I think I'm going to sell my Mavic.

It's great but I cannot see the point in it when I'm constantly worried about getting told off or in trouble for flying.

I'm currently in Ibiza and have brought it with me but am yet to fly it and the more I read about the rules here I think I'll just leave it packed up and sell it on my return to the UK.

DJI are pumping these products out with great promo vids showing users flying all over the place but it's all BS as you can't actually fly them anywhere anymore.

Am I wrong?

If you're troubled about getting "told off", maybe you should find a new hobby.

Remember always fly with caution and common sense(probably more common sense) I have flown pretty much everywhere I want other than close to airports, plane paths and over people in public area.

I know exactly how you feel, as here in Belgium it is virtually impossible to fly a drone legally.
Our drones are flying cameras, and too many people - especially the authorities - get hysterical about the imaging possibilities they offer.
Either legal rules are going to be relaxed or our drones will disappear.

ghostrdr Posted at 2017-9-4 10:45
If you're troubled about getting "told off", maybe you should find a new hobby.

Ok when I say get "told off" .... I could give 2 Fs about someone giving me a talking to... I referring to the reports of €200.000 fines for flying in Spain!

I'm not an idiot. I know to avoid large crowds and airports and houses etc but I'm not going to ruin my holiday for the sake of a few minutes of footage of the reports are true of the fines!

ghostrdr Posted at 2017-9-4 10:45
If you're troubled about getting "told off", maybe you should find a new hobby.

Being "told off" by a grumpy old man is one thing, but having your gear confiscated by the authorities, because laws make drone flying impossible is quite another.

Njw83 Posted at 2017-9-4 11:00
Ok when I say get "told off" .... I could give 2 Fs about someone giving me a talking to... I referring to the reports of €200.000 fines for flying in Spain!

I'm not an idiot. I know to avoid large crowds and airports and houses etc but I'm not going to ruin my holiday for the sake of a few minutes of footage of the reports are true of the fines!

Well I never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there....

You're in a bad place for flying. Sell it if you must but you may regret it later.

Really too bad you live in heavily restricted zones.
sell it and use the money to invest into something that will add value and happiness to yr life :-(

Otherwise fly rogue and dont get caught:-)

I live in a major US city.  In reality, I don't have too much to capture on video or in a still photo around the city.  So my local flying is just to fly.  However, I have plans to travel to many places where shooting videos and photos will be far more interesting and far more open to flying without restriction.  For that reason, I am hanging on to my Mavic.  It travels well......

Bekaru Tree Posted at 2017-9-4 11:38
Really too bad you live in heavily restricted zones.
sell it and use the money to invest into something that will add value and happiness to yr life :-(

"Otherwise fly rogue and dont get caught:-)"

In Europe we have at the moment Police and soldiers patrolling everywhere, because of the terrorism threat.
Not getting caught is equivalent to a miracle.

I can relate to this so much I’m the same as you I love my drone but I’m scared if I’m doing something wrong the drone laws are scum if you ask me let’s be real the chances of your drone falling from the sky is quite slim

NoSale Posted at 2017-9-4 11:43
I live in a major US city.  In reality, I don't have too much to capture on video or in a still photo around the city.  So my local flying is just to fly.  However, I have plans to travel to many places where shooting videos and photos will be far more interesting and far more open to flying without restriction.  For that reason, I am hanging on to my Mavic.  It travels well......

i fly mostly for the fun of flying - i take videos because i can and feel therefore i must (i suck at it and time to edit is a killer) - but just flying around and viewing the scenery is what i like best - with the goggles it is even more fun

Many of the people using the drone with good experience. And we are also confident in our product. We also admit that our drones have a long way to move on, but I think that is the nature of technology, right? For me, I won't afraid of the difficulties I would meet, I will enjoy all the joy and frustration.

It's the potential darkside of drones that is the issue. The authorities are restricting drones as prevention. They are using the unmanned-video capabilities as an excuse because they don't want to alarm the public or give ideas to the bad guys. Imagine seeing in the media "Government calls all bans on drones because they are 'capable' of carrying 1.5kg dirty bombs and IED and remotely detonated". It's a hard act to follow, trying to warn the public without causing mass hysteria.

The media blinds us and steers our thoughts and many do not know it. Many of us 'pilots' think that the NFZ was designed to prevent taking off near airports. It's actually also designed to safe guard DJI's name. The DJI NFZ zone is blanketed in Syria and its used to stop DJI products being used as weapons. Sure anyone can build a drone, but can anyone build one that can be flown 3-7kms.

