400' FAA altitude limit a law or a suggestion?

[henick]

There's no good reason for planes to be down that low other than fun. Helicopters sure but they also have the ability to hover so I don't consider a drone a threat at all. As for a plane ... really ... even at 1000ft they are some big looking trees. Most parachutes don't even come out that fast and might snivel for 5-800ft before they pop open. No business being down there.

If anything ever happened you'd have to immediately go on your reserve and hell to that. Probably a 50/50 chance of survival if you could think fast enough.

IMO of course.

It would be much easier to regulate them higher then us lower. Foolish actually when you think about it.

 

[msinger]

There's no good reason for planes to be down that low other than fun.

I suppose the military might just be out having fun, but it's not uncommon to see low flying military planes/helicopters fly over my house.

 

[henick]

And by fun... I do love a good buzz of a buddy's house in a Cessna but when you do that you fully realize you probably shouldn't lol

I think saying that makes a bit of a point though. In the past there was no problem with that. Now it may be risky behavior for a pilot to do. And lots of them do. It is a blast lol

 

[Jhanner1]

I fly a p3p, own an airplane and fly helicopters for work. 400 agl is low in the airplane, but it's just another day at the office in the helicopter. Drones aren't a threat to helicopters? How do figure that? I promise at 400ft and 120 knots a drone is impossible to see and avoid. Just don't do anything stupid and be aware of your surroundings, one major accident is all it will take for all the fun to be over.

 

[henick]

Oh sure it is but if you're flying fast, you should probably be higher is all I'm saying. In a hover you can react.

Its the one chance that's the problem. Many UAV pilots simply aren't aware of what is at stake because it is so easy to pull the toy from the box and charge the battery. Not to sound crass but an idiot could get one of these in the air.

Frig that.. get the people with something to lose up higher unless necessary. Call in low flights to the tower. Makes more sense. IMO.

I wouldn't expect it to proceed logically though don't get me wrong.

 

[ianwood]

There's no good reason for planes to be down that low other than fun.

What good reason is there for your drone to be above 400ft? What makes it so important as to require planes to avoid you? I think you will be better off accepting that aircraft are allowed to fly down to 500ft and always will be. Helicopters can go even lower. It is YOUR responsibility to avoid all manned aircraft.

Oh sure it is but if you're flying fast, you should probably be higher is all I'm saying. In a hover you can react.

A helicopter won't come into range of your drone if it is hovering. A helicopter that comes into range of your drone will be moving at speed and most likely won't see it until it is too late. Once again, it is your responsibility to avoid manned aircraft regardless of type or location.

 

[turbulence]

There's no good reason for planes to be down that low other than fun. Helicopters sure but they also have the ability to hover so I don't consider a drone a threat at all. As for a plane ... really ... even at 1000ft they are some big looking trees. Most parachutes don't even come out that fast and might snivel for 5-800ft before they pop open. No business being down there.

If anything ever happened you'd have to immediately go on your reserve and hell to that. Probably a 50/50 chance of survival if you could think fast enough.

IMO of course.

It would be much easier to regulate them higher then us lower. Foolish actually when you think about it.

Crop dusters fly under 400ft all the time.

 

[henick]

Sure lots of things do and you don't need to be above 400ft really. There is just more space that way. Flying low is scary because your best hope at that height is in the crash position. It's better for people in planes to be a little higher. I have my max height set to 120m so I comply. It just makes more sense to fly higher in an aircraft in case of emergency if anything at all.

Usually white knuckled with duct tape on the back window and a 2x4 holding up the pilots seat wondering if the lawnmower engine is going to throw a rod at 1000 ft before you have time to get out is what I remember about most of my rides in Cessnas lol ... they're great once you're above 3000. Why fly low? It is equally as unnecessary as drone owners flying high only their capabilities can top 13000'. Give people and their toys a thousand feet. They don't need to be down there without a special reason to be because it is actually safer not to be.

Not that it makes a lick of difference or would I fly over 400 anyway. Just saying it would probably make more sense.

 

[snerd]

Sure lots of things do and you don't need to be above 400ft really. There is just more space that way. Flying low is scary because your best hope at that height is in the crash position. It's better for people in planes to be a little higher. I have my max height set to 120m so I comply. It just makes more sense to fly higher in an aircraft in case of emergency if anything at all.

