Good Morning all. Please forgive my approaching a topic which may have had a lot of coverage before… but: I am an Air Traffic Controller (notthe enemy I promise!) and recently had a request from a drone operator asking to fly within our restricted zone. We granted permission, but curious, visited the launch to observe. The drone in question was a MAVIC and it would not let the operator launch it due to it being in the restricted zone.
My question is; how would one disable that feature or input your permission?
We are trying to streamline our process for approving drone flights within our restricted zone and this would help me understand greatly!
Generally, one of the most frustrating aspects of the DJI Geo-Zones is that they are rarely the same dimensions as the CAA’s FRZs, etc., and many CAA FRZs have no representation whatsoever within the DJI Geo-Zones.
Obviously, there’s a limit as to the amount of data that a drone can carry on board so, to minimise this, they have gone for zone dimensions that they apply globaly, and only for airports that they consider sufficiently important.
As to your specific question about the unlocking, there doesn’t seem to be a thread specifically to explain this, but there are a few where members have had problems and others have assisted. The most recent of these is this one : Dji site to unlocking geo zones not working. (This search lists a few more than have “unlock” in their title.)
Between the two, hopefully you will find the information that you need to better understand both the DJI zones and the unlocking, but do feel free to ask about any aspects that you need more clarification on, and I’m sure some members will add their own explanations gained from their own experience.
Personally - I’ve yet to unlock one. I fear that once I can fly at my house (within Southampton FRZ), the guys less than 1km from me would soon at ever more requests. (Should have made use of Lockdown - when it was all so quiet.)
Are you willing to let us know which FRZ you are linked to?
I asked your location mainly because there might be a member in your neck of the woods that would be willing to demonstrate the unlocking to you - should you wish to consider that.
Our own Drone Scene (also available from the “hambuger menu” at top right), has map layers of both the UK’s FRZs and the DJI Geo-Zones.
The link above will take you to “the east of England” with these two layers visible. Each layer (and many other layers of info) can be switched on/off, by clicking the layers icon, to enable their comparison.
You’ll probably have to log in to Drone Scene from the menu there, which should then be automatic by reference to your credentials for this site.
They’re currently working with a range of airports to automate this as we speak:
The hard part, as Dave @OzoneVibe highlighted, is the next step - unlocking the drone.
You should only concentrate on your streamlining your airspace permissions process and let the drone operators worry about unlocking their own equipment
You’d never be able to interface with every drone manufacturer (if any).
Good to know. It’s a bit of a dream but wouldn’t it be good if there was a system whereby and aerodrome operator could issue an unlock code for a specific time and date?
While I remember, do any of you guys have ADSB equipped drones? the SSR replacement (WAM) can detect ADSB and display it to ATC operators.
You can do this with the Altitude Angel system mentioned above and as a manager/controller of an airspace, that’s all you’re obliged to do - grant permission for us to fly there.
For what it’s worth, only DJI are the issue here with their stupid / pointless / meaningless self-imposed restrictions. A lot of people modify their DJI drones to remove those restrictions (plenty of apps and guides on here if you’re curious).
Some people fly brands other than DJI simply because they have no restrictions (eg. Autel) - meaning you only need to implement the electronic request/authorisation part.
Hey Im at Downham Market and some of my flying is close to the NFZ around Marham. I once wanted to ring ATC for permission to fly at Beachamwell to photo the lovely church they have there but I didnt have the bottle.
I can help to test if needed but Im limited to flying out of office hours.
My twopennorth regarding ATC - I live in the south of England and have requested permissions from large civil airports via NATS, small civil airports via their own website contact details and military establishments once a little searching had found the right contact. All were helpful, polite and businesslike.
I contacted them by phone when about to start the flights and contacted them when my sessions ended. I was again met with polite professionalism. A long time ago I was a photographer in Cessnas or an Enstrom helo, ATC always came over the headphones as unhurried and calm. So I have a lot of respect for you guys.
I try to explain the rudiments of getting permission for FRZs to others, telling them that it is often a matter of filling in an online form and then, on the day of the flight phoning and being polite. There does seem to be some resistance from people - until they find out it is a fairly simple process.
DJI are the manufacturer that geolocks their drones. If you look on our DroneScene map (you sign in with your GADC credentials) you will see that you can view various switchable layers, The DJI geofence layer overlaid on the airspace restriction layer is always bigger around airfield and other FRZs, presumably to give the manufacturer some leeway if a case came to court where their data had been used.
You can self unlock in the field (with an internet connection) for some restrictions, others have to be cleared by contacting DJI who will give a temporary clearance of the geofence for one particular aircraft. It is a PITA that, along with the wrongly perceived fear of the complexity of getting permission, keeps the numbers of drones in restricted airspace down!
So I think I have some relevant experience that will help.
I recently fly my drone at RAF Cranwell to record the RAF American Football Team (RAF Mustangs)
One of the team (RAF) applied for permission from ATC at Cranwell to fly the drone. Once permission was granted, I had to log onto the DJI site, scroll to the bottom and click on “Fly Safe” explain why I wanted to fly in a restricted zone, what dates I wanted to fly, and also outline on a map the area that I wanted to fly. I then had to upload the written permission from ATC.
DJI approved it pretty quickly (within an hour) Once that was done its a fairly simple procedure to then unlock the drone geofence using the DJI Fly App (I’m flying a DJI Mavic Air 2).
Once I got to Cranwell (Last month) switched the drone on, checked that the unlock was valid (it was) Contacted ATC to confirm that I permission to take off, then flew.
It was actually really straight forward which surprised me given some of the challenges I know some people have faced trying to get restricted zones unlocked (especially given I was in a MATZ)
Give me a shout if you need any questions answered, happy to help
Is the fly app different? In Coventry airport NFZ I had no issues taking off at all.
However yesterday near Birmingham city fc I went round in circles with the app thinking I was not logged in when getting ‘DJI’ authorisation to fly near the ground. Entering my phone number in the app, entering a code sent by SMS and ticking a bunch of boxes. After the 3rd attempt it let me take off.
at ever more requests. (Should have made use of Lockdown - when it was all so quiet.)
this.