DJI Lost small claims suit

[InspiredOne]

In his original statement, he said: "However, its maximum speed seemed to be reduced by about half even when I was trying to fly forward at full speed. A few minutes later, when the Phantom was about half a mile away (it would have been home at that point if the max speed was not reduced), the battery ran down so far that it auto landed. I tried to recover it but was unable to find it."

His power dropped and he got the error message. He was attempting to fly home. After getting the message and attempting to return home, the bird was--at that point, after a "few minutes later"--still a half mile away from its point of origin.

That does not sound to me like flying within LOS. Just going by the information provided as I understood it.

P.S. Half a mile is 2,640 feet. One would think a Phantom at a distance of 2,640 would be an indistinguishable dot at best.

 

[Kilrah]

He said he was within LOS a few posts above yours.

Which is complete BS if you look at the map he posted which mentions him being at 2800ft at the moment of the capture, and the track that shows he was roughly 2-3x farther earlier during the flight. Seems he was around 2.5km away at some point.

Even if "LOS doesn't specify max distance" nobody can see and visually control a Phantom that is 2.5km away, which is what it's about.

If I was DJI, after having been ordered to give him a check I'd have filed a complaint with the FAA along with it.
How stupid can one be, that's akin to going to the police to complain someone stole your stash of drugs, and giving the full inventory to boot

 

[Nate A]

line of sight
1. a straight line along which an observer has unobstructed vision.
"a building that obstructs our line of sight"
2: the line between two points; specifically : the straight path between a transmitting antenna (as for radio or television signals) and a receiving antenna when unobstructed by the horizon


Come on give the guy a break. GPS satellites have line of site with us here on the earth. Remember the first federal trial about flying a drone. The reason it was thrown out was because of the DEFINITION of an airplane.

 

[licensed pilot]

line of sight
1. a straight line along which an observer has unobstructed vision.
"a building that obstructs our line of sight"
2: the line between two points; specifically : the straight path between a transmitting antenna (as for radio or television signals) and a receiving antenna when unobstructed by the horizon


Come on give the guy a break. GPS satellites have line of site with us here on the earth. Remember the first federal trial about flying a drone. The reason it was thrown out was because of the DEFINITION of an airplane.

"2: the line between two points; specifically : the straight path between a transmitting antenna (as for radio or television signals) and a receiving antenna when unobstructed by the horizon"

Are you trying to say that as long as you can get a signal you meet FAA VLOS rule?

 

[Nate A]

"2: the line between two points; specifically : the straight path between a transmitting antenna (as for radio or television signals) and a receiving antenna when unobstructed by the horizon"

Are you trying to say that as long as you can get a signal you meet FAA VLOS rule?

The FAA's of words:
By definition, a model aircraft must be “flown within visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft.” P.L. 112-95, section 336(c)(2). 1 Based on the plain language of the statute, the FAA interprets this requirement to mean that: (1) the aircraft must be visible at all times to the operator; (2) that the operator must use his or her own natural vision (which includes vision corrected by standard eyeglasses or contact lenses) to observe the aircraft; and (3) people other than the operator may not be used in lieu of the operator for maintaining visual line of sight. Under the criteria above, visual line of sight would mean that the operator has an unobstructed view of the model aircraft.

-------------

So if he saw a dot only, he was still within VLOS. No where does it say the arm of the quad and identifying marks need to be clear distinguishable. This is why that first federal case was lost, nothing more. Definition.

 

[licensed pilot]

The FAA's of words:
By definition, a model aircraft must be “flown within visual line of sight of the person operating the aircraft.” P.L. 112-95, section 336(c)(2). 1 Based on the plain language of the statute, the FAA interprets this requirement to mean that: (1) the aircraft must be visible at all times to the operator; (2) that the operator must use his or her own natural vision (which includes vision corrected by standard eyeglasses or contact lenses) to observe the aircraft; and (3) people other than the operator may not be used in lieu of the operator for maintaining visual line of sight. Under the criteria above, visual line of sight would mean that the operator has an unobstructed view of the model aircraft.

