400 foot maximum altitude and mountains

RocketmanTurbo · Sep 30, 2020

A little confused by this. This weekend I went leaf peeping (viewing foliage colors) I was on the level staring at a small hill/mountain with it's elevation at 1500 feet. On my ground level elevation, I understand that I could fly to 400 feet but I wanted to fly up to the peak of that small mountain with the 1500 foot elevation. That meant that I had to rise another 1100 feet. (which I did not)

If I was on the peak of that mountain, does that mean I could fly another 400 feet up? but from my base elevation, I would not fly up that mountain? Thanks in advance for the clarification.

brettbrandon · Sep 30, 2020

RocketmanTurbo said:
A little confused by this. This weekend I went leaf peeping (viewing foliage colors) I was on the level staring at a small hill/mountain with it's elevation at 1500 feet. On my ground level elevation, I understand that I could fly to 400 feet but I wanted to fly up to the peak of that small mountain with the 1500 foot elevation. That meant that I had to rise another 1100 feet. (which I did not)

If I was on the peak of that mountain, does that mean I could fly another 400 feet up? but from my base elevation, I would not fly up that mountain? Thanks in advance for the clarification.

You are allowed to fly 400 feet above the ground where the drone is. You can fly up the mountain as long as you don't exceed 400 feet above the side of the mountain where the drone is at. That may be hard to judge from where you are standing at. You can also fly 400 feet above the peak...

RocketmanTurbo · Sep 30, 2020

brettbrandon said:
You are allowed to fly 400 feet above the ground where the drone is. You can fly up the mountain as long as you don't exceed 400 feet above the side of the mountain where the drone is at. That may be hard to judge from where you are standing at. You can also fly 400 feet above the peak...

Thank you.......... My take on this is the important part of your statement is "400 feet above the ground where your drone is" So, if at the base of that mountain, I would NOT be allowed to rise to the peak of that mountain....... unless I was standing on it and not at the base of it.

brettbrandon · Sep 30, 2020

RocketmanTurbo said:
Thank you.......... My take on this is the important part of your statement is "400 feet above the ground where your drone is" So, if at the base of that mountain, I would NOT be allowed to rise to the peak of that mountain....... unless I was standing on it and not at the base of it.

Yes you CAN fly up the side from the base. It is not judged by where you take off from for the entire flight. It is 400 feet above wherever the drone is at that point. You and the drone are two different things. You simply increase height of the drone as the mountain height increases not exceeding 400 feet above the side of the mountain at that point. You simply maintain the same rise curve as the mountain. And when you get to the top, you can fly 400 feet above the peak. As I mentioned earlier, that would be hard to judge from where you took off from.

BigAl07 · Sep 30, 2020

RocketmanTurbo said:
Thank you.......... My take on this is the important part of your statement is "400 feet above the ground where your drone is" So, if at the base of that mountain, I would NOT be allowed to rise to the peak of that mountain....... unless I was standing on it and not at the base of it.

Think of it like this... let's pretend your UAS has an imaginary rope/wire hanging from it that is exactly 400' long. In order to remain LEGAL you must ensure that the rope/wire is always touching the ground directly under your aircraft. If at any time it can't touch the ground directly under your aircraft you have busted the 400' limit and in violation of the FARs.

brettbrandon · Sep 30, 2020

EXAMPLE

brettbrandon · Sep 30, 2020

BigAl07 said:
Think of it like this... let's pretend your UAS has an imaginary rope/wire hanging from it that is exactly 400' long. In order to remain LEGAL you must ensure that the rope/wire is always touching the ground directly under your aircraft. If at any time it can't touch the ground directly under your aircraft you have busted the 400' limit and in violation of the FARs.

Very well put...

Weazel · Sep 30, 2020

BigAl07 said:
Think of it like this... let's pretend your UAS has an imaginary rope/wire hanging from it that is exactly 400' long. In order to remain LEGAL you must ensure that the rope/wire is always touching the ground directly under your aircraft. If at any time it can't touch the ground directly under your aircraft you have busted the 400' limit and in violation of the FARs.

