That about the right size 
That’s specifically mentioned in the drone code.
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On the other hand, the CAA have to put a simple framework of rules in place that is easy to understand and applies across a fairly wide variety of situations, hence a rule that makes a lot of sense in the centre of a town or where there are a lot of hazards & obstacleds about, as well as an increased likelihood of other traffic, seems kinda stupid in the Scottish Highlands.
I would imagine that, at some time in the future, there will be relaxation of the VLOS rules for drones with obstacle detection and avoidance. After all, the tech is clearly up to it; my Mini 4K can pick up RC and transmit video signal from, literally, miles further than I can see it even in the best conditions. Were it to be capable of obstacle detection/avoidance in all directions I would feel quite confident of flying it a few miles away on the screen, though I’d hesitate to do any clever stuff like between buildings & such.
In the Scottish Highlands, of course, you stand a much higher chance of getting away with it, not that I’m suggesting anything as naughty as trying it! But there’s no such thing a free lunch; the terrain makes it risky and if anything goes wrong halfway up a Cairngorm when you’re flying it from the roadside 5 miles away and more than 3,000’ lower where the weather is much better than on the plateau (where it can be properly full-on Arctic at any time of year and at short notice), then you’ve lost your drone and the chances of getting it back are slim, and of getting it back repairable, non-existent! Would you be equipped to look for it, do you have the necessary gear and hillwalking experience and open country low-visibility navigation skills? Most likely safest to stay with your car and accept the loss!
What the CAA would be concerned about is the potential for damage to property or injury (or worse) to people on the ground and in aircraft, and people are thin on the ground in the Scottish Highlands! That doesn’t mean that they aren’t entitled to be protected from wayward drones by the rules as much as if they were in Trafalgar Square!
I’m a great believer in rules, and obeying them to the best of my ability (so long as they apply equally to everybody). They are not always sensible, reasonable, practicable, or enforceable, and can always be improved, but I think they should still be obeyed anyway, because if we all obey the rules we should mostly stay out of trouble!
I thought about doing this but couldn’t see it as an option for the Mini 4 Pro, are you using something else?
Obstacle avoidance isn’t going to help you get out of trouble in the reasoning for CAA’s VLOS rules.
Its just not clever or fast enough to move out of the way of anything else moving.
Not yet, but the tech is constantly improving & getting cheaper. We can but hope!
Hi Leigh
No, I have the same kit as you. It’s one of the options for the programmable buttons. Must admit I use it a lot so my eyes must be much worse than the rest of the guys here!
Give over, the cost would be massive never mind the weight
A moving object coming at any angle at even the slowest speed, never gonna happen (I thought your alleged seagull experince would have made you realise this)
@JoeC - a follow up question on settings
Does changing the gain / expo and other settings in one mode change it for all modes or can you set each differently?
You set them for each mode - once you go in to the settings for gain & expo you select the mode you’re changing the settings for at the top of the page 
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Line of sight distance relies on many factors. I can see my mini 3 pro ( similar size drone) 200m away if it’s up in the air on a cloudless day. There again, if I’m flying it say 6ft off the ground and there’s trees/ buildings of a similar colour in the background, I can lose sight of it 30m away, just by glancing down at the controller screen for a few seconds. 
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Yes it’s tricky and the clouds do make a difference. I think I need to go higher rather than further away. I’m slowly getting braver. I pushed it up to 70m yesterday which felt very high but I could still see it quite clearly. I’ll be happy when I am comfortable with flying at 100m. I want to take abstract type landscapes and I need the height for that.
You’ll find it an advantage, I’m sure, if you can instill within yourself the idea that high=safe. It’s counterintuitive I know, but I am much more relaxed when I’m flying clear of any local obstacles; trees, cables, pylons, poles, buildings, but especially trees & cables! Unless you are intending some intricate close-up stuff of the sort that requires intense concentration during which squeakybum moments are the norm, take off in a clear area, go high, stay high, and land in a clear area! If your drone is going to fall out of the sky*, it will likely terminally damage iteslf from 20’ on to a hard ground, which is the same result as from 400’. About 120’ is usually enough; use the zoom if you want closer shots (3x zoom at 120’ is equivalent to shooting 1x from 40’, and you can pick out a good bit of ground detail! I sometimes have diffiuctly seeing my drone at 400’, especially against a bright sky, but I know where it is and am confident that I is safe up there. If I need to locate it (the screen display and live map help), it can happily hover where it is for a few moments! Get up, stay up.
Aircraft, including drones, are inherently safe machines when they are in the middle of the sky with nothing around them. When they are close to the edges of the sky is when the trouble starts, and any pilot will tell you that the riskiest moments are takeoff and landing, which is when the aircraft is at the bottom edge of the sky.
*Mostly it won’t, it’ll fly by default because props/airfoil shape/laws of physics. You will get warnings if anything is threatening that status (low battery, high wind, &c), which you should take action on receipt of; they are recorded in the flight data and you won’t get a replacement from Care Refresh if you’ve ignored them! A collision will down it of course (object, wire, bird, kite string) but that is much more likely at lower levels anyway!
Hi - I’m new to drone flying but enjoying working out how to fly / how to use my Mini 5 Pro. And yes, I’ve introduced myself on the other thread!
Can I pick you experienced people’s brains? How far away from you do you sensibly fly your (mini) drone? The CAA require it to be within unaided sight - ‘clearly enough to see which way it’s facing’ - but for something as small as my Mini 5 that’s not that far away. And even if, excuse the pun, I were to turn a blind eye to being able to see its orientation, the machine would become a dot in the sky within a relatively short distance.
Obviously, using the controller screen allows me to know exactly where the drone is, flight parameters, and its orientation, although I am still nervous of going too far away and relying on the screen rather than having it within 10s of metres. However, in reality, I could (illegally) fly literally miles away from my location whilst controlling from the screen - and getting great views at the same time.
Advice please??? Just how far do you go?
Be expected to get the goody 2 shoes brigade say VLOS 
I’m a rule breaker like 99% of drone flyer’s here as it’s so easy to lose VLOS, sometimes intentionally sometimes by just glancing at you monitor and lifting your head and that dot has disappeared.
I fly safe and know the area I’m flying in and knowing fly high certain areas and any obstacles, when I fly in the countryside I go far past VLOS as unless I’m flying 100ft away I lose it as soon as it’s gone past trees into another field in a valley.
Fly safe that’s all constantly scanning your monitor.
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That’s your own decision to make… You are responsible for your own actions whilst flying, be it distance, what and where you are flying over. I wouldn’t be taking others advice on this, no matter how well intended as you’re the one who will have to answer should something happen.
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The general consensus is that you could reasonably expect to see the orientation of a sub 250g from around 200ft away.
Naturally that will be less if your eyesight isn’t 20/20.
Andrew @CirrusFlyer I’ve moved your post to a thread where this same question was discussed recently. Grab a brew, scroll up, have a read 
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Is it? I get that ignoring a physical S setting on take-off could be a safety benefit… but C? I guess you could have redefined the speeds etc on C to be more S-y, but not full S…
As @uav_hampshire says, it’s your decision to make because you’re the one who is responsible for your flight.
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