Oh joy. You can now buy a gold plated quadcopter drone

Rich fools who like remote control toys can now splurge £20,000 buying a gold-plated DJI Phantom quadcopter, we are breathlessly told. Courtesy of Drones Direct, the remote-controlled drone is covered in 24 carat gold plate. In exchange for your 20 large you get the drone itself – branded theDJI Phantom 4 Gold Edition – the …

[Richard Tobin]

"more than four times the legally permitted height"

"more than four times the legally permitted height" and "heights of up to 2,000m (6,500ft) ... the maximum legally permitted altitude is 400ft."

I suppose 6,500 *is* more than four times 400, but it's probably not what you meant...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmmm

400ft is a CAA guideline (and as I've said elsewhere as a Phantom flier one I stick to), but no a legal limt (or at least not yet)

[Paul Leigh]

Re: Hmmm

The 400ft stipulation is part of the ANO, therefore it is a legal requirement to observe.

There are exceptions, if flying inside controlled airspace and/or under agreement with ATC though.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmmm

My understanding is its not hugely clear.

ANO 2009 Section 166 applies (167 cover how car you can fly near people).

First the rules change around controlled airspace, so this is about general airspace and anything over 7Kg but below 20Kg is limited to 400Ft by the ANO's.

The problem is its not so clear for anything up to 7kg. You might expect that they should inherit the same rules as the 7 to 20KG group and then add more in, but don't the ANO says the operator must maintain unaided visual contact (glassed are not classed a visual aid, it means binoculars or FPV goggles) which is what in effect limits distance you can fly, BUT they do not specifically state height or distance, unlike the 7 to 10KG group.

Now realistically I can see my Phantom to probably 500 ft up, on a clear day, however but anything above 250-300ft and I find it hard to know which way its pointing as the LEDs are not super bright, so for me, my flights tend to be up to 100m, and I have the Phantom limited to 120m height, and 500m distance. Ironically on an overcast day its easier to see the LEDs so you could fly further. Other people will have better eyesight than me, other may have painted their Phantom's black to see them better in a clear sky, but responsible fliers are not interested in breaking laws, we want to stay within them to enjoy our hobby.

I'm still not trying to defend the idiot minority who fly far out of visual range and cause risk to people or property, just noting the ANO's do not cover all cases.

[Known Hero]

Re: "more than four times the legally permitted height"

I suppose 6,500 *is* more than four times 400, but it's probably not what you meant...

Add a bunch of heavy metals to the Quadcopter, your probably only going to get X4 ;)

[TRT]

Re: "more than four times the legally permitted height"

It might show up on the ACAS radar, though, with all that metallic plating.

[Anonymous Coward]

More then 20 large

A pedantic point, but "large" is a reference to a $1,000 bill, not (yet, anyway) £1,000.

I suppose hordes will now descend to tell me that they've used large for a grand all their lives, as did their fathers and grandfathers before them...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: More then 20 large

It's the US rules the world mentality.

[Ralph the Wonder Llama]

Re: More then 20 large

I have always been given to understand that £1000 was a "Gorilla". Maybe I watched too much Minder as a child.

[stu 4]

wrong

"private drone operators, the maximum legally permitted altitude is 400ft."

nope. bullshit.

bullshit, since the law doesn't specify ANY max altitude drones can fly (you could fly one from the top of a mountain).

Neither does it specify any maximum AGL (above ground level) that a drone can be flown at provided it us under 7kg (which even a gold plated phantom will be).

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/765/article/94/made

[Steve Todd]

Above Ground Level is important here

It's perfectly possible to be under 400 feet AGL, but at an altitude of over 5000 feet. Having a drone which is able to take off in those conditions is kind of useful.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Above Ground Level is important here

I live in an area of Australia at an elevation of about 230m but within 5-10 km in either direction it drops off to dozens of feet above sea level. I can legally fly my phantom to about 120m AGL but , I think due to the relatively low surrounding terrain, I quite regularly have air ambulance helicopters flying over my place a bit lower than that (I'm not near an airport or in restricted airspace BTW)

The only answer for me is to listen out for the choppers whenever I'm up (I can usually hear them 2-3 minutes away) and be ready for a quick descent to get out of the way if any come buzzing through. That was the same guidance I got from CASA too.

[Anonymous Coward]

I love this idea..

Gold plating the damn thing so it's *certain* to be shot down just to peel off the valuable bits.

That a pretty devious way of taking a fool for their money :)

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand it is just a very thin layer...

... but it still looks to me the silliest way to add weight to a drone. Should make it very visible under sunlight, though, and keep the drone cool...

[Vector]

Re: I understand it is just a very thin layer...

Yet still enough to blind pilots when the idiots fly where they're not supposed to...

[Anonymous South African Coward]

No photographs of the blingy object?

What a real shame.

[Gene Cash]

For pictures:

https://www.dronesdirect.co.uk/p/djii1v2gold/dji-phantom-4-camera-drone-gold-edition

as well as the breathless "Was : £21999.97 You save : £2000.00" prose.

[MiguelC]

I like the fact that they mention it being "BEAUTIFULLY DESGINED"...

If they took the GIN out of it, what fun can it be?

[stungebag]

32GB SD

Tight bastards.

[Milton]

Pirates ahoy

A brand new business opportunity for those who fancy e-jacking drones: gain control, fly it down to your waiting van with small built-in furnace: instant ingots. Probably rather small ones, I suspect, but fun nonetheless. It'd be hard to feel sorry for anyone dumb enough to pay for one of these.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Pirates ahoy

At the minimum legal thickness for plated jewelry (roughly 0.5 micron) it equates to 1 gram per 400 square centimeters, perhaps enough to cover the body of the drone. So we're talking about a 1 gram ingot. Could you find it if you dropped it? Maybe. Could you hide it in a bodily orifice? Definitely.

[Haku]

£20,000? Pfff, look what I recorded with what cost me about £350*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pITHouGr948

*quad + camera + gimbal + realtime camera viewing equipment (not including cost of batteries, charger & carry case)

.

.

edit: Oh yeah, the CAA is having a drone picture/video competition right now, #400ftBritain http://www.caa.co.uk/News/Drone-s-eye-view---CAA-and-VisitEngland-launch--400ft-Britain-/

See the entries so far: http://offerpop.com/commerce/gallery/24451

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd much rather have...

... it coated in RAM (Radar Absorbing Material) than gold plate.

[BenM 29]

Black is the new gold

I reckon that sending a drone to Surrey Nanosystems would be better and cost about the same.... Vantablack S-VIS ftw

[Jeremy Puddleduck]

ISM band transmissions

Several of these drones exceed the legally defined, no license needed power levels in the ISM bands as well, and with such a range I'd bet this one does too. Lovely.

[Prst. V.Jeltz]

isnt gold heavy? like ,say, LEAD? dont drones take off vertically? , like ,say, BALLOONS?

some people will buy anything....