Too nervous to fly

[koco2202]

You live in Texas, there are lots of places you can fly and have your drone within your eye side. Just find open area, some park and go up and far, if you are not comfortable too much use the RTH button.

 

[Magpie]

Nothing prohibits night flights under recreational flight rules, however the CBO you are choosing to fly under may have additional recommendations/requirements.

 

[FlySkyJumper]

So I got my mini 2 in Oct 2022 and have barely flown it. I live in a neighborhood and flew it straight up, took some photos, and brought it right back down. I don’t know where to fly. I know not to fly over other peoples homes, or traffic, etc. and that limits my take offs from home. I live in San Antonio, TX and all outlying areas are peoples land and I don’t want to fly over without permission. Am I just being overly cautious? All the fly maps/apps that I have show all areas around me ok to fly but I also don’t want to upset anyone. Any advice for a newbie?

Take some courses, join a local club. Get your part 107 to truly learn a bit about aviation.

this will help boost your confidence and help you be informed.

 

[RangerEd]

Google maps is your best friend. Find open areas where there's not too many houses or buildings.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I am pretty sure night flights are a Part 107 thing.

Safe Flying!

Nope. Interestingly enough, prior to April 21, 2021 - 107 certified operators were NOT allowed night time flight (without a waiver) - while there was no restriction on recreational night flight. A recreational pilot can still fly at night as long as they follow the other regulations and 107's with the new recurrency training can now fly without a waiver.

 

[smashse]

Nope. Interestingly enough, prior to April 21, 2021 - 107 certified operators were NOT allowed night time flight (without a waiver) - while there was no restriction on recreational night flight. A recreational pilot can still fly at night as long as they follow the other regulations and 107's with the new recurrency training can now fly without a waiver.

My bad on needing the part 107 or not, and seems you are correct. I got my 107 before I had more than 5 daytime flights under my belt, so just went with the rules on that for the last couple years. Not everything makes sense with the FAA, like why limit a 107 from flying at night and not a rec pilot?...

Still need anticollision lights and reduced range to be able to tell attitude, speed, etc, but Rec night flights seem to always have been allowed.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Not everything makes sense with the FAA, like why limit a 107 from flying at night and not a rec pilot?...

The recreational 'Exception' is a holdout from the days prior to drones. RC night flying was, and still is; very popular with RC pilots. When drones came along, the FAA lumped Drones and RC into the same category, thus many of the things that were allowed for RC flight prior to drones, were continued forward - for recreational use only.

A lot of what the FAA has done may not make sense (I agree) but given that "drones" appeared virtually overnight and exploded in numbers, the FAA has been hobbling together a structure of regulations that attempts to address a lot of 'moving parts' so to speak.

 

[GregS]

So I got my mini 2 in Oct 2022 and have barely flown it. I live in a neighborhood and flew it straight up, took some photos, and brought it right back down. I don’t know where to fly. I know not to fly over other peoples homes, or traffic, etc. and that limits my take offs from home. I live in San Antonio, TX and all outlying areas are peoples land and I don’t want to fly over without permission. Am I just being overly cautious? All the fly maps/apps that I have show all areas around me ok to fly but I also don’t want to upset anyone. Any advice for a newbie?

Sounds like myself when I first got my Phantom 4 and Mavic Pro. Just wanted to baby them. That will go away soon. Look for an empty soccer practice field. Should be plenty of places in San Antonio. Just stay away from power lines. Fly around a field at low altitude at first to build your confidence. You might want to download B4UFLY app. When you find a place that looks good to fly, pull up the app and it will tell you if you are good to go. Submit your flight request to the FAA from that app. Approval/disapproval will come back very quickly. Now...go fly!

 

[LoudThunder]

I found one great place to practice flying is over football fields,

When flying on a football field, you need to be careful of those sneaky Goal Posts, I swear they move, you are just flying along and all of a sudden, "Twang" you just hit a goal post and you do not get 2-points for it…

You do know, you can set the maximum height and range that your drone can fly away from you in the Fly App? Lots of YouTube videos to show you how if you do not know how…

Set the max height to 50' and the max range to 100' and it is like flying inside an invisible glass cylinder. When you get to the 100' range, the drone will not fly any further. Give it just right stick and the drone will just fly sideways in a circle around you and if you try to fly higher than the max height, the drone just hovers there.

