Flying over 400 ft AGL

[Home Inspector]

I’ve been asked to inspect a communications tower. The issue is the tower is over 400 ft tall so in order for me to complete the inspection I will need to go up to approximately 475 ft. which is permitted by the FAA within 400 ft of the structure. I’m part 107 certified. I’m not looking for a firmware hack I’m asking how to do this properly. Do I call DJI and get some code that will allow me to fly above 400 ft.? My drone is a P4P.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

No need to contact DJI. Go to the MC settings, scroll down to Flight Restrictions or Max Altitude. Change that field to the altitude you desire. That field is in meters, you will have to convert that to feet. The aircraft does have a max altitude that it will keep you below but is much higher than what you are asking.

 

[R.Perry]

Set your altitude to 150 meters and that will give you 492 feet.

 

[Home Inspector]

Thanks. Worked like a charm.

 

[FatherXmas]

No need to contact DJI. Go to the MC settings, scroll down to Flight Restrictions or Max Altitude. Change that field to the altitude you desire. That field is in meters, you will have to convert that to feet. The aircraft does have a max altitude that it will keep you below but is much higher than what you are asking.

I vaguely remember that the max altitude without the hack is 500 meters, 1640 feet.

 

[CashCache]

I vaguely remember that the max altitude without the hack is 500 meters, 1640 feet.

Yes, this is correct. The app won't allow anything higher than 500m. I have a mountain ridge I like to film at sunset which is ~1800 feet AGL from my takeoff point, but only 20 feet above the ground. I have to jump through a few hoops to make that happen.

 

[R.Perry]

There are apps that will let you fly at any altitude, but that is also illegal without a wavier. Can you get to your mountain top or close to it? If so remember your altitude is AGL so if you can launch from say five hundred feet from the summit you can easily fly over it.
Here again I wouldn't even consider flying that high without a waiver.

 

[CashCache]

There are apps that will let you fly at any altitude, but that is also illegal without a wavier. Can you get to your mountain top or close to it? If so remember your altitude is AGL so if you can launch from say five hundred feet from the summit you can easily fly over it.
Here again I wouldn't even consider flying that high without a waiver.

You don't need a waiver to fly 400 feet above the mountain. In my case, the mountain is about 1800 feet higher than my launch point. The I2 will only go ~1600 feet above the launch altitude even though that is still FAR below 400 feet AGL in my case. I have a workaround so it does not interfere with my shot, but it does become a hindrance at times.

 

[R.Perry]

You are correct that you don't need a wavier over the mountain top, but if you must fly 1800 feet vertically to get to the mountain top, then I believe you are illegal unless you can maintain 400 feet AGL all the time as you climb to reach the mountain summit.
One of the places I have launched from is at a dam, to photograph the face of the dam. The **** is 850 feet so technically as I fly out over the dam face I go from my launch to 850 immediately, so am I legal, I honestly don't know, but I do know I don't need to worry about any other aircraft, and that is the real issue.

 

[EhmayWuntee]

In the dam scenario as long as you are within 400 ft horizontally from it, then you can be up to 400 ft over the high point. If you have to back up more than 400 ft to get the photo you want, then technically it isn't following the rules if you are 850ft above the water.

 

[Scott Hansen]

I was recently out on a job (lost dog) and had to hike up a hill and Continue the search. I powered up, waited for the GPS home point update, launched from the higher altitude and only got about 20ft agl when i got the dreaded warning “Maximum flight altitude reached.”

I quickly went settings and switched the max altitude to a higher setting to get on with the search but am wondering why the P4P+ didnt account for the physical change in higher alt launch point?

Thoughts?

 

[Wilson Lake Drone]

Sounds like your drone still had the old barometric pressure altitude setting stored.

 

[Scott Hansen]

Sounds like your drone still had the old barometric pressure altitude setting stored.

That makes since but still badfling why it would tell me the HomePoint was updated and not update the change in altitude/bars?

 

[Wilson Lake Drone]

Did you shut everything down? You can change your homepoint without shutting down. If you shut everything down (AC, RC and App) it shouldn't do it.

