VLOS - How far can you fly?

[Moose408]

So I see a lot of posts from people who are flying a mile or more away. I currently have my Phantom 3 set for a maximum of 300 meters and although I often want to fly beyond that limit, I often have a hard time spotting the drone at that distance. So the question is how far can you actually see your drone and do you fly beyond that limit?

 

[RoyVa]

On a nice clear calm day I have been able to go out to 2,225 ft and maintain the dot in the sky. But that is it. Most of the time its 1500 to 2000 ft. Max.

 

[GadgetGuy]

VLOS is easiest to maintain above a cloud cover on the horizon, but anything over 1000 feet is hard to see. It's also easier to become disoriented flying by VLOS than FPV, so I only use VLOS for landing and use FPV for all flying, and always fly forward while keeping an eye out for any obstacles that might need to be navigated over or around. If you are already familiar with the terrain, you know the heights of all the tallest objects, and the ground elevations relative to your launch point. Flying backwards will almost always get you in trouble. Fly forwards and reverse it in editing and post later, if you want that effect. I'll fly as far away as I need to, to get the shot. You are much more likely to get hassled if you always stay within VLOS. Lots of drone haters out there! If you want to safely practice long distance FPV flying beyond VLOS, fly out over the ocean. If you get really unlucky and crash, the fish won't sue, and the FAA won't go diving for your P3P either, at the bottom of the ocean!