Drone News Update

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 4 stories for you this week: Remote ID enforcement begins, Bill to control airspace in Illinois Senate, St Louis Drone Bill update, and DJI Avata 2 Leaks.
First up the FAA’s deferred enforcement of remote ID ends this Saturday. This means that remote ID is now required to operate any drone that is registered or needs to be registered. If your drone doesn’t have remote ID, you can equip it using a broadcast module or you can fly it at a FRIA. FRIA information is available in the UAS Facility maps or on Aloft Air aware. https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-extends-remote-id-enforcement-date-six-months Next up is an update on the St Louis drone bill that would regulate airspace… The bill has passed the city’s legislature and is now on the Mayor’s desk. Like we previously covered, this bill limits commercial operators and attempts to control airspace, including airspace around emergency vehicles, schools, publicly owned buildings, and events. If these laws are violated, a pilot faces fines and the confiscation of the drone. This is a perfect example of a municipality over reacting to a proposed drone operation. We’ll keep you updated if this becomes law. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/city-laws/upload/legislative/boardbills/committee-substitute-amended/BB199CSAA%20Combined%20Final%205.pdf Third this week is an Illinois bill that would also control the airspace. This bill would allocate the lowest 150’ to of airspace to be controlled by municipalities, who could create their own rules around “public” airspace. If you’re in IL, please reach out to Senators Julie Morrison and Linda Holmes to let them know this bill goes against the FAA’s sole jurisdiction of the airspace. It’s also interesting to note that this bill doesn’t specifically attempt to restrict UAS, but instead would apply to all aircraft. Another one we’ll keep you updated on! https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=SB&DocNum=2849&GAID=17&SessionID=112&LegID=151674 Ending on a better note, ther's leaks for the DJI Avata 2… Leaded pictures show the Avata 2, which appears to be a streamlined and a bit thinner version of the original Avata. With the leaked drone images come another set of DJI goggles with forward facing cameras, possibly to allow for an AR Experience. Leaked specs for the Avata suggest a 1/1.3” CMOS Sensor, 155 degree FOV, f/2.8, and 4K 60/100/120. Rumors say the drone will be about 480 grams and will fly for 27 minutes in normal/sport mode and 12-15 minutes in manual mode. We’ll have to see what comes of these leaks! https://dronexl.co/2024/03/10/dji-avata-2-goggles-3-specifications/ Alright, that’s it, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week on Monday for the live!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 4 stories for you this week: DJI Data breach, FAA Authorization extended, AirData creates public portal for government transparency, and Ohio DOT to use drones for traffic surveillance.

First up this week is supposed DJI data breach that turned out to be a complex scam. The “Mogilevich” group claimed online to have hacked DJI and had a one-terabyte database of information including prototypes and blueprints of new products. At least one person or group paid for the non-existent database at a price of $85,000. The scammers then posted their scam online saying “Now the real question is? Why confess all this when we could just run away? This was done to illustrate the process of our scam, We don't think of ourselves as hackers but rather as criminal geniuses, if you can call us that.” To be clear, DJI has not been hacked, the “hack” was instead a scam to convince people to pay for the non-existent data. We’ll keep you updated if we see anything else about this. https://dronexl.co/2024/03/04/hacker-mogilevich-scam-drone-maker-dji/ Second this week, the FAA has gotten another extension in funding until May 10th, 2024. This is the third extension since the 2018 Reauthorization Act ran out in September of 2023. The US House Of Representatives passed a bill to reauthorize the FAA for the next 5 years back in July of 2023, but the US Senate has yet to come to any agreement on FAA Reauthorization. We’ll have to wait and see if this is another “Kicking the can down the road” fix or if we’ll get a 5 year reauthorization. https://generalaviationnews.com/2024/03/05/faa-reauthorization-extended-yet-again-2/ Next this week, AirData has released their “Public Portal”. The Public Portal is an integrated product for public safety agencies to publish where drone operations occurred within a city or municipality. The publishing of these flights allows law enforcement agencies to be transparent about their operations after the operations have occurred. Flights are filtered automatically to protect confidentiality and a department can tailor what data is released to their needs. According to AirData, a number of major police departments have assisted with the design and development of the Public Portal including Chula Vista PD, Las Vegas Metro PD, and Sacramento PD. For more information, check out AirData’s website. Last up, the Ohio Department of Transportation will be using what appears to be a Censys Sentaero for traffic surveillance along US 33. Along with the purchase of the Sentaero, the DOT has gotten approval for a BVLOS waiver and an OOP waiver, allowing the drone to be operated over people and traffic beyond line of sight. Specific safety mitigations are not listed in article nor were they available on the Ohio DOT’s website. It’s unclear when the traffic surveillance operations will begin, but the drone will also be used for a number of other operations including GIS operations, mapping, emergency management, and construction monitoring. Another innovative use of UAS! https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/ohio/odot-to-launch-drone-on-us-route-33/530-1485ea6d-e289-403f-86ed-dc418c306fd8 https://drive.ohio.gov/programs/aam/uas Alright, that’s it, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week on Monday for the live!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 3 stories for you this week: Man sentenced after shooting down drone, SkyeBrowse Lite, and the AMA has gotten approval for temporary FRIAs.

