So I recently got a Phantom 4 Pro for Christmas, and yet have been unable to fly it. My house is located within the GIANT RED CIRCLE in southern California (Also known as Disneyland) and my drone will not take off. I am located nearly 4 miles South East away from Disneyland in Santa Ana (Not even in the same vicinity, OR CITY as Disneyland) and am not within any Airport's airspace. I'm not going to fly anywhere near Disneyland.. I just want to fly in front of my house.

My friend has a Phantom 3 advanced, and is able to take off without an issue when he disables his GEO mapping in his settings, yet if I disable mine, my drone still won't take off.

I have applied for Geo System unlock, which involves filling out the required form, and sending it to Flysafe@DJI.com, which leads to talking to someone in Hong Kong, China, and I was denied. I am a certified FAA sUAS Remote License, and my P4P is registered with the FAA.
My remote and Drone itself have the latest updates & firmware installed. I am using the DJI GO 4 app on my S7 Edge.


I just want to fly around and take pictures of my family's & friends house.

What else can I do? Is there a way to disable, or unlock this setting?

I am using a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and a Phantom 4 Pro (Brand New, still haven't flown it)

You say you're a pilot, yet you want to ignore a TFR? Sorry, but they're there for a reason. You of all people should know that!

CCrew Posted at 2016-12-27 02:18
You say you're a pilot, yet you want to ignore a TFR? Sorry, but they're there for a reason. You of all people should know that!

And as you not being a one, I'm guessing you don't know why that TFR is actually in place, nor why it's so atrociously large.

The arrow that your screenshot is pointing at doesn't look like it has anything to do with the Disney area. What's the smaller circle that it's in for?  

I do not believe Disneyland is the problem. It looks as if you are within a no fly zone due to an airport. It could be a smaller airport or (not knowing exactly where you live) it could be John Wayne Airport.

trance728- Posted at 2016-12-27 06:31
The arrow that your screenshot is pointing at doesn't look like it has anything to do with the Disney area. What's the smaller circle that it's in for?

The orange shaded area is the area I wish to fly in.  The red circle above is the 5nm Disneyland TFR.

QiiFlight Posted at 2016-12-27 06:43
I do not believe Disneyland is the problem. It looks as if you are within a no fly zone due to an airport. It could be a smaller airport or (not knowing exactly where you live) it could be John Wayne Airport.

I'm actually far enough away from John Wayne Airport to not be in their Airspace. The green circle below is their airspace, which I am not in.

I wish to fly it at my house which is barely inside the southeastern corner of the red circle (not orange)

FauschAerial Posted at 2016-12-27 12:36
I'm actually far enough away from John Wayne Airport to not be in their Airspace. The green circle below is their airspace, which I am not in.

I wish to fly it at my house which is barely inside the southeastern corner of the red circle (not orange)

That does suck. Disney filed a few years back to get a flight restriction over all of their parks due to a TSA restriction. The Disneyland NO FLY ZONE, based on NOTAM 4-3635, is a 3 mile radius.

Unfortunately, it is not likely to be changed or waived. However, the NOTAM does state, " FLIGHTS CONDUCTED FOR OPERATIONAL PURPOSES OF ANY DISNEYLAND EVENT AND VENUE ARE AUTHORIZED WITH AN APPROVED WAIVER".

So if you fly for DISNEY, you can get a waiver.

QiiFlight Posted at 2016-12-27 10:21
That does suck. Disney filed a few years back to get a flight restriction over all of their parks due to a TSA restriction. The Disneyland NO FLY ZONE, based on NOTAM 4-3635, is a 3 mile radius.

Unfortunately, it is not likely to be changed or waived. However, the NOTAM does state, " FLIGHTS CONDUCTED FOR OPERATIONAL PURPOSES OF ANY DISNEYLAND EVENT AND VENUE ARE AUTHORIZED WITH AN APPROVED WAIVER".

I am going to email the FAA and explain I am a remote pilot, and will provide the included picture of my OP that I will only fly in that area and ask for clearance. I am going to see what they say.

FauschAerial Posted at 2016-12-27 19:39
I am going to email the FAA and explain I am a remote pilot, and will provide the included picture of my OP that I will only fly in that area and ask for clearance. I am going to see what they say.

There is a solution for your problem. DJI Geo-system .