This is a great way to let youngsters and even adults who do not listen very well to learn to fly without flying too far away and losing the drone in a tree or hit a building…

 

[LoudThunder]

Nothing prohibits night flights under recreational flight rules,

Rec Pilots (Non Part 107 Licensed) can fly at night with Anti-Collision Lights in Non-controlled Airspace, Part 107 can… Use the B4UFLY App and if you are in a Blue or Maroon Circle, you (as a Rec Flyer…) cannot and the FAA will not grant an Authorization.

But, to be brutally honest, Newbies should not be flying at night, anywhere, anytime. Once they can confidently say, they are not a newbie; then they probably have the confidence and skill to control their drone to fly at night. Reason being, so many newbies still fly FPV using the video display to get back home and cannot yet control the drone properly when flying the drone back at themselves (is that right or left???). The FPV is usually completely black and useless… (My Two-Cents…)

 

[kpmac]

State parks are definitely a no go. Texas only legally allows 2 state parks. But local parks are a good idea. Thank you.

Most state parks in Louisiana are ok. I just check before I fly.

 

[Deleted member 162835]

Rec Pilots (Non Part 107 Licensed) can fly at night with Anti-Collision Lights in Non-controlled Airspace, Part 107 can… Use the B4UFLY App and if you are in a Blue or Maroon Circle, you (as a Rec Flyer…) cannot and the FAA will not grant an Authorization.

But, to be brutally honest, Newbies should not be flying at night, anywhere, anytime. Once they can confidently say, they are not a newbie; then they probably have the confidence and skill to control their drone to fly at night. Reason being, so many newbies still fly FPV using the video display to get back home and cannot yet control the drone properly when flying the drone back at themselves (is that right or left???). The FPV is usually completely black and useless… (My Two-Cents…)

Yeah this is correct. Recreational pilots cannot fly at night in controlled air space but with a part 107 certification you can get LAANC authorization to fly in controlled airspace at night.

 

[rotohead]

I have a similar inhibition to flying my drone as I'm disabled in a wheelchair. So when I fly it any distance but right near me I'm constantly worried about crashing it and not being able to retrieve it. I've used the turtle mode on my Avata once and thanks to DJI it worked but not after about six tries. I've finally decided to come to the fact that every time I fly it will probably be the last. It definitely takes the full fun factor out of this sport.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

I have a similar inhibition to flying my drone as I'm disabled in a wheelchair. So when I fly it any distance but right near me I'm constantly worried about crashing it and not being able to retrieve it. I've used the turtle mode on my Avata once and thanks to DJI it worked but not after about six tries. I've finally decided to come to the fact that every time I fly it will probably be the last. It definitely takes the full fun factor out of this sport.

Every single time I lift off all I see is $3k cash flying further and further away from me. I'm on the coast. Most of my flying is over waterways which I could never get to. Sure, it's insured. But whatever. Every single time I lift off I assume it's the last time I'll see it, too.

Join the club.

 

[Jaime Zapata]

Así que obtuve mi mini 2 en octubre de 2022 y apenas lo he volado. Vivo en un vecindario y lo volé hacia arriba, tomé algunas fotos y lo traje de nuevo. No sé a dónde volar. Sé que no debo volar sobre las casas de otras personas, ni el tráfico, etc. y eso limita mis despegues de casa. Vivo en San Antonio, TX y todas las áreas periféricas son tierra de personas y no quiero volar sin permiso. ¿Estoy siendo demasiado cauteloso? Todos los mapas / aplicaciones de moscas que tengo muestran que todas las áreas a mi alrededor están bien para volar, pero tampoco quiero molestar a nadie. ¿Algún consejo para un novato?

 

[Jaime Zapata]

Así que obtuve mi mini 2 en octubre de 2022 y apenas lo he volado. Vivo en un vecindario y lo volé hacia arriba, tomé algunas fotos y lo traje de nuevo. No sé a dónde volar. Sé que no debo volar sobre las casas de otras personas, ni el tráfico, etc. y eso limita mis despegues de casa. Vivo en San Antonio, TX y todas las áreas periféricas son tierra de personas y no quiero volar sin permiso. ¿Estoy siendo demasiado cauteloso? Todos los mapas / aplicaciones de moscas que tengo muestran que todas las áreas a mi alrededor están bien para volar, pero tampoco quiero molestar a nadie. ¿Algún consejo para un novato? Automático

 

[Jaime Zapata]

