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Do you fly safe?

CraigCam

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Hello everyone,
Christmas is approaching and once again multi rotors will be at the top of the list for many people. Best Buy has DJI and Yuneec in store and they camera or phone people seem to be the sales personal. Hopefully, we won't see any horror stories of crashes that inflict any injury but I'm not optimistic on that front. Most people on this forum have obvious skils, knowledge, and experience and want to deal with little restrictions to their flying and photo/video shooting.

What I'd like to know how many of you fly by the FAA guidelines, have a registration number (and it's posted on your TH) and do you work mostly solo or with a spotter or crew?
 
I'm in the uk and I fly to the caa regs and as yet we don't need to register our craft but I'm sure it will be required soon

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I'm in the uk and I fly to the caa regs and as yet we don't need to register our craft but I'm sure it will be required soon

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
What are the stated caa regs that you can quickly tell a newb?
Thanks for the reply as well.
 
max 400 ft up max 500 mtr out min of 50 mtr away from people and other vehicles etc 150 mtr away from large gatherings

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All the rules and regulations in the world are no match for stupidity and no common sense....All though you might only hear of major horror stories on the news, unfortunatly there will be no lack of people all across the US flying how and where they shouldn't be. Not thinking what could happen if their UAS has a malfuction in flight. It's something you don't think about unless you see it first hand. My friend and I both purchased Q500 when they first came out. They have both been flying flawlessly for 2 years. One morning while my friend was flying his Q500 in an open field while camping, about 60+ feet in the air he experienced a motor failure. The Q500 came crashing to the ground. Luckily he was flying in an open field with no people, homes or camper around on the ground. After that I just kept running the senerio through my mind of what could have happened if he was flying over a crowded campsite with people and children all around. All though many people have told me that a motor failure in flight is very rare this incident is the main reason I went right out and purchased my H Pro. Because it has 6 motors and incase of a failure it was designed to fly safely home on 5.
 
All the rules and regulations in the world are no match for stupidity and no common sense....All though you might only hear of major horror stories on the news, unfortunatly there will be no lack of people all across the US flying how and where they shouldn't be. Not thinking what could happen if their UAS has a malfuction in flight. It's something you don't think about unless you see it first hand. My friend and I both purchased Q500 when they first came out. They have both been flying flawlessly for 2 years. One morning while my friend was flying his Q500 in an open field while camping, about 60+ feet in the air he experienced a motor failure. The Q500 came crashing to the ground. Luckily he was flying in an open field with no people, homes or camper around on the ground. After that I just kept running the senerio through my mind of what could have happened if he was flying over a crowded campsite with people and children all around. All though many people have told me that a motor failure in flight is very rare this incident is the main reason I went right out and purchased my H Pro. Because it has 6 motors and incase of a failure it was designed to fly safely home on 5.
Excellent example. Thanks for the quality input and prompt response. I hope my 500 never has that issue but good to know it can.
 
I follow the FAA rules. I would hate to loose not only my UAV but my pilots license as well.
I do not have 107 yet, but plan to do so by next year.
I really wish they would put a big sticker on the boxes stating that the vehicle HAS to be registered with the FAA. May prevent a Christmas newbie ruining it for all of us.
 
It doesn't help when well known YouTubers post videos of letting UAVs fly out of control down the streets of New York. If I threw a brick down the street, I'd be arrested, and if a terrorist did that there would be national panic.

The rules here (UK) are quite sensible, but how long that will last is open to question. The proposed new European rules suggest that without a license you can't fly more than 50meters (160 feet) which I feel is overly restrictive and will lead to enforcement problems.

There do seem to be plenty of people on here who feel that because they've flown RC gear for years they can just pick up a complicated, computer controlled machine and fly it. Equally, quite a few reports seem to start with phrases like "It wasn't behaving as I expected, but I decided to fly it anyway".
 
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I purchased my Q500 4K in October of 2016. I live about a mile from a small airport and have never flown my drone at my home. I have always driven outside the 5 mile FAA limit to fly. I always fly under 400ft AGL and always line of sight. In November, 2016 I was coming in to land from about 80ft and at 60ft a propeller flew off and the Q500 hit the ground in less than 2 seconds (3 propellers still spinning). My life flashed before my eyes. I was on a beach with no one else around so the only damage was to the drone and my ego. The CGO3 camera was ripped off and the airframe was mangled. I picked up the pieces, ordered an airframe and other parts an completely rebuilt the Q500. It took 7.5 hours. I have flown it many times since without incident. Yuneec's owner's manual states that you should not over-tighten the propellers. Don't believe them....always over-tighten the propellers.

