New to Solo, just went to Germany and took it with me (Video)

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Hey guys,

So I got a 3DR Solo a couple months ago and have been flying it every chance I got. When my wife got a work opportunity in Germany for a few weeks and wanted me to meet her over there I decided I should look into taking my drone and so I though I'd share my experience here.

It was super easy to take. I have a backpack that I always keep it in with all three of my batteries and carried it on with me. I flew American Airlines and they had no problems with the batteries. I covered the metal connections with electrical tape, put them in zip-lock bags (per AA instructions I found online), and then put them each in a separate Li-Po bag. They had me take them out and put them in a bin while going through security. They then had to do their little test on them which just included wiping down the Li-Po bags and a few other things and then running the test. Took 5 minutes with no problem. The guy was asking how good of footage I get with it while he was doing the test.

I also researched drone laws over in Germany, and their laws seem to be pretty similar to ours, but a few sites I read said they require the drone to have insurance. So I bought some insurance for for up to $1,000,000 in damages and kept the proof of insurance with me. I also believe later this year that Germany is going to require a form of identification and address on the drone in some kind of permanent fashion (many people were thinking of doing aluminum plates and attaching to the drone). I just printed my name and address on a label maker and put them under the battery.

While over there, I had no problems flying. I made sure I was not going to be in no-fly zones before flying and took all the precautions I could. My wife told me I just better not get arrested ;). I think I got some pretty great footage, although a few areas I needed to cross the river but couldn't find a bridge anywhere... and there are a few shots where the sun gets a little harsh, but overall it was a blast to take it out and fly over there. Here is the video I got.

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We also dipped down into France on our trip but from what I read, France is pretty strict about drone laws so I decided to not take a chance and did not fly my drone there.

I have also flown on Southwest Airlines with my drone and they did not even comment on it while going through security. I took my drone on a fishing trip and took some more footage. Here is the video I put together of that.

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Anyway, just thought I'd post and say hi. I'm new here but I've got some great information from this forum so thanks everyone for posting.
 
you were at the nicest place in Germany the so called "Mittelrheintal", with all those castles around the river called Rhein it is the best place you can be (and of corse the alps)
It is just 70km away from me and i also wanted to fly there, but had no time to get there since i owned my Solo.

Law in Germany from this year on is like this:
you have to place a aluminium plate with your address on the drone.
you are not allowed to fly within a distance of 100m to roads and water-roads (as you did :p) and over inhabited area...
and of corse in a 1,5km radius of airports
you can´t fly over jails, hospitals and police stations
insurance is required and max altitude is 100m - and Line of sight.

in france i just know that your have to fly at max distance of 200m and 150m altitude
BUT: as there is a state of exception in france until July 2017 after some terrorist attacks, so i wouldn´t fly now.....
absolutely restriced areas in France:

Géoportail
 
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Reactions: twk01
I looked up the laws on a bunch of sites so I thought I was doing everything right... I guess ignorance is bliss ;)
 
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Reactions: drugolf
Is the backpack the 3DR one? It meets size limits okay?
Where do you get a LIPO bag?
 

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