Expecting Trouble is a Safe Way to Fly

[bdooley]

This article was written for the Public Safety crowd but it applies 100% to anyone (or it should) flying sUAS and even MORE so for those of us who are flying professionally.

Expecting Trouble is a Safe Way to Fly

This is an outstanding article! It should be included with every drone that is sold. I don't have time now but am very interested to read all of the replies to this post.

 

[Cellblock776]

Imaging if everything is fine and the aircraft is flying very well and suddenly from nowhere... A bird came and attacked your aircraft. Now the aircraft lost a prop and crashed. You don't know where it is. Be prepared for anything.

Birds are pretty much the thing that freak me out the most. Before I got my 107 and began flying I saw several of those "Bird Attacks Drone" videos on YouTube. Apparently I'm not the only one who is wary of birds. Even guys who don't fly recognize the threat. One of our Maintenance guys stopped by Dispatch to ask me if I was going to be flying that day and that he had seen a large hawk flying around near the hospital recently. Sure enough, the next day I was up on the roof doing my regular patrols when another officer came up to chat and watch me fly. After the whole "wow you can see for miles up here" chat he asked me why I was flying only on one side of the property and not the other. I pointed over my shoulder and said "See that big hawk?". He looked and sure enough the hawk mentioned by the Maintenance guy the previous day was circling and swooping around on the other side of the property. "Oh yeah," my buddy said, "I can't blame you then. He looks like he could eat your drone."
I stay well away from birds. I just don't trust them.

 

[macoman]

Birds are pretty much the thing that freak me out the most. Before I got my 107 and began flying I saw several of those "Bird Attacks Drone" videos on YouTube. Apparently I'm not the only one who is wary of birds. Even guys who don't fly recognize the threat. One of our Maintenance guys stopped by Dispatch to ask me if I was going to be flying that day and that he had seen a large hawk flying around near the hospital recently. Sure enough, the next day I was up on the roof doing my regular patrols when another officer came up to chat and watch me fly. After the whole "wow you can see for miles up here" chat he asked me why I was flying only on one side of the property and not the other. I pointed over my shoulder and said "See that big hawk?". He looked and sure enough the hawk mentioned by the Maintenance guy the previous day was circling and swooping around on the other side of the property. "Oh yeah," my buddy said, "I can't blame you then. He looks like he could eat your drone."
I stay well away from birds. I just don't trust them.

Any big bird can freak me out. We have a lot of Canadian geese and these birds are not scared to drones. Specially if they have a companion or baby geese’s. I always explorer and search the sky and terrain where I am going to flying. If I see a big bird, I usually fly on the oppose way or far away. If I see two or more birds and are dispersed in different areas. I avoid completely the area and go to another place.