First up this week is an update on a story we’ve been covering since 2021... Back in 2021, a sheriff’s drone looking for burglary suspects was shot down by a man who claimed the drone was “Harassing him”. The $30,000 Matrice 300 crashed onto a nearby building and caught on fire. The fire was quickly contained and no permanent damage occurred to the structure. Wendell Goney was identified as a person on interest and was contacted by police shortly after the crash. Goney claimed the drone was harassing him and admitted to shooting the drone with a .22 rifle. Deputies then arrested Goney for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. This week, a US District judge gave the 29 time felon a 4 year prison sentence for the incident. We’ll have to see if this sets a precedent for other courts to follow in drone shoot downs. https://dronexl.co/2024/02/23/florida-man-sentenced-four-years-shooting-down-sheriffs-drone/ Next up this week is our friends over at SkyeBrowse! SkyeBrowse released “Lite” this week, adding a monthly plan between free and enterprise! SkyeBrowse lite adds higher accuracy down to 2 inches and priority processing speeds for $49 a month. If you’re unfamiliar with SkyeBrowse, it’s an online processing software that uses videos to create 3D models. Videos can be from nearly any source and don’t require GPS information. If you don’t want or need to pay for models, SkyeBrowse still has their Freemium plan, which allows you to pay to unlock tools when you need them! https://www.skyebrowse.com/blog/2023/12/12/introducing-skyebrowse-lite Last up this week is the AMA, who has gotten approval from the FAA for temporary FRIAs. The approval is only applicable AMA events though we’ll likely see similar approvals for the FTCA, FPVFC and Stem+C soon. NOTAMs will be required for these events, which won’t help out the FAA’s NOTAM system unless it gets a major overhaul. We’ll keep you updated when we see more. https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2024/02/27/faa-grant-national-authorization-for-ama-sanctioned-events/ Alright, that’s it, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 4 stories for you this week: New bill to ban DJI for all users, Philly Drone Life goes back to court, WingtraOne gets LiDAR, and Air Aware gets FRIA locations! Please help fight the drone ban here: https://droneadvocacyalliance.com/?vvsrc=%2Fcampaigns%2F111611%2Frespond

First up this week is a new bill from the US House Of Representatives called the “Countering CCP Drones Act” or H.R. 2864. The bill would revoke all FCC authorizations for existing and future DJI drones. For those who don’t know, the FCC issues approvals for anything that transmits radio frequencies. The revocation of DJI’s approvals would mean no drones could transmit radio frequencies. This would affect ALL users of DJI drones, including those who fly for recreation or fly for non-critical infrastructure. Please reach out to your representative and let them know this is unacceptable and will destroy the UAS industry. We’ll keep you updated if we see any developments on this. https://droneadvocacyalliance.com/?vvsrc=%2Fcampaigns%2F111611%2Frespond Second up this week is trouble for Philly Drone Life, a YouTuber known for being fined by the FAA for flying dangerously. A complaint filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania states the YouTuber, Michael DiCiurcio, has been “warned, counseled, and educated” 3 times by the FAA. The complaint goes on to state that DiCiurcio continues to knowingly violate regulations and lists 26 incident flights between December 29th, 2019 and August 4th, 2020 and the violations for each flight. The complaint assigns a value of $1,501 per violation of each Federal Aviation Regulation, totaling $182,004 in fines. Violations included acting as an airman without an airman certificate, careless and reckless operations, operating without a strobe light at night, operating beyond visual line of sight, operating over a human beings, and operating within controlled airspace without airspace approval. The court seeks the total fine amount along with a permanent injunction on operating drones not in full compliance with Part 107 or 44809. This would mean that if DiCiurcio were to violate Part 107 or 44809, a warrant could be issued for his arrest. We’ll keep you updated if we see any more about this case. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/united-states-files-lawsuit-against-philadelphia-resident-alleging-violations-faa Third this week is Wingtra, who has released a LiDAR unit for the WingtraOne Gen II. This unit has a vertical accuracy of 3cm from 200’ and the capability to map up to 890 acres in a single flight, this is a game changer for those mapping and LiDAR firms who do large areas. The LiDAR payload comes in at about $6000 according to the head of sales at Wingtra. Pretty cool new payload, I wonder if Jared will be getting one… https://dronexl.co/2024/02/12/aerial-mapping-wingtra-lidar-drone/ Last up this week is Air Aware! You guys asked, and we heard your requests! We were able to get FRIA Maps added into the app so you can see where to fly with your older drones or your foamy without RID! We’re excited to continue to add features to Air Aware, so be sure to leave a comment if you have some suggestions! https://www.aloft.ai/blog/new-in-air-aware-b4ufly-fria-data-layers/

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 4 stories for you this week: Remote ID for the DJI minis, an armed suspect escaped police after shooting down a drone, a man faces felony charges after flying over NFL game, and the Super Bowl is a No-Drone-Zone.