I was at a July 4th parade this summer with about 10,000 other folks, 1 mile from the airport, and there was an Inspire and a Phantom zipping up and down the street directly over the crowd of people and small children! I located the Inspire pilot and convinced him to land. I couldn't locate the phanboy.

I studied for the part FAA part 107 and passed on September 19, 2016. When studying for the test you will realize that it is almost 100% based on safety. You will learn how to read aeronautical charts, about weather, flight safety, crew maintenance, prefight checks, proper radio procedures, airport traffic patterns and many other safety related subjects. In addition to the usual preflight check lists I have seen in these forums, you will also learn to visit www.skyvector.com and pull up current charts, to check for, and be able to decipher notams at Federal Aviation Administration: NOTAM Search, to read metars and be aware of MOAs and TFRs. These steps are required by federal law before every flight.

At the suggestion of my local airport I purchased an ICOM air transceiver (radio) that helps me to monitor aircraft in my flight area. I have a few apps. the B4UFLY app from the FAA is very important because it lists all airports and heliports in your flight area and lets you know if you are required to notify them of your flight plans. Most other maps and apps do not list heliports. I also check the HOVER app to obtain a KP index. There is also a military training route in my area. Military planes along this route can fly in access of 300 knots and as low to the ground as they wish. They must publish their intent to fly at least two hours prior and this information is also listed in the notams.

I received my new Typhoon H a couple of weeks ago and am loving it!

Did you ever notice that the first question people ask you about your drone is "How far out can you go?" and "How high can you go?".....I doesn't matter because, by law, you must fly in line of sight and below 400ft AGL. You not only must be able to see your drone, but you must be able to determine the attitude (orientation) also.

Please fly as safe as you possibly can and help keep our hobby and profession going.
 
I have read the FAA rules and do my best to follow them, I am registered and have my registration number on both my Q500 4K and H, I live way out in the country where there are wide open fields for farming and cattle so it's easy for me to find a spot to fly even though I mostly fly around my own property ... however I will not fly over, around or even close to people, traffic or buildings (a lot of barns in them fields) .. the only airport I have to worry about is a very small town airport 15 miles away, if I even hear a small commuter airplane or helicopter I'll bring it down quickly to around 60-70 feet.

However ... just like what CraigCam says ... with Christmas close there will be a ton of drones sold and I'm sure there will be lots of self minded ignorant people that just don't care about anybody or anything but themselves and will cause serious situations, hopefully not fatal, and cause more restrictions for the people that do it right.
 
Hello everyone,
Christmas is approaching and once again multi rotors will be at the top of the list for many people. Best Buy has DJI and Yuneec in store and they camera or phone people seem to be the sales personal. Hopefully, we won't see any horror stories of crashes that inflict any injury but I'm not optimistic on that front. Most people on this forum have obvious skils, knowledge, and experience and want to deal with little restrictions to their flying and photo/video shooting.

What I'd like to know how many of you fly by the FAA guidelines, have a registration number (and it's posted on your TH) and do you work mostly solo or with a spotter or crew?

What I notice is that many new drone pilots take their very first flight in their backyard or around their house in a neighbourhood. If you look at any "First Flight" video on YouTube, the majority of them are in areas that were not a good idea for a first flight. I think the most common first crash is into a house.
 
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I follow the FAA rules. I would hate to loose not only my UAV but my pilots license as well.
I do not have 107 yet, but plan to do so by next year.
I really wish they would put a big sticker on the boxes stating that the vehicle HAS to be registered with the FAA. May prevent a Christmas newbie ruining it for all of us.

I work at a hobby shop, Horizon Hobby once sent us these gray stickers that said "no FFA registration required" so we copied them and made orange ones that said "FAA registration required before flight, ask an employee for more info". Worked great and we would explain the process and we had some booklets from HobbyCo that had the whole "fly safe" from the FAA campaign in them.


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I fly by FAA guidlines and have my registration number on my batteries. I mainly fly at my local ball field if no one is there. I had a ruptured brain aneurysm a few years ago so I fly to help try and get my coordination back. The furthest away I've been is 200 feet and that is straight up to look around. I don't trust my H after the last update so I won't go to far or over people or houses. After I get the H back up and flying I may take it to the beach and see if I can get some good surf shots. So far I haven't come across anyone flying by me, but I'm sure that will change soon.
 
All of my early crashes in my 350 days were my fault and only a few have been unexplained. I have a local park I fly often and know the layout well. I've gotten home more than once by pointing the camera down and stick gripping it back. Battery failure is probably the number one source followed by prop loss or damage in a strike. Ignoring wind variables is also a bad plan.

I like the brick anology because that's what we really have because without sufficient juice it's just going down at 32' per sec squared. We can argue about if tumbling or wind resistance makes creates variables but let's just do the math - oh yeah - remember the weight does not matter for the speed but does matter on impact - so let's just call it over 1500 feet you will reach terminal velocity of over 150 mph.