FauschAerial Posted at 2016-12-27 18:39
I am going to email the FAA and explain I am a remote pilot, and will provide the included picture of my OP that I will only fly in that area and ask for clearance. I am going to see what they say.

The NOTAM and NO FLY ZONE was driven by TSA requirements due to 911. You may need to extend your research and determine if the effort is worth the result.

I have attempted the same thing you are trying in Orlando (Disney World) and everyone (Disney, FAA, TSA) has all but said, "suck it, no chance in flying anywhere near the parks".

There was even a situation for awhile where Disney could not even fly over their own property.  That is why a statement was added that allowed flying for "production" for Disney.

QiiFlight Posted at 2016-12-28 02:41
The NOTAM and NO FLY ZONE was driven by TSA requirements due to 911. You may need to extend your research and determine if the effort is worth the result.

I have attempted the same thing you are trying in Orlando (Disney World) and everyone (Disney, FAA, TSA) has all but said, "suck it, no chance in flying anywhere near the parks".

Did you have any luck? I'm no where near the park, I'm just at the south eastern corner of the airspace. I'm BARELY located inside.. wondering if it would make a difference

Bayguy69 Posted at 2016-12-27 16:01
There is a solution for your problem. DJI Geo-system .

DJI Geo-system is the problem (partially) Even if I have it disabled, I still can't fly.

Took the P4P out to a park in another city, had a wonderful time when it flies!

FauschAerial Posted at 2016-12-28 05:47
Did you have any luck? I'm no where near the park, I'm just at the south eastern corner of the airspace. I'm BARELY located inside.. wondering if it would make a difference

You can always try, but I would not expect a miracle. Disney has a lot of say in that airspace. I believe that it is not as much for safety as it is Disney doesn't want aerial images anywhere they can't control (and charge for).

QiiFlight Posted at 2016-12-28 02:51
You can always try, but I would not expect a miracle. Disney has a lot of say in that airspace. I believe that it is not as much for safety as it is Disney doesn't want aerial images anywhere they can't control (and charge for).

Very true, thanks for the legit (and mature response). I will keep you updated if a miracle does happen, and I am granted access to the area In my original picture.

I still think 5 miles around Disneyland is absolutely outrageous.. airports (Restrictive) airspace isn't even that large...


I wonder if downloading the other app Litchi (or whatever it's called) has the same GEO restrictive system & will let me fly around my house...

FauschAerial Posted at 2016-12-28 05:53
Very true, thanks for the legit (and mature response). I will keep you updated if a miracle does happen, and I am granted access to the area In my original picture.

I still think 5 miles around Disneyland is absolutely outrageous.. airports (Restrictive) airspace isn't even that large...

I think the NOTAM says the restriction is a 3 mile radius up to 3000 ft AGL. So there may be a loophole if the Sectional chart shows 3 miles but DJI is preventing operation out to 5 miles.

If that is true, you can petition DJI with the NOTAM (showing a 3 mile radius) and a map showing you are outside that radius and they can update GEO. I hope this helps.

The NO FLY programming is in the aircraft, so using a different app (Litchi) will not help.

I live near 3 major airports. 1, Boeing field, 2 Seattle intl airport, 3 Renton Mun airport.  When I tried to fly I got warning about being in no fly zone.  However, on the screen of ipad I see a box with two boxes to check off. After I except responsibility for flying in this space the drone (P4) was able to fly. I have to set max hight to under 400ft and keep drone in sight. I'm not sure if this is same prob you have but I do know I'm flying very near 3 airports.

Odan Posted at 2017-1-8 08:50
I live near 3 major airports. 1, Boeing field, 2 Seattle intl airport, 3 Renton Mun airport.  When I tried to fly I got warning about being in no fly zone.  However, on the screen of ipad I see a box with two boxes to check off. After I except responsibility for flying in this space the drone (P4) was able to fly. I have to set max hight to under 400ft and keep drone in sight. I'm not sure if this is same prob you have but I do know I'm flying very near 3 airports.

Odan:

If you are within 5 miles of any airport, and that airport has a tower, you are required to notify that tower of your intentions. They cannot say you cannot fly unless there's  a TFR for that area (or you're within a mile, but your drone won't start if you're that close), but you still must inform them. If you live within 5 miles of two airports with towers, you must inform both towers.

