A beautiful evening ruined by a TFR. Honestly this is stupid because i want to use my drone as a hobby. Under these rules they should let you fly but with limitations like no higher than 100ft and same for distance. What if i was having a family bbq and just wanted to get a group photo? So inconvenient.
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How long does it take if you applied for the self unlocking?

SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-23 13:51
How long does it take if you applied for the self unlocking?

Not even worth it i just wanted a quick flight around the field.

yep here's why...

Is this not a matter to be taken up with USA government?

Has anyone tried self unlocking under similar circumstances? If it's only a few clicks and checkboxes to agree to not doing anything too crazy, then I think the TFR is working as intended.

No dji its a hobby craft they shouldn't be limited to a tfr completely they should only be limited to a certain altitude and distance at least

With all the training and classes I've had to go through, this is one of the FAA Regs that I agree with.  I feel that they could make the Restricted zone a bit smaller, but I got no problem with them.  I got one going right now just a few miles away and doesn't bother me at all.  If I want to fly, I just drive to another spot outside the zone.  But I check before I set up my drone.  

NFZ are set up for reasons and should be complied with, simple answer is move to an area not within a NFZ.  

I shouldn't have to travel 30 miles into jersey to fly my drone around instead of a park down the block from me. im not saying to lift the restriction, im saying they shouldn't stop you from taking off but instead only allow limits similar to a spark without the remote

I agree that there should be a floor to accompany the ceiling with their own set of restrictions.  For instance, instead of just having everything from the ground to 400' be restricted within 5 miles of airports--which can be quite difficult to overcome in some areas--limiting that buffer to 2 mile directly around the airport and then everything from 3 miles to 5 miles be limited to 100'.  That would allow hobbyists that just want to fly for fun or for a quick flight in areas that won't have air traffic below 100'.  I currently live about 4.5 miles from an airport and live within Class B regulated space, which makes my flights inspecting my roof that are not more than 40' in altitude, illegal in the eyes of the FAA.  

I feel the inconvenience, but there is no real alternative.
Too many people getting a drone these days and the risk for collisions with other objects gets bigger every minute.

Oh and a max height limitation is not a real solution.
That does not prevent your drone from flying away as some do every now and than.

TFRs I agree with, however I also believe they could be smaller or more flexible.  

I think a better way for Drones in a “extended” TFR zone (like I imagine the OP was) would be to lock a max distance and height and speed.   Think WiFi to phone type mode but little more strict.  Max 150 feet away and 50 feet high and max speed of like 12mph.  and if any fail safes occur it just starts the auto landing system to prevent fly always and glitches.  Also have to disable active tracking since that could glitch the system (think locking into military vehicles and glitching out distance)  Make sure warning before taking off not to fly over water during this flight since fail safe is auto landing.  

Basically that ^^ yes. Because what if i were just a regular joe with say a spark out on a bbq with my family or at home and wanna get a group selfie with the drone? You cant because of a tfr. I don't think that is fair to the consumer. You can fly anything else non dji as a hobby craft and not have this issue. I never see flitetest or mr steele grounded and they dont even fly that high. Dji definitely needs to look into this and see if they can do what you said above. My drone should not be totally disabled under a tfr. It is not an airplane, but yes should be restricted. Around airports yes should always be restricted and disabled so no argument there.

Ya it’s kind of dumb to do’s total block.  Even near airports, I seen and heard about people that can’t even take off in own living room because they live 1-2 miles near an airport..  again this mode can save a lot of hassle and annoyed customers, having max flight distance, height and speed all set really low and controllable and moment any fail safe occurs it just lands to prevent the drone possibly being a problem.  Chances are very low that an airplane or helicopter are going to be flying 50 feet AGL 2 miles from an airport.  Not without hitting buildings and trees in most places well before the airport.

You could always go fly a kite, no restrictions there.  And if you are going to blame anybody blame the foolish pilots who through flying irresponsibly too close to airports and breaking the law have forced governments and Aviation Authorities impose regulations, Not DJI.

But Dji is the only ones enforcing it.  So that kind of makes that logic a bit moot at best.   

I agree with you, no one should fly around and disrupt manned aircraft.  But no other drone maker has decided to enforce anything, the FAA I know at the very least hasn’t mandated it either.. just say it’s pilot’s responsibility I agree with that..  not DJi’s Responsibility.. but dji felt they needed to..  

I’m not against dji blocking people from dangerous situations like airports and TRF/NFZ and such... but they need to relax it.. what are the chances for real that 50 feet AGL about a mile or so away from NFZ/TFR will be disruptive?  I imagine at a mile+ away there would be trees taller than that and thus those tree would be a much greater concern than a 1 pound drone hovering around.  

I’m not asking Dji to unlock it, but since they decided to enforce the situation, I’m asking them to rethink it.. there is more than one  responsible  Way that dji can nanny us about it.  I think my solution sounds pretty good.  150 feet away max distance, no activetrack, 50 feet AGL max, 12mph max speed, and any fail safe = autolanding to prevent a flyaway or a glitch.  If a compass error or gps error occurs it descents and lands as well again to prevent it from escape a virtual net.  

