why 1400 ft max altitude?

[akdrone]

It's my understanding that FAA allows my our drones to be 400AGL. If there is a hill ahead I can fly 400 above it legally. Why, then, if there is a 1400foot hill next to me, can't I fly above it? I can see my drone over 1500 ft away but if I recall from a flight some time ago in this exact situation, my drone will not get above something like 1400feet. I realize the drone does not know AGL from WTF but it seems odd for DJI to play nanny. Am I missing something?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I think is closer to 16,000 ft the Max Limit that we have seen posted on the forum, ,
None the less DJI places restriction based on Air Space , and you may very well have a ceiling that DJI has desigated in your area. So DJI does play Nanny as my maxium Height i can push to 480 ft because of my air space.

Seeing that you are in the North Pole that does seem a little Restrictive but check your map and see what zone your flying in as DJI could be making the rules.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Snow

 

[Recoveryone]

It's my understanding that FAA allows my our drones to be 400AGL. If there is a hill ahead I can fly 400 above it legally. Why, then, if there is a 1400foot hill next to me, can't I fly above it? I can see my drone over 1500 ft away but if I recall from a flight some time ago in this exact situation, my drone will not get above something like 1400feet. I realize the drone does not know AGL from WTF but it seems odd for DJI to play nanny. Am I missing something?

I think you may have misunderstood the AGL requirements.

You can fly during daylight (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local time) or in twilight if your drone has anti-collision lighting. Minimum weather visibility is three miles from your control station. The maximum allowable altitude is 400 feet above the ground, higher if your drone remains within 400 feet of a structure. Maximum speed is 100 mph (87 knots).

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/small-unmanned-aircraft-systems-uas-regulations-part-107

 

[akdrone]

I think you may have misunderstood the AGL requirements.

You can fly during daylight (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local time) or in twilight if your drone has anti-collision lighting. Minimum weather visibility is three miles from your control station. The maximum allowable altitude is 400 feet above the ground, higher if your drone remains within 400 feet of a structure. Maximum speed is 100 mph (87 knots).

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/small-unmanned-aircraft-systems-uas-regulations-part-107

yes....it's the "above the structure" part that is of interest. If the structure is 1380 feet I can't fly 300 feet over that. Is that just DJI making up it's own limitation for an unknown (to me) reason? 1600ft is still within VLOS for many people...just curious here.

 

[FLDave]

yes....it's the "above the structure" part that is of interest. If the structure is 1380 feet I can't fly 300 feet over that. Is that just DJI making up it's own limitation for an unknown (to me) reason? 1600ft is still within VLOS for many people...just curious here.

Where did you find the 1,600 ft limit? Is is part of the Fly app? Which drone?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

They probably set the 500m / 1640' hard limit in their software to what they (and many airspace regulators) consider VLOS.
The UK is one that uses 500m as VLOS, of course all the while it is ok to fly up that mountainside to any altitude and keep within 120m / 400'.
That is sure going to annoy a sector of DJI drone users.

 

[FLDave]

North Pole, AK doesn't show any flight restrictions on the B4UFly app but a little to the west you have the Fairbanks airport class D restricted airspace but that's from the ground up. Still not clear where you found the 1,600 ft limit.
I see there are several military areas with restricted operations.

 

[Meta4]

I realize the drone does not know AGL from WTF but it seems odd for DJI to play nanny. Am I missing something?

The hardwired max altitude limit is 1640 ft and DJI have never explained how thay settled on that number.
You'd have to ask them.

 

[BlairAir]

Where did you find the 1,600 ft limit? Is is part of the Fly app? Which drone?

North Pole, AK doesn't show any flight restrictions on the B4UFly app but a little to the west you have the Fairbanks airport class D restricted airspace but that's from the ground up. Still not clear where you found the 1,600 ft limit.
I see there are several military areas with restricted operations.

I think those say "1600 feet are referring to the Fly App Max Setting:

Safety Tab "Max Altitude" Pretty hard to miss, it's the first setting on the first page. 1640 is highest value. If your in metric it will be 500 Meters.

They probably set the 500m / 1640' hard limit in their software to what they (and many airspace regulators) consider VLOS.
The UK is one that uses 500m as VLOS, of course all the while it is ok to fly up that mountainside to any altitude and keep within 120m / 400'.
That is sure going to annoy a sector of DJI drone users.

Consider, if it were based on VLOS, why would they then let you set "Max Distance" to No Limit?

 

[Yaros]

Consider, if it were based on VLOS, why would they then let you set "Max Distance" to No Limit?

I think it's not about VLOS, it is so it would be harder to knock down a manned aircraft with a drone.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Why, then, if there is a 1400foot hill next to me, can't I fly above it?

You can, you just need to adjust the maximum height limit that is set in the app.

There is a maximum height, relative to the take off point, of 500m/1640ft that, as already mentioned, is "hardwired" in and 'can not' be broken under normal circumstances.
On some drones this limit can be adjusted by hacking and in abnormal circumstances a few malfunctioning drones have greatly exceeded that height limit. I think one recent flyaway, that was documented in here, reached 4700ft above/relative-to the take off point.

 

[DoomMeister]

I think you may have misunderstood the AGL requirements.