We are in total agreement. The feds are quite clear on what VLOS means. Flying to the edge of the "legal" environment does not necessarily equals flying safe. If the drone is but a speck the operators has no situational sense of the aircraft and very limited should evasive action is necessary. As a commercial operator with thousands invested in my business I fly safe.

 

[InspiredOne]

line of sight
1. a straight line along which an observer has unobstructed vision.
"a building that obstructs our line of sight"
2: the line between two points; specifically : the straight path between a transmitting antenna (as for radio or television signals) and a receiving antenna when unobstructed by the horizon


Come on give the guy a break. GPS satellites have line of site with us here on the earth. Remember the first federal trial about flying a drone. The reason it was thrown out was because of the DEFINITION of an airplane.

As I sit here and think about the above, I must say that comes dangerously close to being the dumbest thing I've ever read on this forum.

 

[Nate A]

I was not serious about the GPS, well not entirely. There is a difference between LOV and VLOS, so maybe I am not the dumb one?

GPS satellites transmit two low power radio signals, designated L1 and L2. Civilian GPS uses the L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz in the UHF band. The signals travel by line of sight, meaning they will pass through clouds, glass and plastic but will not go through most solid objects such as buildings and mountains.
Garmin | What is GPS?

 

[licensed pilot]

Dude, I have no idea what you are trying to say. What does GPS has to do with FAA part 107 VLOS rules?

 

[Nate A]

Dude, I have no idea what you are trying to say. What does GPS has to do with FAA part 107 VLOS rules?

My first post was partly a joke. For those that are a little slow, LOS is used by UHF, VHF, microwave frequencies. Satellites also are LOS. However VLOS is what the FAA defined in my above post. Both are by definition line of sight.

 

[The Editor]

And can we leave it there please?

 

[InspiredOne]

My first post was partly a joke. For those that are a little slow, LOS is used by UHF, VHF, microwave frequencies. Satellites also are LOS. However VLOS is what the FAA defined in my above post. Both are by definition line of sight.

"A little slow..."? How patronizing of you.

The fact, pure and simple as it is, still remains the guy was flying beyond LOS.

The Phantom he was flying is 14" at its widest measurement. At a distance of half a mile--2,460 feet--14 inches is equal to 0.0085 of an inch, that is 85/10,000s of an inch. Neither you nor I nor anyone else's eyes can resolve something that small. So the bird was invisible.

 

[InspiredOne]

Sorry, Editor. I was typing as you were posting.

DONE!

 

[The Editor]

OK, let's let it be there.

 

[slim.slamma]

Cutting off the nose to spite the face
Trump 101

 

[Nate A]

"A little slow..."? How patronizing of you.

The fact, pure and simple as it is, still remains the guy was flying beyond LOS.

The Phantom he was flying is 14" at its widest measurement. At a distance of half a mile--2,460 feet--14 inches is equal to 0.0085 of an inch, that is 85/10,000s of an inch. Neither you nor I nor anyone else's eyes can resolve something that small. So the bird was invisible.

This is not accurate. The distance the human eye can see is roughly 2.9 miles. Interested to know your formula.

 

[licensed pilot]

This is not accurate. The distance the human eye can see is roughly 2.9 miles. Interested to know your formula.

"The distance the human eye can see is roughly 2.9 miles. "
Really? Under what conditions? age? lighting? size of object? contrast? day? night?

 

[Kilrah]

Really, you can distinguish a 40cm object 3 miles away, see its orientation and what it's doing?

 

[The Editor]

This is not accurate. The distance the human eye can see is roughly 2.9 miles. Interested to know your formula.

OK, I'm not sure where this is coming from but it's utter rubbish.
I can certainly see the Empire State building from further than 2.9 miles away and Mount Everest from considerably further. On the other hand , I can only see a full stop on a page from around six feet so I have no idea where you get 2.9 miles from.
The resolution of the human eye in biological terms is around 1 arc minute or 1/60th of a degree that's human visual acuity and not some arbitrary distance.

Anyway, people didn't seem to take the hint (even though I asked nicely - twice) so this one is no longer open.