Wetsuits and legality

[Bufface]

I was thinking about getting a wetsuit for my drone so that I didn’t have to worry about what would happen if it started to rainbefore I could land the drone.

However I saw in the news article about the guy who was fined $180,000, that one of the charges against him was flying in the rain (among many other violations).

It seems to me that buying a wetsuit might be evidence of intent to fly in the rain if you were to end up in the eye of the FAA.

How many wetsuit owners fly in the rain? What are your thought on this and does this mean you should not bother with the wetsuit and only fly on the clearest of days so that no rules are broken l?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I was thinking about getting a wetsuit for my drone so that I didn’t have to worry about what would happen if it started to rainbefore I could land the drone.

However I saw in the news article about the guy who was fined $180,000, that one of the charges against him was flying in the rain (among many other violations).

It seems to me that buying a wetsuit might be evidence of intent to fly in the rain if you were to end up in the eye of the FAA.

How many wetsuit owners fly in the rain? What are your thought on this and does this mean you should not bother with the wetsuit and only fly on the clearest of days so that no rules are broken l?

Couple things to note: That was a lie he started off with hoping to avoid having to confront the real infractions , in other words he panicked.

There was no warning or infraction for flying in the rain or heavy winds.
This is why he never read a single letter that was sent by the FAA.

I have Called the FAA on the matter , and flying in the Rain and keeping in Visual Line of sight is not an infraction nor flying in heavy winds.

Several people have also pointed out that there was not a single video he posted of him flying in the rain , just some dark clouds where he talks about hurricane and tornado , its all lies for entertainment.


Common sense will tell you that FAA does not control the Weather , if it flash rains , they would much rather you took precautions to not have your Drone fall out of sky.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Float on Water.
Coal

 

[Phantomrain.org]

This is also a good time to mention the Wet Suits do not Void the DJI Warranty nor do the Skins or Wraps sold also.

We have sold thousands of Wet Suits in the last 4 years and no DJI Warranty has ever been denied by a Wet Suit or a Skin or Wrap.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Float on Water.

 

[PhantomFandom]

that one of the charges against him was flying in the rain (among many other violations).

There is no regulation about flying in the rain. It is 100% legal to do so. However, flying in the rain "could" trigger other violations based on the actual conditions:

• The weather conditions must allow for 3 miles of visibility in order to fly a drone. If the rain is such that it limits your visibility to below 3 miles then you are in violation.
• There are regulations for minimum distance below and laterally from clouds. If it is raining, you may have low clouds which cause you to break these regulations.
• There is the catch-all regulation that you should not fly carelessly or recklessly. If the rain is causing any flight behavior that can be deemed reckless or careless then you have an issue.

So you shouldn't worry about rain itself. Personally I don't fly in the rain. It's not fun and these consumer drones are not designed for it.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

After talking with the FAA special Agents on these matters recently one thing became very clear .

The FAA are not really scanning your You Tube Videos,
The FAA are not scanning the Skies for your drone past Visual Line of Sight.
They are not putting lasers in the sky trying to catch you go over the 400 Ft legal Limits

What they do have is a Responsibility to Protect the City workers.

When Crane operators call the FAA, they need to react
When Train Conductors call the FAA they need to respond
When Boater on the water call the FAA they need to be aware

When Youtubers start calling the FAA over the Crane and Train videos and they Match it up with calls they got complaints from the FAA are going to identify that person and try and shut them down.

A Warning letter to most of us would be more than sufficient to make us aware of our demise .

Those that do not have there 107 should know that there is a question on the test that speaks volumes about the FAA.

The question was something like If you know that you have broken the Rules of the FAA should you contact them and report the incident to the FAA ? The Answer is NO .


I know many have been affected and now fear flying in general and the truth is we can go years before we ever seen anything like this in the news again.


Fly like no one is watching , and abide by the rules that you know are in place for the safety of others.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Float on Water.

 

[dawgpilot]

There is no regulation about flying in the rain. It is 100% legal to do so. However, flying in the rain "could" trigger other violations based on the actual conditions:

• The weather conditions must allow for 3 miles of visibility in order to fly a drone. If the rain is such that it limits your visibility to below 3 miles then you are in violation.
• There are regulations for minimum distance below and laterally from clouds. If it is raining, you may have low clouds which cause you to break these regulations.
• There is the catch-all regulation that you should not fly carelessly or recklessly. If the rain is causing any flight behavior that can be deemed reckless or careless then you have an issue.

So you shouldn't worry about rain itself. Personally I don't fly in the rain. It's not fun and these consumer drones are not designed for it.

Most of those rules you cited (3 miles of visibility, cloud clearance, etc) only apply to Part 107 operations. Flights under Section 44809 just are required to be within the line of sight.

