Hello,

I have a question regarding the FAA requirement to register my drone.  It seems to me that there are people on both sides of the argument about whether you should have to or now, but my dilemma is how the restrictions severely handicap what the mavic is capable of.  

What is the point of purchasing a drone with such altitude and distance capabilities, if the FAA restrictions make them all but useless?  The 400ft altitude is the one that really puzzles me.   

Just venting and trying to stay satisfied in knowing that I may never be able to fully take advantage of my $1000 purchase.  

Still an amazing drone however.

Why do you need to go further than 400ft, if it's for photography and your using the Mavic. Going higher than 400 ft will be of no use to you. You must remember going above this height you run the risk of running into manned aircraft, you will also be out of line of site and also you are a tiny aircraft impossible for him to see, but yet your Mavic has substantial parts than can do a lot of damage.

In the US, manned aircraft are generally required to fly at a minimum altitude of 500 ft AGL (above ground level).  By limiting drones to 400 ft AGL, the FAA is clearly attempting to provide 100 ft of clearance between drones and maned aircraft.  Seems reasonable to me, and I haven't found the 400 ft AGL limitation to be duly onerous.

I took mine to 399'11" and it looked like the veiw from tbe space shuttle.  Scarry high, a bird of prey started circling around where I thought the Mavic should be, I hit RTH and kept my eyes on my phone until it returned.
A thought providing experience to be sure.
Regards,
-D.

it really not a big deal... pay the $5 and stay below 400ft... I have 20/20 vision and have flown up to 400ft and I had zero line of sight other take a tiny dot in the sky, that I would not have been able to spot if I did not watch it climb.

Why do vehicles have spend limits... people complain about that to, until a family member get harmed or killed then there attitude changes. Laws and rules are put in place because humans are inherently stupid and will do things without considering what might happen.

Note: assuming you are flying your mavic for recreational purposes there is no law and no regulation limiting you to 400ft. It's an FAA guideline. A guideline is a suggestion. It's not enforceable by anyone.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/wor ... ing-737-jet-9574073
http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/ ... ce-needle/483547597
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/watch-d ... d-air-scare-1601519
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/11000ft ... v-hobbyists-1548057

400ft for me is quite enough

I have to say that without really getting into the settings the drone appears self limiting at 400 ft without an obvious way to override.  That being said I am not unhappy with this limit.  Footage is spectacular at this altitude and meets my expectation.  

You climb up a mountain, let's say 6500 high. Now you take off and go 400 ft AGL, so your drone is indeed 6900 feet high. That's why you need a drone able to go higher, even though your altitude relative to the ground is not so "high".

On longer distance flights increasing altitude helps keep signal strength/los between craft and transmitter

fans90d4f438 Posted at 2017-2-7 04:53
On longer distance flights increasing altitude helps keep signal strength/los between craft and transmitter

Alas the rules require VLOS..

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-2-7 05:41
Alas the rules require VLOS..

Are you referring to flights for commercial use or for recreational hobby flying? If the latter, you may be referring to documented FAA "guidelines"...which are suggestions. If you are aware of actual law/regulation on mandatory VLOS for recreational hobby RC flying, I'd love to see the link so that I can educate myself..

Turkk71 Posted at 2017-2-6 19:39
I have to say that without really getting into the settings the drone appears self limiting at 400 ft without an obvious way to override.  That being said I am not unhappy with this limit.  Footage is spectacular at this altitude and meets my expectation.

There's no limit in the Mavic to 400 ft. There is a 500 m limit. You can fly up to 500 meters (1,640 ft) above your take off elevation. I have have flown (and posted the video here) over 14,000 above sea level which just so happened to be about 800 ft above my take off altitude (but not 800 ft AGL since the Mavic followed the mountain up hill).

fans90d4f438 Posted at 2017-2-7 06:25
Are you referring to flights for commercial use or for recreational hobby flying? If the latter, you may be referring to documented FAA "guidelines"...which are suggestions. If you are aware of actual law/regulation on mandatory VLOS for recreational hobby RC flying, I'd love to see the link so that I can educate myself..

I'm not fully aware of FAA rules.

But I'm almost certain recommendations are fly With aircraft in sight and also fly at 400ft or lower.

fans90d4f438 Posted at 2017-2-6 18:54
Note: assuming you are flying your mavic for recreational purposes there is no law and no regulation limiting you to 400ft. It's an FAA guideline. A guideline is a suggestion. It's not enforceable by anyone.

Not sure whether this is true or not.  But even if the safety guidelines are not, themselves, legally enforceable, I think it would be a mistake to treat them as mere "suggestions."

First, intentional violation of the guidelines could be construed as flying in a "reckless" manner, which is a violation of the law.

Second, the best way to ensure that the FAA imposes more onerous restrictions on recreational drones is to ignore these guidelines.

fab6mR8WKokt Posted at 2017-2-7 08:15
Not sure whether this is true or not.  But even if the safety guidelines are not, themselves, legally enforceable, I think it would be a mistake to treat them as mere "suggestions."

