1000 UAS Operators in UK

1036 as of September 2015.

The 1000 Milestone, was reached some time in the last month. I tend to keep an eye on the CAA register to see who is who. On the 2nd Feb, i blogged about the CAA UAS database, which at the time had 483 registered Pilots. I predicted 1250 licensed pilots by Feb 2016, so lets wait to see if i’m right. I think i might have under estimated!

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/1995/SUA%20Operators%2011Sep15.pdf

Hopefully it won’t be long until a proper UAS Pilots register is established. This needs to happen. From the perspective of the public, business and actual UAS companies. A central hub for all things UAS in the UK is essential.  Place for Pilots to register their business, share comments and ideas (not like facebook forums – a blog for later!). A source of information for the Public and Business, to access clear and concise information about legal UAS operations, and a place to actually source a qualified UAS company.

The CAA register is great for those in the know, but as of yet, this isn’t particular user friendly, and not at all publicised by the CAA. I know there are a few ‘not for profit’ organisations that have set up similar things. But the problem with ‘not for profit’, is that it is completed in peoples spare time, and without significant personal funding, will never get properly exposed to the public……..

…..Which really needs to happen. A BBC report released a few hours, states that 3 Police Forces confirm over 200 complaints from the public about Drones this last year.

First off, there is absolutely no context for this report, which is kind of annoying. A what constitutes a ‘rightful’ complaint? How many of these are just people calling the Police because they think someone is actually spying on them…from 100 meters away, on a go pro camera, erm yeah.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34607121

It would be good to know how many of the 200, the Police actually followed up on.

Anyways more point is this, with ever growing numbers of registered UAS operators, more of the public buying them for recreation, and an increased number of complaints, surely now is the time for proper legislation, insurance for all and a proper UAS Pilots database.

Thumbs Up Gents!

Drones Do Good

For the general public, the only time they hear or see a UAS in the news, is a negative story… an idiot trying to take down a plane or the Army blowing up a wedding…. so its always good to see a positive spin on Drones.

Unfortunately  in this instance, their positive use, was in a very negative story; the huge explosion in Tianjin, China.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33901950

Not sure what was used to capture the images, a Phantom, i assume. Regardless of platform, it just shows how, in the right hands, Drones can be so versatile and useful.

It was back in April 2015, Drone again proved their worth in Nepal. A major earthquake, rocked the country and killed thousands, Drones were used to access areas helicopters couldn’t reach, and helped rescuers and journalists see the devastation from ‘relative’ safely.

It will be interesting to see how emergency services adopt and utilise UAS around the world. They are cheap and easy to use, it wont be long before they are staple equipment for any rescues service.

lets hope thats sooner rather than later.

TU!

Source – http://www.bbcnews.co.uk

An Act of Stupidity?

Skip to about 11.30 and you will see this Pilot fly his Phantom directly over the heads of these Firefighters, not a great idea as they are busy putting out a house fire.

The Firemen are clearly not happy about the Quad flying so close to them, not sure if it a privacy issue, they are annoyed with being filmed, or maybe they are concerned about safety?

Well their solution, is to try to shoot the Phantom out of the sky with a hose pipe! Ridiculas!!!

Skip to 12.01 minutes to see the hose pipe in action.

I know how safe a Phantom is, and there is no reason for it to simply fall out of the sky, and Pilot had demonstrated 11 minutes of relatively ‘safe‘ flying. Had the fool with the hose pipe actually hit the electronics of the Phantom it could have caused a fly away or crashed onto someones head.

What on earth possessed him to do it? I have had a few concerned members of the public approach me when working, unsure of how safe or legal my UAS is, but no one has actively tried to ground it!

TU!

Source – http://www.popsci.com/drone-films-firefighters-gets-soaked

‘Unstoppable’ Fun!

Isn’t it funny, how, when a hobby becomes your job, it can lose some of its fun?

I found this years ago playing basketball, and now, more recently, flying my UAS.

This time last year, any break in the clouds, would have seen me out flying my toy UAS. Now because i’m working and flying everyday, when the weekend comes, i just want a break from the Inspire.