Keep Smiling,

Augustus

FauschAerial Posted at 2016-12-27 15:39
I am going to email the FAA and explain I am a remote pilot, and will provide the included picture of my OP that I will only fly in that area and ask for clearance. I am going to see what they say.

The response with be not only no, but HELL NO.  The TFR has be in existence since 2003 and isn't going anywhere.  It has Specific language prohibiting RC aircraft as well.  As previous poster suggested, get out the car keys or I guess you could move.  But flying inside a TFR is a very fast way to have homeland security or FBI knocking at your door.

Augustus Brian Posted at 2017-1-8 21:08
Odan:

If you are within 5 miles of any airport, and that airport has a tower, you are required to notify that tower of your intentions. They cannot say you cannot fly unless there's  a TFR for that area (or you're within a mile, but your drone won't start if you're that close), but you still must inform them. If you live within 5 miles of two airports with towers, you must inform both towers.

You are incorrect.  They can say you cannot fly there.  Operation in Class B, C or D airspace requires clearance (Permission)

Jetpilot Posted at 2017-1-8 23:04
The response with be not only no, but HELL NO.  The TFR has be in existence since 2003 and isn't going anywhere.  It has Specific language prohibiting RC aircraft as well.  As previous poster suggested, get out the car keys or I guess you could move.  But flying inside a TFR is a very fast way to have homeland security or FBI knocking at your door.

Really? Have you tried?

I got approval so it worked for me. #ThreadClosed

FauschAerial Posted at 2017-1-12 03:04
Really? Have you tried?

I got approval so it worked for me. #ThreadClosed

So with that approval, were you able to get DJI to "unlock" the restriction to allow your drone to takeoff?

How did the approval come? Voice, written, waiver? Who approved, ATC, FSDO?

Having almost the exact same issue here in Pennsylvania. I live 3 miles away from my local airport (ERIE INTL/TOM RIDGE FIELD), actually have a private pilots license, and just picked up my first P4.
Was very excited to test it out, only to be greeted with the NFZ lockdown.
Enailed flysafe@dji.com but haven't heard back.

Shocked all the nerds on here aren't able to help a fellow nerd with some kond of override or jailbreak/unlock!

Got the temporary one approved immediately, but it's still no good for my house! Gotta be kidding me.

What if you are within the 5 miles of an airport and you want to test fly in your spacious family room inside your house, with 12 foot ceilings.   Seems absurd to not allow that even within a few miles near an airport, flying below 50 feet shouldn't be a problem to planes miles away from the landing.  Of course, you can take out your "toy" half pound drones and fly all you want in your yard or in your house without problems.

You simply CAN'T ignore the no fly zones unfortunately. Even if it is on your property the FAA is very strict about this. You will most likely need to venture outside the no-fly zone to legally fly your aircraft.

fansf2235958 Posted at 2017-6-22 12:55
What if you are within the 5 miles of an airport and you want to test fly in your spacious family room inside your house, with 12 foot ceilings.   Seems absurd to not allow that even within a few miles near an airport, flying below 50 feet shouldn't be a problem to planes miles away from the landing.  Of course, you can take out your "toy" half pound drones and fly all you want in your yard or in your house without problems.

It is completely legal to fly within the 5 mile radius! It's only illegal 1.5-2 miles in radius from the airport. If you are between 2-5 miles away it is strongly recommended that you contact air traffic control, (should be listed on the airport's website if you look hard enough). They will issue you a safe flight ceiling and make sure that you are not too close, (they'll ask for the location of your planned flight and the time period you plan on flying). From my experience ATC staff can be really nice and accommodating if you are respectful and have a general sense for the rules. Good Luck!

fansf2235958 Posted at 2017-6-22 12:55
What if you are within the 5 miles of an airport and you want to test fly in your spacious family room inside your house, with 12 foot ceilings.   Seems absurd to not allow that even within a few miles near an airport, flying below 50 feet shouldn't be a problem to planes miles away from the landing.  Of course, you can take out your "toy" half pound drones and fly all you want in your yard or in your house without problems.

Also, I believe the rule does not apply to indoor flights on private property. I would just be careful maneuvering your phantom indoors...

You simply CAN'T ignore the no fly zones unfortunately. Even if it is on your property the FAA is very strict about this. You will most likely need to venture outside the no-fly zone to legally fly your aircraft.