First up this week is an update on Remote ID for the Mini 3, Mini 3 Pro, and Mini 4 Pro. Last week we covered that DJI’s latest firmware update that removed remote ID when using the small batteries. This firmware update applies to ONLY the Mini 3 and the Mini 4 Pro at this time, if you have the Mini 3 Pro, the drone will transmit RID with both batteries. For the other two drones (The Mini 3 and the Mini 4 Pro) we reached out to DJI. After meeting with DJI we found out that each drone is considered two models, one with each battery. The large battery will transmit remote ID, while the other battery does not. Only the drone and larger battery is approved by the FAA. We’ll be publishing a full video on this topic soon and we’ll place a card here when it’s time! https://dronexl.co/2024/02/02/dji-clarifies-mini-drones-rid-compliance/ Next up this week is kind of a scary one out of California. Police with a warrant were conducting surveillance with a drone in Shasta County on a man wanted for multiple felonies including assault with a deadly weapon. During the operation, the wanted man shot the drone down. A SWAT team was deployed along with California highway patrol, but the man escaped and remains at large. The incident is a great example of how drones put cameras in harms way instead of people. https://dronexl.co/2024/02/02/suspect-shooting-law-enforcement-drone/ Third up this week is likely one you’ve seen, a man is facing felony charges after illegally operating a drone at a NFL game in Maryland. Matthew Hebert allegedly flew his drone over the M&T Bank stadium during a TFR on January 28th, 2024. The NFL suspended the game due to the drone while Maryland State Police and the FBI located the drone pilot. The pilot advised police he relied exclusively on DJI’s built in geofencing to tell him where he could and couldn’t fly and that because no DJI restrictions were in place, he assumed he could fly. The drone was unregistered and Hebert does not possess a remote pilot certificate. If convicted, the maximum sentence is three years in federal prison for operating as an airman without an airman certificate and operating an unregistered drone. Another charge of willfully violating US National Defense Airspace would add another possible year to the charge. We’ll keep you updated if we see anything else about this. https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/pennsylvania-man-facing-federal-felony-charges-illegally-operating-drone-during-national?fbclid=IwAR240Cf8I9ZA5rX4dOaBMUisUFlfgFqEVd93Y9ONw5uwUm7wMMChuyn4Uac On the same topic, the Super Bowl is this weekend… if you’re in Las Vegas, there is a 30 NM TFR around the game… The FBI WILL be visiting pilots who bust this TFR… Don’t bust it! Las Vegas has a number of drone detection stations around the city, don’t think that you won’t get caught… Don’t be that guy, check the TFRs before you fly! https://dronexl.co/2024/02/05/las-vegas-no-drone-zone-super-bowl-faa/ Alright, that’s it, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 4 stories for you this week: A Secret Announcement, AUVSI jumps on anti-Chinese drone bandwagon, NASA’s Ingenuity ends mission with 72 flights, Autel releases the Alpha, and Mini 3 and 4 RID update.

AUVSI appears to be alienating a large number of the folks they claim to represent. AUVSI released a video this week calling for US Lawmakers to “take measured actions to strengthen the U.S. drone industry”. If you’ve followed us before, you know we’d love to use US made drones, but there are none available for the same cost with the same capabilities as DJI or Autel. AUVSI’s stance particularly affects Public Safety, who has recently seen restrictions on country of origin in a number of states including Florida, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, California, Nevada, Texas, and the 2024 NDAA. We’ve also seen a recent bill from Oklahoma to ban the use of Chinese drones for public safety. So far, the industry’s response hasn’t been in favor of what AUVSI and other American drone manufacturers are pushing, with many companies including us pulling out of AUVSI’s conference. There hasn’t been a better time than now to re-evaluate who is advocating for you and your hobby/profession and where you may be donating. If we can make a recommendation, the Drone Service Providers Alliance is a great group to join. We commonly talk with Vic, Kenji, and Dave Messina about advocacy including fighting local bills that restrict us from flying and those that restrict our Public Safety agencies from using the best tools available to save lives. Next up this week is an update to NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter. Ingenuity suffered a “Hard landing” on January 18th, which damaged one or more of the rotor blades, making it no longer capable of flight. NASA’s goal for Ingenuity was 5 total flights on Mars, instead 72 flights for a total flight time of over 2 hours were completed, with over 10 miles covered It seems Ingenuity’s mission was a success and hopefully we’ll see another version of the helicopter headed to the red planet soon! Last up this week is the Autel Alpha release! The Alpha appears to be a medium sized industry/public safety drone with a wide camera, zoom camera, laser range finder, and two thermal cameras with up to 56X hybrid thermal zoom. The alpha is much bigger than the Max series and boasts a ton of features, including hot-swappable batteries, mesh networking, 4K 35X optical zoom, IP55 weather rating, and obstacle avoidance. Looks like a pretty cool new aircraft, hopefully we’ll be able to get our hands on one to test! Alright, that’s it, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week! https://www.linkedin.com/posts/auvsi_auvsi-is-calling-on-us-lawmakers-to-take-activity-7156338684651327488-TGQC/# https://dspalliance.org/ https://dronexl.co/2024/01/25/autel-introduces-alpha-drone/ https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/nasas-ingenuity-mars-copter-ends-a-remarkable-run