 

[Bufface]

After talking with the FAA special Agents on these matters recently one thing became very clear .

The FAA are not scanning your You Tube Videos, they are not.

I actually think they are:

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Or worse, there are enough Youtube Karens filing complaints.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I actually think they are:

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Its not true, this has already been debunked. The guy presenting the video is already telling you that its sketchy. One thing were not seeing is the infraction letters , This is the telling truth.

For instance if i got a letter from the FAA stating that i was flying Recklessly near a Train . I may change that to something less alarming to get viewers and keep viewers . This is one of those incidents.

It would take me 5 Minutes to find 20 video influencers who have millions of viewers and and can pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines that have broken FAA rules in a bad way and that is just not happening.

One other note: The FAA do not call you, they send you a letter.



Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Float on Water.

 

[zeusfl]

Check this video in the minute 21:30

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[PhantomFandom]

Most of those rules you cited (3 miles of visibility, cloud clearance, etc) only apply to Part 107 operations. Flights under Section 44809 just are required to be within the line of sight.

Yes true. Thank you.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Check this video in the minute 21:30

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Not only can you FLY in the RAIN but they dont say anything about not flying into the Lightning ? thanks for the video.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to FLY in the Rain and Float on Water,
Thus you can fly in the Rain and Float on Water legally weeeee.

 

[zeusfl]

They only mention "carless flying" that can result in personal or property damage. This is nothing related to "rain" This will apply more to people flying without precautions like FPV flying around buildings very close to the buildings at high speed that can result in property damage or personal injuries. Still, I do not remember any case where FAA peruse this guys and if they do, I agree completely with the FAA on this. There are obstacle courses or flying around trees or something that if you crash do not cause property damage or personal injuries instead to buildings.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[elborak]

They only mention "carless flying"

Getting pretty strict if you have to have a car to fly.

 

[A.O.]

Not only can you FLY in the RAIN but they dont say anything about not flying into the Lightning ? thanks for the video.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to FLY in the Rain and Float on Water,
Thus you can fly in the Rain and Float on Water legally weeeee.

Not only can you FLY in the RAIN but they dont say anything about not flying into the Lightning ? thanks for the video.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to FLY in the Rain and Float on Water,
Thus you can fly in the Rain and Float on Water legally weeeee.

Wow, if only Benjamin Franklin had a drone...

 

[Ron Caballero CAP]

There is no regulation about flying in the rain. It is 100% legal to do so. However, flying in the rain "could" trigger other violations based on the actual conditions:

• The weather conditions must allow for 3 miles of visibility in order to fly a drone. If the rain is such that it limits your visibility to below 3 miles then you are in violation.
• There are regulations for minimum distance below and laterally from clouds. If it is raining, you may have low clouds which cause you to break these regulations.
• There is the catch-all regulation that you should not fly carelessly or recklessly. If the rain is causing any flight behavior that can be deemed reckless or careless then you have an issue.

So you shouldn't worry about rain itself. Personally I don't fly in the rain. It's not fun and these consumer drones are not designed for it.

PhantomFandom, I hesitate to take any issue with such an esteemed Mavic Pilot Forum member. I do see one situation in which flying in the rain might be a worthwhile endeavor. That is if there is a lot of lightening in the distance. In such a case, the pilot need only hover over his/her back yard and point the drone toward the lightening. Then take a video in that direction. Individual photos can be extracted if desired. VLOS would not be an issue.​

If anyone had done that, please post what ISO and, if applicable, other settings you used.

I own a wet suit, but have not yet used it. In fact, I cannot use it at this time since I have strobes attached, with velcro, on three sides.​

 

[Capt KO]

I fly in the rain, with wetsuits. Why, cuz I can. And it’s Fun. ? (avoid hurricanes, from experience)

More importantly, It also keeps debris out of sensitive parts. Beach sand is the worst, contains salt. ?

 

[hiflyer201]

One other note: The FAA do not call you, they send you a letter.

yes...one regular mail and one certified, and they never email. In fact you have a he** of a time getting them on the telephone.

 

[Capt KO]

I own a wet suit, but have not yet used it. In fact, I cannot use it at this time since I have strobes attached, with velcro, on three sides.

Just put the Velcro outside the wetsuit. Won’t come loose from the suit. If you need more Velcro than supplied, just buy similar and it will work. I use mismatched Velcro often. Put it on and enjoy.

 

[Ron Caballero CAP]

Just put the Velcro outside the wetsuit. Won’t come loose from the suit. If you need more Velcro than supplied, just buy similar and it will work. I use mismatched Velcro often. Put it on and enjoy.

How "dumb" of me. That never occurred to me. I have some velcro back in WV and it seldom rains here in AZ.

 

[Thomas B]

.. it seldom rains here in AZ.

That’s the truth! Especially in 2020!