Consequences of flying a DJI Avata 2 in a residential area?

Legal & Privacy
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Just got an Avata 2. Coming from a Mini 4 pro which I would regularly fly from my garden over residential areas with VLOS. As I understand, because the Avata 2 is over 250g, I can’t do this.

Now lets say I did do this (disclaimer, i’m not going to). What would the consequences of this actually be? A fine? Drone confiscated? How would I actually get caught doing this, other than someone reporting me and then the police looking at my flight logs.

Having flown the Avata 2 in manual mode, in the countryside (with a spotter), I actually feel much more in control and aware of my surroundings compared to the Mini 4 Pro. Strange eh.

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Hi @jorrisbohnson, it looks as though you’re quite new here :wave:t2:

Why not nip over to the Introductions page, and say hello properly and tell us a bit about yourself. :+1:t2:

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From the drone code

The Police are responsible for taking enforcement action when it is believed that the requirements of the law have not been met. Depending on the circumstances, this action could be taken against the operator, remote pilot, or both. Penalties range from warnings to the confiscation of drones and even imprisonment.

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Operator and flier ID :thinking:

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Your DJI drone is broadcasting DroneID (not to be confused with Remote ID), which means the nearest DJI AeroScope will grass you up.

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Yes i have that

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And who usually uses / owns these AeroScopes?

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All the airports and most metoploitan police forces, where are you based?

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Interesting, so hypothetically the Aeroscope picks up ANY drone in its vicinity? How would the police determine if said drone has committed any offense, there must be a lot of drones in the area that it picks up? Im based in Yorkshire, not near any airports

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Well in this case the drone type is easily identifiable, and the area its flying in is not allowed so its a simple one.

That and the Karens in the area.

Welcome from a fellow tyke on the North/East Yorks border (via Leeds)

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12

Makes sense - But would the police be actively monitoring this 24/7? Or only in the event a Karen reports a drone constantly flying over houses?

They barely have the resources to turn up to a car burglary at your address, surely they don’t have enough resources to be actively monitoring what drones are flying in the sky and if they should or shouldn’t be doing so?

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Like speeding or dui on the roads ;o)

Keep your stuff away from social media (facebook especially) and youtube, its like a tree falling in the woods.

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Any DJI drone made in the last six or seven years.

AeroScope range is around 30 miles / 50km.

Your DJI drone will be broadcasting its location and your location in real time. AeroScope records and logs everything so there is a lot of “after the fact” available.

DroneID also reports the drone serial number, the same serial number you activated when you signed up to DJI apps and permissions.

It’s not hard for them to join the dots :slight_smile:

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If a neighbour complained they could confiscated the drone as all the flight logs are stored on it

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Having done stuff previously for the Met Police CT-UAV , I’d love to know what kit they have!

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I found a Met CT-UAV document that’s literally all redacted!

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@jorrisbohnson - Get yourself an A2 CofC Richard - the Avata 2 being under 500 grams can then be flown under the same restrictions as a sub 250 gram drone but you will still legally need a spotter if you fly it FPV :+1:

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So it’s safe to say, if you want to fly FPV over residential areas legally, you need to be under 250 grams.

If someone wanted to fly 250+ grams over residential areas with minimal risk of getting caught they would need something that doesn’t ping out the DJI drone I’d? like HD Zero, O3 air unit etc.

Flying the Avata 2 over residential areas will basically guarantee getting caught?

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Interesting, I will look into this thanks!

1 Like