Usually white knuckled with duct tape on the back window and a 2x4 holding up the pilots seat wondering if the lawnmower engine is going to throw a rod at 1000 ft before you have time to get out is what I remember about most of my rides in Cessnas lol ... they're great once you're above 3000. Why fly low? It is equally as unnecessary as drone owners flying high only their capabilities can top 13000'. Give people and their toys a thousand feet. They don't need to be down there without a special reason to be because it is actually safer not to be.

Evidently, the rule-making body of the FAA disagree with you.

 

[henick]

Evidently, the rule-making body of the FAA disagree with you.

Oh clearly very different opinions. Heh

Think about it though. Drones are an emerging technology. I'm pretty sure we are settled on the fact that they also make excellent tools as toys. Is the benefit of pilots being able to 'fly low' worth not allowing this emerging technology to realize it's full potential? I say no. They're only going to increase in popularity as time goes on and as soon as government finds a way to monetize that you better believe they'd regulate the other way.

3000ft automated shipping lanes. Time to Jetsons this s#!t up a bit. Lol

 

[kennedye]

You have to acknowledge an alert to enable flight above 400 feet (well, technically 393 feet) in the app, but it's not like doing so automatically sends an email to the closest FSDO. However I suppose it could potentially be considered a contributing factor in an incident like the one ianwood describes.

 

[ianwood]

Your phantom is data logging in multiple places and we already know that DJI sends data about your flights to their servers with or without your permission.

 

[m0j0]

If the question is law or recommendation.. The answer is.. Recommendation. That's it. No matter what you fly or what your experience is... It is a recommendation until they make it a law. I'm actually really interested in seeing how they write it. VLOS is really ambiguous. They law would be better if they wrote VLOS no greater than xxx feet from the operator.


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[Mark The Droner]

You could still end up in court because you didn't follow their "recommendation."

 

[BigAl07]

If the question is law or recommendation.. The answer is.. Recommendation. That's it. No matter what you fly or what your experience is... It is a recommendation until they make it a law. I'm actually really interested in seeing how they write it. VLOS is really ambiguous. They law would be better if they wrote VLOS no greater than xxx feet from the operator.


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Here's a thread I started earlier this week and could have a very REAL impact on hobby operations. It's still just an "opinion" but it's from an intelligent and reliable industry professional.

Hobby/Recreational Flight could indeed be regulated. . .

 

[RoyVa]

Just stay under 400 ft and enjoy and leave the higher altitudes to the big boys. A lot of fly space here under 400 ft.

 

[SamEAS]

There's no good reason for planes to be down that low other than fun. Helicopters sure but they also have the ability to hover so I don't consider a drone a threat at all. As for a plane ... really ... even at 1000ft they are some big looking trees. Most parachutes don't even come out that fast and might snivel for 5-800ft before they pop open. No business being down there.

If anything ever happened you'd have to immediately go on your reserve and hell to that. Probably a 50/50 chance of survival if you could think fast enough.

IMO of course.

It would be much easier to regulate them higher then us lower. Foolish actually when you think about it.

I am sorry but this is stupid. You are flying a 500 - 1,500 dollar phantom. They are flying a plane potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Pilots in a specific class of airspace are allowed to fly as low as they want as long as they pose no threat to persons or property. YOU as a drone operator need to be aware of your craft and surrounding crafts. Flying is all about right of way and as a craft that has no living being inside are on the bottom of the totem pole for right of way.

As for no reason to be below 1000 feet what about crop dusters or low flight gas line inspections.

Also even a helicopter pilot isn't going to be able to spot a drone as small as a phantom very easily. I think some of the people on this forum need to take some actual flight classes and get some respect for the other members of the flight community and not assume anything.

 

[m0j0]

Oh boy.


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[kennedye]

Also, if you haven't taken your Phantom to altitude yet FYI 400 feet is pretty **** high. You can barely hear it at that height even if it's right over you, and the shots from that altitude are pretty stunning (or at least can be). You really don't want to be going that far up unless you have a well-charged battery either; it takes a minimum of 24 seconds to reach that height and a minimum of 40 seconds to come back down, based on the published max ascend/descend speeds for the P3. The winds are a lot different that far up as well, so what feels like a light breeze at the controller level can be much faster up there.

I'm not saying don't fly 400 feet above things, mind you. I frankly think it's pretty freakin' cool that I can send a flying camera that far above me and see things I could never notice from the ground. Just that once you reach multiple hundreds of feet in altitude, things become a little harier.

 

[ftttu]

Ask this guy if it a general rule or an enforceable law.