Next up in our “Ask Drone Girl” series is a question about the DJI Flip and FPV rules. If you have a question for Drone Girl, contact her here.
I read your review of the DJI Flip, but I’m confused about where you can actually fly it. I thought FPV required a spotter, which kind of knocks it out for any work or casual flying unless you’ve got dedicated people around. I wanted to fly as a hobby on my own, not be forced into a community. Where does this drone really fit?
Let’s start with the most important thing upfront: I don’t think the DJI Flip is worth trying to even fly as an FPV drone. Full transparency: I’ve never flown it FPV-style myself. Every time I’ve flown the Flip, it’s been as a standard camera drone using the controller and screen — and that’s where I think it makes the most sense.
That said, people are curious about flying it FPV, so let’s break this down clearly.
Flying the DJI Flip not as FPV (the way I recommend)
When you fly the DJI Flip without goggles, it’s treated like any other consumer camera drone under Federal Aviation Administration rules. You can fly recreationally, maintain visual line of sight yourself and you do not need a spotter.
This is why I think the Flip works well for:
- Solo hobby flying
- Casual creative flying
- People who don’t want extra logistics or coordination
In this mode, you’re not “forced into a community,” and you’re not doing anything unusual from a regulatory standpoint. It’s just a normal drone flight.
What changes when you fly the DJI Flip as FPV
The moment you put on FPV goggles, the FAA considers that FPV flight. And that comes with one big requirement: You need a visual observer (spotter).
That observer must:
- Be physically next to you
- Maintain unaided visual line of sight with the drone
- Be in constant communication with you
This rule isn’t new and isn’t specific to the DJI Flip — it applies to all FPV drones flown under recreational rules. If your idea of FPV flying is spontaneous, solo exploration, then, well, the only way to do this legally is to keep all those flights indoors, where the FAA doesn’t have any jurisdiction.
However, to fly the DJI Flip as an FPV drone, you’d have to put in some pretty serious workarounds anyway. You can get an FPV-like view by hacking the DJI Flip, such as bringing in an HDMI cord, plus a tablet and adapter.
If you really want to fly a DJI FPV style (though quite frankly it sounds like you don’t, ah ha!), I’d recommend you get the DJI Neo 2 instead. It’s compatible with the DJI Goggles N3, DJI Goggles 3, DJI RC Motion 3 and DJI FPV Remote Controller 3, making it a much better DJI camera drone-turned-FPV drone option.
The post Ask Drone Girl: can you fly the DJI Flip as an FPV drone? appeared first on The Drone Girl.