One of the most enforced rule is 'dont fly over crowds or large events'. Why? think about this. 1.5 kgs x gravity ms is capable of hurting a person or two. We all think its just a public safety warning. It's actually euphemistic warning is to minimize the possibility of a drone strapped with an IED flown into large crowds.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-9-4 11:45
"Otherwise fly rogue and dont get caught:-)"

In Europe we have at the moment Police and soldiers patrolling everywhere, because of the terrorism threat.

or sitting in your car and flying out from in front of you..  occusync works fairly well in side my cars..  the car it struggled in the most is my Volvo wagon it still flew out from in front  of my windshield  straight out around 1/4 mile before signal started chopping and occysync started hunting..   in my GF's 2016 Focus ST it managed little over a mile, i guess less isolation in her car.  and the 2014 BMW 528 we have it gets like 3700 feet.. so not as good as standing out in the open but, i mean if your trying to be discrete... their is a balance..

If you want to fly in Ibiza you just need to avoid the south of the island. Natural parks are also forbidden, but if I remember correctly all of them are in the south too. Other than that, avoid flying over people/houses and you'll be fine. Max alt in Spain is 120 m.

ImHereToCrash Posted at 2017-9-4 21:56
or sitting in your car and flying out from in front of you..  occusync works fairly well in side my cars..  the car it struggled in the most is my Volvo wagon it still flew out from in front  of my windshield  straight out around 1/4 mile before signal started chopping and occysync started hunting..   in my GF's 2016 Focus ST it managed little over a mile, i guess less isolation in her car.  and the 2014 BMW 528 we have it gets like 3700 feet.. so not as good as standing out in the open but, i mean if your trying to be discrete... their is a balance..

My rule number one: One thing at a time.

Surely this is the reason the Mavic Pro and to some extent the Spark (and others like it) exist. What I mean is the drone is so well packaged that it sits behind my seat in the car, away from prying eyes if the car is parked but it's easily accessible if you want to stop on your travels and get it in the air within minutes and take some great footage, some stills of a fantastic sun set etc. and back into the car or into a suit case to travel back home.

I have a Yuneec Q500+ and while I like the drone, its hardly the easiest thing to cart around with me even in the car. It's big and cumbersome and does not have the features of the the MP.

I will be honest, the areas you fly are determined by people, buildings, airfields, line of sight etc etc and if I'm really honest I truly did not see myself ever buying another DJI product again but the MP is so much more of a drone with it's size, it's features it is the perfect companion, so getting places to fly are not limited to your local area and laws, it allows people so much more freedom.

Yes you are wrong. Maybe you should have looked at the restrictions that applied to the type of flying you wanted to do before spending money on it? ;)

Bekaru Tree Posted at 2017-9-4 11:38
Really too bad you live in heavily restricted zones.
sell it and use the money to invest into something that will add value and happiness to yr life :-(

Flying rogue is what caused the regulations in the first place. (and what is causing more and more restrictions to be legally mandated).

As I live in Brazil, and here, the laws are still not defined yet, I would say that restrictiong is not my real present concern.
But here, we have high levels of criminality. That is REALLY, my concern. To be robbed (or worst things). I have a daughter that allways asks me to come with, and I avoid this, just as an act of protection.
But I intend to be with my MAVIC. It gives me so much fun.
And as @Bekaru Tree said: "I fly mostly for the fun of flying".
It is superb.
Abd @Njw83, as everyone here in this thread: besides the negative point I said, I invite you to come to Brazil and fly here. You can call me and we will be partners!
Cheers.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-9-4 11:45
"Otherwise fly rogue and dont get caught:-)"

In Europe we have at the moment Police and soldiers patrolling everywhere, because of the terrorism threat.

Eh, no we don't.

Source: I live in Europe and have eyes.

gnirtS Posted at 2017-9-5 02:29
Flying rogue is what caused the regulations in the first place. (and what is causing more and more restrictions to be legally mandated).

hoodlam flying is what causes trouble for us - flying rogue (to me) just means applying good sense and 'not getting caught" kinda like 'under the radar'

There are plenty of places to fly.  You just have to do a few seconds of research.  Easy peasy.

I know exactly how you feel.
In your neighboring country (NL) we have strict regulations also.
And as far as I know the EU is making for even more strict regulations. (50m height, further away from people and buildings...)
So far I have not saved enough for a drone, but I am seriously thinking about that future....
Not sure about what my decision will be.
Still I think I can make beautiful footage, but by far not as much as I want.

To expand on what Bekaru Tree said, I "fly rogue" (including Belgium and Holland}. By this I do not mean that I fly over people and property making sure I don't get caught. I mean that I fly at a distance that avoids safety and privacy issues but I take the time to take off from a secluded spot and, whenever possible, set a return-to-home course that makes anyone watching think that I have arrived from a different direction. Sometimes I will also make it difficult to follow the drone by looking at how the traffic system works.
The problem is that the laws very wildly from place to place and often are not fully understood even by the authorities themselves. The result is that you can sometimes be punished without having endangered anyone or intruded on their privacy.
That said, if you do "fly rogue" within this definition you must be doubly vigilant to respect people's safety, property and privacy. If you don't you will contribute to the authorities' need to impose more restrictions.