Drone rules are becoming more restrictive in many countries...

I see many discussions, about flying over populated (or not so populated) places, within line of sight, long range flights, high altitude (or flying slightly higher than allowed), and flying in NFZs...

Some people claim to be very responsible, some criticize other videos or pics in which they may see (or think they see) rules being broken...
I'd like to know (honestly ;-) ) if you fly by the book, or use common sense when you fly your quads...

I don't always fly according to the rule book, but I always fly using common sense.  If that makes sense.  

I fly over my back fence and then climb to 50-70 meters. Technically I am less that 30 meters from a dwelling at take off. The rest is well clear of any issues. Our rules in Australia are sunrise to sunset. Broken that one by a few minutes. LOS, generally I have behaved!
Did you know that the 'Pilot' in Australia cannot wear goggles, but an observer can. I know of drones flown 5 & 6 ks from take off point, and Mavic is capable of that, but at 500 meters, it is pretty hard to see, yet alone several kilometres.

I fly by common sense, I take precautions where necessary. The problem is some people don't follow the rules and use and don't have any common sense. Thats when drones start to become dangerous

TakeFlite Posted at 2017-8-17 20:45
I fly by common sense, I take precautions where necessary. The problem is some people don't follow the rules and use and don't have any common sense. Thats when drones start to become dangerous

Couldn't agree more!

I don't really care about the rules but i do fly with common sense.....

I love the idea of 'common sense' asif its  a level of sense that people share - everyones ideas of what is safe is different.

My dear friend, ro_flyer,

You set this thread on fire....hehehehehehe!!!!
Cheers.

Not 100% but man common sense goes a long way so that my friend along with good judgment is what I keep in my bag of tools.  

I follow some rules but always break others. Around people and NFZ where human safety is a risk - i stick as close to the rules as possible.
Flying LOS - not so much - my max flight distance is set at 2km - in short i can hardly ever see my drone apart from take off and landing.
I keep abreast of the laws and watch laws from other countries and throw that all in the bag with my common sense (which i am always refreshing and updating) together my desire not cause inconvenience or harm to any person or animal/bird and considering the area where i will be flying - thats how i roll.
When i fly far i am over hills or water or coast line ect where the only risk associted with not flying LOS is that i might lose my drone.

fans1b44b30c Posted at 2017-8-18 03:15
I love the idea of 'common sense' asif its  a level of sense that people share - everyones ideas of what is safe is different.

Common sense doesn't exist anymore  in anyone younger than 50 years of age. I know this from my own personal observations...

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2017-8-18 07:49
Common sense doesn't exist anymore  in anyone younger than 50 years of age. I know this from my own personal observations...

Let's go down to 40/45 years of age, thank you!!!!
But yes, there does seem to be a lack of common sense everywhere these days.
and it DOES seem to be age related, and I'm 55,

1 and 2 present a false choice.  I plan to fly by the rules, but sometimes my eyes fail me when I check the display and then back to the drone and crap I can't see it.  At which point I start bringing it back or climb to get rid of a background it blended in with.  Number 2 implies number 1 is stupid and not using common sense.  How about 1 "Yes. Plan to follow rules, and adjust to comply if unintentionally unable"  Like loss of VLOS due to conditions (ie glance down to check screen, look up and no drone visible).  I use common sense means, I do what I want if I think it is OK.  That's scary.  Most of the losses most people post are because their drone is off somewhere out of line of sight and they have a problem.  Some think that having an 85 degree field of view will let them see other aircraft.  I am near an airport, but not in control zone and I see aircraft large in the air and are almost impossible to see on display or goggles.

I don't fly over people but when I fly back over my own acreage LOS gets lost but can watch video feed and distance meter to know where I am. Also if it would go crazy it would head to uninhabited country unless it would fly back towards me where hopefully I could regain control

No. But I try

Good poll.  Anyone who says "yes all the time" is straight-up untruthful.  The reason why most say "use common sense" is because the rules/regulations as they stand now are FAR too restrictive in most jurisdictions.  I've no desire to normally need to fly higher than say 20m; but I'll for sure fly 10x that if I need to, so long as it is safe- this is where it is nearly impossible to define what is 'safe'.  Recently I had to push well over 300m - over a cliffside where there is no people and no airplanes.  There was zero risk to aircraft or people, if there were I would not have done so.  I've done the same around waterfalls; again if people were in my flightpath it would mean that they were already at risk or worse ( ).  I think noone has any need or desire to be anywhere near an airport...the land around airports are almost always flat/boring- by design no?  That being said, 7/9 or 5 km rules around airports is a joke; 2 should be sufficient as long as you don't go higher than say 400' since no aircraft at even 1.5km distance on approach or takeoff is going to be that low; and UAVs really don't need to be that high to begin with.  As long as the authorities enforce the rules WITH common sense all should be good.  Easier said than done, especially in areas like Canada where they tend to throw the book at you or in the USA where government helis will actually attempt to crash into your drone or blow them out of the ski with their prop's down-draft (without any backlash at all, true story) if you are flying where you should not be.

