Going higher?

[slimjimtell]

I am right at 5 miles from a major airport. Depending on the direction of the winds, landing and take off patterns change. Some days I get low planes right over my house, I look up and think, man I could hit that.

So, I am extremely cautious and tend to stay well below 200 feet in my area. It's just not worth it, I travel for my job and fly most everywhere I go. I just hope others are as cautious as I am.

 

[usa]

Good point. I've seen military aircraft a heck of a lot lower in remote areas of Nevada.

Military is not bound by FAA regulations.


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[skan]

400 is the ceiling set by the FAA. It's there for a reason. Don't violate it and ruin the sport for the rest of us

Most people don't live in the USA.
And many countries don't have that limitation: Luxembourg, Rusia, Perú, Bolivia, Colombia, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Congo, Most islands at the Pacific...

And you can bypass that limitation in many other countries by paying for a permit. At the end it's a matter of money.

 

[crossbowme]

A lot of misinformation here. I too am a professional pilot and have been for decades. The 500' "floor" in a control zone (CZ) is a control measure that is administered by the appropriate Center. Aircraft in the CZ have to get permission to go below that floor and is routinely done by certain commercial activities such Life Flight. In fact, helicopters are all over the country working, landing and doing other activities. Military aircraft are even at tree top level in certain areas.

Here is the problem - if you hit a fixed wing you may knock out an engine or something else very serious in nature. If you hit the control tubes going to rotors on a helicopter you will cause an immediate uncontrol descent probably causing the death of all those on board. DON'T go over the 400' limit and when you think there might be aircraft operating in your area be prepared to get your drone down fast. I can tell you from experience they can't see you.

I know there are those reading this that will scoff at everything. That is fine until your face is in the local newspaper/TV/internet being vilified for killing innocent people. It happens everyday when you see a tearful offender apologizing to the families for something they said "I didn't know". Well, you know.

 

[PRMath]

Why would you need to? Anything higher than the suggested 400' ceiling in the USA and you may as well be looking at Google Earth.

Never thought of that......true

 

[bobthinks]

A lot of misinformation here. I too am a professional pilot and have been for decades. The 500' "floor" in a control zone (CZ) is a control measure that is administered by the appropriate Center. Aircraft in the CZ have to get permission to go below that floor and is routinely done by certain commercial activities such Life Flight. In fact, helicopters are all over the country working, landing and doing other activities. Military aircraft are even at tree top level in certain areas.

Here is the problem - if you hit a fixed wing you may knock out an engine or something else very serious in nature. If you hit the control tubes going to rotors on a helicopter you will cause an immediate uncontrol descent probably causing the death of all those on board. DON'T go over the 400' limit and when you think there might be aircraft operating in your area be prepared to get your drone down fast. I can tell you from experience they can't see you.

I know there are those reading this that will scoff at everything. That is fine until your face is in the local newspaper/TV/internet being vilified for killing innocent people. It happens everyday when you see a tearful offender apologizing to the families for something they said "I didn't know". Well, you know.

In my army aviation days on Uh-1H's (avionics tech that got tag along every so often when there was need for an assistant crew chief or similar) we had a few Vietnam vets still around. Nothing like flying open door, on the floor wearing the monkey harness. More than once I picked leaves and twigs out of my boot laces. Tree top is an ambiguous term.

Seriously, we can have from 83' to 400'. Enjoy that space.