When is a NFZ not a NFZ?

[Marko9219]

I'm new at all of this and just starting to learn, so bear with me and my question please! Tonight I was at a city park hanging out with the grandkids. I suddenly see a Mavic Pro flying around the park. I was shocked! This particular park is within 2 miles of the active runway at Hill AFB, UT. The park is so close, you can hear the jets taking off over on the runway. I immediately looked around to see if the pilot was within the park, or somewhere else. I quickly spotted a young man who was the pilot. I walked over to him, and asked him (very politely and in a non-threatening manner) "How did you manage to launch your Mavic so close to the base?" He was about 14 years old I would guess. He replied "I had no problem launching, but it won't let me go above 400 ft." He told me he had bought the Mavic last Friday, but it wasn't his first drone. He still had it in the shipping box it came in.
So, my question: I thought the Mavic would simply not launch in a NFZ like this is. Not true? I checked my Air Map app, and there is a big red circle around Hill AFB as there should be, and this park is clearly in that red circle. How did he fly??? What am I missing? Thanks!

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

What am I missing? Thanks!

The truth?

Seriously though not sure but I know some of the airfields have a graded height restriction.
Only experience I have had recently is getting a wRning that I am on the edge of a NFZ.
Someone else could give you a better answer.

 

[temptation]

What am I missing? Thanks!

The truth?

Seriously though not sure but I know some of the airfields have a graded height restriction.
Only experience I have had recently is getting a wRning that I am on the edge of a NFZ.
Someone else could give you a better answer.

Firmware .400 maybe

 

[Kilrah]

DJI's NFZs are not perfectly synced to the real world. There have always been some missing stuff, and some extra stuff. They've never been a reference whether you really can fly there nor not.

 

[younumpty]

I'm new at all of this and just starting to learn, so bear with me and my question please! Tonight I was at a city park hanging out with the grandkids. I suddenly see a Mavic Pro flying around the park. I was shocked! This particular park is within 2 miles of the active runway at Hill AFB, UT. The park is so close, you can hear the jets taking off over on the runway. I immediately looked around to see if the pilot was within the park, or somewhere else. I quickly spotted a young man who was the pilot. I walked over to him, and asked him (very politely and in a non-threatening manner) "How did you manage to launch your Mavic so close to the base?" He was about 14 years old I would guess. He replied "I had no problem launching, but it won't let me go above 400 ft." He told me he had bought the Mavic last Friday, but it wasn't his first drone. He still had it in the shipping box it came in.
So, my question: I thought the Mavic would simply not launch in a NFZ like this is. Not true? I checked my Air Map app, and there is a big red circle around Hill AFB as there should be, and this park is clearly in that red circle. How did he fly??? What am I missing? Thanks!

Did you open your ago app and check it on that? Sometimes it's no fly above x no of feet.. sometimes it's not there and others you have to request it. Was flying in Boston over xmas and was likewise two miles away but I could fly in the city near the airport with permission via the app from DJI. I only flew 10 feet for family photos. I live in the UK.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

Did he simply self authorize? He could have simply checked off a couple of boxes, depending on the airspace classification and how geo deals with it.

 

[RavenTBK]

Or he turned GEO off?

Even on 700, I've intentionally tried finding an actual NFZ, but have yet to find anything that'll shut me down or limit flight...even inside the fence line of two bloody international airports and the parking lots of two state prisons. No issues spinning up and hovering at eye level. Yep, it's red on the map, but it seemingly doesn't matter to my Mavic. *shrugs*

Still waiting for that magic switch to be flipped I suppose.

Same time, you said you checked AirMap. That's what DJI uses for advisory data, but it is not what it uses for NFZ lockouts. Check the official map within Go4 and you'll see the difference.

 

[HFMan]

That particular airport on the GEO map has a total diameter of just 2 miles (like many airports). You can be 1.25 miles from the center of the NFZ, and still lift off without authorization. Which city park were you at?

 

[bucefalo]

have a look.. it happened to me maybe will give you the answer :

 

[HFMan]

That's a display bug on your device. The inner circle is the Restricted zone, the outer circle is an authorization zone and should be Yellow in color. Check it out at their GEO URL:

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