First, intentional violation of the guidelines could be construed as flying in a "reckless" manner, which is a violation of the law.

It's true.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/fly_for_fun/

Safety Guidelines

Fly at or below 400 feet
Keep your UAS within sight
Never fly near other aircraft, especially near airports
Never fly over groups of people
Never fly over stadiums or sports events
Never fly near emergency response efforts such as fires
Never fly under the influence
Be aware of airspace requirements

I'd venture to say 90% of mavic owners will fly out of LOS at some point, if not the majority of the time.
Flying over people occurs as often as the public exceeds 55mph where that's the posted speed limit.
In fact, DJI has a "FPV" (first person view..which implies flying outside of LOS) gimbal mode in the GO 4 app.
And why else would DJI advertise a 4.3 mile range and allow altitude over 1600 Feet and soon offer FPV goggles.

For those who wish to take the guidelines as law/regulation, that's great.
I prefer to leverage them as I have for the last 10 years with RC craft: as "suggestions".

fans90d4f438 Posted at 2017-2-7 08:28
I'd venture to say 90% of mavic owners will fly out of LOS at some point, if not the majority of the time.
Flying over people occurs as often as the public exceeds 55mph where that's the posted speed limit.
In fact, DJI has a "FPV" (first person view..which implies flying outside of LOS) gimbal mode in the GO 4 app.

Think you will find the guidelines are the same for dji as they are for FAA, They are there for the safety of others, i would be fairly certain that it is FAA Law that all pilots are responsible for there actions, if people choose to fly outside the recommended guidelines of the FAA, I suppose they will be made accountable.
Good luck..

CuaC Posted at 2017-2-7 00:34
You climb up a mountain, let's say 6500 high. Now you take off and go 400 ft AGL, so your drone is indeed 6900 feet high. That's why you need a drone able to go higher, even though your altitude relative to the ground is not so "high".

I have flown very recently at 9000 ft altitude and was able to fly at 400ft agl without issue.  

Turkk71 Posted at 2017-2-7 14:34
I have flown very recently at 9000 ft altitude and was able to fly at 400ft agl without issue.

As far as I know the mavic can go up to 5000m Above sea level (16000 feet)

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-2-7 09:46
Think you will find the guidelines are the same for dji as they are for FAA, They are there for the safety of others, i would be fairly certain that it is FAA Law that all pilots are responsible for there actions, if people choose to fly outside the recommended guidelines of the FAA, I suppose they will be made accountable.
Good luck..

True, but speed limits are there for the safety of others as well...and i'd venture to say 99% of drivers go over the speed limit...daily...

When the police start using drones in the streets to combat crime replacing obsolete stationery street security cameras we will all be doomed with no airspace to fly.

SteveDickin Posted at 2017-2-7 15:53
When the police start using drones in the streets to combat crime replacing obsolete stationery street security cameras we will all be doomed with no airspace to fly.

You hit the nail on the head my friend from across the pond....

fans90d4f438 Posted at 2017-2-7 15:39
True, but speed limits are there for the safety of others as well...and i'd venture to say 99% of drivers go over the speed limit...daily...

Very true I have been known to do it myself,

When motor cars came out first , policing them was similar to drones , but as more crashes accidents and deaths occurred, the motor vehicle laws became more rigid, and today we drive cars that can travel 130 mph but yet we are strictly prohibited from driving at anywhere near those speeds,

It wasn't the motor industry that brought those laws into play, but the authorities, and if we decide to ignore guidelines set down by authorities, then they will make much stricter laws than present guidelines.

But hey it's a so called free world.

I recall how Apple put in restrictions to prevent certain actions on their iPhones.

Then I jailbroke it and did what I wanted.

My car had an electronic limit of 155mph. Then I used aftermarket software to bypass that restriction.

At some point, mamufacturers will certainly place more electronic limits on RC craft.

And someone will create electronic methods to break free of those restrictions.

And I'll follow my same pattern as I did with iPhones and cars.

Works for me

I am a Pilot and I also fly my Drones daily.  The least thing a pilot wants to see when flying is something (like a drone or bird) that can cause damage to the plane and potentially kill everyone on board.  The rules are there for a reason.  Keep the drones under 400 ft (which is plenty of altitude) and keep the planes over 800 ft.  Be safe and keep your distance.  Think about the others above you before you decide to go rouge and fly your drone where your not supposed to.    Have fun!

Statustically speaking, chances of a DJI Mavic bringing down an airliner, is infinitesimally small. In fact, id venture to say the next 100 plane crashes that occur, will have zero to do with a DJI Mavic.

That's simple facts/numbers.

Alarmists. I recall same types of alarms when RC planes came out.

DECADES ago.  

Registering your drone and not agreeing with FAA policy are two separate issues.  You still have to register a Mavic to be in compliance with the law.  It will save you a lot of money and headache.  You may not like the speed limits on the road but you still register your vehicle.