Unlocking fly zones coming real soon?

Radar335 · Jan 9, 2016

I promise - one day I will post pictures of the beautiful artillery flowers - fly or no fly.

I guess there is no reason to fly over the helipads, and you should to be very careful when you fly close to them. A separate spotter could be a good idea. But this is what I think. Norwegian regulations says nothing specific about helipads. I dont know the US regulations in detail, but violating them are not smart anyway..

bluntnose · Jan 9, 2016

Radar335 said:
The problem is that very wide areas are marked yellow, and that doesn't make sense to people. The result is lost respect and awareness for the real safety issues.

And there is the challenge for dji--if they don't get it right, and pretty quickly, they'll lose more and more of the confidence and support of the fliers. Not good.

"The DJI VP for legal affairs has been active on an RCGROUPS thread - his basic argument is that a) it allows for flights that are currently completely blocked (red zones) and b) is less onerous than anything the feds are likely to cook up on their own. The first statement is undoubtably true, the second is reasonable but just an informed opinion."

For our sakes I hope he's right. And I'm glad to see that dji is doing SOMETHING about the FAA constrictions that most of us fear are coming. I'm still waiting to see if the AMA scores with its court injunction attempt. If so, there could be some helpful spillover effect for us non-AMA types.

Carloss66 · Jan 9, 2016

Just wondering if Autopilot will work around all these restrictions since it uses its own flight controller instead of the DJI SDK.

Radar335 · Jan 9, 2016

Carloss66 said:
Just wondering if Autopilot will work around all these restrictions since it uses its own flight controller instead of the DJI SDK.

My thought also.

alirz · Jan 9, 2016

Carloss66 said:
Just wondering if Autopilot will work around all these restrictions since it uses its own flight controller instead of the DJI SDK.

How do you know Autopilot does not use the DJI SDK. From what i know thats the only way to communicate with the phantom. If that was not the case, there would be tons of 3rd party software out there to use and we would be talking about these restrictions if they only applied through the DJI app.
DJI go app is the master here anyway you see it. it can force you to update the firmware, ground the air craft and all other sort of things...You cannot keep an app offline forever to try to avoid a firmware update!.

Radar335 · Jan 9, 2016

alirz said:
How do you know Autopilot does not use the DJI SDK. From what i know thats the only way to communicate with the phantom. If that was not the case, there would be tons of 3rd party software out there to use and we would be talking about these restrictions if they only applied through the DJI app.
DJI go app is the master here anyway you see it. it can force you to update the firmware, ground the air craft and all other sort of things...You cannot keep an app offline forever to try to avoid a firmware update!.

Well, they actually have developed their own flight controller to overcome the limitations of the DJI stk. Check their web site.

Nakelp86 · Jan 9, 2016

This is getting really scary:

Drone Play Could Land Users In NYPD’s Counter-Terror Database

Carloss66 · Jan 9, 2016

alirz said:
How do you know Autopilot does not use the DJI SDK. From what i know thats the only way to communicate with the phantom. If that was not the case, there would be tons of 3rd party software out there to use and we would be talking about these restrictions if they only applied through the DJI app.
DJI go app is the master here anyway you see it. it can force you to update the firmware, ground the air craft and all other sort of things...You cannot keep an app offline forever to try to avoid a firmware update!.

I know it because I own the app and read its documentation.

Mrkool · Jan 9, 2016

o so i just got my Advanced it is telling me to upgrade the firmware on the quad i think i am on 1.4 something. Should i upgrade to 1.5 or 1.6?

iowahill · Jan 9, 2016

Guy bb said:
Wow that is simply ridiculous. I'm in Israel and it appears I'm smack middle between two yellow zones around me for miles. One of those is an airport. So I don't get it. The area I'm at is about 7 miles from the airport so that's not a no fly zone by old definitions. However it is a yellow zone now. It seems there is a very large yellow zone, roughly 15 miles around the airport.
Also, who will be authorizing my request? Now basically I can bypass the airports no fly zone? This is just so unclear.

Can you say "Hovercraft"?

alirz · Jan 10, 2016

Carloss66 said:
I know it because I own the app and read its documentation.