  VS  

Why? well i think its down to my platform; The Inspire 1, it is an awesome work tool….but is it as much fun to fly as say a Phantom or similar smaller rig?

NOPE!!! I sold my Phantom to a friend a few months ago, and didn’t realise how much i missed it. We took it out over the weekend, and i had so much fun with it. Of course it isn’t as responsive or quick as the Inspire, but it so nimble and because it doesnt cost your right arm to buy, you can be more adventurous. If i crash my Inspire i’m out of work for a while!

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0012.JPG

And i guess that is the crux of it. My Phantom was a bought as a toy. My Inspire was bought as a business investment.

Well if like me, you are looking to buy a new UAS for ‘fun’ and ‘weekend-warrioring’, maybe this is what you’re looking for……..

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2017062404/b-unstoppable

Looks cool right? A Tank Quadcopter – awesome! This is at least the forth UAS crowding funding campaign i’ve blogged about recently. And if you are quick you can pick one up for the bargain price of £55! – UPDATE – These have all gone. Next price is £59. Still so cheap. So much so, i’ve just backed them too!

Yay – First time, i’ve ever crowd funded before. I’ll be back with my own personal review in October…. right now they have £19,785 of the required £49,000 total.

TU B-Unstoppable.

http://www.bgobeyond.co.uk/

Phantom Wedding Fail

Just a quick post, as i’ve been raced off my feet, these last few weeks…more on that this weekend.

This video is a must watch for anyone planning on filming aerial wedding shots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmBEwlGCwPI

The pilot must be wounded. Not sure how someone who gets a wedding gig is clumsy enough to fly his Phantom into a tree?!

Till the weekend

TU!

“Attack Drone”!!!

You have to watch this video! Its only 90 seconds, but its hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0GBeOnxA4M

The lengths people will go to, to create funny videos always amuses me. Videos that involve a DJI Phantom, attacking two jokers with Roman Candles, and scoring a hit on them both, is just taking it to the next level of amusement!

I guess now is a good time to say, don’t try this at home, but would you anyways!?!

Hahaha

Thumbs Up Jokers!

Your own personal Entourage

Meet Lily. A new UAS, designed for extreme sport enthusiast, who want to take personal footage to a new level – move over GoPro!

Simply throw Lily, into the air and she uses a GPS tracker to ensures she stays close by, and alerts the drone to elevation changes. This is a great function, similar to the Perceptor Drone i wrote about last month.

You can tell Lily, to take a photo, fly in front, behind by your side, or even circle around you. And it gets better. Lily has a built in microphone which is totally awesome!

As an additional extra you can buy a waterproof case, which would make it a must have for white water rafters and surfers everywhere. Oh yeah, it floats too! POW – take that DJI!

Lily packs a 12-megapixle camera, that captures 1080p @ 60fps and 720 @ 120fps. With a 94 degree field of view, a price tag of $999 and a shipping date of Feb 2016, both the Phantom 3 and Solo have some serious competition on their hands. And it gets better still; if you like you can pre-order now and get it when it ships for $499, until June 15th so hurry!

I can tell you this, if this works as well as the promo video shows, i will be looking to buy one. It will be interesting to see, how easy it is to control without a standard RC.

THUMBS UP LILY!

Read more on Mashable. http://mashable.com/2015/05/12/lily-camera-drone-follow-video/

https://www.lily.camera/

http://www.percepto.co/

Drone, UAS, UAV – Terminology

Telling people i’m training to be a UAS Pilot, always draws a blank look.

Then i say ‘Drone’, and they understand and get excited. At least two of my friends asked if i’m going to “blow stuff up”?

I then have to burst their bubble, and tell them i’m only armed with a 4K camera, not Hellfire Missiles (ok that is a cool name).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-114_Hellfire

Thats my issue with the using the term, Drone. People know what a Drone is because of the US and UK Drone bombing campaigns in Afghanistan, Pakistan and against ISIS of late.

