I'm confused on line of sight.

[RobertCC]

I know this has been beat to death, but if I'm reading this correct , line of site means seeing aircraft with your eyeball.
Not letting the machine get out of your seeing sight.
What's the point if these machines can go miles out.
I don't no about you, but at my age anything past 200 ft. I'm cannot see it.
And what's the point of the monitors.
I'm confused!
Just about , not all everyone in here goes past line of site.
Can someone bring me up to speed.
Thx..........RobertC

 

[msinger]

LOS means the path is clear between you and the aircraft. VLOS means you can also see the aircraft with your eyes.

And what's the point of the monitors.

Even when flying VLOS, the monitor allows you to change settings and access valuable flight data.

 

[With The Birds]

The point of the camera feed is that it allows precision in framing your shots and avoiding obstacles.

The benefit of the greater range is also more reliable performance at closer distances.

 

[Meta4]

I know this has been beat to death, but if I'm reading this correct , line of site means seeing aircraft with your eyeball.

There's a lot of confusion about Line of Sight (LOS).
It's a term that's been used for a long time in radio and refers to having an unobstructed line of sight between you and whatever you are interested in.
It's about the line and not about having the object in sight.
You have an unobstructed line of sight between you and the GPS satellites although you cannot see them.

When drones became popular and rules were made, they talked about visual line of sight (VLOS), meaning you have the drone in visual range.
That's what a lot of drone people really mean when they say LOS.

Genuine LOS is important in drone flying.
You must maintain a clear LOS between you and the Phantom - fly behind a tall building and you lose LOS and lose signal.
You can fly your drone off in the distance and out of sight but still have a clear LOS.

 

[solentlife]

The whole topic is one that will have people and authorities beating themselves over ..
I am in the Latvian Group trying to resolve this and other matters with Latvian CAA ... it really is a minefield.

Anyway - VLOS and LOS are as explained by others two different items.

Generally guidelines for 'Drone' flying which in fact for much also covers general RC flying - means VLOS. Some countries insist on Spotters as well to assist Pilot. I did read one 'clever' guys article - he proposed his spotter could move as the 'drone' flew away - the 'Spotter' staying in VLOS of the 'drone' and relaying by walkie talkie back to Pilot !! That got very short thrift !!

I have good eyesight (wearing glasses !) and at 200m ... it gets difficult to know orientation of a P3 ... generally at that distance I rely on the flight path leading up to that point. If its been flying OUT - I know its facing away etc. When in doubt - small stick movements to see reaction.
Why the monitor ?

For me it serves multiple uses :

a) To view what camera sees for video recording
b) To give me telemetry info about battery, speed, altitude, distance etc.
c) An introduction to an FPV style of flying that my other models do not possess.
d) Touch screen control of various aspects of the flight.
e) In suitable areas - ability to fly beyond VLOS and still know what is happening etc.

As to capability of the P3 and its ability to fly further than VLOS. That's a matter of performance. I pushed my P3S to 5km's ... to see just how far I could. But generally I flew with a system designed to give me about 1800 - 2000m capability. That then gave me reliable system for flights of up to 1000m ... the intention to create a strong and reliable system for short range flights.

Nigel

 

[RobertCC]

Thx folks, that helped a lot. I kinda knew the answer but needed verification.
I just got my first real good drone, a phantom 3 pro.
I come from the RC world, and those craft never get out of your eye site.
I also own a parrot ar 2.0 , and that was a joy to fly.
When I first got my P3P , it blew me away, It really scared me to think this machine could do all that was claimed.
So I managed the nerve for liftoff.
Took it slowly to two hundred feet, and barley could see it, just a dot.
That is when I needed to know the terms of los.
According to FAA you must have Vlos, both hobby and professional.
So if I fly this machine pass my line of site I'm in violation.
And flying from just the monitor while you are a half a mile out is in violation.
Am I mistaking about this.
According to the FAA you cannot do this both commercial and recreational.
Am I reading this correctly.
Thx RobertC

 

[tcope]

According to FAA you must have Vlos, both hobby and professional.
So if I fly this machine pass my line of site I'm in violation.
And flying from just the monitor while you are a half a mile out is in violation.
Am I mistaking about this.
According to the FAA you cannot do this both commercial and recreational.
Am I reading this correctly.

I can mainly speak o hooby use, not "non-hobby" but I'm pretty sure non-hobby is slightly different (I think you can use a spotter).

for hobby flight, the FAA requires that you remain in VLOS. That's easy to understand. Do most people do this? Obviously not. Is it a good idea and the law? Yes. It's possible if you don't do this that you could get into trouble if law enforcement knew about this. It's just like speeding, it's illegal but certain infractions will go mostly ignored.

 

[solentlife]

At end of day .... rules are made to give authorities something to use when you do wrong.

Most people exceed speed limits in their cars, even the police do off-duty ! But limit is there to be used when needed.

Most flyers exceed club and authorities rules ... out in country you get away with it unless its an 'event' ... get closer to 'civilization' and its different ball game.

Nigel\

 

[RobertCC]

Thx folks, for those answers.
I will do my very best not to go over the speed limit
But that's like having a Lamborghini and not ever going over the speed limit.
Thx Again. RobertC