Remote Pilot Association

Welcome to drone flying new drone pilots, you have embarked on an exciting journey no matter what type of drone flying you want to do such as, recreational RC park flying, start an aerial photography/videography business, or First Person View (FPV) racing, just to name a few. The world of drone flying in the US is changing dramatically this year with respect to the regulatory scene. In this article we offer 10 tips, mostly flying tips, for new drone pilots.   Source: Gary Rosson, Earth View Drone Imaging The later part of the article we will discuss the regulatory side of the equation. Let’s jump in feet first with the Top 10 Tips: 1. Consider hiring a flight instructor or searching out a mentor  to learn the basics. One of my best customers said upon our first lesson, “I would rather crash your drone than mine.” It took me a minute to get over this barb, but a selling point is a selling point. In all seriousness, in addition to being under the watchful eye of an instructor or...

Debriefing is an important thing to do after every flight mission no matter how easy the job. I’m always learning new things from not only myself but my team after a mission. Our debriefings are categorized under two topics; what we did right and what we can do better. While we don’t always have this luxury, one of the big take-aways on a recent flight was the importance of spending time at the proposed LZ well before the mission to evaluate the environment. Source: FAA Safety Team and NASA I was shooting video at the beach, not on the beach but at a large inlet waterway with a scenic bridge, a very nice setting to say the least. The Visual Observer and I had scoped out the area earlier in the day and found a good LZ, a turn-off area just before the bridge. This was perfect for parking with a good amount of space for the drone to take-off and land. The idea was to get a video of the inlet at sunset (a good time to remember the :30 minutes after civil twilight regulation).  Since it...