Unlock 400' Altitude Restriction?

[DanaMc]

How would it know that I'm 100 feet off the ground on the side of a mountain vs my home point if it doesn't adjust for or show that I've gone over a 50 foot drop?

You don’t. The point being missed is the drone does not have a true altimeter like an airplane. It shows the altitude in relationship to the home point. Your internal flight log will record your position. If you had to prove it, the data would show where it was at a given moment. Otherwise it’s your responsibility to keep VLOS which will be tricky going up a changing slope. The videos I’ve seen from others were shot launching from the summit. And they have all been amazing.

 

[dawgpilot]

Not without modifying the app firmware using a 3rd party firmware tool.

That's not correct: you can just change the setting in DJI Fly.

 

[sar104]

Not without modifying the app firmware using a 3rd party firmware tool.

That answer is wrong on both counts, and the question was answered correctly above. Firstly, the 400 ft limit is just an app limit, and can be increased to 500 m (1640 ft), which is the firmware limit, in the app settings. Secondly, with the MA2 there are no firmware hacks to unlock the 500 m limit.

 

[hiflyer201]

Like Ice say's
you would be absolutely legal as far above the ground goes but the drone itself is restricted to above T/O position. The hemispherical rule in flying for VFR flights is westbound flights even altitudes plus 500 and east bound odd (instrument flights have minimum flight altitudes and they are even thousand altitudes) but that only applies at more than 3000 ft above the surface because of the difference of terrain and I'm sure in the eye's of the FAA the same applies with the 400 ft. rule with drones but how would they write that rule?
How about hiking to the top, taking then off then flying the drone down the mountainside.

 

[Happyonmyhill]

And remember to adjust your return to home settings accordingly. In occasionally fly in national forrest and anytime I need to take my bird up above 400ft from home point to navigate a hill or mountain it pays to be mindful of an RTH setting of say 200ft. While the craft might be only be 200 ft above current terrain it could be 600-700 ft above home point.

a need to use RTH could result in a remote landing or even a crash as the craft moves to 200ft above home point. That could be below ground level on the mountain side.

its possible the sensors would prevent this but I just adjust on the fly being mindful to stay under the 400 ft level.

 

[MaJJx5]

We do quite a bit of hiking in the Adirondack Mountains and I'd like to be able to take off at the base of some of them and fly up towards the peaks. It's not really possible with the 400' altitude limit, is there a away to unlock it?

Got to altitude limit and switch it to 500m. I usually send my drone up sides of mountains while hiking. It will max out at 1640ft which kind of sucks cause many of the mountains I hike are much higher.

 

[Ptevee]

What is so confusing? Change your app settings so max height is whatever you want to fly above take off point. You are legal to fly higher than 400' from take off as long as the drone itself is within 400' of whatever it's flying over. It's not that hard!

 

[dawgpilot]

Got to altitude limit and switch it to 500m. I usually send my drone up sides of mountains while hiking. It will max out at 1640ft which kind of sucks cause many of the mountains I hike are much higher.

Are you really hiking 1640 feet (-400 feet) in elevation before the battery runs out? Since the limit resets every time you land, I wouldn't expect this to be an issue.

 

[DashSolo]

Got to altitude limit and switch it to 500m. I usually send my drone up sides of mountains while hiking. It will max out at 1640ft which kind of sucks cause many of the mountains I hike are much higher.

Your statement makes no sense, terrain elevation is measured in MSL (mean sea level) App elevation is measured in AGL (above ground level), the elevation of the mountains makes no difference, you will still be able to fly above it up to 500m (1640ft).

 

[Ice_2k]

Your statement makes no sense, terrain elevation is measured in MSL (mean sea level) App elevation is measured in AGL (above ground level), the elevation of the mountains makes no difference, you will still be able to fly above it up to 500m (1640ft).

That’s actually incorrect, the app’s elevation is measured with the takeoff point as reference. If you fly straight forward from the top of a mountain, you can be 1000m AGL and have the app show altitude 0.

 

[wsalopek]

Its 400 Above Ground Level (AGL), so if the drone is flying up the face of the mountain, its the distance between the drone and that part of the mountain its over, not where you are standing. When you come back down, be sure to maintain that same relationship and you'll be fine. If you fly out away from the face, then you'd probably exceed the 400 AGL

Good idea...using terrain data to figure the ACTUAL altitude above the terrain. But sadly, that's not the case, DJI uses the altitude above the takeoff point.

