Hi,
I have a question how everybody handles an obvious problem. In uncontrolled airspace G you can still meet other aircrafts. I have met an assortment of ULV (ultra light), balloon, small planes and most cumbersome, true helicopters. There is a rule in my country for such aircraft to stay above 150m (300m in urban areas). With drones only allowed below 100m (in my country for airspace G) there is no obvious conflict. However, most of the helicopters I spotted flew well below the 150m threshold, I estimate a few as low as 50m.
I know that airspace G allows for rules to clear with a nearby airport. But said helicopters didn't come from any local airport within airspace G.
Copter pilots can get an exemption from the "minimum safe flight altitude" (150/300m) but nobody will inform us, the poor drone pilots.
I know there is a line of sight rule and theoretically, one should be able to clear the airspace if a helicopter emerges out of the blue (they can be pretty fast). Nevertheless, I am still worried. Esp. as everybody seems to fly FPV, most of the time Mavic but Spark too. You won't be able to spot a helicopter coming from the side if flying FPV. Spotters are required for FPV, but only above 250g (in my country) and Spark could be considered to just be within that limit. Is a 250g FPV drone crashing into a copter windshield or rotor really a safe thing?
So, how is everybody handling this?
Personally, I feel that drone pilots need to be informed about incoming air traffic below 1000m AAG in uncontrolled air space G. There needs to be an information service which the piloting app inquiries before or during flight. After all, the nearest airport tower has all necessary information.
Somewhere I read that the M-series DJI drones have such service built-in (into the app, I guess).
But nowhere do I read that new drone regulations suggest better information services to drone pilots. Which would be a requirement to drone makers and not drone pilots.
Is all of this an official thread of discussion in on-going talks to harmonize drone rules across countries?
I have a question how everybody handles an obvious problem. In uncontrolled airspace G you can still meet other aircrafts. I have met an assortment of ULV (ultra light), balloon, small planes and most cumbersome, true helicopters. There is a rule in my country for such aircraft to stay above 150m (300m in urban areas). With drones only allowed below 100m (in my country for airspace G) there is no obvious conflict. However, most of the helicopters I spotted flew well below the 150m threshold, I estimate a few as low as 50m.
I know that airspace G allows for rules to clear with a nearby airport. But said helicopters didn't come from any local airport within airspace G.
Copter pilots can get an exemption from the "minimum safe flight altitude" (150/300m) but nobody will inform us, the poor drone pilots.
I know there is a line of sight rule and theoretically, one should be able to clear the airspace if a helicopter emerges out of the blue (they can be pretty fast). Nevertheless, I am still worried. Esp. as everybody seems to fly FPV, most of the time Mavic but Spark too. You won't be able to spot a helicopter coming from the side if flying FPV. Spotters are required for FPV, but only above 250g (in my country) and Spark could be considered to just be within that limit. Is a 250g FPV drone crashing into a copter windshield or rotor really a safe thing?
So, how is everybody handling this?
Personally, I feel that drone pilots need to be informed about incoming air traffic below 1000m AAG in uncontrolled air space G. There needs to be an information service which the piloting app inquiries before or during flight. After all, the nearest airport tower has all necessary information.
Somewhere I read that the M-series DJI drones have such service built-in (into the app, I guess).
But nowhere do I read that new drone regulations suggest better information services to drone pilots. Which would be a requirement to drone makers and not drone pilots.
Is all of this an official thread of discussion in on-going talks to harmonize drone rules across countries?