VLOS article I found interesting

[Phantomrain.org]

Yes we have found with our research that having Two Contrasting Colors provides a better VLOS than one single color both on the Drone and the Wet Suit that is why the Forum members get Two full Color Designs. . and this is one of our favorite setups .

Awesome , thank you , will set you up nicely.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the water.

Coal

 

[MARK (LI)]

Wishful thinking , Flying in the Rain, Extended VLOS is always best shown with our Phantomrain Videos .

My take on VLOS has everything to do with Birds, Thus I need to know where my drone is at all times and bright lights on the Drone in the sun do not provide the amount of VLOS a rescue Jacket can provide.

For me the key is if you can take your eyes off the sky and continue to find your drone than I feel safe.

So if I have some Representation of my drone I can be more aware of the Birds , that have taken down my drones over the years.

This was the Air 2 , but the Mavic 3 has even a little more range closer to 3000 Ft .

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I don't understand what you are saying here

 

[MARK (LI)]

Yes we have found with our research that having Two Contrasting Colors provides a better VLOS than one single color both on the Drone and the Wet Suit that is why the Forum members get Two full Color Designs. . and this is one of our favorite setups .

Awesome , thank you , will set you up nicely.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the water.

Coal

View attachment 177908

Here either...in fact I don't think you are talking about the same topic as I am.......I don't think I am the only one saying that being able to maintain vlos at 2,000 feet is not realistic....3,000 feet is really not credible at all...I don't care what color it is

 

[TonyPHX]

VLOS is an easy rule for me to adhere to. These things are too expensive to let too far out of our sight. When the inevitable happens, you need to be able to walk over and retrieve it.

 

[MARK (LI)]

But your claim that the thing offers the purchaser the ability to maintain vlos at 3,000 feet is just not credible...that is not right to make the claim...especially on this forum where the people who see it know better...or maybe it is better here rather in a forum where people who don't know any better may believe it

 

[Phantomrain.org]

But your claim that the thing offers the purchaser the ability to maintain vlos at 3,000 feet is just not credible...that is not right to make the claim...especially on this forum where the people who see it know better...or maybe it is better here rather in a forum where people who don't know any better may believe it

My claim is that If offers me 3000 ft and Posted a video of exactly how it works for me.

I am not claiming as the Article does that you can see it at 5000 fT , Read the Article , your gripe should be with them not me for petes sake.

One of the things I like about the camera is that on the Rescue Jacket the Actual Camera pics up the Drone nicely but without the Rescue Jacket the camera is not able to show it, Pretty Awesome !!

The air 2 gets 2800 ft for me and the Mavic 3 gets a little more at 3000 ft with the Rescue Jacket.

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Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water. increase VLOS to 3000 Ft.

 

[Rchawks]

Doesn't a strobe light give a 3 S.M. VLOS??

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Doesn't a strobe light give a 3 S.M. VLOS??

I was never able to get that during a sun lit day , This was my test in the dusk and took it out to 3000 ft before I could not see really see it. In the Pitch of night you can get much further. .

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Phanmtomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[Rchawks]

I remember years ago house sitting in the country for a dear friend of ours and testing my VLOS flying my MA2 and without pushing myself too much I got 1500 ft or so before I got nervous and went back to the fun part of flying. That's with my 60 year old eyes at the time and no I don't wear glasses. Watching your video the first thing I noticed was how the footprint of the drone was easier to see. I don't think you would claim the distance if it wasn't true. I know I surprised several people who watched me fly electric gliders and just how far I could see and track what I was doing at all times (no heads up display}. My wife used to have amazing vision for distance that always surprised and impressed me on road trips. Some people are better at tracking things visually than others. I often wondered if changing the color would aid in viewing the drone, but it had never occurred to me that the visual footprint would aid in that task.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

At some point all drones turn black at a distance , however if you can see over the top of your drone that can make a world of difference. It really pays off in finding a lost drone in the Bush or the Trees.

The one day I put on the all black wet suit my Air 2 landed in the heavy bush 20 ft away from my home and to this day I have not found it, Being all black it was cursed to a lifetime in the mud somewhere.

Rumor has that my ghost will search for it long after I am gone. lol

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain , Land on the Water and Cry about my lost drone.

 

[johnnyb57]

Everyone has lost sight of their drone at some point ???

 

[cameracamel]

A client sent me this article, what is your take ?

The furthest I can see my drone is 2000 ft and with the Rescue Jacket 3000 ft.

Let me Clarify that Phantomrain.org did not write this Article. This was written in the drone Pilot School


Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

View attachment 177904

but, but according to the song or movie or whatever it was, "On a clear day, you can see forever"...............

