Who flies beyond line of sight?

[Montana John]

I know the rules are don't fly if you can't see your drone but.....
I see a lot of videos where it is a mile away

Personally I'm afraid to lose my Mavic Air
As I'm fairly new to the Air, I have not even gone beyond 1000 feet away

I call mine the "Predator Drone"

Tell me your stories

Just curious - why that name? And, I keep my drone in sight.

 

[dougiefresh27]

Here is a direct comparison of Strobon and Firehouse (especially not the ARC2)by one of our own. One LED does not compete with four!

That was a very good video to compare

 

[dougiefresh27]

Just curious - why that name? And, I keep my drone in sight.

Predator Drone, has Predator stickers on it. I wanted something cool and not a toy. At least that's how I perceive it.

 

[dougiefresh27]

I fly VLOS until I can no longer see it.

That's funny indeed.

 

[dougiefresh27]

I suspect when the FAA gets around to updating this rule they will ditch the VLOS terminology in favor of a specific distance limit from the operator. After all, nobody knows what you are actually looking at it or what you can see except yourself. And visual acuity varies greatly from person to person as well. The VLOS rule is wildly subjective which renders it practically unenforceable.

When these rules were adopted I don't think the FAA fully anticipated how capable inexpensive consumer drones would quickly become. MP1 boasts 4.3 mile range on the spec sheet. I'm just gonna enjoy it as long as I can.

Very good point. If you are at least watching your display then you know where it is. If someone says, "I can't see it" just say, I can, it's right there and point

 

[JL_Ware]

I know the rules are don't fly if you can't see your drone but.....
I see a lot of videos where it is a mile away

Personally I'm afraid to lose my Mavic Air
As I'm fairly new to the Air, I have not even gone beyond 1000 feet away

I call mine the "Predator Drone"

Tell me your stories

I was able to get my Mavic Pro beyond 20,000 ft over the Bay, I used a CrystalSky Monitor to track what the Drone was seeing, I have since sold the Drone for a Mavic 2 Pro

 

[Reginald E Johnson]

I know the rules are don't fly if you can't see your drone but.....
I see a lot of videos where it is a mile away

Personally I'm afraid to lose my Mavic Air
As I'm fairly new to the Air, I have not even gone beyond 1000 feet away

I call mine the "Predator Drone"

Tell me your stories

I fly mine all the time out of the line of Sight! The Drone is so small (Mavic Pro) that it actually disappears after 50 Feet! I flew mine Two Miles away!

 

[Montana John]

That was a very good video to compare

Thanks for finding this video. Helpful to me.

 

[Drone on]

I fly mine all the time out of the line of Sight! The Drone is so small (Mavic Pro) that it actually disappears after 50 Feet! I flew mine Two Miles away!

Are you sure you wouldn't see it even if you squinted really hard?

 

[Thoraldus]

I have to confess I have done some Litchi sessions in the boonies (unpopulated areas) where although technically it was VLOS at all times, I couldn't see it. I can barely see it when it is just 200' directly overhead. In all cases I KNEW where the beastie was at all times.

 

[dougiefresh27]

Are you sure you wouldn't see it even if you squinted really hard?

My vision isn't that great any more but I can be very convincing that I see it since as a good pilot I would know where it is. I pretty much always have a flight plan in mind.

 

[SparkPlug]

I know the rules are don't fly if you can't see your drone but.....
I see a lot of videos where it is a mile away

Personally I'm afraid to lose my Mavic Air
As I'm fairly new to the Air, I have not even gone beyond 1000 feet away

I call mine the "Predator Drone"

Tell me your stories

There plenty of people who fly far out of sight and forum supports it.
#1

 

[stberlin]

when you look down to check your screen and look back up and can't find your drone, that's flying out of sight.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I only fly within VLOS and would still do so if it wasn't part of the rules here, I'm more comfortable being able to see the drone and what it's doing without relying on the display and the Mavic is small enough I can pack it up and move on to a new location then fly it there.

 

[coliwabl]

A bright flashing strobe light would do the trick. Omni directional

Yes, the right one is absolutely effective to at least a mile. They provide more safety where manned aircraft are flying as well as better VLOS. One charge lasts about as long as a DJI battery for the Mavic Pro Platinum anyway. One problem, however, a strobe can also make your drone a target for paranoid gun nuts who make believe you are flying to spy on them.

 

[Baba Narr]

I have a strobe light on the back of my 2, so I can see it at quite a distance. Also I know what orientation it is. But as I rule if I need to fly further than VLOS, then if I can, I will move to that location. But always use common sense.
Happy flying guys.

 

[MachDiamond]

The strobe on the M2E is under rated. It works exceptionally well for VLOS piloting when flown towards operator. Well, that sucks but not really because bottom LED's synchronize in strobe effect to maintain VLOS when flown away from operator. One can expect 2x relative distance capability. The strobe on the M2E runs 80% duty time works great for these old eyes.

 

[Madmax229]

I sure won't admit mine

Ditto!

 

[dronerdave]

I stay within VLOS as much as possible however there are times where my MP might be out of site for a bit maneuvering around something. I do have several ARC2 strobes on the AC which helps at distances to just under a mile in daylight.

 

[Big buzzer]

I fly VLOS until I can no longer see it.

Good one.
The colour and small profile of the M2 makes it hard to see in the air. I can often hear it when i still cant see it particularly with bush / trees background with which it blends very well. Dji could hardly have chosen a better colour for making it hard to see. In the air.