Visual Line of Sight?

[hewo]

Visual Line Of Sight. if you cant see it unaided then its not VLOS.
Some days i can see my drone at 800m others its down to 400m.

Yes! The child has the best eyes, but definition says operator's eyes, not surrogate's eyes. I say it since elders inate eyesight goes downhill

 

[Deanmarz]

Example:
Say your house is surrounded by trees. You launch from your backyard, going up 50m to clear the trees. Once you start moving forward, you're going to lose sight of your drone, because of the tree tops. You may have only traveled a lateral distance of 10m.

That’s exactly my situation but how far will the controller still contact the bird? I’m sure the distance will be greatly diminished

 

[sdpy]

My question is why even allow your device to go out of legal vlos (let's say 200m MAX as an average hypothetical statistic for a drone flyer to see their device).
Why not just cap it and tell the user to take an exam if they wish to fly further out?

Incidentally I had to take a stupid uav exam and register it with the dot so I can even operate a drone.

To stem legal misunderstanding and abuse by the legal system they should have kept the cap at VLOS or 500m, whichever comes first. (Please dont bring up the speeding analog, I've had the lecture of free will before).

In an ideal world DJI would make an omnidirectional infrared light ( or some light based beacon that could be seen in the brightest conditions) for their phantom and inspire lines which could be recieved by a transparent headset thus maximizing vlos. But then again, who are we kidding, most of us are just hobbyists who aren't looking to change the world. Lol

 

[sdpy]

If you fly in the dark (ie at night) your AC must be equipped with the recognized standard navigation and avoidance lights capable of being seen up to 3 miles. Night flying OK given above.

Oh yeah......don't forget to log all your flights.

Interesting that you bring this up because the new regs state that you can fly your device at night in a well lighted area with a basic operations uav licence. They dont explicitly mention that your device needs to be modified to be seen up to 3 mi.

 

[Ken K]

Interesting that you bring this up because the new regs state that you can fly your device at night in a well lighted area with a basic operations uav licence. They dont explicitly mention that your device needs to be modified to be seen up to 3 mi.

Navigation lights are required for night flights. See regulation part 901.39 (1).

 

[Kilrah]

If my controller poops out, it comes home. If it can’t come home because of excessive wind, or the battery poops out, seeing it isn’t going to save the situation. If I still have control but no telemetry or screen FPV, I simply kick in RTH.

RTH cannot be relied on. See the number of threads around where a drone loses its bearings, cannot navigate itself and flies away. It's the exact opposite of a "rescue system" (which by definition should be a simple as possible and involve the least amount of complex and uncertain components) since apart from the RC link it requires everything to work perfectly, the smallest malfunction or disturbance will render it inoperable.

 

[BigAl07]

RTH cannot be relied on. See the number of threads around where a drone loses its bearings, cannot navigate itself and flies away. It's the exact opposite of a "rescue system" (which by definition should be a simple as possible and involve the least amount of complex and uncertain components) since apart from the RC link it requires everything to work perfectly, the smallest malfunction or disturbance will render it inoperable.

Very wise words sir.

 

[Bahnfiya]

As a new owner/pilot of my first drone, MP2, I find it odd the stock version from the manufacture let's you do sooo many illegal things. I understand this isn't a new concept in life as cars can go well over top interstate/highway speed limits, but why if the majority of people do need to stay within the rules?

 

[BigAl07]

As a new owner/pilot of my first drone, MP2, I find it odd the stock version from the manufacture let's you do sooo many illegal things. I understand this isn't a new concept in life as cars can go well over top interstate/highway speed limits, but why if the majority of people do need to stay within the rules?

They are sold all over the WORLD and some places have little to no restrictions.

 

[Bahnfiya]

@BigAl0 yea i get that, but still seems like a majority vs minority. Because some places have little to no restrictions, is that really the majority of places? I'm sure it would cost DJI more, and perhaps even the majority would still fly/buy the unrestricted version - but it would surely help alleviate any responsibility from the manufacturer and help newbies like myself stay within the rules. It could be as simple as a "mode" much like the beginner mode restrictions within DJI app. As responses here have informed, VLOS is highly variable, so it might not even be something DJI could provide within a reasonable user experience - and I have read that DJI will notify you if you're traveling into a no fly zone so in retrospect they are trying where they can. Was merely a thought, foot in mouth the more examples I think about. Back to VLOS, sorry OP @sdpy.