 

[wsalopek]

Set max height and fly, your area will not have any air traffic or an FAA inspector. You may want to even go higher than you thought, it's not an issue. Get the shot you want and fly. Use common sense and battery management.

Worst advice in this thread. Do NOT do this. You risk hurting someone, being sued for all you have, as well as hurting the reputation of the entire industry bringing MORE restrictive rules down on everyone.

 

[Flynz]

It's not that hard. Use Google or guess the height at the top and add 400 ft. As you fly up the mountain keep checking forward and down with the camera. It is easy enough to stay at 1-2-300 ft AGL. I usually try to get level with the top standing off about 300ft which is legal in my country and use the camera to work out when I am about level. Then read the altitude and add say 300ft to be conservative.

Flying over a crag with a 50 ft drop is irrelevant. Flying over an large valley is different and you will need to descend. You may then have line of site or signal problems.

Flying home you can leave the altitude but use the camera to guess the AGL.

If in doubt at any point just stop and look down. Then look at 45 degrees down and do a 180 to be sure.

Watch out for helicopters. They have a habit of sitting at an altitude and not rising to 500ft AGL when the go over a ridge, which might bring them into your zone. If a chopper is close by, run and hide...

Happy flying.

 

[jclarkw]

All -- So the lesson I'm taking away from all this discussion is this:

Whatever altitude you start from (your home point), you can only fly a maximum of 500 m (1640 ft) higher than that, no matter what you do. (AND you have to stay within 400 ft of the local ground level.) Correct?

 

[dawgpilot]

All -- So the lesson I'm taking away from all this discussion is this:

Whatever altitude you start from (your home point), you can only fly a maximum of 500 m (1640 ft) higher than that, no matter what you do. (AND you have to stay within 400 ft of the local ground level.) Correct?

Correct.

 

[Thomas B]

All -- So the lesson I'm taking away from all this discussion is this:

Whatever altitude you start from (your home point), you can only fly a maximum of 500 m (1640 ft) higher than that, no matter what you do. (AND you have to stay within 400 ft of the local ground level.) Correct?

You could try a remote landing. Wait 20-30 sec. Then TO again. In the M2P I have used the technique to get a view over a 2200’ peak...
pick an easily reached area to try this with your MA2 before going into the field.
An example can be found in a thread with a video made using that technique... here:

Flying the Santan Mountains

I look at this part of the Santan Mountains while sitting on my back porch as I only live about 3 miles away in south Gilbert, AZ. I always wanted to explore the peak with my M2P... Well, I ended up having about 8 hours of video to edit. It was taken on several different days over about 2...

mavicpilots.com

 

[jclarkw]

You could try a remote landing. Wait 20-30 sec. Then TO again. In the M2P I have used the technique to get a view over a 2200’ peak...
pick an easily reached area to try this with your MA2 before going into the field.
An example can be found in a thread with a video made using that technique... here:

Flying the Santan Mountains

I look at this part of the Santan Mountains while sitting on my back porch as I only live about 3 miles away in south Gilbert, AZ. I always wanted to explore the peak with my M2P... Well, I ended up having about 8 hours of video to edit. It was taken on several different days over about 2...

mavicpilots.com

Thomas -- Good idea. I guess, when you land and wait, you're effectively resetting the home point to a location with higher MSL altitude, thereby releasing another 1640 ft of available altitude gain. Right? This is fine for returning to that intermediate "home point," but two questions:

1) Is there any way to restore the original home point for final return to the starting location? Or do you just have to navigate home using the map (see below) and visual cues?

2) I'm using the DJI Fly app. Is the route of the first leg of the flight retained on the map, so that you can use that for navigation home, or does that get reset for what is effectively a new flight? -- jclarkw

 

[Ice_2k]

you can always reset the homepoint to your location. The only issue I see is you losing signal as the drone touches down and the ground is between you and the drone. You might have a fun time recovering it

 

[jclarkw]

you can always reset the homepoint to your location...

Ice_2k -- Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean here, nor how to do it. Reset it how? To what location? When in the process of a multi-leg flight? -- jclarkw

 

[jclarkw]

All -- Sorry, but I'm still puzzled by Ice_2k's and Thomas B's responses to my questions above in post #37. Two specific questions remain:

1) What exactly does (remote) landing and takeoff do? Does it reset the take-off altitude, the entire home point (including altitude), or what?

2) If it resets the entire home point, then how do I get back to the original home point? (This would be especially important in a case of loss of signal, low battery, or other emergency during the return to original home.)

Best Regards -- jclarkw