Good if that's true in the sense that I know other 3rd party apps like "litchi", "ultimate flight" also offer extra features and flung modes that the dji app doesn't. Now I own those two apps and I know they are still limited by what dji's seek allow in terms of height, way point distance distance etc.... So I'm not convinced auto pilot is by passing everything dji restricts the air craft with. Can auto pilot by pass height limits for example?
I will jump on this app if it can.. Hehe

Davphys · Jan 10, 2016

Nope, altitude limits are built into the firmware of the bird itself. No third party app can bypass them anymore.

alirz said:
Good if that's true in the sense that I know other 3rd party apps like "litchi", "ultimate flight" also offer extra features and flung modes that the dji app doesn't. Now I own those two apps and I know they are still limited by what dji's seek allow in terms of height, way point distance distance etc.... So I'm not convinced auto pilot is by passing everything dji restricts the air craft with. Can auto pilot by pass height limits for example?
I will jump on this app if it can.. Hehe

CaptPhantom · Jan 10, 2016

bluntnose said:
And there is the challenge for dji--if they don't get it right, and pretty quickly, they'll lose more and more of the confidence and support of the fliers. Not good.

"The DJI VP for legal affairs has been active on an RCGROUPS thread - his basic argument is that a) it allows for flights that are currently completely blocked (red zones) and b) is less onerous than anything the feds are likely to cook up on their own. The first statement is undoubtably true, the second is reasonable but just an informed opinion."

For our sakes I hope he's right. And I'm glad to see that dji is doing SOMETHING about the FAA constrictions that most of us fear are coming. I'm still waiting to see if the AMA scores with its court injunction attempt. If so, there could be some helpful spillover effect for us non-AMA types.

That is a croc. You cannot make exceptions to the law no matter what your system can think it can log. How can you turn a NFZ red zone into a yellow zone, register and still not break the law. Notwithstanding, jurisdictions differ all over the world and so do their respective interpretations of law enforcement!!!! Unless flying in the DJI system is endorsed by a country as being fully compliant with its federal and local laws, the DJI system is going to be nothing but a hindrance.

Wibble · Jan 10, 2016

Nakelp86 said:
This is getting really scary:

Drone Play Could Land Users In NYPD’s Counter-Terror Database

The USA is brilliant - you can walk into Walmart and buy ammo - you can carry a gun in your pocket - but you can't fly a drone in a public park...........................
10,000 deaths from guns a year is fine but flying a drone? You must be a right sick weirdo to want one of those!!!

CaptPhantom · Jan 10, 2016

^^ Texas now has open carry. Perhaps the US President can use use his executive powers for legislating open flying?

bighi · Jan 10, 2016

Thank god I chose to live in two small villages of less than 5 thousand people and at least an hour away from any large city. While a hobby I have, being able to have fun with sports cars on roads with few other cars, was a part of my decision process on where to live, it will now pay off big time for my flying hobby.

Alastair tulloch · Jan 10, 2016

Wibble we look like we have got away lightly in Wales. Plenty of flying opportunity!!

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

Guy bb · Jan 10, 2016

I'm moving to Wales. Israel is one big yellow zone.

Wibble · Jan 10, 2016

Guy bb said:
I'm moving to Wales. Israel is one big yellow zone.

Don't bother - seriously!
I think it is because the whole of Wales is a giant no fly zone anyway!
I haven't flown in 7 weeks!!! Swansea is the wettest city in Britain - now we have had 300% of our USUAL rainfall. How is it even possible to rain non stop for 7 weeks without everyone drowning?
Oh not forgetting the 70-80 mph winds. What is even more scary is we haven't had a single powercut or flood!!! Why scary? Well it just goes to show it is our normal bloody weather!!!

Guy bb · Jan 10, 2016

Wibble said:
Don't bother - seriously!
I think it is because the whole of Wales is a giant no fly zone anyway!
I haven't flown in 7 weeks!!! Swansea is the wettest city in Britain - now we have had 300% of our USUAL rainfall. How is it even possible to rain non stop for 7 weeks without everyone drowning?
Oh not forgetting the 70-80 mph winds. What is even more scary is we haven't had a single powercut or flood!!! Why scary? Well it just goes to show it is our normal bloody weather!!!

We'll Israel does have its benefits. It's 20 degrees C and no wind here