Help Please- Drone Shopping

[Liveto99]

I thought that only disabled the front sensors? I think tried disabling the sensors before and that did not disable the ground sensors, but it was awhile ago.

If you grab it and flip it upside down it will shut off automatically but it’s not good to do that all the time

 

[Liveto99]

Liveto99,

If you’re in a restricted area, can you still fly up to say 30 or 40’?

From a couple apps I now have on my phone, we are in a restricted area due to the nearby airport, which I figured we would be.

I just hope I can still fly a drone at the house at low altitude to learn it and get experience. Not interested in flying a crazy amount at the house.

TY to all!!!

No u can’t
Get one without gps if you can

 

[Need A Vacation]

No u can’t
Get one without gps if you can

K.

TY!!!

 

[Need A Vacation]

TY to all for all the awesome input!!!

 

[jsg73]

Look at a Parrot Anafi if you dont want DJI.
It is smaller than a mavik but very capable. Look at amazon and Best Buy.
One unique feature it has is the ability to look up.

Get the Airmap app on your phone. It has many uses but at a min it will show you any restrictions in your immediate area and can allow you to submit a “flight plan” to the faa.

 

[Beachbummer]

and,...if you can wait, DJI Mini is coming in the next 3 months...New generation drone under 245grams, which will make it FAA free. 90% sure it will happen. Best of luck on your decision.

 

[zipper]

Does anybody have any feedback on the DJI Mavic Mini? The wife is looking to buy one.

 

[Beachbummer]

I've got a friend who bought one. Is his first drone, but he is very happy with it. Long flight time, and pretty stable.

 

[Ronnie]

I don’t have one but unless I’m mistaken it weighs less than 1/2 a pound so it’s excluded from a lot of the FAA rules and regs.

I suggest you check out you tube for user reviews. I suspect the mini has all of the usual DJI features and functionality but also all of the usual negatives as well (e.g. automatically applied no fly zones, big brother/DJI logging your flights, etc.).

 

[AboveTheBest]

I don’t have one but unless I’m mistaken it weighs less than 1/2 a pound so it’s excluded from a lot of the FAA rules and regs.

I suggest you check out you tube for user reviews. I suspect the mini has all of the usual DJI features and functionality but also all of the usual negatives as well (e.g. automatically applied no fly zones, big brother/DJI logging your flights, etc.).

The idea that companies are making drones that do it have to comply with FAA reg scares the heck out of me.

I’ve had enough close calls with PILOTED aircraft (usually private pilots that don’t use the radio) that the idea of unrestricted drones buzzing around airports sounds like a disaster.

At 1/2 a pound it would be similar to a bird-strike, but that can still be catastrophic. I would only hope anyone capable of forking over the price-tag for one of these would also be equipped with enough common sense to fly responsibly.

****for the record; I’m not worried about you guys, it’s the rest of the heathens that scare me

 

[zipper]

Thanks for the help...Didnot get the mini, we bought a zoom.

 

[thefortunes]

Thanks for the help...Didnot get the mini, we bought a zoom.

View attachment 110327

That should get some good shots for the Cleavage thread.

 

[Ronnie]

@AboveTheBest , I’m not a pilot nor am I with the FAA. It I do share your feelings about how much damage a drone can cause regardless of its size. You also touched on imho the primary reasons the FAA increased the number of regulations regarding drones as well as enforcement of such regulations, that is, anyone with a few hundred dollars can buy one and they are getting smaller and more portable all of the time.

Truth be told most of today’s drones are not drones at all. They are remote controlled helicopters with cameras mounted on them. I Started flying nitro methane powered RC helicopters (without cameras) about 17 years ago in 2003. Like th one on the pic but much more heavily upgraded. Each blade was 600 mm long and the optimal rotor blade rotation speed was 1,550 per minute. Back then there were a lot less RC heli pilots because the cost of entry was a real barrier, a small heli, and ground gear could easily cost $2,500, I flew at a club which charged membership fees and required each member to have American model insurance. members policed each other to protect themselves and the club. If your bird was not air worthy you were not allowed to fly it, If someone was flying recklessly they were grounded but to balance it out if you needed help building, repairing or flying there was always experienced members around to provide such help.

Now anyone can buy a an RC copter with a camera on it. Very few belong to a club, fewer purchase insurance and training from experienced personnel has devolved to winging it or you tube. They are much easier to fly than the “old” conventional pod and boom configured helps because most have 4 or more rotor blades that counter rotate. If the products being sold today were true drones that could fly (I.e., take off, fly while automatically avoiding all obstacles and land with no human input at all) the FAA would not need to regulate owners just manufactures and DJI as well as similar companies would be in great positions because they already build safeguards into their products.

Why the FAA excluded light drones / quad copters from regulation is a mystery too me. Before the rise of the modern “drone” I used to love flying my pod and boom raptors, even though when it crashed/ I crashed it repairs and retuning were time consuming and expensive, I got to / had to learn a lot about helicopter theory and set up. Now it seems like anyone who owns one claims they are great pilots after just a few minutes in the air. Half the people that don’t own one like acting as drone police. It’s been almost two years since I’ve put either of my drones in the air and at this point I’m not sure if I will again. I’ve been waiting for the Stakker a “dumb” drone to be some available they have been sold out since before last summer.

