Recent content by Wayne Parris

If the bridge gives you compass errors, you can always launch from the side of the road prior to the bridge. Just watch for cars, and walk out to the bridge once it's in the air.

Whomever you buy it from, keep a printed receipt somewhere safe. I bought mine through coptershop.com. They are no longer in business, and my receipt got lost in a move. Now I have to send my P3P in for repair, and without proof of purchase, they may not fix it under warranty.

A drone is a drone, no matter how small or big. A Prohibited Area is a Prohibited Area, no matter what you are operating. FAA regulations pertain to any man-made object that leaves the ground. Black and white, no grey area. Do they really care if you fly a $50 toy on a farm in the country...

VFR aircraft can fly as low as 500' AGL over non-populated of congested areas, and 1000' AGL above congested areas. If my drone is at 400', and another aircraft passes over at 500 feet, that's a "close call". The FAA requires 500 feet vertical separation between aircraft. Please know the...

When looking at the map on the lower left corner, the red arrow shows which direction your drone is pointing. The white line shows where you have flown during the course of your flight. The green line always shows the direct path back to you. You can touch that box in the lower left (that you...

Have you flown it and confirmed the directional control? Maybe they put your gimbal on 90-degrees off.

There is a rock cliff near the airport where I work. I was going to get pictures of people repelling on the rock the other day. I called the airport control tower and got permission to fly. Went to fire up the engines on my P3P and, surprise, they won't even turn on because of being inside...

When I get back to work tomorrow, I'll pull out the regulations and see what I can post here. Our "camera with wings" are actually (as far as the FAA is concerned) Unmanned Aircraft Systems. They fly under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and the operators are bound to certain regulations. I can't...

I didn't mean to start a pissing contest by any means. My point was too many people are getting drones, treating them like toys, violating all kinds of rules and regulations and will end up causing more problems for those of us who are trying to do the right thing. Ignorance of the law doesn't...

A private pilot cannot fly for compensation. That requires a Commercial Pilot Certificate. Therefore, a private pilot cannot make money from photography taken from the airplane, but a commercial pilot can. If I am a private pilot, I can take someone for a ride and they can split operating...

What's illegal about these? "Experimental" is a valid category of aircraft. Do you know the rules and regulations regarding airspace? Your drone (and mine) are not experimental aircraft. They fall into the Unmanned Aircraft category and are subject to all the FAA regulations regarding such...

We are not operating model aircraft. We are operating unmanned aircraft. There is a big difference in the eyes of the FAA. I am a professional pilot with almost 10,000 hrs of flight time. I am also a certified flight instructor and am very familiar with the FAA rules and regulations, and the...

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/media/021515_sUAS_Summary.pdf

That's the problem. People think this is a toy and not an aircraft. It is classified as an Unmanned Aircraft, and falls subject to all FAA rules and regulations. If people would educate themselves before purchasing and operating a drone, we wouldn't have so many restrictions being placed upon us.

HOVTECH--I'm not sure what part of the world you are in. In the United Sates, too many people are getting drones and not knowing the rules and regulations of the US Airspace System and the FAA regulations regarding drones (unmanned civil aircraft). Right now, we are not permitted to fly at...