Flying above 400ft is a little scary and pointless

[cornishchris]

Why would anybody WANT to fly above 400 ft , is it to prove you can , or is it to prove you're an ******* .

 

[Case29247]

I think he/she knows the answer. Maybe he/she thought that you thought it was law. In FAA advisory circular 91-57a the wording says that you should operate your model aircraft under 400. If it was a requirement to operate that low it would say you must operate below 400 feet. They recommend that altitude because no manned aircraft should be operating below 500 feet unless the are departing or approaching an airport. It leaves you with 100 feet separation. As long as you are operating within line of sight in airspace that does not require a clearance to enter you should be fine as far as the law is concerned. That being said it is always best to follow the FAA's recommendations so that we can all enjoy this hobby for years to come without further restriction.

I think you're right. The "FAA advisory rules" seem to be derived from the commonly accepted RC hobby aircraft common-sense recommendations that were around forty-five years ago when I was dabbling in it. Those recommendations were designed to keep manned aircraft and RC planes apart, protect people and property on the ground, and as an added bonus, increase the chances that the RC pilot would get his aircraft back home in one piece at all.

(Most of us were very concerned about getting the plane home...in one piece....after all, we'd put the equivalent a couple thousand 2016 dollars and hundreds of shop hours into the construction of the darned thing. Compare that to today's drones that cost as little as a couple hundred 2016 dollars and fly right out of the box, so any idiot with a credit card can buy and fly today.)

The "FAA advisory rules" today will be "laws" tomorrow. It's just the way it is, due to human nature. Automobile "rules of the road" are actually a good comparison to the "FAA advisory rules." (As one idiot here informed us, we all drive 80 mph, drunk--NOT--The presumptuous idiot.). Automobile "rules of the road" make pure common sense. You'd think we wouldn't even need traffic laws. But people are stupid, and many are irresponsible. Thus, we have traffic laws that mirror the common-sense "rules of the road" that are enforceable and hopefully cost violators enough to change their ways before they kill somebody. (And even with enforceable traffic laws, we still kill 35,000 people annually in the USA.) The "FAA advisory rules" today will be "laws" tomorrow because of human nature.

In the meantime, the "FAA advisory rules" of today probably do not carry the legal weight of actual laws. Without being absolutely, utterly reckless, it's it'll be difficult to find yourself in criminal court just because you were flying out of bounds. You're going to have to be flying at the end of a runway and bring down a jumbo jet for that.

But civil suits are very different. Fly a drone into somebody's face, and I think that the "advisory rules" would carry a heavy weight in a civil action. I suspect even a novice lawyer could persuade a skeptical jury that the universally known "advisory rules" make pure common sense to anybody that flies responsibly, and that anybody that was flying even a little of bounds should be liable for the damage they do.

Finally, let me remind you something that little is talked about when it comes to the wisdom of the "rules." One thing: FLYA-WAY'S. The "advisory rules" are also designed to minimize the danger of fly-away's. Got any problems with that?

 

[MikeTess]

It's like "***** envy"...higher is "better"

 

[MikeTess]

Seriously when you fly higher you can catch a better directional signal and fly further. That's the way I sometimes fly higher.

 

[wooglin]

Seriously when you fly higher you can catch a better directional signal and fly further. That's the way I sometimes fly higher.

Indeed.

 

[Caston]

I've never understood why amateur drone pilots have more freedom to fly than pros. I'm an amateur, with intention of creating a business. It seems to me that the FAA has it backwards. I would think if a pro is putting food on his table, he's going to be more responsible with hi flying than an amateur out having fun. I don't understand why making money seems to be a bigger threat.

 

[erkme73]

I've never understood why amateur drone pilots have more freedom to fly than pros. I'm an amateur, with intention of creating a business. It seems to me that the FAA has it backwards. I would think if a pro is putting food on his table, he's going to be more responsible with hi flying than an amateur out having fun. I don't understand why making money seems to be a bigger threat.

Careful... You're using logic and thinking for yourself. If the FAA's mandate is to ensure safety of our national air space, then the motives behind a flying person/object should have NOTHING to do with regulation. As you point out, if I fly my drone for free, or for a paycheck, how does that fundamentally change ANYTHING? Hint: It has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with $$... Companies (commercial endeavors) have deeper pockets and more at stake, so they are much more willing and able to pay to play.