Así que obtuve mi mini 2 en octubre de 2022 y apenas lo he volado. Vivo en un vecindario y lo volé hacia arriba, tomé algunas fotos y lo traje de nuevo. No sé a dónde volar. Sé que no debo volar sobre las casas de otras personas, ni el tráfico, etc. y eso limita mis despegues de casa. Vivo en San Antonio, TX y todas las áreas periféricas son tierra de personas y no quiero volar sin permiso. ¿Estoy siendo demasiado cauteloso? Todos los mapas / aplicaciones de moscas que tengo muestran que todas las áreas a mi alrededor están bien para volar, pero tampoco quiero molestar a nadie. ¿Algún consejo para un novato? Nici

Así que obtuve mi mini 2 en octubre de 2022 y apenas lo he volado. Vivo en un vecindario y lo volé hacia arriba, tomé algunas fotos y lo traje de nuevo. No sé a dónde volar. Sé que no debo volar sobre las casas de otras personas, ni el tráfico, etc. y eso limita mis despegues de casa. Vivo en San Antonio, TX y todas las áreas periféricas son tierra de personas y no quiero volar sin permiso. ¿Estoy siendo demasiado cauteloso? Todos los mapas / aplicaciones de moscas que tengo muestran que todas las áreas a mi alrededor están bien para volar, pero tampoco quiero molestar a nadie. ¿Algún consejo para un novato?

dron inicia en espacios abiertos sin obstáculos

 

[LoudThunder]

dron inicia en espacios abiertos sin obstáculos

He said......

drone starts in open spaces without obstacles

and he also said....


So I got my mini 2 in Oct 2022 and have barely flown it. I live in a neighborhood and I blew it up, took some photos and brought it back. I don't know where to fly. I know not to fly over other people's houses, traffic, etc. and that limits my takeoffs from home. I live in San Antonio, TX and all outlying areas are people's land and I don't want to fly without permission. Am I being too cautious? All the fly maps/apps I have show that all areas around me are ok to fly, but I don't want to bother anyone either. Any advice for a newbie?

 

[Merrillie]

I am in Australia and luckily live on the Central Coast a very big area with only some restrictions ie an airfield, National Parks, 30 metres away from people including overhead, 120m height limit. I fly a lot mostly over water, multiple times a week and have been flying for a few years and I remain cautious. My Mavic 3 costs too much to lose it or destroy it.
My first flight with the Mavic Air 2 was in my loungeroom, 2nd flight was at an empty local sportsground, 3rd flight was over a lagoon. Eventually my confidence grew and so did my skills. I am primarily into photography so I ended up buying the Air2S for the 1 inch sensor when it came out then the Mavic 3 for the micro 4/3 sensor enabling high quality photos.
Even though according to DJI the amount of flights I have recorded are in the top 1 percent of drone pilots I don't cover a lot of kms. I still like to keep the drone within my sight at all times and if I do lose sight of it in the sky I turn it around and start to fly back towards where I am until I can see it again.
It is an actual rule in Australia that your drone must be within visual line-of-sight although I doubt most people actually follow this rule, I do because I like to keep it in sight.
My tips are go out for sunrise when most people are still in bed or at home. Less people less problems.
Find an open space, a park, an empty open to the public sports ground, a lake, lagoon, dam.
A quick google search for where can I fly drones in San Antonio says
Recreational Flying Made Easy

• Padre Park. Map View. ...
• Travis Park. Map View. ...
• Olmos Basin Park. Map View. ...
• Castroville Regional Park. Map View. ...
• Comanche Lookout Park. 15551 Nacogdoches Rd, San Antonio, TX 78247, United States. ...
• Denman Estate Park. ...
• James Kiehl Natural Area. ...
• Raymond Russell Park.

Best Places to Fly Your Drone in San Antonio - Pilot Institute

pilotinstitute.com

Start slow and cautious, keep it in your sight, go early and have fun.

 

[Red_Pyro]

So I got my mini 2 in Oct 2022 and have barely flown it. I live in a neighborhood and flew it straight up, took some photos, and brought it right back down. I don’t know where to fly. I know not to fly over other peoples homes, or traffic, etc. and that limits my take offs from home. I live in San Antonio, TX and all outlying areas are peoples land and I don’t want to fly over without permission. Am I just being overly cautious? All the fly maps/apps that I have show all areas around me ok to fly but I also don’t want to upset anyone. Any advice for a newbie?

You need to learn to stand your ground. Last time someone bothered me I told him the only authority is the office of aviation and he should call the cops in that case. That sends those idiots on their way