Worrying about DJI Drones

[BSauce955]

Are you 107 certified? Do not confuse rules for 107 and recreational.

No, I'm not 107 certified yet but I thought he was referring to 107 pilots.

 

[Meta4]

How are you going to inspect a tower or a clear mountain top if you're limited to 400' AGL based on launch point?

Your drone isn't restricted to 400 ft above it's launch point.
DJI drones can get to 1640 ft higher than their launch point.

 

[KB9Radio]

I'm worried that my significant investment in DJI drones will be denied use in the U.S. with the current state of U.S. / China affairs.
I'm not certain but it seems like the U.S. is denying the official purchase of DJI drones for the federal government (maybe state governments too & local police?).
I have also been concerned with the frustrating DJI locking of their drones in U.S. airspace, just doesn't seem right even though there are safety reasons, but seems like DJI should just back off before they lost MANY customers. I love the DJI products but ... we will see how all of this plays out.

Are other pilots in U.S. worried? Love to hear your comments.

Not at all, there's always politics going on. That's all it is, this too will pass.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Wait, are you saying that you can't fly higher than 400' above ground? I could've sworn it was 400' above the tallest building within a certain radius.

UK here not USA.

 

[BSauce955]

UK here not USA.

Ohhhhhh, ok, that makes sense now. lol

 

[jaybrad]

Strange, I can't imagine why DJI would lock an area around a private airport (which presumably has no controlled airspace associated). Also, pretty sure LAANC would not even give you an approval if it isn't controlled airspace. Are you sure you aren't on the outer edge of controlled airspace from a larger airport?

If you share your location (by private message if you prefer) a second set of eyes might clear up the mystery.

Sorry I was unclear in my post, there are two parts to the issues affecting my area: DJI Geo locking and FAA.

We are on the fringe of a controlled airspace (KAUG - in the Montreal Sectional) - not sure about the "larger airport" moniker though.

It seems like an odd configuration of the controlled space in a very rural area and when I talked with DJI about this, they pointed to Sunny Hill (the private airport long since dormant) as the cause.

Thanks for your insight.

 

[PepperBird]

I'm worried that my significant investment in DJI drones will be denied use in the U.S. with the current state of U.S. / China affairs.
I'm not certain but it seems like the U.S. is denying the official purchase of DJI drones for the federal government (maybe state governments too & local police?).
I have also been concerned with the frustrating DJI locking of their drones in U.S. airspace, just doesn't seem right even though there are safety reasons, but seems like DJI should just back off before they lost MANY customers. I love the DJI products but ... we will see how all of this plays out.

Are other pilots in U.S. worried? Love to hear your comments.

My biggest concern is for the flyers who always want to test "how far or how high" they can fly. My rule of thumb is "if you can't see it, YOU CAN'T FLY that high or far." VLOS is VLOS for a reason. It doesn't take that many people to ruin it for everyone.

 

[Paint Rock Drones]

Sorry I was unclear in my post, there are two parts to the issues affecting my area: DJI Geo locking and FAA.

We are on the fringe of a controlled airspace (KAUG - in the Montreal Sectional) - not sure about the "larger airport" moniker though.

It seems like an odd configuration of the controlled space in a very rural area and when I talked with DJI about this, they pointed to Sunny Hill (the private airport long since dormant) as the cause.

Thanks for your insight.

Ah, it's class E. The extensions are there to protect instrument approaches for manned aircraft. Nothing to do with the old private strip. I'm guessing whoever at DJI answered your question wasn't all that familiar with US airspace.

 

[RGS2010]

Are you a federal operator?

Hehe, no. I’m just an individual Part 107 operator.

For reasons that I don't understand, which may include a private airport which hasn't been used in 20 years, my home area requires unlocking. I explained this to DJI and they sent a code that unlocked this corridor for 1 year. I still have to get LAANC approval, but that only takes about 30 seconds using Aloft.

i tried to get long term approval and all I got was 3 days! But I am 2 miles from a busy metropolitan airport here in Houston. My back yard is in Class B airspace!

 

[sar104]

Hehe, no. I’m just an individual Part 107 operator.

Then you needn't worry about restrictions on federal use, which have been in place for several years.

 

[hychewright]

If that happened, you'd see a hacking community spring up to find vulnerabilities almost immediately. Plus, it's getting much easier to build your own...completely free of any restrictions.

Yes, I agree. I would imagine more pilots are going to learn to build their own( including me) in the near future.