The first bill we’re going to cover is the Oklahoma, which would restrict state entries from purchasing or operating drones built or assembled by a covered foreign entity. Waivers of HB3068 are available through the state’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services. Waivers can be granted for criminal investigations, counter UAS, and “difficult circumstances”. Under this bill, state entities would be restricted starting May 1st, 2027. Next up is Missouri, where we saw the drone surveillance scheme last week. The state’s response is House Bill 1204, which would ban surveillance by drone. This one doesn’t seem to be nearly as bad as the St. Louis bill we saw last week but we have some questions… What does surveillance mean? What constitutes observation - nearly viewing through the camera of a drone? The answers to the observation question could completely restrict commercial UAS operations if observing through a camera as a by-product of a shot is not allowed. We’ll keep you updated with what we see out of this one. Third up is Utah, which seems to be trying to control airspace. The bill is sponsored by Ryan D. Wilcox, references recreational flying and “14 CFR section 101”… Go home Ryan, you’re drunk… Recreational operations are now 49 USC 44809, and have been since 2018… The bill would restrict operations over electric lines for public transport, over critical infrastructure, and would limit Part 107 waivers issued by the Waiver officer, specifically waivers for operations over 400’ AGL. If you’re in Utah, please reach out to Mr Wilcox and let him know this is unacceptable. Fourth this week is the CISA and FBI’s Guidance on Cyber security for Chinese manufacturers UAS. The document does not take a side, and instead provides facts regarding possible cyber threats, going as far as to state “Identify and select the UAS platforms that best meet the operational and security requirements of the organization.” The fact sheet provides federal guidance and recommendations on how to mitigate possible cybersecurity threats, specifically from Chinese manufactured UAS. The document also includes references and other resources for those of you who may want to look into this further, and we’ll leave a link below so you can read it for yourself. In all reality, many of the rules and guidance in this document can be applied to most things you do online. Alright! We’re through the government craziness for now! Last up this week is the ACSL Soten, A Japanese NDAA compliant drone that has now been released to the US! The Soten has a number of payloads including visible camera, IR+visual, and a multispectral camera. The drone uses 94Wh Li-Ion battery pack for a maximum flight time of 29 minutes. Soten also has a vision system and an infra red sensing system for obstacle avoidance, maximum range of 4km, and a number of available accessories including a smart controller! We’ve reached out to ACSL to see if we can get one to test out! Alright, that’s it, have a great weekend and we’ll see you next week! https://product.acsl.co.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ACSL_SOTEN_pamphlet_EN.pdf https://www.okhouse.gov/posts/news-20230117_1 https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/static/HB0142.html https://house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills141/biltxt/intro/HB1204I.htm https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/Cybersecurity%20Guidance%20Chinese-Manufactured%20UAS.pdf

First up this week is St Louis Bill BB199, which has some concerning text for recreational UAS operators… Line 19, 20, and 21 state “Any person who operates a drone or any UA in the City of St. Louis shall have a valid Remote Pilot Certificate from the FAA and shall be in compliance with all standards set forth under the FAA’s Small UAs Rule (Part 107).” There is no exemption for recreational or 44809 operations… The bill has other concerning text for any UAS operators, with restrictions on operating drones within 1500’ of other aircraft (Including City of St. Louis Drones), No fly zones to be established by the city, required stand back distances from public safety vehicles, and publicly owned buildings.The rule is of course not applicable to any city department or city agency. We’ll leave a link in the description to the bill’s text. And speaking of St Louis, here is an update on the plan to use drones for surveillance. After push back from the city, the company isn’t backing down and instead sent the city a letter threatening a lawsuit if permits for operators were required. Instead they will offer a free trial at a different time and location. They are also asking for operators to join him and fly. All you have to do is pay $99 and they'll let you fly with them! Currently, a gofundme for the plan sits at just $20 out of a goal of $10,000. And if you think there's a link between the two St Louis stories, there certainly could be. When we say: don't ruin it for the rest of us, this certainly applies here. Next up this week is Wing, who has unveiled a new drone with double the payload capacity of their current flagship drone! The new drone has a 5lb payload capacity, while maintaining the 12 mile round trip range. Wing says the new drone will be deployed within the next 12 months to all sites where Wing operates.The company also said that about 70% of deliveries are completed using one drone, while 30% use multiple drones to deliver, this would reduce the required number of trips to deliver the same goods. Fourth up this week is the DJI Mics 2! DJI has released the new Mics 2 with an 8GB internal storage, 14 hours of internal recording, 820’ range, Ai Noise Canceling, 32 bit float recording, All in one stage case, and compatibility with USB-C, Lightning, and 3.5mm TRS analog output.The cost of the new mics comes in at 349 for two mics and a transmitter, a mic and transmitter for 219, or 99 per mic. Check out our video on the new mics! And the final story this week is another DJI release, this time from DJI Enterprise. DJI released “Modify”, which appears to be a mesh-editing tool that pairs with DJI Terra to provide modification to 3D models. On release, Modify is only compatible with DJI Terra models. Models can then be exported as .ply and .obj for third party or online sharing. The yearly cost of Modify is $1580 plus taxes and you can a 6 month free trial. And here’s a quick pilot institute update, our new course app is now ready! We’re released our new app for offline viewing of the courses available on both android and apple devices! Head over and download it to start watching! https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/17/24040030/wing-delivery-larger-drone-payload-capacity-alphabet https://dronexl.co/2024/01/17/dji-mic-2-new-era-pro-audio-recording/ https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/city-laws/upload/legislative/boardbills/introduced/BB199%20Combined1.pdf https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/aldermen/representation/profile.cfm?id=1561