 

[Liveto99]

I have the Mavic 2 pro it takes great pictures. Half the places you want to use it are restricted. Festivals most of the time are. It is a pain in the ass now. Zipper I think the zoom will give you more options. I got landed inside once when the gps picked up that I was near a airport. I was inside so I thought it would be ok. Nope! So the bigger ones can be a pain in the butt.

 

[zipper]

Not too much restricted air space around here. There is a pretty good sized no fly area in Burlington/So. Burlington, around the prison and BTV. I am not into flying around airports or prisons. I have open land and I don't want to get shot down by an F35. The whole Lake/shore and surrounding landscapes are available. Getting good enough as a drone pilot to catch/land the craft from a boat is what I am aiming at. A lot of practice before that happens around my open fields before we get close to any water. There are a lot of functions on the app. that we will need to learn. Yes, We are watching a lot of YouTube videos, responsibly.

Sidebar: I built and flew RC airplanes as a teen in the 70's, big ones with 4-5' wingspans. I always wanted an RC Helicopter.

 

[AboveTheBest]

@Ronnie; I can appreciate the difference between the RC hobbyist and a drone operator.

The amount of crash avoidance, autopilot, and return-to launch features on modern drones are pretty impressive, but they also lead to an unbelievable level of complacency.

I have only seen one modern drone being used (Mavic Pro), and thought it was pretty cool until the operator said “hey watch how high you can go” and proceeded to go up to >1000’AGL. I think he had to turn off some sort of barrier to go that high, but then he flew it out of line of sight....

I had a hard time not smashing his controller and asking him to leave. He finally brought it back and landed, and I realized I no longer was interested in having a drone.

Sorry to highjack the thread, especially in such a negative way. It is important to understand the real hazards that exist with flying one of these things into airspace where manned pilots fly.

Be safe

 

[AboveTheBest]

@zipper I used to live in Bloomington/fly there. It absolutely ruined me for flying anywhere else (think Adirondack mountains).

I’m glad to hear they got the F35s
I was on the other end of the runway.

One more comment and I’m done; shorelines, lakes, and other things that seem interesting to film are the same things pilots like to check out while flying.
So while not restricted, it’s a very likely place to see an aircraft.

 

[zipper]

@zipper I used to love in Bloomington/fly there. It absolutely ruined me for flying anywhere else (think Adirondack mountains).

I’m glad to hear they got the F35s
I was on the other end of the runway.

Burlington? Ya, the view of those Mountains is hard to beat. With the Lake separating the two. Yes, they are here now, replacing the F16's, they have been active lately. This is what I hear...not too bad, but I know where they are flying, in another State.

 

[Ronnie]

@zipper , congrats on the new drone, I hope you have a great time with it. You dont seem like someone who would misuse it.

A few things to be aware of. If you ever get disoriented or lose sight of you drone remember the return to home feature is your friend, it’s reliable but also slow, practicing using it before you actually need it can’t hurt at all. It’s cool to catch land it while you are on your boat but I’ve found it easy to land my phantom and Mavic in the bow on a filler cushion. An alternative to landing on the boat is to land onshore when I’m camping on a lake. That is, take off from the boat but set the home point as my campsite. You may never need to replace a rotor blade but it can’t hurt to have two spares (one left rotating and one right rotating) just in case. I highly recommend that you get at least one extra battery. It really comes in handy especially at first when you are tuning the drone’s flight and/or camera’s characteristics or just learning to fly. The dji batteries will give you decent flight times (20 to 30 minutes) but they don’t recharge quickly at all.

The restricted / no fly zones change all the time. I used to be able to fly around my home while walking my dog around the block, One day I only got a few houses down the street and hit a geo fence that did’t exist before (the drone just stops and hovers where it is at/next to the geo fence line), the same thing happened on a reservoir I used to fly at all the time. I think the restricted area was closest to the dam on the lake. Finally the last time I tried to use my spark at my son’s my Southern California cross country meet I couldn’t even take off. The controller flashed a message that I was near a prison but the locals assured me there was no prison nearby. The reason for the no fly zone hit me later that night when the dodger game started in dodger stadium behind me (i couldn’t see the stadium from where the meet was but I could hear it).

Again congrats on the drone, I’m looking forward to seeing the pics and videos you take with it. You are into the sunset shots so I hope to see some great panoramic pics of them from you.

 

[ifly4fun]

@zipper I used to live in Bloomington/fly there. It absolutely ruined me for flying anywhere else (think Adirondack mountains).

I’m glad to hear they got the F35s
I was on the other end of the runway.

One more comment and I’m done; shorelines, lakes, and other things that seem interesting to film are the same things pilots like to check out while flying.
So while not restricted, it’s a very likely place to see an aircraft.

There are always examples where one bad egg and ruin the fun for everyone and give an entire group a black eye. Private Pilots aren't exempt from this rule, and your example of shorelines, beaches, etc.. is also where you see these bad eggs breaking FAA minimums with their aircraft. Plenty of youtube videos of idiots flying too low near populated beaches, under bridges etc.

Like with all things in life - be respectful, be courteous, and situational awareness.

I'm also a pilot.