Flying VLOS - is that the solution?

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Hey,
I'm not an expert with the p3 however I have a good experience with the p2v+
I love in Israel and luckily (or unluckily) we have no regulations regarding drones at the moment. Not even 400' AGL limit. I do feel the FAA restriction for flying VLOS is impractical, there will always be people who will disregard that and with the growing number of drones up there risk for commercial and private airplanes is and will be very real. I feel the solution should be technological. There should be a way for drones to Beacon their location so they are visible to other planes. Maybe some kind of radio communication between airplanes and drones to cause the drone to automatically descend when entering a fixed radius of a Beacon from a manned airplane?
Just my 2 cents. People will always be stupid and accidents will happen. Technology must improve.
 
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Hey,
I'm not an expert with the p3 however I have a good experience with the p2v+
I love in Israel and luckily (or unluckily) we have no regulations regarding drones at the moment. Not even 400' AGL limit. I do feel the FAA restriction for flying VLOS is impractical, there will always be people who will disregard that and with the growing number of drones up there risk for commercial and private airplanes is and will be very real. I feel the solution should be technological. There should be a way for drones to Beacon their location so they are visible to other planes. Maybe some kind of radio communication between airplanes and drones to cause the drone to automatically descend when entering a fixed radius of a Beacon from a manned airplane?
Just my 2 cents. People will always be stupid and accidents will happen. Technology must improve.
Far too expensive to include an additional $1,000+ component in a $1200 drone, including the extra carry weight. It also won't work unless every drone has one. That requirement would kill the market, as would an accurate AGL radar readout. If the FAA really decides to mandate all hobbyists fly strictly VLOS, Isreal may be the only place DJI will be able to sell their P3P's!:eek:
 
Well I was actually thinking of a Beacon on airplanes that when intercepted by the drone would trigger a quick descent of the drone into safe altitude. I realize this isn't entirely feasible but so is counting on reckless people ;)
 
Except if it is the plane or helicopter that is flying into the drone corridor, now the plane or helicopter is potentially crashing the drone into a tree or building it was flying above. I wouldn't want a drone that had that feature! :eek: I would prefer a warning in the app from the beacon so I could take my own evasive action, that might tell me their altitude relative to mine, but the expense would still be prohibitive today. The cheaper the drones become, the more prohibitive it becomes.
 
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Except if it is the plane or helicopter that is flying into the drone corridor, now the plane or helicopter is potentially crashing the drone into a tree or building it was flying above. I wouldn't want a drone that had that feature! :eek: I would prefer a warning in the app from the beacon so I could take my own evasive action, that might tell me their altitude relative to mine, but the expense would still be prohibitive today. The cheaper the drones become, the more prohibitive it becomes.
I honestly feel there will be more than a few accidents coming soon as the prices constantly drop. I would much rather crash my drone on top of building during emergency descent than crash it into a manned aircraft.
Technologically not very complicated. Who's in for a start up company? ;)
 
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Far too expensive to include an additional $1,000+ component in a $1200 drone, including the extra carry weight. It also won't work unless every drone has one. That requirement would kill the market, as would an accurate AGL radar readout. If the FAA really decides to mandate all hobbyists fly strictly VLOS, Isreal may be the only place DJI will be able to sell their P3P's!:eek:
I think it's feasible to include this technology. Look at the range of the Lightbridge - pretty amazing for the cost of the P3. Add some circuitry to blip out an ID and location every 5-10 seconds, and it would not cost much. On the other hand, receiving location and height of nearby objects could be used to adjust height of flight to avoid other objects. The only problem with technology is its not always installed in every aircraft, so fallback to worst case is the FAAs default, hence the VLOS rules.
 
I think it's feasible to include this technology. Look at the range of the Lightbridge - pretty amazing for the cost of the P3. Add some circuitry to blip out an ID and location every 5-10 seconds, and it would not cost much. On the other hand, receiving location and height of nearby objects could be used to adjust height of flight to avoid other objects. The only problem with technology is its not always installed in every aircraft, so fallback to worst case is the FAAs default, hence the VLOS rules.
The FAA VLOS is not about safety. It's about being able to find the pilot. They want you to be nearby, so they can easily find you. If you are 3 to 5 miles away, they'll never be able to find you....:p
 
Birds should also adhere to the 400 feet altitude limit.
Only the stupid ones that do dumb stuff are causing problems for the rest of the safe birds. I mean, what happens when a bird flies into a window and hurts a kid? Lawsuits, injuries, medical bills, etc. It's literally the end of the world because nobody has ever been injured before.
 