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 5 stories for you this week; Autel Alpha hits FCC database, DIJ FlyCart 30 released outside of China, KY bill could limit drone operations, Walmart partners with Wing, and a filmmaker’s plan to curb crime using drones.

First up this week is the Autel Alpha, which hit FCC databases!  It’s been a long time since we discussed the Alpha rumors and many folks have likely forgotten about the drone. Alpha specs supposedly include IP55, 45-minute flight times, 50MP cameras, 25X Zoom camera, 640x512 Thermal, laser range finder, multiple payload options, autonomous missions, multi-aircraft operations, and 360 degree obstacle avoidance. We’ll keep you updated if we see anything else! Second up this week is the FlyCart 30, DJI's delivery drone! The FlyCart 30 has been released outside of China! If you aren't familiar with the FlyCart 30, the heavy lift drone has a capacity of 30kg with the dual battery setup and 40kg with the single battery set up. Safety features include IP55, active radar, binocular vision, obstacle avoidance, dual batteries, a parachute, weight/center of gravity detection, and swing stability. The FlyCart uses the DJI Pilot 2 App, the RC Plus, and O3 for a 9.9-mile range. The drone uses a 38,000 mAh battery which is rated to 1500 charge cycles. We'll see if anyone currently doing drone delivery picks this up for testing! Next up this week is a Kentucky bill that could limit the use of drones.  Kentucky house Bill 45 would prohibit use of an unmanned aircraft system for surveillance, which the bill goes on to define as  “1. With respect to an owner, tenant, occupant, invitee, or licensee of privately owned real property, the observation of such persons with sufficient visual clarity to be able to obtain information about their identity, habits, conduct, movements, or location; or  2. With respect to privately owned real property, the observation of such property’s physical improvements with sufficient visual clarity to be able to determine unique identifying features or its occupancy by one or more persons” The bill goes on to say; "For purposes of this section, a person is presumed to have a reasonable expectation of privacy on his or her privately owned real property if he or she is not observable by persons located at ground level in a place where they have a legal right to be, regardless of whether he or she is observable from the air with the use of an unmanned aircraft system.” Fourth this week is Walmart who is expanding deliveries in the Dallas area. Walmart has partnered with Wing and Zipline to expand their deliveries in Dallas beyond the current 60,000 people coverage. By the end of 2024, they hope to cover 1.8 million people using both Wing and Zipline’s Part 135 certificates with BVLOS waivers.  So far, Walmart has completed over 20,000 successful deliveries from two stores. Last up this week is a bit of a weird one; a business owner from Washington DC, hopes to curb crime by live-streaming a drone’s camera over a neighborhood. The idea is that drones equipped with loudspeakers, cameras, and spotlights would fly over this neighborhood and live stream the camera to residents. The program would have a two-week test period, after which the neighborhood would be able to book the service for $60 - $125 per hour.  What do you think about this use of drones - Let us know in the comments! https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/neighbors-local-leaders-react-to-proposed-south-city-drone-patrols/ https://dronexl.co/2024/01/02/walmart-drone-delivery-lewisville/ https://dronexl.co/2023/04/30/autel-alpha-drone/ https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/24rs/hb45.html

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week, drone hits Robinson R44, 2024 NDAA signed with American Security Drone Act, and a Drone Rescue, lets get to it! https://droneadvocacyalliance.com

