Javajack
Java Post Aerial Photo
I did a search for this topic and was surprised to not find any other discussion, so thought I'd start a new topic.
We run an aerial photography division with several UAVs. I am a certified UAV pilot and we hold a Transport Canada blanket license for UAV operation, including ATC control zones. Recently we purchased a Phantom 2 with the 3 axis gimbal for doing lower budget jobs such as real estate advertising, who can't afford a two person crew and where 4K acquisition is overkill.
Yesterday I did our first flight with our Phantom 2 and was amazed with the quality we got from the new 3 axis gimbal. My biggest disappointment was the no fly zone restriction. I was shooting a house about 1.6 miles from the airport and I could only get the Phantom to 3 meters off the ground. We are certified to fly at the airport and in fact we have a contract there and have been shooting at our international airport for a year. We work with Nav Canada and we actually fly while jets are flying as this is the level of trust we've established here. I actually monitored pilots on my VHF radio who were landing and commenting on our UAV flying across the apron of the airport and the tower explaining that photography was being done for the new construction.
Anyway, it's obvious we are qualified to shoot in these areas, yet DJI won't allow me to take my Phantom within 1.5 miles and outside the 1.5 miles I have such an altitude restriction I can't properly photograph houses. I've done some searches about removing this altitude restriction but can't find much so I thought I'd post something here. Can anyone help me with this, installing old firmware or something? I've sent a note to DJI tech support and don't know if I'll get an answer or an answer that I'm happy with. Would really like to resolve this so I can fly the Phantom in the same air space we are doing all our other work.
Thanks,
Jack Tunnicliffe
www.javapost.ca
We run an aerial photography division with several UAVs. I am a certified UAV pilot and we hold a Transport Canada blanket license for UAV operation, including ATC control zones. Recently we purchased a Phantom 2 with the 3 axis gimbal for doing lower budget jobs such as real estate advertising, who can't afford a two person crew and where 4K acquisition is overkill.
Yesterday I did our first flight with our Phantom 2 and was amazed with the quality we got from the new 3 axis gimbal. My biggest disappointment was the no fly zone restriction. I was shooting a house about 1.6 miles from the airport and I could only get the Phantom to 3 meters off the ground. We are certified to fly at the airport and in fact we have a contract there and have been shooting at our international airport for a year. We work with Nav Canada and we actually fly while jets are flying as this is the level of trust we've established here. I actually monitored pilots on my VHF radio who were landing and commenting on our UAV flying across the apron of the airport and the tower explaining that photography was being done for the new construction.
Anyway, it's obvious we are qualified to shoot in these areas, yet DJI won't allow me to take my Phantom within 1.5 miles and outside the 1.5 miles I have such an altitude restriction I can't properly photograph houses. I've done some searches about removing this altitude restriction but can't find much so I thought I'd post something here. Can anyone help me with this, installing old firmware or something? I've sent a note to DJI tech support and don't know if I'll get an answer or an answer that I'm happy with. Would really like to resolve this so I can fly the Phantom in the same air space we are doing all our other work.
Thanks,
Jack Tunnicliffe
www.javapost.ca