The posting of extreme flights and crashes on websites is not helping not to mention the marketing by the companies themselves where your drone is a faithful little puppy that always follows you and always comes home.

Thanks to all the well mannered and awesome responses so far.
Safe flying everyone!
 
In Canada we don't have to register under a certain weight.. for now. However I abide by the rules. My only suggestion for those who do get them at Christmas.. is to read the manuals and watch some Captain Drone youtube videos.. lol (seriously as mine was drifting) I was one of those fools that bought the Typhoon H (had no plan on buying it prior, just saw it and was wowed by it and bought it) and did take it into the middle of the field and got too excited and put it up in the air without reading the manual.. and it did fly.. but not for long.. luckily for me it had a rough landing and camera popped off with wires onto the grass- it was easily fixed by hobby store. After reading manual and watching his videos.. 2nd flight was a dream - had to update firmware/calibrate.. You have to respect the hobby/aircraft is what I've learned. Now I have checklists and UAV weather/fly apps.
 
Hello everyone,
Christmas is approaching and once again multi rotors will be at the top of the list for many people. Best Buy has DJI and Yuneec in store and they camera or phone people seem to be the sales personal. Hopefully, we won't see any horror stories of crashes that inflict any injury but I'm not optimistic on that front. Most people on this forum have obvious skils, knowledge, and experience and want to deal with little restrictions to their flying and photo/video shooting.

What I'd like to know how many of you fly by the FAA guidelines, have a registration number (and it's posted on your TH) and do you work mostly solo or with a spotter or crew?
I do fly by FAA guidelines, I do have a registration # on my drone and I fly solo 95% of the time.
 
First of all I believe that the use of uavs is just beginning to be used to their full potential. I passed my 107 test last Monday. The tests bottom line was safety . How to keep from killing or injurying people . I do believe in general that as you get older you do take things more serious and realize that you are not invulnerable and bad things can happen. When I see you tube videos with UAVs up 500 feet above clouds and the owner/operator has no clue if there is a medical helicopter or other aircraft headed his way, I just cringe. FPV does not count as line of sight according to the FAA. A few weeks ago the local mosquito spraying aircraft made several passes over my neighborhood . Their website states they fly less than 250 AGL to keep the product from drifting too much. He was doing at least 150 knots. Also many people do not think there is any possibility of their uav falling out of the sky at terminal velocity and penetrating a windshield or crushing someones skull. I work for a major business jet manufacturer and have seen many bird strike incidents that ranged from a pilot decapitation by a hawk to a duck penetrating a nose radome/radar/nose gear bulkhead. Most uav,s could do similar damage . I am doing several things to mitigate the risk. I have a hexacopter for the redundancy, I will always follow the 400 foot rule and line of sight. I am purchasing a ballistic parachute from Mars corp. That is a small price to pay for making it unlikely you will be contacting your insurance company. It is scary when you see the local Best Buy having Yuneec's , Phantoms flying off the shelf ready to be unwrapped on Christmas day by assorted people who might not be thinking safety first. My two cents
 
First of all I believe that the use of uavs is just beginning to be used to their full potential. I passed my 107 test last Monday. The tests bottom line was safety . How to keep from killing or injurying people . I do believe in general that as you get older you do take things more serious and realize that you are not invulnerable and bad things can happen. When I see you tube videos with UAVs up 500 feet above clouds and the owner/operator has no clue if there is a medical helicopter or other aircraft headed his way, I just cringe. FPV does not count as line of sight according to the FAA. A few weeks ago the local mosquito spraying aircraft made several passes over my neighborhood . Their website states they fly less than 250 AGL to keep the product from drifting too much. He was doing at least 150 knots. Also many people do not think there is any possibility of their uav falling out of the sky at terminal velocity and penetrating a windshield or crushing someones skull. I work for a major business jet manufacturer and have seen many bird strike incidents that ranged from a pilot decapitation by a hawk to a duck penetrating a nose radome/radar/nose gear bulkhead. Most uav,s could do similar damage . I am doing several things to mitigate the risk. I have a hexacopter for the redundancy, I will always follow the 400 foot rule and line of sight. I am purchasing a ballistic parachute from Mars corp. That is a small price to pay for making it unlikely you will be contacting your insurance company. It is scary when you see the local Best Buy having Yuneec's , Phantoms flying off the shelf ready to be unwrapped on Christmas day by assorted people who might not be thinking safety first. My two cents

I have seen some kind of camera drone for sale at every holiday retailer out there. I'd not be surprised to find them at Auto Zone. So many knock offs just waiting to crash once and never fly again.


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