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The FAA VLOS is not about safety. It's about being able to find the pilot. They want you to be nearby, so they can easily find you. If you are 3 to 5 miles away, they'll never be able to find you....:p
You may have something there :). I think the FAA is somewhat of a hypocrite when it comes to how they are supposedly integrating sUAS in the national airspace. They create worst case safety rules like VLOS, don't fly over people, etc. Then the commercial jetliners they also regulate take off and land at airports right in the middle of cities, and fly right over people's houses. I live 5-6 miles from Dulles airport. Jets fly over my neighborhood houses all the time. I'd hate to see an accident happen. But the FAA lets them fly over our neighborhood with hundreds of tons of mass aircraft. Is that safe? Certainly not. Perhaps they should move all the airports out in the rural areas to ensure safety. But no one is debating doing this.

I think the bottom line is, people need to practice safe habits, and be aware of risks at all times. If there are ways to avoid risks, then standard practices should be used to do so if at all possible.
 
You may have something there :). I think the FAA is somewhat of a hypocrite when it comes to how they are supposedly integrating sUAS in the national airspace. They create worst case safety rules like VLOS, don't fly over people, etc. Then the commercial jetliners they also regulate take off and land at airports right in the middle of cities, and fly right over people's houses. I live 5-6 miles from Dulles airport. Jets fly over my neighborhood houses all the time. I'd hate to see an accident happen. But the FAA lets them fly over our neighborhood with hundreds of tons of mass aircraft. Is that safe? Certainly not. Perhaps they should move all the airports out in the rural areas to ensure safety. But no one is debating doing this.

I think the bottom line is, people need to practice safe habits, and be aware of risks at all times. If there are ways to avoid risks, then standard practices should be used to do so if at all possible.
That jet plane that flies over people costs $50 million, is crewed by at least two people with thousands of hours of flight time, is supervised by highly competent air traffic control staff, is maintained by expensive, competent mechanics and is designed by companies that have spent millions of man hours and billions of dollars designing and building the aircraft.

Your drone, not so much.
 
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You may have something there :). I think the FAA is somewhat of a hypocrite when it comes to how they are supposedly integrating sUAS in the national airspace. They create worst case safety rules like VLOS, don't fly over people, etc. Then the commercial jetliners they also regulate take off and land at airports right in the middle of cities, and fly right over people's houses. I live 5-6 miles from Dulles airport. Jets fly over my neighborhood houses all the time. I'd hate to see an accident happen. But the FAA lets them fly over our neighborhood with hundreds of tons of mass aircraft. Is that safe? Certainly not. Perhaps they should move all the airports out in the rural areas to ensure safety. But no one is debating doing this.

I think the bottom line is, people need to practice safe habits, and be aware of risks at all times. If there are ways to avoid risks, then standard practices should be used to do so if at all possible.
All commercial jets should be restricted to flying at AMA Approved Flying Fields, under all AMA Flying Rules! Do it for the children! :rolleyes:
 
That jet plane that flies over people costs $50 million, is crewed by at least two people with thousands of hours of flight time, is supervised by highly competent air traffic control staff, is maintained by expensive, competent mechanics and is designed by companies that have spent millions of man hours and billions of dollars designing and building the aircraft.

Your drone, not so much.
Yeah, and those "well trained" pilots still can't manually land in SF without crashing the tail end loaded with passengers onto the tarmac for the firetruck to run over! :oops::oops::eek::rolleyes:
 
As well as VLOS and no night flying! :eek:

No night flying? Actually, I can see my phantom much further away at night thanks to the lights that are only visible at a distance at night time. Night time increases my VLOS. :)

(Just kidding... I have not flown at night other than a brief test 10' off the ground to make sure things worked after the firmware upgrade.)
 
That jet plane that flies over people costs $50 million, is crewed by at least two people with thousands of hours of flight time, is supervised by highly competent air traffic control staff, is maintained by expensive, competent mechanics and is designed by companies that have spent millions of man hours and billions of dollars designing and building the aircraft.

Your drone, not so much.
True. But I'd like to see the calculation of damage that might happen because it flies over people and property. Engines have fallen off jets. I'd hate to see the damage it would cause. What happens when a P3 falls?
 
To wet dog
So you've never heard about these million dollar planes and million dollar airlines with a million dollar back-up ever crash and kill people! Really. What's a drone going to do if it lands on top of you give you a hefty bang or at worst knock you out. Airplane falling Drone falling let me guess, I'll take the drone
 

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