Does anyone here fly drones?

[sid]

I am a very senior citizen and am thinking of taking this up as a hobby. I would appreciate some intelligent advice about getting started with this.

[bdm]

My friend has them he told me this is a good starter Helicopter to learn control on i have two of them a lot of fun price is not bad

https://www.amazon.com/Syma-S107-S10...4-3e7a9c0027d0

[kj47]

I don't but we have one in the WH. lol

[togor]

I have a Mavic 2.

One thing that is important-- make sure that whatever phone or tablet you would use as a flight display is bright enough for daytime outdoor use. That might mean a sun shade.

[Roadkingtrax]

Sure Sid. Start in Class B airspace and see how high you can go close to an airport.

[Sandpebble]

Wife has a nephew in South America that operates a business spraying crops with drones. Also taking photos that couldn't be taken with out one .

He mentions that friends both there, and here, have talked of the impending regs in both countries due to the possible use of drones by terrorists..... or just plain nut cases .

As far as being a hobby ... can't help, sorry I interrupted

[Faulkner]

I've been flying a drone for 6 years. I have a Solo 3DR (now out of production) that is controlled via GPS interface with my iPad linked with the controller via local area network (LAN). It has a gimble camera mount that interfaces with a GoPro Hero HD camera. I use mine mainly for photography and the GoPro allows for some good quality video and still pictures.

With the GPS interface it is very easy to fly. In fact, even in moderate winds I can put it in a hover over a subject I want to photograph and it will stay there, self correcting for the wind, until I decide to move it. It can be pretty tricky to fly manually (without GPS interface) but it can be done, and it's good to learn to fly it manually in case you loose the GPS signal, but it's pretty tough. I flew mine down into a small river valley to video some kayakers and once the drone went under the GPS horizon and lost signal I had to fly it back out manually. Also, if you fly one inside, like in a big barn or gymnasium, you'll have to do so manually.

Outside with a GPS signal, though, they are very easy to fly. Per regulations you have to keep it in sight at all times, but I have flown mine out over a lake at about 350 ft altitude at a range of mile and a half. Mine has the "come home to momma" feature, as most do, so that if it looses the LAN signal with the controller it will stop what it's doing and return to it's takeoff point and automatically land.

I've enjoyed mine, but the only downside is the FAA seemingly is constantly adding new regulations as the "sport" increases in popularity. The new regulations are because some pilot/controllers do stupid stuff with their drone that either endangers innocent bystanders or property, violates someone else's privacy, or harasses wild and/or domestic animals. Just like barnstormers of old, not everyone thinks it's cool when they unexpected get buzzed by an aggressive and wreckless pilot. Just before Easter I took my grandson to a community Easter Egg Hunt and saw a young twenty something year old father flying his drone to get video of his child hunting eggs. In my opinion, I thought he was carelessly flying the drone 10 or 12 feet above hundreds of kids, whizzing around just above their heads. Had he lost control, or lost the GPS interface, it could have easily dropped down and wacked several toddlers.

Below is a picture of my drone setup and a couple of pictures I've taken with it. One I took during during the storm storm back in February, it was tough to get a GPS lock during the heavy snow so I had to wait for a lull to go up. The bottom picture I took during a thunderstorm that was passing by, I programmed the GoPro to take a still picture every 2 seconds as I hovered the drone over our house.

Solo 3DR.jpg

2021-02-15 08.jpg

2016-07-24 02a.jpg

[BudT]

I did not know it snowed that much in Arkansas, it might be off my list to buy some whitetail hunting property now. I don't fly drones but I see how they can be used for lots of good things, flying in someones back yard could be real bad for the drone.

[Faulkner]

I did not know it snowed that much in Arkansas, it might be off my list to buy some whitetail hunting property now. I don't fly drones but I see how they can be used for lots of good things, flying in someones back yard could be real bad for the drone.

We got a 16 inch dump in February as part of the snowmageddon that moved across the south. It was the first time it had snowed more than an inch or two in 20 years, and the snow in February was completely gone in less than a week. The past two years we didn't get any snow at all.

[BudT]

We got a 16 inch dump in February as part of the snowmageddon that moved across the south. It was the first time it had snowed more than an inch or two in 20 years, and the snow in February was completely gone in less than a week. The past two years we didn't get any snow at all.

Did it get very cold during that time period? my idea of cold is several days to weeks of near or below 0 cold. Where I lived in Montana we would get 2-3 weeks of below zero. sometimes 30 below and more + any wind chill so it could go 40 or more below. We got tired of that kind of weather but that wasn't why we moved to warmer southern Idaho. We are looking for another place to add to the collection, I did find a very good isolated place in California that would have super good hunting but it was to much for me at 1.1 million, maybe the wife will hit the lotto.