JasonM
Pattern Altitude
I just got one of these things. A DJI Phantom 3. I couldn't stand the thought of them being in the sky with me as a pilot, so I figured I better give it a shot and see if my opinion changes.
I registered it with the FAA, which I have to say was a little intimidating even for me as a pilot. It did make me feel like they know who I am now and I really do need to follow the rules.
I took it outside and fired it up. 1st impression. "WOW!!, this is badass!". It hauls ass and covers some ground. After flying across some farm land we own and checking some buildings out, I headed back and was amazed at just how easy it was to operate.
Second flight, I had the biggest urge to fly higher. I took it up higher, but below the FAA limit of 400' AGL. I thought, that's cool. But being a pilot, and being used to flying much higher, all I wanted to do was go higher. It is very hard to fight that urge to go higher. I thought, I wonder what happens if I do go up to 400' AGL. So I go back up and the damn things stops going up and says "Maximum Altitude Reached" or something like that. I check out the view from the Iphone and then look to see where the hell the done is. I cant find it anywhere in the sky. This "keep the drone in visual range" stuff is nonsense. Nobody is going to follow that rule. So, I hit the return to home function and it flew right back to me and landed.
I go inside the house and google that Max Altitude warning/limit only to find it can easily be removed with a few settings in the app then agree to not break any rules. (well, isn't going above 400' AGL breaking a rule??). I'm not going to mess with it, but I can see most of the consumers for these saying the hell with it and blasting up to 1650' AGL and flying a couple miles from home. I think the manufactures should be forced to limit the altitude.
My initial opinion of these drones is the same. Very cool technology, but I don't want them in the sky near me in my airplane. I guarantee there will be an incident and with the 100's of thousands of these selling, it may be sooner than later.
I registered it with the FAA, which I have to say was a little intimidating even for me as a pilot. It did make me feel like they know who I am now and I really do need to follow the rules.
I took it outside and fired it up. 1st impression. "WOW!!, this is badass!". It hauls ass and covers some ground. After flying across some farm land we own and checking some buildings out, I headed back and was amazed at just how easy it was to operate.
Second flight, I had the biggest urge to fly higher. I took it up higher, but below the FAA limit of 400' AGL. I thought, that's cool. But being a pilot, and being used to flying much higher, all I wanted to do was go higher. It is very hard to fight that urge to go higher. I thought, I wonder what happens if I do go up to 400' AGL. So I go back up and the damn things stops going up and says "Maximum Altitude Reached" or something like that. I check out the view from the Iphone and then look to see where the hell the done is. I cant find it anywhere in the sky. This "keep the drone in visual range" stuff is nonsense. Nobody is going to follow that rule. So, I hit the return to home function and it flew right back to me and landed.
I go inside the house and google that Max Altitude warning/limit only to find it can easily be removed with a few settings in the app then agree to not break any rules. (well, isn't going above 400' AGL breaking a rule??). I'm not going to mess with it, but I can see most of the consumers for these saying the hell with it and blasting up to 1650' AGL and flying a couple miles from home. I think the manufactures should be forced to limit the altitude.
My initial opinion of these drones is the same. Very cool technology, but I don't want them in the sky near me in my airplane. I guarantee there will be an incident and with the 100's of thousands of these selling, it may be sooner than later.
