Flying over the nests of Tuscany: how to remove private property from a copter

This may come as a surprise to you, but Italy and quadrocopters have a rather complicated relationship. Drones are not prohibited here, but there are a lot of restrictions. We are talking about the so-called NFZ (no fly zone). They are located around airports and military installations, above the centers of large cities, as well as in the area of important tourist centers (for example, over some cities in the Cinque Terre). There are areas where you can shoot, but without lowering the device below 50 meters — this applies to private property, cities, railway stations, power plants and government agencies.

Traveler and travel blogger Sergey Anashkevich shares his experience of high-altitude shooting in the Italian region of Tuscany and tells where it is possible to take photos from a copter, and where it is not worth it.

Modern quadrocopters with proprietary applications react to restrictions and prohibitions, constantly updating their own databases, desperately swearing or even refusing to take off in the NFZ, and in restricted flight zones they demand to leave the territory. The problem is that Tuscany is a solid private territory. The most interesting things here are villas on the hills, vineyards and stunning old towns. But as soon as I started to take off here, my Mavic immediately squeaked frantically, demanding to take off above 50 meters. A quick take-off solves the problem, but if you try to do it slowly, shooting something at low altitude or moving, the drone simply turns off the transmission of the picture to the screen, turns on the squeak, strongly recommends landing, and then begins to land the quadcopter altogether.

Therefore, if you still want to shoot something at a low altitude or make an interesting flight, quickly take off above 50 meters, and then gently and carefully maneuver with the descent, you will have a little time to shoot. When Mavic or another copter notices a violation (and this will happen sooner or later) and starts swearing, then take off a little higher again. After a while — go back to your maneuvers.

Of course, I do not urge you to invade private space, but even in the villa you rented, you are unlikely to be able to just fly over its beautiful vineyard. It is up to you to decide whether to apply the tips to flights over other objects.

By the way, many fields and vineyards are also private property and it is also necessary to fly over them at low altitude carefully so as not to lose the picture by flying far enough from the take-off point.

Here are some photos that I managed to take using this life hack. It was worth it, wasn't it?

I almost lost my quadcopter here. Flew more than 3 km from the take-off point and ignored low battery signals for a while. 400 meters away from me, the drone began to land on its own, just on someone's vineyard. Hastily analyzing the surrounding picture, frantically scouring the camera up and forward and wasting precious seconds on the drone's turns, I nevertheless directed it to the take-off point and landed it next to it. There were 21 seconds left on the time indicator.

This is my second Mavic Pro, and I buy them from DJI's official distributor in Russia, Skymec. They give a company warranty of 12 months and deliver throughout Russia, and quite quickly. For example, I ordered this Mavic the morning before my flight to Italy and activated the drone at home in the evening.