 

[wooglin]

Careful... You're using logic and thinking for yourself. If the FAA's mandate is to ensure safety of our national air space, then the motives behind a flying person/object should have NOTHING to do with regulation. As you point out, if I fly my drone for free, or for a paycheck, how does that fundamentally change ANYTHING? Hint: It has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with $$... Companies (commercial endeavors) have deeper pockets and more at stake, so they are much more willing and able to pay to play.

Yes I agree, but this is an unusual point is the creative history of the United States in that a form of artistry is being regulated in modern time. There are many other forms of creative artistry that have evolved or come into existence over the past 25 years that have avoided the same fate.

 

[dhsprogis]

Does anyone know whether DJI collects back-haul data from GO app? Said another way, is the telemetry logged and is the telemetry collected by DJI opening the possibility that your flights can be assessed by interested parties?

 

[Phantom George]

In Australia here, my DJI P3 will not accept an input to fly higher then 400ft Or 120m. The DJI Do App here will not accept per example 121m.
Looks in America it's expected to fly with higher inputs

 

[Neilen]

Hi from South Africa.
I once had to go up 335m to get a dam into the shot (huge dam) not doing that in a hurry.

I have seen aircrafts fly overhead that looks like 250m and a microlight at 150m.

Looks like South Africa fly like we drive taxi's. (Any where we like)

 

[t2adze]

When flying in the urban, i usually try to always be over the roofs of the buildings. So if something happens birds falls on the roof.
And regarding the height, again in the urban area, i choose the tallest building and i add 20 meters above on it to be safe.

 

[stulpin300m]

Why would anybody WANT to fly above 400 ft , is it to prove you can , or is it to prove you're an ******* .

Most people have probably gone over 400ft even the ones here pouting about it . It's like buying a Lamborghini and never going over 65mph.


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[stulpin300m]

The problem is that children do fly these things, and fly them recklessly. Just last week in California a kid almost hit a police helicopter at night at 700ft.

I understand and that's crazy but they can add a million rules and them few people will still find away around them. Can't worry about what the next man is doing and there's no way to stop everyone. Just fly and enjoy!!!


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[stulpin300m]

They are trying to safely share the airspace. That's why you get from ground level to 400 feet AGL. The rest is allocated to other uses. It's called sharing. I'm guessing you never learned that life skill.


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So I get 400ft and they get unlimited. You sound dumb talking about sharing like we're 5 years old. They control airspace they don't own it!!!


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[stulpin300m]

yeah I almost commented about that but I dont think I had created my account yet. If a jet flew 100 feet above at near mach 1 you would probably think there was an earthquake going down. That being said, I used to live near Luke Airforce base (near Phoenix), and they can be pretty **** loud.

I enjoy trolling idiots that do unsafe things with thier uav's that they werent built for .

A lot of the times its actually quite scary the stupidity of some of the people flying... Which becomes more apparent when they try to "argue" with you.

edit: High altitude alone doesnt get my trolling, there are too many out there lol. Its when they are REALLY stupid.

They weren't built to go over 400ft?


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[Dirty Bird]

Have you ever flown in mountainous terrain? The world is not flat...

Why would anybody WANT to fly above 400 ft , is it to prove you can , or is it to prove you're an ******* .

 

[impilot51]

So I get 400ft and they get unlimited. You sound dumb talking about sharing like we're 5 years old. They control airspace they don't own it!!!


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Yep, that's the way it is. Get over it. Over 400 AGL and your intruding on airspace dedicated to real aircraft with real live people in them. You sound like a petulant, spoiled child that has never been taught the word "no".


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[bLaStErAiD]

Try reading the darned manual, if you can read that is.

Ohh I can read just fine and have read the manual just fine too, I made a mistake by asking that question when I already new the answer, I just simply got confused by the tittle of the post, that's it. Now you tell me, have you ever made a reading mistake?

 

[stulpin300m]

Where I am in Oregon the hills are 3,000 feet. Anybody below them in a conventional craft is already dead. By hills I mean hill after hill after hill with forests. I have a lot of beautiful landscape pictures from about 1,000 feet. I can easily make those in less than five minutes, above 400 feet. There is no battery problem. I am not one of those people who gets up in the morning and goes through rules books looking for something else to obey. The only Feds that show up around here are trying to confiscate resources anyway.

Be prepared for all the cry baby's to tell u how much of a idiot u are and break out there rule book. Lmao[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


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