 

[Scott Hansen]

Did you shut everything down? You can change your homepoint without shutting down. If you shut everything down (AC, RC and App) it shouldn't do it.

Agreed, that’s what’s really weird. Everything was started up fresh from a power down to conserver battery life. I have 5 batts on hand but wasnt sure how long the search would take.

I think i am going to try and replicate the issue without a client over my shoulder and see what happens

 

[Alva C Shell IV]

I’ve been asked to inspect a communications tower. The issue is the tower is over 400 ft tall so in order for me to complete the inspection I will need to go up to approximately 475 ft. which is permitted by the FAA within 400 ft of the structure. I’m part 107 certified. I’m not looking for a firmware hack I’m asking how to do this properly. Do I call DJI and get some code that will allow me to fly above 400 ft.? My drone is a P4P.

I received my Part 107 Lic on Sept 2016 here is what I say about the 400ft AGL inspecting a communications tower or structures. IAW
§107.51 Operating limitations for small unmanned aircraft.
A remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system must comply with all of the following operating limitations when operating a small unmanned aircraft system:

(a) The groundspeed of the small unmanned aircraft may not exceed 87 knots (100 miles per hour).

(b) The altitude of the small unmanned aircraft cannot be higher than 400 feet above ground level, unless the small unmanned aircraft:

(1) Is flown within a 400-foot radius of a structure; and

(2) Does not fly higher than 400 feet above the structure's immediate uppermost limit.

So correct me if I am wrong, if your doing an inspection on towers and/or a building (structure) and it is 800ft AGL, then you have you have an additional 400ft from uppermost limit and within a 400-foot radius of a structure. Just watching updated video's on REMOTEPILOT101.COM, Jason Schappert was speaking about NOTAMS and COA/COW. And IAW him its not required to request an NOTAM on every job/mission you perform (it will raise a RED Flag to the FAA if you do), only if you have been approved a COW which the COW will stated if you need to submit an NOTAM. I passed my test by using his website and became a member to his website to review all required items that is on the Part 107 test. I recommend this to everyone who is trying to pass your test and get your lic. He is an FAA Instructor/Pilot. He shares a lot of very good info even on VFR charts, weather, Decision Making, Risk management, PIC, Air space, etc. I hope this info help you on what your question.

V/R

Alva C. Shell, IV/Disable Veteran

 

[Wilson Lake Drone]

I received my Part 107 Lic on Sept 2016 here is what I say about the 400ft AGL inspecting a communications tower or structures. IAW
§107.51 Operating limitations for small unmanned aircraft.
A remote pilot in command and the person manipulating the flight controls of the small unmanned aircraft system must comply with all of the following operating limitations when operating a small unmanned aircraft system:

(a) The groundspeed of the small unmanned aircraft may not exceed 87 knots (100 miles per hour).

(b) The altitude of the small unmanned aircraft cannot be higher than 400 feet above ground level, unless the small unmanned aircraft:

(1) Is flown within a 400-foot radius of a structure; and

(2) Does not fly higher than 400 feet above the structure's immediate uppermost limit.

So correct me if I am wrong, if your doing an inspection on towers and/or a building (structure) and it is 800ft AGL, then you have you have an additional 400ft from uppermost limit and within a 400-foot radius of a structure. Just watching updated video's on REMOTEPILOT101.COM, Jason Schappert was speaking about NOTAMS and COA/COW. And IAW him its not required to request an NOTAM on every job/mission you perform (it will raise a RED Flag to the FAA if you do), only if you have been approved a COW which the COW will stated if you need to submit an NOTAM. I passed my test by using his website and became a member to his website to review all required items that is on the Part 107 test. I recommend this to everyone who is trying to pass your test and get your lic. He is an FAA Instructor/Pilot. He shares a lot of very good info even on VFR charts, weather, Decision Making, Risk management, PIC, Air space, etc. I hope this info help you on what your question.

V/R

Alva C. Shell, IV/Disable Veteran

I think the OP wasn't talking about how to get approval to fly over 400' AGL or requesting NOTAM's etc... I think his settings were preventing him from flying over 400' AGL and he wasn't aware of how to reset his altitude limitation setting on his drone to do so.

 

[Russ Still]