You can fly during daylight (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local time) or in twilight if your drone has anti-collision lighting. Minimum weather visibility is three miles from your control station. The maximum allowable altitude is 400 feet above the ground, higher if your drone remains within 400 feet of a structure. Maximum speed is 100 mph (87 knots).

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/small-unmanned-aircraft-systems-uas-regulations-part-107

§107 rules do not apply to Recreational pilots. Those flying under USC 44809 are allowed to fly up to but not exceed 400’ AGL.

@akdrone DJI drones have a hard ceiling of 500m (1640 feet) above the takeoff point built into the firmware (or software). This means if you are flying along a 1400’ mountain you will only be able to clear it by 280’ if you take off from the base of the mountain.

@akdrone do not let people confuse you with rules that §107 pilots have to follow make sure you follow the rules set forth in USC 44809 the exemption for recreational pilots.

 

[DoomMeister]

yes....it's the "above the structure" part that is of interest. If the structure is 1380 feet I can't fly 300 feet over that. Is that just DJI making up it's own limitation for an unknown (to me) reason? 1600ft is still within VLOS for many people...just curious here.

Unless you are §107 certified you cannot fl 400’ over obstacles. Under USC 44809 you are limited to a hard ceiling of 400’ AGL.

This part is not directed at you @akdrone:

I really wish people would quit spreading false information about the ceiling for recreational pilots. If you are NOT certified under 14 CFR §107 you CANNOT fly 400’ over an obstacle under any circumstances.

 

[RH009]

Unless you are §107 certified you cannot fl 400’ over obstacles. Under USC 44809 you are limited to a hard ceiling of 400’ AGL.

So that's 400' above ground level, including a hill or mountain, correct?

really wish people would quit spreading false information about the ceiling for recreational pilots. If you are NOT certified under 14 CFR §107 you CANNOT fly 400’ over an obstacle under any circumstances.

An obstacle in this situation would be man made construction (cell tower, water tower, building, etc.) correct? So if flying up the incline of a mountain, it would still be okay, since you're 400' from the 'ground' of the mountain incline?

I honestly don't know and am curious.

Thanks,
Rob

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Consider, if it were based on VLOS, why would they then let you set "Max Distance" to No Limit?

True, I suppose it could be to stop the majority of those 1km, 5km + type drone test pilot flights you can find on YouTube.
Of course 1640' is far too high to fly, unless truly flying into rising terrain to keep within 400'.

Think if someone is going to break regs for whatever reason, I'd rather see them fly a few km distance at 200' or 300' altitude than go to as extreme in altitude.
Neither would be ideal though.

Of course AK is talking about going up a higher peak with terrain, but interesting why DJI would set things the way they allow.

 

[FLDave]

Unless you are §107 certified you cannot fl 400’ over obstacles. Under USC 44809 you are limited to a hard ceiling of 400’ AGL.

This part is not directed at you @akdrone:

I really wish people would quit spreading false information about the ceiling for recreational pilots. If you are NOT certified under 14 CFR §107 you CANNOT fly 400’ over an obstacle under any circumstances.

Thanks for the reminder. So I learned something new. Since I am 107 certified I don't pay attention to the recreational rule where there is no exception to go 400' above man-made structures.

 

[spamgnome]

I learned something too. Checking AirData, my highest flight was to 1,400' in downtown Chicago (legal flight) but I had no idea that I'd be maxing out at ~1,600'. I almost never exceed 400' in daily work, so I guess I didn't look at the max setting. Good to know!

 

[BigAl07]

So that's 400' above ground level, including a hill or mountain, correct?

An obstacle in this situation would be man made construction (cell tower, water tower, building, etc.) correct? So if flying up the incline of a mountain, it would still be okay, since you're 400' from the 'ground' of the mountain incline?

I honestly don't know and am curious.

Thanks,
Rob

It's 400' from the piece of ground directly UNDER the aircraft. Imagine a 400' cable hanging from the bottom of your aircraft. If at any time the cable isn't touching the ground directly under your aircraft you are in violation of ~44809 or Part 107.

Now if you're flying under Part 107 and NOT in Controlled Airspace you can fly over a Structure by 400' as long as you're within 400' of the structure. A Hill/Tree etc are NOT structure.

The OP is talking about the HARD CODED 500M (1,620') restriction set forth by DJI. As has been stated already, we have no idea why this particular # was used but most likely it was just an easy # to use (500M).

 

[BigAl07]

Thanks for the reminder. So I learned something new. Since I am 107 certified I don't pay attention to the recreational rule where there is no exception to go 400' above man-made structures.

You always fly by the set of rules you take off under. If flying under Part 107 you have no reason to even worry about ~44809. Conversely if you're flying under ~44809 and do not meet EVERY condition of ~44809 you are then held liable for all of Part 107 regardless of your credential status (Part 107 holder or not) but that's a can of worms for ANOTHER thread not this one.

 

[FLDave]

I learned something too. Checking AirData, my highest flight was to 1,400' in downtown Chicago (legal flight) but I had no idea that I'd be maxing out at ~1,600'. I almost never exceed 400' in daily work, so I guess I didn't look at the max setting. Good to know!

Why would you be maxing out at 1,600 ft? How is that determined?