I do understand and sympathise, because what you wanted to do seems so reasonable. A typical reason for using a drone.
However, it is not just about you, me and all the other great Maviceers/droners, but the bigger picture.
How many fly-aways do you see on this forum?
Consider the 'Action Stations' panic the authorities would have if the drone shot off and flew deeper into the zone. No one can say that wont happen because of your honest and good intent.
There are idiots who do wilfully push boundaries and fly where they shouldn't. We all want to stop them. Don't we? This rather pathetic restrictive process is as a result of those fools. Blame them, not DJI or FAA.
A real terrorist plot would not use a DJI drone because of the inbuilt restrictions. They would build a custom job that some clever hobbyists do. Far less work to build one of those than try and reprogram a consumer drone.
It is all about the bigger picture.

boostedford Posted at 2018-5-23 14:29
No dji its a hobby craft they shouldn't be limited to a tfr completely they should only be limited to a certain altitude and distance at least

There is a difference between a TFR and a NFZ, TFR's are initiated on an as needed basis IE: VIP in the area, major event in the area, natural disasters ect... and can not be unlocked, they also apply to manned aircraft. Certain NFZ's can be unlocked either by advanced unlocking or on site via the Go/Go4 App. You can not unlock Red/Yellow zones as they require FAA Waiver but warning and enhanced warning zones can be unlocked.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2018-5-24 00:22
TFRs I agree with, however I also believe they could be smaller or more flexible.  

I think a better way for Drones in a “extended” TFR zone (like I imagine the OP was) would be to lock a max distance and height and speed.   Think WiFi to phone type mode but little more strict.  Max 150 feet away and 50 feet high and max speed of like 12mph.  and if any fail safes occur it just starts the auto landing system to prevent fly always and glitches.  Also have to disable active tracking since that could glitch the system (think locking into military vehicles and glitching out distance)  Make sure warning before taking off not to fly over water during this flight since fail safe is auto landing.

That seems like a sensible point.

QuadKid Posted at 2018-5-24 03:05
There is a difference between a TFR and a NFZ, TFR's are initiated on an as needed basis IE: VIP in the area, major event in the area, natural disasters ect... and can not be unlocked, they also apply to manned aircraft. Certain NFZ's can be unlocked either by advanced unlocking or on site via the Go/Go4 App. You can not unlock Red/Yellow zones as they require FAA Waiver but warning and enhanced warning zones can be unlocked.

You are totally correct.  A TFR doesn't just apply to Drones.  It applies to EVERYTHING that flies.  Aircraft can not enter that area without express permission from ATC.  And then, they are watched very closely.  Most of the TFR's are just that.  TEMPORARY.  Anywhere from a few hours to a few days.  No biggie.  This is all part of being a pilot in the eyes of the FAA.  You ARE a pilot.  And as such, have a responsibility.  

Sorry that you couldn't fly, but at least we know the rules.

With the posts we have here about sudden loss of power when starting with a partially charged battery, it's probably a good thing you didn't take off with that particular battery in a self discharging state.

Mavic pro’s since latest few updates seem to handle partially discharged batteries pretty well.  Better than sparks seem to atleast.  

But yea, I guess so.. TFR I agree with.  I just wish it wasn’t such a massive zone and maybe they should allow a practical flight plan without need for permission if you are a few miles outside the direct area, that’s all I’m saying. Flying 50 feet up in That park wasn’t exactly going to cause any headaches for example.. dji just needs to keep its leash on its drones and reel it in and enforce strict rules when and if they ever allow such things.

this is actually the first time ive seen the storage message. i didnt know it was discharged cause i charged it what i thought were a few days ago. but turned out to be a week. i assume charging it back up will get rid of the status?

as for the tfr discussion: yes i know its only a temporary thing, but also highly inconvenient if you don't know and plan to go flying that day. at least if it was restricted you can still use it even if it takes away from your original flight plans. or if you just wanted to fly in your living room or something. i literally just wanted to fly around the park yesterday i didn't even intend on going any higher than 100ft. i just wanted to snap a few pictures as well and was gonna make a vlog out of it. everyone here has all made valid points. points that i couldn't have said better myself.

Yes, charging the battery back up will get rid of the message, until it begins its discharge cycle again.  This would have been worse than flying with a partially discharged battery, as this battery was in the middle of trying to discharging itself, so a double whammy on battery life.

so the go4 app covers TFRs now too?  this is going to become a huge pain, there are tfrs that have long since expired, from 5 years ago in the FAA list.  I have a hard time believing that DJI can keep up with this sometimes hourly change in flight restrictions.  

I live on Long Island and a bunch of my friends couldn't fly in Nassua County last night either. Weird thing was I got that strange Battery Discharge Warning you had but I didn't  give me the No Fly Zone message and let me fly (in suffolk county). My friends couldn't take off but I was well aware about the TFR because of the Presidents visit but it seems as though it would let you hit yes and unlock it..... Is what it is, if I cant fly for a day because of the president visiting I really wouldn't care.