First up this week is one you’ve probably seen… A Robinson R44 Helicopter, operated by Leading Edge Helicopter Tours hit a drone at approximately 180 feet near KDAB. It’s unclear what phase of flight the helicopter was in, but it was able to land without any injuries. The incident occurred above the Daytona Beach Flea Market, in Daytona Beach, Florida while the UAS operator was flying a mission for a construction company. All current information points to the UAS operator having the valid permissions to operate at that altitude in that area. The replacement of the R44’s rotor blade is estimated to cost approximately $60,000. Both the NTSB and FAA were notified and we’re going to hold off on assumptions at this time, we’ll wait for the NTSB report to be released. Next up this week is the 2024 NDAA, which had the American Security Drone Act added as an amendment. If you’re unfamiliar with the ASDA, it aims to address cybersecurity concerns for drones used by federal agencies. The law defines aircraft as “Covered” and means they were made/produced in China. The ASDA does NOT ban DJI or Autel drones for recreational or commercial use. The ASDA does limit the use of drones that are made by a “Covered Foreign Entity”, but an exemption is in place if “as procured or as modified after procurement but before operational use, can no longer transfer to, or download data from, a covered foreign entity and otherwise poses no national security cybersecurity risks as determined by the exempting official.” This means drones with secure data modes, such as Enterprise DJIs, may be allowed to be operated by federal agencies and purchased using federal grants…. But… Later in the law is a two year buffer, meaning for the next two years no federal agency may fly a covered aircraft, procure a covered unmanned aircraft, or spend federal grant money on the operation of a covered aircraft. There is NO limitation in the ASDA limiting public safety from spending non-federal money on these covered aircraft. If you want to get involved in opposing the ASDA as it currently stands, head over to the DAA and let your representative know. Last up this week is a drone for good story out of Weber County, Utah. A foreign exchange student, Kai Zhuang, was reported missing by his parents in China, after they supposedly received a picture of him indicating he had been abducted and ransom was demanded. Despite initial fears, there was no concrete evidence suggesting a forceful removal of Kai from his home. Using an M30T, the Weber County SAR team located Kai hiding in the mountains of Utah in a tent while fearing for his family’s safety. It’s unclear what actually caused the incident, but we’ll keep you updated if we see more. Alright, that’s it!

Happy new year and we’ll see you Monday for the Live event! https://dronexl.co/2024/01/01/rescue-missing-student-dji-drone/ https://dspalliance.org/what-the-2023-national-defense-authorization-act-means-to-the-uas-industry/

Welcome to your weekly news update, New Year's edition! Let's take a look at everything that's happened this year including drones for good, the don't be that guy compilation, drone regulation, Pilot Institute updates and of course new drones, starting with the Autel EVO Max....

We also reported on some Drones For Good stories this year, starting with a teen who saved people in their car. And of course, the FAA was front and center on many of our updates this year, but also some states, like Tennessee banning non-NDAA drones. Let's not forget about everyone's favorite segment: Don't be that guy! Starting with the guy who flew over the Bengals game in 2022. There were also a few surprises with Airmap shutting down their LAANC service, Amazon having a lot of issues keeping employees on board, and Skydio quitting the consumer drone business. But on the bright side, we accomplished a lot at Pilot Institute. We partnered with Influential Drones, Unmanned Tactical Group, and Axon Air to help provide even more training to our customers. We received a BVLOS waiver and submitted many more. We joined hand with the Drone Advocacy Alliance to help push back on non-sensical anti-drone regulation. We partnered with Aloft to provide the Air Aware to recreational pilots in preparation of the expected retirement of the current B4UFLY app. Then we travelled the country to various tradeshows: the Texas Robotic Summit in Burnitt TX, Sun N Fun in Lakeland Florida, AUVSI in Denver, FliteFest in Ohio, EAA Air Venture in Oshkosh WI, Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas, two back to back events in Colorado with the Colorado Round Up and the Colorado AirShow, and AZ Drone Fest in Phoenix AZ. We published 14 new courses, including 8 new drones courses such as the Skydio 2 and X2, DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise, Air 3, Mini 4, Inspire 3, the Evo Max 4T, and the Part 107 Waiver course. We end the year having trained 88,000 remote Pilots to date, 295,000 students totaling 506,000 course enrollments, 7.3 million lectures completed throughout our courses (that's 1 lecture every 4 seconds), 30,000 free registration stickers, 37,000 members in our Facebook groups, 128,000 subs on the various social media channels, and 6,800 WINGS credits issued on the FAASafety website. Needless to say, none of this would have been possible without all of you. A big THANK YOU for your continuous support, my team and I certainly appreciate it. We aren't slowing down, we are already working on some very cool projects for 2024 and we hope to release the first one later this month! Happy New Year, fly safe, and see you next year!

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 5 stories for you this week, Air Aware Released, Legislators urge Pentagon to deny export licenses for DJI, PrecisionHawk shuts down operation, the FAA Reauthorization act and an important update to DJI Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro.

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 4 stories for you this week, Amazon loses Head of Safety and Flight operations, FAA and NASA conduct UTM Field Test, Skyebrowse introduces pay-per-model, and the FPVFC releases a FRIA map.

