The Sun wrote an article about drone software that allows for removing NFZ, and the angle was drone flying over airports.
They reached out to us for a comment and one of our team members replied.
However, there are a few inaccuracies in the article that we would like to address.
It is mentioned in the article that NLD allows for removing NFZ and flight above airports.
That is not correct, we do not allow drone flying above airports, period!
We DO allow for removing NFZ anywhere else, except governmental buildings and military installations.
We at NLD and the "Original Gangsters" all agree that only idiots would fly above an airport.
In fact we also believe that if DJI did their due dilligence and defined the No Fly Zones at places where it is actually a problem flying, no one would ever care or need to remove it in the first place.
DJI defines No Fly Zones based on data from the international airports database which is very inaccurate.
Many of the airports listed are now closed dirt airstrips but still DJI imposes a No Fly Zone around them.
For DJI users living in the US this is a huge problem, because smaller airports open up and close down all the time.
When DJI is using outdated data and is not considering if the airport is open or closed, it makes a lot of false No Fly Zones where there are no local restrictions in flying a drone.
Because many of these false No Fly Zones overlap each other, many users find themselves having to drive hundreds of miles to get out of the NFZ overlap.
All they want to do is to fly and enjoy their drone.
For these users there are no apparent reasons for them not to be able to fly in their area other than DJI has decided that they can not.
If DJI only defined No Flight Zones that made sense and were only enforced where local regulation states that it is a No Fly Zone, no one would even bother trying to remove them.
We do not believe that any of our users are removing NFZ to perform illegal activities such as endangering public safety.
The full article from The Sun can be found here:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/8564046/dji-drone-modding-hacked-software-airport/
i dont believe i am an idiot because i have a need to fly (coordinated!!!) over an active airport!
these units are expensive when one buys and pays that much money he is entitled to his ownership!
at the same note could you imagine we had to ask permission to drive our cars everyday?
we should be left alone to our own recognizance and responsibility against each local regulations instead of a ridicules umbrella imposed globally atm,
they have a split personality thinking a kid can afford a 5000$ drone, or an adult who can afford one want to be treated like a 4 year old after spending that much money!
they are not giving these away for free! we paid for these and they need to let us be or go away with this waste of time and money,
our needs are far from these drones kids violating airspace at Gatwick,
we have legitimate needs (in general) to fly over some of these areas properly coordinated and supervised (you are correct when saying no one has the need to be there unless it is for professional reasons; nevertheless there is no distinction atm).
the issues is not the NFZ or the height restriction,
it is native to how the "New DJI Logic" is programmed;
that is not based on our actual legal 400 ft. AGL limit but based on your starting point elevation, would work flawlessly if the earth was flat,
since it is not flat... if you start at 500 ft. elevation and you need to elevate due to a hill or terrain shift you are limited to the point you started and never a legitimate 400 ft. AGL as allowed, when you do you need DJI to give you permission to do that :)
yes if you live on a hill side or just normal terrain elevation .5 mile away youre stuck with starting point elevation or alternatively consider becoming a cliff climber and risk your life so you have a higher starting point, cheers DJI
Those we call idiots are those who don't care and are a threat to public safety.
Just to point that out :)
ik i was being bit dramatic :)
there are folks like us who would love to (always legally!) to use this new technology to deliver a higher fidelity work which we can now with lidar cams and scanning objects in 3D no matter their size, its an exciting new world for us designers, but atm we cannot even do basics within our legal limits due to these ridiculousness DJI is pulling,
which by the way none is made public or obvious prior to spending our hard earned money,
we own these and should be left alone as DJI doesn't take any responsibility what so ever despite their interference and insisting having every little minutia reported and approved by them as if they will do anything if something went wrong, they are doing this because of greed and some hidden agenda to have control over something they dont own!
What do you mean by
"yes if you live on a hill side or just normal terrain elevation .5 mile away youre stuck with starting point elevation"
What do you mean by
"yes if you live on a hill side or just normal terrain elevation .5 mile away youre stuck with starting point elevation">>
It means when you power up the drone sets the home point at "0" altitude and uses that point of reference throughout the flight. So if you fly in the direction of say a mountain the drone will crash due to the change in ground elevation.