Finally flew out over 3 miles...

[Bakersfield Quad]

Long runs are cool, as long as your course does not over fly populous areas. Flying over dense population areas, well, is just not right, you accept the risk, but others under your flight path don't have have that choice.

 

[Chopperimage]

Good for you and thanks for your service !!

I agree, we ALL need to be careful.

Both in what we post and what we do.

One of the most important things we can do to benefit all (IMHO) is to not pontificate , brings out the worst in everyone.

Ya wasn't trying to pontificate. Sorry if it came over like that.

 

[Chopperimage]

Long runs are cool, as long as your course does not over fly populous areas. Flying over dense population areas, well, is just not right, you accept the risk, but others under your flight path don't have have that choice.

Yep. In Fixed wing ops we have to maintain 1,000 AGL over congested areas. LOL Reminds me of when I asked the FAA to define a congested area. THEY HAD AN ANSWER!! It was 3.2 people per acre. Keep in mind I might be off by a tenth since that was a long time ago. They told me how many buildings per square mile too. I had to laugh because Florida HAS areas where it goes from congested to sparse in less than a block.

What I would LOVE to see the FAA do, and I am headed to FSDO here in MSP, to see if there is anything in our future to grant waivers, (like night), to overfly said areas so we all can venture out a little more than our backyards.

I think with the GEO fencing, and RTH settings (If pilots have those systems on board their respective UAS) we should be able to venture out say no lower than 100' AGL and no higher than 350 feet AGL.

Anyway I would believe that the tech is coming in the future to allow us to fly without threat of impunity provided our aircraft and our training as pilots start to match that of Part 91, 135, and 121, aircraft and pilots.

 

[exit 4]

Yesterday was the first time that I flew out over 3 miles (16137'). It was over water so I didn't have any interference. I pretty much had full signal but the battery was down to 58% so I turned back. Altitude for the entire flight was less than 300' I have to say, it's a good feeling seeing the bird come back after it's been out that far!

View attachment 86750

You didn't turn back till you were down to 58%? You have one big set of shiny ones. I never go past 65%. You were lucky, any amount of wind could have sunk you.

 

[Deleted member 1555]

I am of the opinion that the FAA will soon define what distance a constitutes the limit of VLOS. I then imagine that DJI will limit the distance their drones can fly to that defined distance.

 

[Chopperimage]

I am of the opinion that the FAA will soon define what distance a constitutes the limit of VLOS. I then imagine that DJI will limit the distance their drones can fly to that defined distance.

Well I get that. They may not limit it.

For me my VLOS limit is about 700 meters or 2100 feet. For me not only am I doing this professionally (UAS) but the FAA can tie this to my other fixed wing licenses. I'd rather not chance everything. Now... That is me and my situation.

 

[Deleted member 1555]

Well I get that. They may not limit it.

For me my VLOS limit is about 700 meters or 2100 feet. For me not only am I doing this professionally (UAS) but the FAA can tie this to my other fixed wing licenses. I'd rather not chance everything. Now... That is me and my situation.

HUA!

 

[Newt59]

Blessed77, I can at least see far enough to agree with you on that one!

 

[JetLife]

Don't let the self righteous guys bother you. Over half of this form flies beyond VLOS all the time, but they do it safely by the most part, minimizing risk as best possible. In your case on the farm there's very little risk, versus others taking more risk in town. I'm still itching to setup a Litchi autonomous flight that loses connection with the RC, flying behind a mountain to capture a secluded lighthouse, then coming back. Although this flight would be 100% over water, and 2 miles away, it's still something I've never tried to do, but intend too in the next couple of months. This will help me really grasp the capabilities of Litchi in unique situations. I've use Litchi a year now, never had an issue, it's been pretty reliable. However, I've never flown far away, enough to disconnect the control link during a waypoint mission, and then wait for it to return to reconnect later. DirtyBird does this all the time, he's the master.

Take the flight John! I felt the same as you but finally built the courage up and programmed a VERY long litchi mission for my precious P4P and let her go. No probs. 3.9 mi. round trip. [emoji4]

 

[MassGuy]

Nice! How did you record the screen?

This and the picture in my first post are screen shots of my iPad.

The pic below shows what will probably be my last flight for max distance. This was done a few weeks after the other flight but I don't think I posted it. I made it to just over 4 miles. I guess it's one of those "been there, done that" things. Plus it gets a little stressful on the way back. I know what it's capable of under the right conditions but there's no need to go that far anymore. Plus I value the craft to much to possibly lose it doing this.

Chopperimage: Thanks for the info you posted!

 

[AirMan05446]

I'll just point out there is a very simple way you can go out well past 2 miles and still have VLOS: Flying at night with the appropriate lighting system, which starts at under $100.

 

[nwairphotos]

It's funny you made that comment seeing as how FAA rule is that they stay OVER that 400' unless taking off or landing. Hence the reason we have a 400' max altitude rule. Now, if I'm flying along at 375' (within vlos) [emoji849] and another aircraft comes along and collides with my drone I guess you'd blame the drone pilot bc he didn't take evasive actions although the aircraft was below the FAA "floor".
I'm sure they do in fact frown upon ppl that fly outside vlos, yet the ppl that take extra precautions to not be over areas that are heavily populated and where no one could potentially be hurt or property damaged, probably are a lot less likely to be sought after compared to those who do not make any effort to ensure the safety of others.
The FAA surely has bigger fish to fry than hunting down every single guy that flies outside vlos or above 400' for that matter. Now, when someone becomes completely wreckless with where and how they fly their drone, then they should surly expect to face some type of consequences.
That being said, happy flying fellas!

Manned aircraft can legally fly below 400'. There is no 400' floor. In a sparsely populated area they must stay 500' away from people or buildings and this distance is not vertical, so in an uninhabited area or over the water they could legally fly at 100' or lower.

 

[nwairphotos]

This is what I was referring to:

(c)Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

The point was that an airplane or helicopter could legally be flying below 400' and we shouldn't send our drones out of our site thinking that planes won't be flying that low or that if they crash with our drone it's their fault.

(Note that the 500' in sparsely populated areas is not necessarily vertical. The plane could be 10' above the ground, so long as it is 500' from the building or person).