I do my best to follow rules, but have to admit i may bend a few from time to time.
Common sense is the best way to describe it for me, as well.

Flycaster Posted at 2017-8-18 12:32
Let's go down to 40/45 years of age, thank you!!!!
But yes, there does seem to be a lack of common sense everywhere these days.
and it DOES seem to be age related, and I'm 55,

I agree, let's bring it down to at least 45

DJI Why do you ask these same questions every single day. If you ask the same 3 questions about line of sight, max altitude and RTH multiple times a day every single day  do you feel it betters the product somehow?  
in the extremely unlikely event its real live actual customers posting these same stupid questions everyday then you need to stop, use the search feature or simply scroll down the page and read the response to the same questions since they have been asked literally hundreds of times.

Its getting old and makes you seem to stupid to search a web forum.

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2017-8-18 02:47
I don't really care about the rules but i do fly with common sense.....

I would love to hear from those that follow all the rules 100% of the time.... where, when, how, they fly... and "why they fly".....

fans1b44b30c Posted at 2017-8-18 03:15
I love the idea of 'common sense' asif its  a level of sense that people share - everyones ideas of what is safe is different.

Yes it is.... someday I saw a beautiful video of a guy flying his drone over a beach with a few people (no  more than 100) in a stretch of sand of 1000ft.

There were some guys comdemning the poor pilot saying that he war endangering people, that he was going to jail, etc, beacause he was flying his drone in a "crowded"beach....

Most of the comments were congratulating him... so there is a huge difference in the idea of common sense in people's heads...

Ufortunately that's why we have so many wars in this world....

DocAraxá Posted at 2017-8-18 03:46
My dear friend, ro_flyer,

You set this thread on fire....hehehehehehe!!!!

That was not my intention, brother..... ;-)  

Flycaster Posted at 2017-8-18 12:32
Let's go down to 40/45 years of age, thank you!!!!
But yes, there does seem to be a lack of common sense everywhere these days.
and it DOES seem to be age related, and I'm 55,

I know some 60+ presidents and world leaders with NO COMMON SENSE AL ALL...  I don't think age is the main thing in this equation....

Bekaru Tree Posted at 2017-8-18 05:00
I follow some rules but always break others. Around people and NFZ where human safety is a risk - i stick as close to the rules as possible.
Flying LOS - not so much - my max flight distance is set at 2km - in short i can hardly ever see my drone apart from take off and landing.
I keep abreast of the laws and watch laws from other countries and throw that all in the bag with my common sense (which i am always refreshing and updating) together my desire not cause inconvenience or harm to any person or animal/bird and considering the area where i will be flying - thats how i roll.

Best comment so far....

randy.sauder Posted at 2017-8-18 17:30
Good poll.  Anyone who says "yes all the time" is straight-up untruthful.  The reason why most say "use common sense" is because the rules/regulations as they stand now are FAR too restrictive in most jurisdictions.  I've no desire to normally need to fly higher than say 20m; but I'll for sure fly 10x that if I need to, so long as it is safe- this is where it is nearly impossible to define what is 'safe'.  Recently I had to push well over 300m - over a cliffside where there is no people and no airplanes.  There was zero risk to aircraft or people, if there were I would not have done so.  I've done the same around waterfalls; again if people were in my flightpath it would mean that they were already at risk or worse (  ).  I think noone has any need or desire to be anywhere near an airport...the land around airports are almost always flat/boring- by design no?  That being said, 7/9 or 5 km rules around airports is a joke; 2 should be sufficient as long as you don't go higher than say 400' since no aircraft at even 1.5km distance on approach or takeoff is going to be that low; and UAVs really don't need to be that high to begin with.  As long as the authorities enforce the rules WITH common sense all should be good.  Easier said than done, especially in areas like Canada where they tend to throw the book at you or in the USA where government helis will actually attempt to crash into your drone or blow them out of the ski with their prop's down-draft (without any backlash at all, true story) if you are flying where you should not be.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM THE "YES ALL THE TIME" GUYS...

They only fly in the desert?
They don't need phones, tablets or goggles attached to the control (because they never look at it)
They have bionic vision (to see their drones by far) or never fly more than 300ft away
They have fun flying?
Why they fly at all?

ro_flyer Posted at 2017-8-19 09:06
I know some 60+ presidents and world leaders with NO COMMON SENSE AL ALL...  I don't think age is the main thing in this equation....

