Who flies beyond line of sight?

[RoboticTundra]

Why? There is no legitimate reason to fly the drone where you can't see it. Certainly not for professional photography or Cinematography, If you want to prove how big your member is, and want distance just buy a "real drone" and stop playing with toys,

Immature troll or ignorance?

I know of two rescue ops that involved a lot of time with the drone well out of sight. Drone cinematographers frequently have to fly out of sight to get the shots needed for commercials or films. One example was a shot weaving up through a twisty river (and no they couldn't have operator boats because they wanted the natural water surface). Blood and meds deliveries are increasingly critical in many countries and these are extremely out of sight.

 

[Cookedinlh]

One should always avoid saying always and never say never... except when sizing up one's own member

Yes I learned not to use the words NEVER and ALWAYS because it ALWAYS gets you in trouble and people NEVER let you forget it . . . but I get your point

 

[Bob in Savannah]

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.

What "color" would you suggest? I've had a neon orange skin and now a yellow industrial looking one.

Superman couldn't see this thing outside of a 100 yards unless it had a strobe on it.

 

[Bryce steiner]

I have line of sight until I look down at my screen.

 

[PropSpin]

3 miles

b) No person may operate a small unmanned aircraft system during periods of civil twilight unless the small unmanned aircraft has lighted anti-collision lighting visible for at least 3 statute miles. The remote pilot in command may reduce the intensity of the anti-collision lighting if he or she determines that, because of operating conditions, it would be in the interest of safety to do so.

(c) For purposes of paragraph (b) of this section, civil twilight refers to the following:

(1) Except for Alaska, a period of time that begins 30 minutes before official sunrise and ends at official sunrise;

(2) Except for Alaska, a period of time that begins at official sunset and ends 30 minutes after official sunset; and

(3) In Alaska, the period of civil twilight as defined in the Air Almanac.

Is this 107 rules, or did the rules for recreational fliers change? I though hobbyists could fly at night if using the guidelines of a community based flying organization.

 

[PropSpin]

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.

i hope you don't end up in the news.

 

[simsurf]

Depends if I'm wearing my glasses?

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

What "color" would you suggest?

It's our language, we'll dictate the spelling thank you very much. You should be grateful we let you speak it at all. If you don't like it you can bloody well speak French like the civilsed part of North America, the U.S. only being "civilized"

and yes, I'm joking so please don't be offended.

Regards
Ari

 

[Flynz]

I can see where my drone is and what's around it , but can not always see the Mavic based on light and distance. At a distance I maintain altitude and I can see other risks. I stop and ensure I know where I am and look in that direction as well as at the screen. So the the drone is always in direct line of sight. But I confess I can not always actually see it.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

It's our language, we'll dictate the spelling thank you very much. You should be grateful we let you speak it at all. If you don't like it you can bloody well speak French like the civilsed part of North America, the U.S. only being "civilized"

and yes, I'm joking so please don't be offended.

Regards
Ari

Oh sorry. I just figured you'd ALL be speaking German if not for us.
Spell it anyway you please..

.

 

[Earthman]

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.

The rule means don’t fly beyond your individual VLOS, whatever that may be with respect to how far you can see your sUAS. It’s a reasonable and logical way of maintaining separation from manned aircraft.

The FAA knows the capability of sUASs and that some people will be reckless with them and endanger others. They just haven’t figured out how to stop that kind of behavior yet. But they are working on it, and will continue working on it until the behavior stops or they figure out how to stop it. It’s the job and power that our civil society has given them.

Read the thread at near miss over Niagara Falls. Watch the video HERE.

It’s reasonable to assume that the sUAS PIC that’s the subject of that thread and video is screwed big time. Why risk it?

In any case, I agree, enjoy “it” while you can. A few are driving the trend toward further regulation and screwing it up for the rest of us.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Oh sorry. I just figured you'd ALL be speaking German if not for us.

Typical American, think you won two world wars when all you did was show up two years late for each of them when the hard work was already done

I don't really mean that either BTW, I've worked with enough of your lads in my time as my Dad did in Vietnam to like having you on our side

Regards
Ari

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

The rule means don’t fly beyond your individual LOS

This term is being used by the F.A.A. and the C.A.S. in the U.K. and C.A.S.A. here in Australia as well but they haven't made it easy as they no longer specify a hard distance as to what VLOS is but it makes sense really if you look at it. Here VLOS is considered to be the distance at which you can see and orient the R.P.A. with the naked eye allowing corrective lenses but no other aids to vision. So you have to be able to see it and be able to tell which way it is pointing. Obviously that's going to vary depending on time of day or night, weather conditions and which aircraft you are flying. VLOS might be 5m in the middle of a snow storm.

Being realistic however, on the definition we have to work under here if you can see and tell which way a Mavic is pointing at 400m you have pretty champion eye sight.

Regards
Ari

 

[DrDrew3]

i hope you don't end up in the news.

No worries. I know the regs and follow them. Your sarcasm is appreciated as well.

They are just poorly written, vague, poorly enforced and changed illogically.

The bulk of this discussion was academic and not a reflection of actual flying habits. I had figured you could deduce that.

 

[4thdpi]

Most everyone except tney won't admit it. I stay in line of sight.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Most everyone except tney won't admit it. I stay in line of sight

Yeah, let's be real world about it. At some time when we just started out and before we knew better most people probably pushed the limits once or twice if for no other reason then just so we knew where the limit was. That's not a reflection of much. What is is how you conduct yourself once you do know better and have no excuse, also your ability to realise when the game has changed and it's now a different world and time making it time to restrain your impulses for the obvious greater good.

It's like my driving record, I was a right tear away as a youngster, wouldn't get away with what I did today but then I grew up. I haven't had a traffic violation in 35 years now. That's not to say I don't have the impulse to floor it now and then, I just restrain myself ... old age has it's benefits I guess.

Regards
Ari

 

[John32]

Take a look at my way.. It is visuable at least 500m in daylight and 1000m in dark conditions. But have in mind others see the lighted drone too.
I am using led tape (self adhesive one) 12V and a lipo battery 11.1v 750 mAh total weight about 67 grams. The led tape is attached to the prop guards. too simple to make, too cheep to buy. Tape costs about 1,80€ per meter (cold white and red) and the battery about 12-15 €. I think this is much more visible than the cree in distance.
Anyway flying away from visual contact is a kind of stressful tactic so i am avoid to do it especialy in environments with too densit planting, above large water surfaces and in places when there is high possibility of a magnetic interference. Always looking before flight when there are antenas, large power line towers, big mettalic surfaces etc. in the area i intend to take off and flight my drone.

 

[JHolley]

I disagree.

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Stunning video , thanks !!!

 

[TheWolfen]

I have a hard time believing that even the most rigid VLOS adherents haven't lost track of their UAV on multiple occasions. These things are very small and it is easy to lose sight of them.

I don't obsess about it, use the quad LED Firehouse strobes and also just use common sense. Always be aware of your surroundings and the potential for other aircraft. I've been to several locations where I've worked hard to get as close as possible to what I wanted to film, but still had to fly past the point where keeping visual track of my Mavic becomes a real challenge. I find flying FPV is easy to control and don't fly in a way that watching for aircraft is impossible. It can be a tough balance especially with the law itself but I try to do the best I can.

 

[FL1H1]

I feel this is all a bit silly when I'm more concerned about where I'm going than line of sight. This means I'm glued to my iPad, often look up and find I can't always see it for a tree or even the sun. I've had morning mist turn into a thick fog too really fast but brought it back using the map. To my mind this rule if you like rates with me as somewhat outdated.