I feel people have a negative association with the term. Whenever the media discuss consumer UAS incidents, like Phantoms landing on the White House Lawn, or Near Misses at Heathrow, they too refer to them as Drones. Put Drone into Google Images, first picture; DJI Phantom (then lots of US Military platforms)

So, am i actually a Drone Pilot? Or a UAS Pilot, or a UAV/RPAS Pilot?  EuroUSC refer to their students as UAS or Unmanned Aerial Systems Pilots. Maybe the qualification you have, results in what you call yourself. Put UAS into Google Images, first picture is a Quadcopter! Yay. Put UAV into Google Images, Military.

I have been somewhat confused about the whole thing since i become so engaged in the industry. I certainly will continue to refer to myself as a UAS Pilot, useful as my company is named after it!

As per, there are people who have been thinking thoughts like these for longer than i have, and know more than i do, here is another great site for newbies to the UAS industry.

You have probably come across these guys before: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association. A great site for information, legal and insurance advice and general news.  They have written a in depth description on their take of UAV vs UAS. Its defiantly worth a read….

https://www.uavs.org/index.php?page=what_is

http://eurousc.com/services/pilot-qualifications/

TU!

DJI Inspire 1 – Parts and New Releases

I love my Inspire 1, its such a great piece of tech…

But.

Ask any owner of an Inspire 1, could it be improved? They will say yes, and then reel of a list of improvements. Granted, this is a very small list, but it will contain fairly major improvements. Mine is a very short list to be honest.

• Lack of Zoom on the Camera. How close are you prepared to fly £3k to your target. It will clearly be solved with a later updated camera from DJI later this year or early 2016.
• Thank you for my case, but why not make it easier to carry distances. 
• Thank you for my case, but why not make one side flat, making transport to flight mode quicker.
• An additional front facing camera, fixed, solely for the Pilot, would be great, especially when working alongside an additional camera operator.

Not a long list, and these are all improvements that can be overcome. I have more issues with DJI than the Inspire, itself. Releasing the Phantom 3, so soon after the improvement to the Vision 2 Plus, and the unavailing of the delayed Inspire 1, for example.

What has annoyed me with the Inspire, is the lack of parts and spares. The TB48 5700mAh, has only just made its was to the UK, Quadcopters.co.uk and Heliguy had some in stock last week, but when i last checked they were out of stock again.

One of the Mobile Phone device holders i had for my second controller was faulty. Lee at Quadcopters.co.uk, told me that DJI hadn’t sent many of replacement parts for the Inspire, and it might take a few weeks. (luckly, Lee knows a lot more than i do and he was able to fix it while i was there today – not saying how though)

There is one major part that seems to be impossible to locate – A Replacement DJI Inspire 1 Camera. The camera isnt the best 4K on the market, but it is still amazing, and better than most will need it for. But if you trash your camera, for many, your out of business till you buy a new one. But if you cant even find a supplier, you only option is buying a new Inspire!!!!!!

This might give those of you who have a damaged Inspire Camera. Turns out DJI do make some replacement parts!

http://gerrygibbscamerawarehouse.com.au/drones-and-accessories/dji-inspire-1/dji-inspire-1-gimbal-and-camera-unit

Ok, so its not available yet, but at least its coming! And at £500 (approx), its not a lot more than a replacement camera and gimbal for the Phantom 2 Vision Plus!

Here is another piece of Inspire 1 tech, many owners are itching to get their hands on, but cant find anything on the UK quad sites. The new Camera Mount

http://gerrygibbscamerawarehouse.com.au/drones-and-accessories/dji-inspire-1/dji-inspire-1-camera-mount

This camera mount looks great, and at £300 roughly, (if that what it ends up costing) is cheap enough for most Inspire owners add to their DJI horde. Also expected at some point in April 2015 according to the site, but i’m thinking its more likely we will see both items for sale in May or June.

I also heard from a very knowledgeable chap, (who has helped me lots, in fact from day one of my BNUC-s) who has been flying for years, that DJI is going to be releasing details of a new Thermal Imaging Camera for the Inspire very soon! I have no other details yet on spec or price yet, soon as i hear anything it let you know.