That's sounds like a backhanded slap. Let's just talk about drones!

randy.sauder Posted at 2017-8-18 17:30
Good poll.  Anyone who says "yes all the time" is straight-up untruthful.  The reason why most say "use common sense" is because the rules/regulations as they stand now are FAR too restrictive in most jurisdictions.  I've no desire to normally need to fly higher than say 20m; but I'll for sure fly 10x that if I need to, so long as it is safe- this is where it is nearly impossible to define what is 'safe'.  Recently I had to push well over 300m - over a cliffside where there is no people and no airplanes.  There was zero risk to aircraft or people, if there were I would not have done so.  I've done the same around waterfalls; again if people were in my flightpath it would mean that they were already at risk or worse (  ).  I think noone has any need or desire to be anywhere near an airport...the land around airports are almost always flat/boring- by design no?  That being said, 7/9 or 5 km rules around airports is a joke; 2 should be sufficient as long as you don't go higher than say 400' since no aircraft at even 1.5km distance on approach or takeoff is going to be that low; and UAVs really don't need to be that high to begin with.  As long as the authorities enforce the rules WITH common sense all should be good.  Easier said than done, especially in areas like Canada where they tend to throw the book at you or in the USA where government helis will actually attempt to crash into your drone or blow them out of the ski with their prop's down-draft (without any backlash at all, true story) if you are flying where you should not be.

Height restriction in USA is 400 feet Above Ground Level (AGL),  So if you were flying next to a cliff the AGL is from the top of the cliff, not necessarily from where you launched it - say at the base of the cliff.  When I was flying F-4s we would go across ridges and valleys and sort of even it out (flying lower over the ridges to minimize exposure to "enemy" radar.  Altitudes we were allowed to fly at depended on whether we were in Temporary Restricted Areas, Restricted Areas and general airspace with local concerns.  We fly at speeds equivalent to 3 touchdowns per second (540 Knots = 900 feet/sec).

You will not realize how important the rules are for until damages occured to life and property of someone by error of some kind.

Bill in Ohio Posted at 2017-8-19 12:00
Height restriction in USA is 400 feet Above Ground Level (AGL),  So if you were flying next to a cliff the AGL is from the top of the cliff, not necessarily from where you launched it - say at the base of the cliff.  When I was flying F-4s we would go across ridges and valleys and sort of even it out (flying lower over the ridges to minimize exposure to "enemy" radar.  Altitudes we were allowed to fly at depended on whether we were in Temporary Restricted Areas, Restricted Areas and general airspace with local concerns. Touchdowns per second.

I understand.  Common sense is needed b/c if you fly over a cliff at say 20' and the bottom is say 300', when you fly over the cliff you go from 20'AGL to 320' AGL instantaneously depending on the terrain.  I've seen many locations when in this circumstance, helis are at or lower than this height.  They should be greaterthan 500' and we should be less than 400 (USA).  I'm in Canada, the ceiling is 300' (only because we don't have a height regulation for anything BUT aircraft ; above 300' an object must have special lighting/markers and since this doesn't apply to UAV's, they've just capped UAVs at 300' instead of 400' as they do in the US...fyi, strange but true   ).

fansa7dc5944 Posted at 2017-8-19 13:46
You will not realize how important the rules are for until damages occured to life and property of someone by error of some kind.

Those same damages can be made while respecting the rules...

ok ...what is common sense?......some peeps don't have any sense

I think we all break the rules at some point or other however, the best rule of all to adopt is #2, common sense

Bigga J Posted at 2017-8-21 05:06
I think we all break the rules at some point or other however, the best rule of all to adopt is #2, common sense

There are some guys who claim not to break any... would like to know where, how, or why the fly their quads... and if they have any fun doing it...

DALLASFREAK Posted at 2017-8-20 02:59
ok ...what is common sense?......some peeps don't have any sense

Indeed.....

What is common sense? Most will use the phrase to justify breaking rules until it goes wrong then likely blame something else for the outcome.

What is common sense? Most will use the phrase to justify breaking rules until it goes wrong then likely blame something else for the outcome.

fans6bba62c9 Posted at 2017-8-23 02:49
What is common sense? Most will use the phrase to justify breaking rules until it goes wrong then likely blame something else for the outcome.

I think it is not being an hypocritical, following the rules most of the time, and breaking some (stupid ones) without putting in danger people or property. It's almost impossible to follow all the rules all the time, and fly a drone in a fun or productive way...

Dirty Bird Posted at 2017-8-22 16:45
Ummm....

https://youtu.be/WVi3yaWadxM

Nice video, but.... #dronepolice and #droneparanoia will come in 3, 2, 1....

I cant help myself,  I have been flying RC aircraft for more years then I want to admit,  every time I take the Mavic out I tell myself “I can fly over those houses and cruse the beach by camera and GPS”

But then I chicken out,  too many years of “keep the aircraft in sight” “don't fly over populated areas”

I know these are not RC aircraft,  they are so much safer and less likely to fall,  but it’s hard for me to change my thinking.

ErstO Posted at 2017-8-23 18:43
I cant help myself,  I have been flying RC aircraft for more years then I want to admit,  every time I take the Mavic out I tell myself “I can fly over those houses and cruse the beach by camera and GPS”

But then I chicken out,  too many years of “keep the aircraft in sight” “don't fly over populated areas”

You sound sincere....