 

[Endeavor]

I think if people are honest they will all admit VLOS is just an idea and most will lose sight of the drone in short order. One really relies on the app and FPV and the VLOS rule only come into play if there is an incident then it will be used against the pilot. I for one will lose the MA or Spark as soon as it reaches a couple hundred feet and look at all the footage of flying over trees - can people see through trees?

 

[radmanzulu]

UK Aviation Definition
Definitions – ARPAS UK
Visual Line of Sight Operations (VLOS): Visual Line of Sight is termed as being the maximum distance that the flight crew is able to maintain separation and collision avoidance, under the prevailing atmospheric conditions, with the unaided eye (other than corrective lenses). For flights within Line of Sight, the pilot is required to employ the See – and – Avoid principle through continued observation of the aircraft, and the airspace around it, with respect to other aircraft and objects. Within the UK, Visual Line of Sight operations are normally accepted out to a maximum distance of 500 m horizontally, and 400 ft vertically, from the pilot.

US Definition

https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pms515-uas-terms-and-abbreviations.pdf

Visual Line of Sight. The pilot’s ability to see an aircraft from the ground
well enough to control it, without the use of artificial visual aids (aside from
glasses).

 

[oldcelt]

Does nobody understand plain English? Regardless of individual country regs , VLOS simply means 'Visual Line of Sight'. What's so difficult about that?

You must be able to see the aircraft with your naked eyes when it's airborne - allowing for, if you wear them, your normal spectacles.

If you can't see your drone, you are contravening the Air Law for whatever country in which you are flying. I believe this is a universal requirement.

It is allowable to have strobe lights, or any colour decoration, on the aircraft to aid vision. However, if you can't actually see it you are contravening the air law.

It is that simple!

 

[old man mavic]

VLOS is not an exact measurement ,it is dependant on so many variables ,the PICs vision the background contrast of the sky ,ie sunny,overcast time of day ,and the environment where the flight is being conducted ,sometimes I can loose sight of my mav at around 800ft ,on another occasion I can see it at 1500 ft it’s all relative ,and as others have stated it’s the ability to see your drone that allows you to avoid other flying objects and the ground ,if you cannot see your drone then you have a very limited perspective of its relationship with its surroundings

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

..ARCII 4led strobes look like the best way to fix this limiting VLOS problem.
Others are out there like the Strobon lights, but form reviews seen, Firehouse Tech ARCII 4's are all over them for distance and brightness.

It's time for me to get some, as I'd like to keep it in sight if I am watching it and look away for a few seconds and back up.
In reality, VLOS is very difficult (if not impossible) when flying and filming, you are usually watching your FPV viewing device, almost ALWAYS, so it's very easy to lose VLOS in a short distance in some cases.

Being able to yaw a drone and see strobes like ARC so far away even in daylight is the way to go.
I can see them having a mini boom soon if people are reluctantly dragged into keeping this VLOS real world.

 

[Lets Fly]

and I have read that DJI will notify you if you're traveling into a no fly zone

They not only notify, I hit invisible walls flying toward class D space, and at 400 feet.

 

[Flynz]

UK Aviation Definition
Definitions – ARPAS UK
Visual Line of Sight Operations (VLOS): Visual Line of Sight is termed as being the maximum distance that the flight crew is able to maintain separation and collision avoidance, under the prevailing atmospheric conditions, with the unaided eye (other than corrective lenses). For flights within Line of Sight, the pilot is required to employ the See – and – Avoid principle through continued observation of the aircraft, and the airspace around it, with respect to other aircraft and objects. Within the UK, Visual Line of Sight operations are normally accepted out to a maximum distance of 500 m horizontally, and 400 ft vertically, from the pilot.

US Definition

https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pms515-uas-terms-and-abbreviations.pdf

Visual Line of Sight. The pilot’s ability to see an aircraft from the ground
well enough to control it, without the use of artificial visual aids (aside from
glasses).

I like the U.K. definition. If you know where your drone is (gps map and camera) and can see the airspace around it you can avoid collision with manned aircraft, for example a low flying chopper.