It was never a case of if, it was always when. And i shall be most defiantly, be parting with whatever they charge. Damn you Apple, sorry DJI.

You heard it here first!

TU.

Thanks to Jeff and Lee @ Quadcopters.co.uk for replacing my faulty Inspire battery and letting me fly my Inspire behind the office. And thanks to my pal Des, who gave me some invaluable flying ATTI tips in prep for my exam next week. Cheers guys.

DJI Phantom 2 – Replacement Camera and Gimbal – NEWBIES PLEASE READ!!!!!!

So back in December i bought a second hand, but unopened and unused DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus for Seven Hundred and Thirty of my English Pounds – £730.

I had shopped around, even on ebay, second hand and used, they were selling for £800, so when i found it on Gumtree for £730, i jumped at the chance.

I had just passed ground school. i had been to the Heliguy DJI training day in Newcastle, and i had read lots of positive reviews about the Phantom 2 Vision Plus.

My thinking was this….’I have never flown a Quad Drone before. I need practice. I’ll buy a “cheap” drone to get my skills up to scratch.’

The DJI Inspire 1, which i was, and still am, planning on buying for my Aerial Photography business, once i pass and get CAA permission, was delayed at launch. Plus i didn’t want to have to pay to be assessed on both the Phantom and Inspire, so i decided to buy the Phantom to practice for a month or so and qualify with the Inspire.

So i went ahead and made my first huge mistake on the path through the drone game.

In my opinion the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus was the wrong platform for a total newbie.

UAS are not as easy to fly as one, you think, and two, how easy the promo videos show. Google ‘drone crash’ and you’ll see what i mean.

A good Quadcopter, like the Vision Plus, is not cheap. In high sight, if i needed to buy something to practice with, why didn’t I buy a DJI Phantom 1, or the DJI FC40, costing £350 and £500, respectively?

Both ostensibly do the same thing. Yes the Phantom 1 doesn’t have a camera (!!!!!) and the FC40 doesnt have a Gimbal, but this is my point, for a beginer this is perfect….Why? Because if you crash a FC40 it wont cost you £400 to fix your camera and gimbal!

I posted about this in December. I contacted DJI after a small crash, due to my inexperience, they told me to send it to them, and i was looking at a bill for £200. Well they emailed me back the other day… and im still in shock

I have seen soooooo many videos of first time flyers trashing their Quadcopters. Every week i see another video of a fellow Phantom Mourner. Is this the fault of excitable newbie pilots, or could DJI take some responsibility for this. 470 euros is crazy, the camera works fine, it connects to the app and streams perfectly, the gimbal worked fine too, no jerking around, it was just the arm was bent, so the picture wasn’t straight. And they are charging me almost the same price as a brand new DJI Phantom camera and gimbal!

http://www.helipal.com/product_info.php?currency=GBP&products_id=11698&gclid=CKC1s4uu1sMCFRHHtAodOGEAJg

The camera and gimbal are a so delicate in my opinion, i have seen various after-market camera and gimbal protection products, because broken DJI gimbals are a real issue. If a man in a shed with a 3d printer, can design a small cheap plastic product to protect the c&g, surely DJI could develop something similar?!

Another option, that would save many users a small fortune, is selling the Vision Plus with the camera and gimbal detached! I know the augment for selling it as ‘ready out of the box’, but i’d bet my house, that if it was sold without the gimbal attached, most people would just fly it as it came, opting to attach the camera later. They would quickly learn it can be hard to fly and safely land, and be glad that their camera isn’t been used to capture ‘practice crashes’. They will certainly be £400 better off.

There is another huge reason why i think the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus is the wrong platform for most newbies to the drone world. Throughout this post i have highlighted ‘Plus‘, this is because it is the actual Vision Plus, not the Phantom 1, or the Phantom FC40 or Phantom 2, that i believe was a terrible decision for me, a newbie. I will discuss this in my next post.

Till then

Thumbs Up!