Distance & Structures

Morning everyone

As a relatively new member and flyer I’m interested to know your views on some of the videos on here that show many members flying (what appears to be ) a lot closer to structures such as towers etc than the rules allow and also way beyond VLOS. Whilst the footage is fantastic to see, I wonder if we are not playing into the hands of the “drone haters” and those that would have us regulated even more than we are now.

Now as a newbie, I may be missing something. I’m interested in feedback on this as it will help with my own understanding as I progress with this great hobby.

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The Drone Code is quite clear on this one:

There can be no excuse really.

A few possible options here I guess and I’m sure others will have suggestions here too.

You may have hit the nail on the head when you say “what appears to be a lot closer” as it’s often tricky / impossible to judge distances from objects on a flat 2D video.

Other options?

Lots of people have Zoom lenses these days, Mavics, Inspires, etc. Some have crazy high zoom levels too.

Or, people may be editing a video in post?

Or, they may simply be falling very foul of the drone code and flying way too close to said structure.

The size of the drone is key here, I can sometimes lose the Mavic Mini from VLOS in under 200m. The Inspire however, I can see well over a mile away.

Then there’s the whole strobe thing…

But no matter what the drone code says, people will probably use their own judgement at the time and you’d hope common sense would play in to it too. It may be perfectly safe to fly close to a comms tower on the top of a hill with zero people around (albeit in breach of the drone code). Or to fly a couple of miles out over the sea :man_shrugging:

The bit I don’t personally understand in all of this though, is why the hell they’d then post it online :man_facepalming:

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I think that’s what I was coming to @PingSpike in terms of posting potential breaches of the code and leaving yourself open to the wrath of the authorities. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching the footage which in most if not all cases is wonderfully edited and presented and I fully accept that editing in post can give the illusion of things being closer than they are.

Just interested in the views of others really and how what we do drives the public perception of the use of UAVs generally.

Like you, I have difficulty tracking the mini more than a few hundred metres away and more so if I look down at the screen I sometimes find it hard to relocate the again drone in the sky.

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The wording in the regulation is different from the simpler wording in the drone code and refers to “any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the SUA operator or remote pilot”.

“Control” is not defined, but permission of the building owner may demonstrate control, as may the clear exclusion of uninvolved persons.

As @PingSpike says, a zoom lens is also helpful, it’s one thing I like about my M2Z, being able to get “close-up” footage without flying unreasonably close.

If the EASA regulations are implemented as they stand, the issue may disappear in July, although I do wonder if the CAA will wake up to what that means and introduce additional requirements via the amended ANO. As things stand, the new regs would allow you to fly a Mavic Mini in an urban area just above the rooftops of housing, so long as you don’t fly over people and maintain VLOS. That’s just for flight safety: other laws will still apply regarding trespass, nuisance and privacy, but I do wonder how well the proposed changes have been thought through.

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On the subject of structures, how would you classify a disused derelict mine building? Would you still need to keep 50 mtrs?

PfCO holders may be told otherwise, but I think nobody really knows. Confusingly, the 50m distance is for “surveillance” drones only i.e. in the section of the ANO which is as much about providing blanket protection to privacy as it is about ensuring flight safety. You can fly model aircraft much closer than 50m to any structure, for example.

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Interesting hypothetical as I was thinking of my trip over to a nearby mining structure when reading the first post in the thread.

When I was posting the picture it did cross my mind that it might look like I was quite close, but it’s the perspective of such a big structure… I was nearly 60m away.

Could I get closer? I would say no.

As @kvetner says, it all comes down to “control”, and I would be hard pressed to argue I had any actual control over the structure. Though I had clear line of site to the base and nobody would be able to climb up without me knowing, if a maintenance team arrived I’d have zero authority over them or their actions. Also, I could see the bottom when I took off, but until the drone was up high enough to be my eyes, I didn’t know whether there was anybody up on the platforms already. So 50m it was. Had I contacted the trust in advance and got their permission to control the site that would be a different kettle of fish.

As an aside, my lack of control of the site meant I had to cut the flight short. When I started I was the only person there… but after I’d been up about 10 minutes a kid on a quad came racing straight through my landing area. There and gone in seconds, but when he came back a couple of minutes later I realised he was doing loops of a footpath. I had no authority to stop him, so I packed up and headed home.

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I’ve thought of some more…

There will be people who are simply oblivious to the fact that the Drone Code even exists. They might have received a drone for Christmas or something, there’s 101 reasons why the might not know the rules.

Then there are another group of people who know the rules exist and simply don’t give a toss… Their attitude being, “It’s my drone, I’ll fly it where I like”.

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I dont fly if there are too many people about, or fly wheres thers too many inhabited building , and tey to avoid the camera pointing at properties, so far i have had no complaints

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I got a Mavic 2 zoom for Christmas and I never and it’s great because you can keep a good distance from the building or structure that you are wanting to photograph or film, whilst seeming to be closer than you actually are!

Me too! Not even flown it yet though, in fact not even turned it on yet! Saving it for the nicer weather.

Oh I have flown but not as much as I would have liked to

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I’ve flown for an hour and a half since the 25th of December

Some interesting comments and views on here in response to my original post. Thanks for the engagement !

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I totally understand and agree where your coming from, there is one video on YouTube of a guy fly his drone high and up into the clouds, the drone had obviously picked up moisture in the clouds and the drone starts to do weird stuff, it finally plummets to the earth (close to lots of houses and schools etc) and crashes into a tree. The drone had lots of damage but if it hit someone he could have been in serious crap. This was in America I think and why has he not been seriously fined or banned etc and why post it on YouTube ?
There are a few on you tube of pilots flying up to 8000 ft, one guy was on holiday starting his flight from his patio going straight up losing GPS at about 7000 ft got to 8000 before starting back to ground. Great footage but totally illegal why are youtube able to allow these to still be broadcast ?

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I would love to test the limits of my drone the manufacturer say it can do, but its better fly safely.

I think YouTube have much more serious things to deal with than a drone flying up to 8000ft, child abuse, self harm, pornography, grooming, radicalisation etc etc…

I agree totally with that but if they have a platform they need to take responsibility for it (We do not have the time) does not cut it with me.

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Trouble is, they run a global video sharing platform so how are they going to police the many different drone regs? And it’s not even the various drone regs… how do they handle the exceptions?

It might be against the Drone Code in the UK to fly 5m away from a structure outwith my control, but I fly that close to my own house and that’s perfectly fine. Above 400ft is, again, a big no… unless I have permission. I have to stay 150m away from a congested area… unless I’m flying under my PfCO then it’s 50m. And maybe I’m based in the UK so they’ll be applying UK regs against my videos… except I shot that one whilst on holiday in the South Sandwich Islands (I wish) which have no restrictions at all on flying drones.

I’ve no problem at all with people reporting suspect flying to the CAA. They can then determine whether action is needed or not. But YouTube applying a blanket ban (probably based on the least permissive of whatever categories the US has) would kick a whole range of perfectly legitimate videos of their platform.

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