 

[Droning on and on...]

I was never able to get that during a sun lit day , This was my test in the dusk and took it out to 3000 ft before I could not see really see it. In the Pitch of night you can get much further. .

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Phanmtomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

So two different issues: How far away can one see an illuminated object in daylight, vs. how far away one can see a light source, particularly at night.

In the first case, it's a matter of the minimum angle that can be discriminated, and this is a function of rod density on the retina. This varies a little from person to person, but not much.

For objects the size of a Mavic, this works out to around 1000-2000ft. Beyond that, less than one rod (forget the cones) is being impacted by the brightness change in the sky where the drone is.

The only way to make it more visible is to make it bigger.

A light source, like a strobe, can be seen arbitrarily far away, independent of size. All that matters is intensity. Day or night.

 

[3rdof5]

I have used spotters (standing right beside me), even when flying VLOS. There have been times when I know I'm in an area where there are birds, but I want to focus on photography, hence I'm using the screen, and not keeping an eye on my aircraft. It comes to down to due diligence and common sense when flying at any distance. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Seems to me real-world experience is an excellent measure of the risk and danger with not flying via direct LOS vs. via the camera view.

Regardless of what the regulations say, and pious chest-thumping by fellow pilot citizen regulators, my experience 10 years in this hobby starting with the P4 is that almost everyone flies BVLOS routinely, and when within LOS fly nearly 100% via camera view.

And adverse events are near zero. Take out the idiots we see on YT that egregiously break the rules in dangerous ways, and it probably is zero.

The rules are way out of line with actual flying practices, and actual safety results. Hopefully that will change.

Flying a camera drone truly within the FAA definition of VLOS is as boring as watching paint dry.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Oh, and what's that "continue mission" feature on loss of signal in waypoint missions?

Why would a law-abiding, good member of the aviation community need that? Why would anyone recommend a drone capable of this over one without it, when discussing waypoint capability?

After all, under the rules it's pretty much useless.

And yet...

 

[Rchawks]

(I got 1500 ft ) I was using a strobe light at the time with blue sky.

 

[Zbip57]

As far as I know under the new regs, there is no such thing as a spotter anymore in the US.

I'm not sure what you mean by that?

§ 107.31 Visual line of sight aircraft operation
and,
§ 107.33 Visual observer
describe what's required.

§ 107.33 (a) The remote pilot in command, the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system, and the visual observer must maintain effective communication with each other at all times.
That's pretty much exactly what our Canadian Regulation says, except ours uses the words "reliable and timely communication". So where did I get the idea that the US regs somehow require the pilot and visual observer to be "co-located"?

Aha! It's in the Recreational exemption! The "Exception for limited recreational operations of unmanned aircraft", in §44809(a)(3) requires, "The aircraft is flown within the visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft or a visual observer co-located and in direct communication with the operator."

So that seems to say that the "co-location" requirement applies only in the case when flying under the Recreational exemptions. Under full Part 107 they don't need to be co-located, and can be in radio communication? However...

§ 107.31(a) says, "With vision that is unaided by any device other than corrective lenses, the remote pilot in command, the visual observer (if one is used), and the person manipulating the flight control of the small unmanned aircraft system must be able to see the unmanned aircraft throughout the entire flight in order to:"

That means, flying under goggles and relying on the visual observer, the pilot throughout the entire flight must also still "be able to" see the drone when taking off the goggles. So you cannot have visual observers with radios daisy-chained beyond possible VLOS of the pilot.

Our Canadian regulation says something significantly different, which I think makes more sense. Our 901.11 (1) says, "[...], no pilot shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft system unless the pilot or a visual observer has the aircraft in visual line-of-sight at all times during flight."

The pilot or a spotter must be able to see the drone. So we can have a daisy-chained line of spotters in radio communication with the pilot when the drone is beyond VLOS of the pilot. They do not need to be co-located.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I'm not sure what you mean by that?

§ 107.31 Visual line of sight aircraft operation
and,
§ 107.33 Visual observer
describe what's required.

Welllllll me and @zeusfl got into a little bit of FAA awakening after our long distance flights with spotters.
I was not to happy about it , as to this day I am still a bit confused .

So if something has changed, I am ready with spotters all along the river bed.

This was 2021 maybe.



Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water, and never use spotters, the FAA dont like them.

 

[AMann]

Doesn't a strobe light give a 3 S.M. VLOS??

You can’t rely on auxiliary lighting to “extend” your VLOS, you need to be able to see it without the lighting (per FAA).