this place look really cool! Maybe it's because flying drones is a relatively new hobby.

However - amidst all that information a noob like me can (and does) get confused. Today I almost bought the MM Fly More Combo. After weeks of watching youtubers praising the MM I decided to pull the trigger. 2 minutes before buying it I decided to check if the DJI Fly app is compatible with my Google Pixel 3a. Turns out - not yet. In search of info and users who can fly the MM with the Pixel 3a, I got to this forum and, voila, I don't ever want to own a drone.

Let's put aside the not 100% certainty the MM will fly with the 3a (some users in the net claim they have no issues), let's puts aside the wind and lost transmission issues on the MM of which I read here (and not a single "youtube influencer" spoke of), let's put aside CE/FCC horrors. etc. My main concern is legal flying. I live in Bulgaria, where hardcore laws aren't present, as I understand from both international and local sites and forums. However I plan some trips this summer - to Spain (Malaga, Madrid and San Sebastian), Ukraine (Kiev) and Italy (maybe Sicily or somewhere in Toscana). How can I be sure that I can take off and not be fined by the police thousands of euro?

Is that map - DJI - The World Leader in Camera Drones/Quadcopters for Aerial Photography accurate enough? When I tick the boxes of "Warning Zones" and "Enhanced Warning Zones" it gets pretty ugly. Let's take Malaga, Spain, for example. Without "Warning Zones" and "Enhanced Warning Zones" enabled, the site looks alright - No-Go are the airport, the area around it in blue and some prisons. But when I tick the "Warning Zones" and "Enhanced Warning Zones" boxes, all of Malaga gets colored - the orange area covers the area to the centre, and the yellow one completely covers the city, the beaches. Does this mean I won't be able to take off even in the yellow areas? Can I be fined just for flying it? Can I use it for filming in the city, above the traffic on a roundabout, or the rooftop of a cathedral? How can I be sure that my 499-bucks drone won't give me 4999-euro fine? What is the police definition of "over a crowd" - if there are 5-10 people on the beach in March in Malaga, and I pass over them, would that be considered bad? I read about some new laws in July 2020, what will happen to the MM? I surely don't want to buy it simply to take it on farms and Siberia-like fields.

So many noob questions, so few bullets - glad I'm not asking them f2f. Cheers, thanks in advance and keep up the good work!

"I got to this forum and, voila, I don't ever want to own a drone".
Okay. If you ever change your mind, a Mavic is a lovely choice.
Best wishes.