Others make their own decisions, but for me, given where I fly, I'll never go above 400 ft. I often and regularly see choppers flying right over my practice fields at less than 300 feet so I am always on the lookout and listen. With my P2V+, I could evade by switching into manual and back into GPS at 50 feet or so with recovery no problem - can't do that with the P3, apparently...
I hit the Max Height limit! 1654.2 FT!!!
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The video was taken in SE Michigan 20 miles south of Ann Arbor.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
At 175mph, it's a missile to a Cessna. The battery alone could take out the prop.
Yes, once we have a protocol in place, flights above 400ft could be done responsibly.
Pretty unlikely. The battery would likely just be sliced in two if the drone were to be hit with the prop. There's nothing in the Phantom that is harder than the aluminum propeller. The prop disk is mostly air so anything going through it is unlikely to actually hit a prop blade.
Bringing down a small Cessna or an airliner is extremely unlikely. Not impossible, but the odds are better than anything in Las Vegas that it won't happen in our lifetimes. You would be more likely to be hit by a truck while crossing your residential street than to ever collide your drone into an aircraft above 500 ft.
As I said before, the fear mongering does no good to our hobby.
I 'think' this guy got contacted by the FAA after posting a video of a high flight in Tampa pretty close to Tampa Airport:
Actually Steve, you're not 100% correct. I have seen (I was co-pilot) a bird strike take down a UH1-H from a damaged tail-rotor, not crashed but a forced landing due to serious vibration (precautionary) 40 miles out of Waco. In another case an A4D sucked a bird, broke a compressor blade and forced a shutdown. The compressor blades of a turbo-fan jet are finely balanced, and a bent or broken blade can cause a catastrophic failure. I do agree with you that a turbo-prop driven aircraft is unlikely to suffer from a prop strike, but the cockpit screen is another matter, besides giving the pilot a heart attack there is danger of debris entering the aircraft. Besides, if I was flying an aircraft at 1500' and was hit by a quad, that pilot, if identified, would be in line for some serious behavior modification thru pain association. You will have to admit there have been some very stupid postings on youtube, people doing some crazy things just for bragging rights. The guy who was bumping into buildings in NYC, the one who flew his quad over the runway here in CA, the guy chasing big horn sheep in a national park, and on and on. These kinds of boastful postings can only prove to the FAA that we are not responsible pilots, but just a bunch of unruly kid's, out for some fun regardless of the consequences, thus giving them a mandate for further restrictions. I also have never flown over 400' AGL, mainly because we have a high density of small craft in my area due to several General Aviation airfields close by, and the other is there is just not that much interesting to see from that height with the P3 camera.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
Steve, I respectfully disagree. The battery is densely packed. Prop rotational speed + closing speed (Fs = 1/2mv²). Knocked out of balance, bent or even fractured. I'm not talking small airliners. I'm talking 2 and 4 seater Cessnas and Pipers.
Drone ownership is exploding. No matter how you try to diminish the risk, I have no interest in playing those odds when I am flying with my friend and his 4 year old child as PAX.
I'm making a big stink about it now for the sake of all the new first-time Phantom owners who read of the altitude exploits in the first post and consider trying it themselves. A small few may think they can do as they please. Maybe moral luck plays in their favor. But just because you didn't hit anyone when you drove home drunk, doesn't make it right.
Drone ownership is exploding. No matter how you try to diminish the risk, I have no interest in playing those odds when I am flying with my friend and his 4 year old child as PAX.
I'm making a big stink about it now for the sake of all the new first-time Phantom owners who read of the altitude exploits in the first post and consider trying it themselves. A small few may think they can do as they please. Maybe moral luck plays in their favor. But just because you didn't hit anyone when you drove home drunk, doesn't make it right.
Minimum Safe Altitudes - 14 CFR 91.119
Congested Area
At least 1,000 feet above highest obstacle within 2,000
feet of the aircraft
Uncongested
Area
At least 500 feet above the surface, and no closer than
500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure
Anywhere
Altitude allowing for emergency landing without undue
hazard to persons or property on the ground
So I want to know why flying at 1600 feet is not stupid and dangerous. A Cessna at 500 feet over rural area and Phantom hits cockpit window?? I'm not flying over the 400' limit either.