Your first story this week is Amazon, who keeps losing people. Sean Cassidy, the head of Safety, flight operations, and regulatory affairs has reportedly left the company. Cassidy, a former Alaska Airlines Pilot, joined Amazon in 2015 to assist Prime Air through the process of obtaining FAA approvals. Amazon received their Part 135 certificate in August of 2020, and deliveries began this year. Over the last year, amazon has had a number of lay-offs including one in January and has lost a number of key players. Amazon hasn’t released any statement or status on their deliveries in the past few months, but we’ll keep you updated if we see any updates. Next up this week is the FAA and NASA, who have conducted a UTM field test. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of unmanned traffic management, it’s a system that allows a UAS operator to reserve a portion of the airspace for a particular time. These “reservations” would assist with deconfliction between UAS traveling at or below 400’ in uncontrolled airspace. The test included flights of varying complexity levels, verifying standards, evaluating UTM systems, testing FAA integration with USS, and testing the real world application of all these systems working with ones another. Data collected from the UTM field test is expected to be used by policymakers to enable low-altitude operations, particularly those that will operate beyond line of sight. If you’d like to read the full report, we’ll add a link in the description! Third up this week is Skyebrowse, who is now offering a pay-per model version of their software! Models start at just $3 per model and vary based on the size of the video file. Pay per models will allow you to unlock features, such as download or measurements, that are not available in the “freemium” subscription plan. This works with older models, and we were able to use a model from 2021 and access these tools! Alright, and last up this week is a map of FRIAs! Due to the UAS Facility maps not containing information about FRIA, Alex Suarez has created a map that contains the locations of approved FRIAs. The map is color coded to differentiate between the 4 CBOs, and for FPVFC, FTCA, and STEMC FRIAs, has precise boundaries. Great job Alex! Alright, that’s all we’ve got, have a great week and we’ll see you on Monday for the live! Last week, I was on vacation and @wolfpack4694 asked the team if they would do a video talking about how mean I am. The thing is, I’m really not mean, so they had to make stuff up, and let’s just say they had a little too much fun with it. Take a look, enjoy! https://www.skyebrowse.com/blog/2023/12/12/introducing-pay-per-model https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/traffic_management/UFT-Final-Report.pdf https://www.faa.gov/uas/research_development/traffic_management/field_test https://dronexl.co/2023/12/07/faa-nasa-utm-field-test/ https://dronexl.co/2023/12/12/prime-air-shakeup-cassidy-amazon-exit/ https://www.friamap.com/

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 4 stories for you this week, Air 3 and Mini 4 Pro finally added to DOC list, Percepto gets drone swarm waiver, defibrillator drones are faster than ambulances, and the City of Plano is looking at zoning for AAM and UAS.

First up this week is the Air 3 and the Mini 4 Pro, which have finally been added to the remote ID DOC list! This means you no longer need any RID modules for the Air 3 and Mini 4 pro IF you had one you were using. If you’ve been waiting for the Air 3 and Mini 4 to be approved before purchasing, now’s the time! Here’s hoping the FAA and DJI are more efficient about getting these drones approved when the drone comes out! Next up this week is Percepto, who has received a waiver allowing them to operate up to 30 drones with a single operator, beyond visual line of sight. The waiver is designed for drone-in-a-box systems to be used to inspect infrastructure and pipelines. Currently, the waiver doesn’t appear on the Part 107 Waivers issued so we can’t see the specifics of the waiver, but this is a pretty cool development allowing what many would consider the holy-grail of drone waivers. We’ll keep you update if we see any updates on this waiver! Third up this week is a study out of Sweden, which tested 55 drones over 11 months responding to cardiac emergencies. Over the 11 month study, drones responded to 72 emergencies, of those 55 delivered the AED. The study found that drones had a quicker response time from dispatch to arrival, with drones arriving first 37 out of 55 times, and 2 cases of shocks being delivered prior to the ambulance arriving. Super interesting study, we’ll have to see if drones are the next thing used by emergency services to deliver supplies such as AEDs! Last up this week is the City of Plano, which is looking at changing particular zoning rules that will affect AAM and UAS operations. This comes in response to DroneUp operating out of a local Walmart without any formal permit from the city. There’s no word on what the actual zoning changes would be or how they would affect AAM or UAS operations, but another meeting is scheduled for February 26th, 2024. Major John B Muns said during a meeting “ “We had the opportunity as a council to meet in person to see the operations in two different areas, one in Frisco and one in Plano, unfortunately, it was a couple of days before Thanksgiving, so we had a lozt of us gone,” “We still need some of that information, so we're respectfully hoping that we can table this item until we can get some real data that can be analyzed and explained to us… If we could get that information and come back with a much better understanding of what you're asking for.” We’ll keep you updated with what we see out of Plano. That’s it! Have a great weekend! https://dronexl.co/2023/11/28/plano-city-council-drone-delivery/ https://uasdoc.faa.gov/listDocs https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_4_pro/20231123/Phantom_4_Pro_V2.0_Release_Notes_EN.pdf https://dronexl.co/2023/11/28/defibrillator-drones-outpace-ambulances/ https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/faa-approves-inspection-drone-swarms/

