Will DJI allow drones that are not Remote ID Compliant to take off?

[BCTEA.teacher]

The discussion begins on page 91 and while I appreciate the distinction between the responsibilities and placing the onus on the operator or the manufacturer, I think we are safe to say DJI seems to have chosen the latter in their implementation. I'm not the expert and i have not read the entire final rule completely and in detail but I am under the impression that disabling rid on a drone with built-in rid will likely prevent it from taking off. I get the impression that is the way the FAA has intended it to work....but I could be wrong. Also I see the same is being said for an external module (not sure how) but I still feel as if a drone which has no RID whatsoever then DJI has no plans to ground it.

Today I took my initial Part 107 Remote Pilot exam. Scored a 98% (missed one), and the question that was counted wrong is on this exact topic. [I'm Paraphrasing the Q, of course, but I remember it clearly because it was the only Q I bookmarked then went back over before submitting my Exam ... and I re-read it about a dozen times.]

In essence the Q was "If your sUAS is operating with Standard [meaning built-in] Remote ID, what will be the effect on the performance of the UA if the Remote ID fails its self-test at startup?" (Emphasis added by me)

The (paraphrased) answer choices were:

1. The performance will not be affected
2. The UA will be unable to take off
3. It's okay as long as you notify the FAA after the flight.

When I first saw the question I thought "Oh, they're asking if I'm allowed to take off if the RID isn't working." But on re-reading it (over and over again) it was clear they were asking about performance, not whether I'd be allowed to take off.

So I chose answer 1 ... because RID doesn't impact flight performance, right? It impacts legality ... but not performance. But they counted my answer wrong.

That told me that your previous statement (that the manufacturer must disable the drone if built-in RID isn't working) is correct, at least as far as the people who write the test are concerned.

I looked around on this related thread on this forum, which referred to this article from dspalliance.org. And in that article, the author says:

If you are flying a drone equipped with Standard RID, then that RID system is tied to the control system of the drone. And if the RID self test fails, that drone will not lift off. If the RID systems fails during flight, it will notify the operator, and the operator must land “as soon as practicable”. The RID system will NOT force land the drone.​

So ... assuming the DSP Alliance article is reliable, I think your initial statement was correct. And THAT is why I won't be able to tell my sUAS students I scored 100% on the Exam. ( -sigh- )

 

[Vic Moss]

Today I took my initial Part 107 Remote Pilot exam. Scored a 98% (missed one), and the question that was counted wrong is on this exact topic. [I'm Paraphrasing the Q, of course, but I remember it clearly because it was the only Q I bookmarked then went back over before submitting my Exam ... and I re-read it about a dozen times.]

In essence the Q was "If your sUAS is operating with Standard [meaning built-in] Remote ID, what will be the effect on the performance of the UA if the Remote ID fails its self-test at startup?" (Emphasis added by me)

The (paraphrased) answer choices were:

1. The performance will not be affected
2. The UA will be unable to take off
3. It's okay as long as you notify the FAA after the flight.

When I first saw the question I thought "Oh, they're asking if I'm allowed to take off if the RID isn't working." But on re-reading it (over and over again) it was clear they were asking about performance, not whether I'd be allowed to take off.

So I chose answer 1 ... because RID doesn't impact flight performance, right? It impacts legality ... but not performance. But they counted my answer wrong.

That told me that your previous statement (that the manufacturer must disable the drone if built-in RID isn't working) is correct, at least as far as the people who write the test are concerned.

I looked around on this related thread on this forum, which referred to this article from dspalliance.org. And in that article, the author says:

If you are flying a drone equipped with Standard RID, then that RID system is tied to the control system of the drone. And if the RID self test fails, that drone will not lift off. If the RID systems fails during flight, it will notify the operator, and the operator must land “as soon as practicable”. The RID system will NOT force land the drone.​

So ... assuming the DSP Alliance article is reliable, I think your initial statement was correct. And THAT is why I won't be able to tell my sUAS students I scored 100% on the Exam. ( -sigh- )

The DSPA article is reliable. I wrote it.

 

[BCTEA.teacher]

I believe it. The article is clearly well-written, and has all the hallmarks of something carefully researched and thoughtfully put together. Based on that, plus the quality of other pieces I've read on dspalliance.org, I assumed it was reliable, which is why I said so when I referenced it and shared the link.

I hope my saying "Assuming the ... article is reliable" didn't come across as sounding doubtful, because I wasn't. Not at all. But having done no research on my own, I can't swear by it independently and claim I know for certain that the law is "X". So instead I point to the article and say "this person says 'X' and I'm assuming that's correct." That assumption is also why I'm planning to cite the article in my sUAS class tomorrow, and share the link.

Tangential Note:
It seems odd that the FAA asks Exam questions about Remote ID, assuming the 09/16/2023 effective date has already passed.

Nearly all the questions on my Part 107 exam were written in present tense ("You are flying here ... "; "The current conditions at KXXX are ..."). The question that I complained of initially was also in present tense ("You're operating with Standard Remote ID and the self-test fails.")

Yet I took my test on Sept. 9th, 2023 ... a week before the Remote ID effective date of 09/16/2023. The question didn't specify "You're operating a UA on or after 9/16/23 ..." or anything like that.

I believe an argument could be made that the question itself is flawed, at least for those of us who encountered that question prior to Sept. 16th.

Just sayin'.

 

[Vic Moss]

I believe it. The article is clearly well-written, and has all the hallmarks of something carefully researched and thoughtfully put together. Based on that, plus the quality of other pieces I've read on dspalliance.org, I assumed it was reliable, which is why I said so when I referenced it and shared the link.

I hope my saying "Assuming the ... article is reliable" didn't come across as sounding doubtful, because I wasn't. Not at all. But having done no research on my own, I can't swear by it independently and claim I know for certain that the law is "X". So instead I point to the article and say "this person says 'X' and I'm assuming that's correct." That assumption is also why I'm planning to cite the article in my sUAS class tomorrow, and share the link.

I didn't take it as doubtful. I should have added () at the end of the post.

Tangential Note:
It seems odd that the FAA asks Exam questions about Remote ID, assuming the 09/16/2023 effective date has already passed.

Nearly all the questions on my Part 107 exam were written in present tense ("You are flying here ... "; "The current conditions at KXXX are ..."). The question that I complained of initially was also in present tense ("You're operating with Standard Remote ID and the self-test fails.")

Yet I took my test on Sept. 9th, 2023 ... a week before the Remote ID effective date of 09/16/2023. The question didn't specify "You're operating a UA on or after 9/16/23 ..." or anything like that.

I believe an argument could be made that the question itself is flawed, at least for those of us who encountered that question prior to Sept. 16th.

Just sayin'.

The FAA puts the questions together while looking into the future. Otherwise they'd have to rewrite the questions each time they changed rules. Sort of a cart/horse thing.