 

[sar104]

Yes, I agree. I would imagine more pilots are going to learn to build their own( including me) in the near future.

Building your own drone is easy. Building one that can field a gimbal and camera with results that come anywhere close to what you get from DJI is a much harder problem.

 

[hychewright]

Building your own drone is easy. Building one that can field a gimbal and camera with results that come anywhere close to what you get from DJI is a much harder problem.

Hello sar104 you know.......Your right........building the drone would be easy but I didn't think about the gimbal and camera? I can see where that would be much harder.

 

[sar104]

Hello sar104 you know.......Your right........building the drone would be easy but I didn't think about the gimbal and camera? I can see where that would be much harder.

There are commercial solutions from companies like Gremsy, but they are mostly targeted at higher end applications with large cameras, and expensive. And even then they are usually a real pain to integrate.

It turns out that matching the gimbal suspension system to the gimbal and cameras and then tuning the mechanical response to get good results, especially with video, is very difficult. And then the control systems typically lack sufficient channels to control everything. And it's difficult to get the transmission range up anywhere close to Occusync or its equivalents. DJI, and to a lesser extent Autel, have done a remarkable job with these aircraft.

 

[jaybrad]

Ah, it's class E. The extensions are there to protect instrument approaches for manned aircraft. Nothing to do with the old private strip. I'm guessing whoever at DJI answered your question wasn't all that familiar with US airspace.

Yeah, I understand in general why they have extended approaches, but in this case it goes much farther to the north than the south (which is the more frequently used) - and it seems interesting they would need such an extended approach (~20 miles?) to a 6,000’ runway that has about 3 turboprop commercial flights per day.

It’s not a problem for me, just an interesting situation.

Cheers!

 

[Paint Rock Drones]

Yeah, I understand in general why they have extended approaches, but in this case it goes much farther to the north than the south (which is the more frequently used) - and it seems interesting they would need such an extended approach (~20 miles?) to a 6,000’ runway that has about 3 turboprop commercial flights per day.

It’s not a problem for me, just an interesting situation.

Cheers!

I think it is because the approach from the north is an ILS (precision approach). Even if it isn't used as much, it would be the one used when the visibility or clouds are particularly low. The approaches from the south are VOR and RNAV, which do not allow descent as low without visibility to the runway.

 

[jaybrad]

I think it is because the approach from the north is an ILS (precision approach). Even if it isn't used as much, it would be the one used when the visibility or clouds are particularly low. The approaches from the south are VOR and RNAV, which do not allow descent as low without visibility to the runway.

Interesting and makes sense - thanks very much!

 

[Robert Prior]

Strange, I can't imagine why DJI would lock an area around a private airport (which presumably has no controlled airspace associated).

When I was in Greenland DJI locked the area around seasonal heliports year-round. Said heliports being a circle of rocks and a wind-sock.

The locals told me to cover the top of the drone with foil so I could fly there — that's what they did. (No cell phone or internet service so you couldn't do the unlock thing.) Which I didn't do — I wanted GPS positioning and RTH active!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Hello sar104 you know.......Your right........building the drone would be easy but I didn't think about the gimbal and camera? I can see where that would be much harder.

Proper FPV uses any of the very good action cams, and there is brilliant image stabilisation, or programmes like Reel, Steady, Go to smooth out earlier model GoPro footage.
They just mount at an angle for decent FOV with the slight or heavier fisheye, and go !!
You don't need a gimbal as such, but there are some neat things out there like the Quark single axis gimbal < NURK video.

Quark

Noir Matter is introducing Quark stabilizer the world's smallest and waterproof stabilizer for GoPro Hero cameras and other action cameras. Waterproof, dustproof and powerful it's the perfect gimbal for any of your adventures.

noirmatter.com

 

[Jboogey]

I'm not especially worried. DJI's unlocking zone unlocking process is pretty simple. Annoying, but I unlock both my local areas any time I plan to fly, it takes about 2 minutes, and the unlock lasts 3 days. The proposed new restrictions (emphasis on the proposed) are only on government entities. I would be surprised, even if they are adopted, if the restrictions were extended to consumers, and even more surprised if the restrictions were retroactive to existing owners.

There are other folks with lots of regulatory experience here, so you might get a more informed opinion at some point.

I like your take on this. I would like to learn more about this unlocking process
Do you have a recommended reference where I could learn how? Thanks