This!! Well said!

DanMan32 · Sep 30, 2020

Of course technically the altitude shown to you relative to your takeoff point, so you'd need to increase the max altitude setting. The max it will go to is 500m, or approx 1500ft.

Thomas B · Sep 30, 2020

RocketmanTurbo said:
A little confused by this. This weekend I went leaf peeping (viewing foliage colors) I was on the level staring at a small hill/mountain with it's elevation at 1500 feet. On my ground level elevation, I understand that I could fly to 400 feet but I wanted to fly up to the peak of that small mountain with the 1500 foot elevation. That meant that I had to rise another 1100 feet. (which I did not)

If I was on the peak of that mountain, does that mean I could fly another 400 feet up? but from my base elevation, I would not fly up that mountain? Thanks in advance for the clarification.

Exactly. I have done so myself.
land where signal is good and you have VLOS... don’t turn anything off... wait 15-20 seconds... take off again. The drone will read the new TO point as 0’ AGL

be sure to stay within 400’ of the side of the mountain to be legal.

Meta4 · Sep 30, 2020

RocketmanTurbo said:
My take on this is the important part of your statement is "400 feet above the ground where your drone is" So, if at the base of that mountain, I would NOT be allowed to rise to the peak of that mountain....... unless I was standing on it and not at the base of it.

Or to explain it a different way ...

Cobber · Oct 1, 2020

If you launch from 700 feet and then fly over land that is at sea level, are you required to drop 300 feet below launch point?

Meta4 · Oct 1, 2020

Cobber said:
If you launch from 700 feet and then fly over land that is at sea level, are you required to drop 300 feet below launch point?

If you go to the CASA website, you'll see:
You must not fly your drone higher than 120 m (400 ft) above ground level
Where you launch from is not relevant.

svenmarbles · Oct 1, 2020

So if you stood at the edge of a deep canyon with a sheer cliff, the second you flew past the edge of the canyon you would be in violation... Even if it’s 10 feet away from me and at eye level from where I stand.

I think when it comes to this, common sense should prevail.

BigAl07 · Oct 1, 2020

svenmarbles said:
So if you stood at the edge of a deep canyon with a sheer cliff, the second you flew past the edge of the canyon you would be in violation... Even if it’s 10 feet away from me and at eye level from where I stand.

I think when it comes to this, common sense should prevail.

Common sense?

It's illegal or it's legal. Yes flying out over a cliff allowing the aircraft to be anything over 400' above the ground directly under the aircraft is ILLEGAL.

Pappy · Oct 1, 2020

I live at the base of a small mountain surrounded by other small mountains. I just fly keeping a max 400' AGL below the aircraft as I fly from mountain to mountain. Flying 400' above the peak is relatively easy to determine. Just set the pitch on the camera to 0 degrees (level horizon), keep the peak in view and once you are level with it take current altitude and add 400' to it.

svenmarbles · Oct 2, 2020

BigAl07 said:
Common sense?

It's illegal or it's legal. Yes flying out over a cliff allowing the aircraft to be anything over 400' above the ground directly under the aircraft is ILLEGAL.

Then consider me a civil disobedient.

dirkclod · Oct 2, 2020

svenmarbles said:
Then consider me a civil disobedient.

We know.

BigAl07 · Oct 2, 2020

svenmarbles said:
Then consider me a civil disobedient.

That's Your choice friend.

Thomas B · Oct 2, 2020

BigAl07 said:
Common sense?

It's illegal or it's legal. Yes flying out over a cliff allowing the aircraft to be anything over 400' above the ground directly under the aircraft is ILLEGAL.

Is it noT true that within 400’ of the cliff face you would be legal... likened to flying up the slope of a very steep mountain? Honest question only, for my info.
had been planning a flight from the Mogollon Rim..., 12 feet laterally from 6’ AGL to 2000’ AGL immediately below the drone.