Hardness of the material is not the only factor. I've put bullets made of soft lead and copper through 1/2" of steel.
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You have very right and freedom to share your passion and conviction. That's what makes America great! You're not going to get arrested for it..........yet. And others have the same freedom to agreeably, disagree with you. I think we're all trying to enjoy our hobby and there are people who are more risk averse than others who are more conservative. Just the way it is. Hopefully, it all balances out and no one gets hurt. I intend to have fun with my P3P just like I did with my FC40, Vision+ & 3 P2's.
Myself...I have had two close calls ! each time I thought I was just doing my thing in a safe manner. I was flying well under 75 feet and the bird was less then 100 feet away.
First was a Plane. Who thought to look for a Crop Duster or a Plane under 50 feet high?
Second was a Helicopter. I was at a Vietnam Memorial at about 25 feet high and this Heli came buzzing by, with in 30 feet of me and the three Mounted Aircraft. Now the Pilot was on his way to the Hospital that is about a block away and if I was the Pilot....Sure I would take the Scenic route..I did quickly land! but How do you prevent this in the future? I don't want some pilot destroying my P3
First was a Plane. Who thought to look for a Crop Duster or a Plane under 50 feet high?
Second was a Helicopter. I was at a Vietnam Memorial at about 25 feet high and this Heli came buzzing by, with in 30 feet of me and the three Mounted Aircraft. Now the Pilot was on his way to the Hospital that is about a block away and if I was the Pilot....Sure I would take the Scenic route..I did quickly land! but How do you prevent this in the future? I don't want some pilot destroying my P3
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Threats will never be eliminated. Just as with gun ownership and CCW. It is the responsibility of the owner to behave in a safe manner. Statutory law covers some things and the rest is personal responsibility. Since people aren't robots, there will always be variety in application.
So how does the 500m limit work? Is it 500m above the home point? If so can you just make a new higher home point?
The regulations in New Zealand is no flying UAVs above 400 feet above ground level, not from take off. I live in a mountainous area where I could fly vertically over 1000m and still be less than 400 feet (120m) above the ground, and I have done so and would like to keep doing so.
Please post when there is a way around this limit, as it is very easy to fly very high above the take off point and still be under 400 feet above the ground.
The regulations in New Zealand is no flying UAVs above 400 feet above ground level, not from take off. I live in a mountainous area where I could fly vertically over 1000m and still be less than 400 feet (120m) above the ground, and I have done so and would like to keep doing so.
Please post when there is a way around this limit, as it is very easy to fly very high above the take off point and still be under 400 feet above the ground.
Educating newbies is fine, but keep it in perspective and stop calling people names. There has not been even one reported crash of a small personal drone and a manned aircraft in probably millions of hours of drone flight worldwide. Your tone, while meaning well, is definitely Chicken Little.
The LiPo battery is mostly liquid electrolyte. Very frangible. Even at a closure of 150 knots the phantom is a whole lot slower than the propeller of a Cessna. The C172 uses a 74 inch prop. At 2200 RPM the tip is moving at 484 MPH. A small drone can not hit a prop blade square on. It will be a glancing blow and the next blade will slice whatever it hits like a knife through hot butter. The Phantom and battery don't stand a chance and your prop would probably pass an inspection. I.E., no damage. Most bird strikes go unreported because all the damage is usually just a gooey mess.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
You've said that twice now. I have never called anyone names on this site.
We'll just have to disagree on the potential damage a Phantom can do to light aircraft. Neither of us are qualified to estimate it. Frankly, I don't want to know. Ignorance has its virtues.
All it takes is one is one small airplane cruising at 130 KTS to hit that small drone and cause it to crash to have UAVs being banned from the general public. As a private pilot, I know how something that small can sneak up on us pretty fast. Bird strikes are more frequent than most people realize and some the size of the Phantom can take down a small plane. Having spotters, while helpful, is only so helpful as the human eye doesn't have great a depth perception especially with something in the air to judge size by.
And there aren't twin engine planes out there? No props in front of the windscreen.
As my high school English teacher used to say at the end of class on Friday "Keep your name out of the papers"
I think this is ianwoods point, be safe and if you do something that you maybe shouldn't then don't put it on YouTube, Facebook, Phantom Pilots, 3DR Pilots...
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