Over in the US

[swash44]

Hi

I am over in the US this week and brought my beloved P3P again with me which comes with me every where!!!

I have seem the rules set by the FAA regarding the 400ft ceiling and not being able to fly above it.

Is this set from sea level or ground level from where I take off because where I am staying is on a mountain!!!!

 

[bbarrett]

I'm from Wisconsin and my p3p won't let me go over 400 feet it's a preset setting in the app. The drone always figures on the landing point to be 0 feet. If you stay under 400 feet from your landing point I think you'll be safe

 

[oakmeadows]

It is from where you take off from but it is a grey area as if you live a the top of a large hill , say 400 ft high and you take off and go up 400 ft in effect you will be flying at 800 foot


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[Mark The Droner]

Your launch point is zero feet.

If you launch from the top of the mountain and then walk 1000 ft down the mountain, your max height above your head is 1400 ft., but your app will still give you an altitude reading relative to the launch point.

 

[bbarrett]

Stay away from airports and you shouldn't have to worry about it too much

 

[Meta4]

I have seem the rules set by the FAA regarding the 400ft ceiling and not being able to fly above it.
Is this set from sea level or ground level from where I take off because where I am staying is on a mountain!!!!

Above ground level ... nothing else would make any sense.
If it was above sea level, you wouldn't be able to fly in most of the country.

It is from where you take off from

Where you take off from is irrelevant.
It's how high your Phantom is above the ground below it.

 

[oakmeadows]

And stay away from people, animals , vehicles and everything else that you can get told off for flying over and no matter where you fly a pilot in a jet at 40000 feet doing 600 mph will say that your quadcopter was in front of him enjoy your limited flying


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[Meta4]

I'm from Wisconsin and my p3p won't let me go over 400 feet it's a preset setting in the app.

If you explore your app a little further, you'll find you can adjust the 400 ft setting.

 

[swash44]

Above ground level ... nothing else would make any sense.
If it was above sea level, you wouldn't be able to fly in most of the country.

Where you take off from is irrelevant.
It's how high your Phantom is above the ground below it.

Surely where I take off from is relevant!

Don't get why it wouldn't be.

 

[oakmeadows]

Above ground level ... nothing else would make any sense.
If it was above sea level, you wouldn't be able to fly in most of the country.

Where you take off from is irrelevant.
It's how high your Phantom is above the ground below it.

So what your saying is if i go up a large hill say 1000 feet and take off from that position i can go up 400 feet with my p3 and be legal to fly at that height


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[Meta4]

So what your saying is if i go up a large hill say 1000 feet and take off from that position i can go up 400 feet with my p3 and be legal to fly at that height

That's what above ground level means

 

[msinger]

I have seem the rules set by the FAA regarding the 400ft ceiling and not being able to fly above it.

This is just a guideline -- and, it's a good idea to follow it since it's safer to fly below 400 ft AGL. Since your takeoff point will be on a mountain, you'll have to guesstimate how high your Phantom is when flying away from the mountain. You won't be able to rely on the altitude in the DJI GO app.

Don't forget to register your Phantom with the FAA.

 

[Meta4]

Surely where I take off from is relevant!
Don't get why it wouldn't be.

It is.
Imagine you are flying around a cliff.
You fly twice, taking off from the bottom and the top.
You have a huge difference in your height above home poinst but your Phantom is in the same position in the air.
Where you take off from is completely irrelevant - it's how far above ground level that matters.

 

[swash44]

It is.
Imagine you are flying around a cliff.
You fly twice, taking off from the bottom and the top.
You have a huge difference in your height above home poinst but your Phantom is in the same position in the air.
Where you take off from is completely irrelevant - it's how far above ground level that matters.

So surely where you take off is ground level???

So the top of the mountain will be ground level as I am taking off from there.

 

[Meta4]

So surely where you take off is ground level???

If you are flying in a pancake-flat prairie, your height above home point will be your height above ground level but if you are flying anywhere with terrain, what matters is how high your Phantom is above the ground.
Not how high it is above where you took off.

 

[oakmeadows]

That's what above ground level means

Great I'm glad you cleared that up for me so I can now fly 1400 in the air and if the authorities nab me I'll just say sorry but I took off from a 1000 foot hill ,I'm sure they'll understand that .....not


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[JKDSensei]

Great I'm glad you cleared that up for me so I can now fly 1400 in the air and if the authorities nab me I'll just say sorry but I took off from a 1000 foot hill ,I'm sure they'll understand that .....not

You trouble maker you

 

[oakmeadows]

Above ground level ... nothing else would make any sense.
If it was above sea level, you wouldn't be able to fly in most of the country.

Where you take off from is irrelevant.
It's how high your Phantom is above the ground below it.

Where you take off is relevant .The phantom can only tell you that it has gone up 400 foot from where you have taken off it can not tell you that it is actually 1400 foot in the air when I have taken off from a 1000 foot high hill ?


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[oakmeadows]

You trouble maker you

I'm really sorry about that [emoji3][emoji3] I do my best


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[Meta4]

Where you take off is relevant .The phantom can only tell you that it has gone up 400 foot from where you have taken off it can not tell you that it is actually 1400 foot in the air when I have taken off from a 1000 foot high hill ?

You are the one that isn't understanding.
400 feet AGL is 400 feet above ground level.
Unless you are on pancake-flat land, it's not 400 feet above where you took off.
No-one cares where you take off from. It is completely irrelevant.
What is important is how high your Phantom is above the ground below it.

In the example you use, your Phantom is 400 feet above the ground level immediately below it.
No-one cares how high the mountain is above sea level or above the surrounding land.
The height of the mountain is as irrelevant as the location of your take off point.

If you look at the rules pertaining to real planes,(91.119 Minimum Safe Altitudes) in the USA
You'll find they say:

Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface​

In your part of the world they say: it must not fly less than 1000 ft above the highest fixed object within 600m of the aircraft.
Note that they refer to height above the surface or above obstacles .. not above takeoff or sea level.
This is the standard method for aviation to deal with obstacles and a planet that isn't perfectly flat.
It's a simple concept and I won't waste my effort typing any more explanations for you.