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 4 stories for you this week, Ravens vs Bengals game halted due to drone, FAA Safety Login changes, rumors of a new DJI Agras T60, Skyebrowse releases 2D mapping, and our Black Friday sale is in full swing! I am certainly thankful for all of you who come here every week and watch this segment and engage in the comments. What started as a way to help our students stay informed with the industry changes has grown to a video that many of you tell me about when we meet at in-person events. I love the discussion that ensues in the comments and while many of you say it’s your favorite part of Friday mornings, my favorite part is to read the comments and interact with you all.
First up this week is another drone over a major sporting event… A major league football game was halted due to a drone flying over the stadium this week, busting the stadium TFR. And while I would commonly say don’t be that guy (I’ll still say it), there are deeper issues that need to be brought up here... First, there isn’t enough notification for these TFRs… If you watched our live event you’ve heard my opinion on this: There is a single NOTAM issued for ALL stadium TFRs. This means that the stadium TFR doesn’t show on any of your favorite apps such as B4UFLY or Aloft Air Control. And no, that’s not a problem from the LAANC providers. In all reality, this is my and my team’s full time job but I personally don’t follow major sporting events. I don’t know when the games are and the TFRs aren’t charted, so we could potentially bust one of these TFRs because I don’t follow these major sporting events. Over the years I have been questioning the intent of this stadium TFR, especially when it only covers certain events. A concert from a popular artist would fill up as many if not more seats than a qualifying sporting event, and yet would not qualify for a TFR... why be selective? I’ll say it out loud: is the TFR protecting broadcasting rights of the NFL, MLB, and Nascar or is it actually designed for safety purposes? The second issue at play here is that we need better education for drone pilots at the point of sale. The FAA requires that manufacturers include a brochure with each drone sold in the US. Problem is, the rule is not enforced. Could this person who flew over the game have been better informed? Probably. Next up this week is an update to the FAA Safety Login process for non-governmental employees. The FAA is going away from using a username and password and is transitioning to a multi factor authentication service. The process is pretty easy and takes about 5 minutes to change info over. After setting up the new log in system, you’ll still need to use your old credentials to get in until Nov. 30th, 2023. FAA Safety doesn’t appear to have changed at all, but we’ll have to see once the changes are rolled out later this month! Your third story this week is a new and larger Agras! A shared image by DJI leaker Igor Bogdanov shows a new Agras to be released on Thursday - yesterday as you’re watching this! The rumored Agras T60 will have a 60-liter liquid spray capacity. Other specs are sparse, but the T40 had a 50kg dry payload, so it’s reasonable to expect the T60 will increase this. The T60 is also likely to have onboard RTK, Camera, and light similar to the T40! Your final story this week is Skyebrowse, who released free 2D mapping. As with other Skyebrowse products, their mapping and modeling software uses video instead of pictures to create models. You may already be familiar with Skyebrowse’s 3D mapping, which includes an app to fly the drone, 2D and 3D model processing in about 5 minutes, and model sharing. https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/manufacturers_toolkit https://dronexl.co/2023/11/20/dji-agras-t60-agriculture-drone/ https://www.faasafety.gov/login/

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week, Phase One releases 128 MP survey camera, Aloft expanding to AAM, new waivers course and our Black Friday sale is now live!

Phase One has released the P5 Survey Payload, coming in at 700 grams. The P5 has an electronic global shutter capable of capturing four frames per second at 128MP. The P5 also comes with a 1G ethernet connection port, 14 pin JST-ZE, and MAVLink/Auterion connections. Two lens options are available, with a 35mm and an 80mm lens. With the 35mm lens, the ground sampling distance at 394 feet (120m) is 1.16cm, or 0.45 inches. Using this information and working backwards through a GSD calculator, we estimate this means with the 80mm lens, from 120m would be 0.51cm. Pretty awesome new camera for those in the surveying field! Next up this week is Aloft, who is combining low altitude monitoring of UAS and AAM. The Project, called the North Texas Airspace Awareness Project, hopes to basically create a dashboard of low altitude aircraft operations specifically around UAS and AAM. This dashboard will allow local municipalities to publish and disseminate localized safety advisories for certain types of users such as governmental users, commercial, and recreational. Additionally, this will allow a direct connection between operators of both AAM and UAS and the local governments to share information such as local rules. If you’re unfamiliar with Aloft, they are the largest UAS Service Supplier of LAANC and the current maintainer of the FAA’s B4UFLY. Aloft provides 80% of all UAS airspace authorizations in the US. We’ll keep you updated if we see more about this project. Last up this week is our Black Friday Sale, which is now live! All of our catalog of courses is currently on sale for up to 50% off! This is our largest sale of the year and as usual, all of our courses are on sale for the lowest price of the year! We also JUST released a new paid course for drones on how to apply for waivers! The course includes information on the process, supporting documents, what the FAA wants to know, where to submit, and what to do after you get your waiver! That’s it! Have a great week and we’ll see you on Monday for the live event! https://dronexl.co/2023/11/15/phase-one-p5-survey-payload-drone-camera/ https://www.nctcog.org/getmedia/63742e52-4c0e-40c2-97c8-3ec7bb63a28c/North-Texas-Airspace-Awareness-Pilot-Program.pdf https://www.aloft.ai/blog/aloft-selected-for-pioneering-north-texas-airspace-awareness-project-leading-the-way-in-advanced-air-mobility/

First up this week is the DJI Matrice 3D and the Dock 2!

The Matrice 3D is a simplified Mavic, designed for use in the Dock 2.

The M3D comes with two available payloads, one nearly identical to the Mavic 3 Thermal and the other seemingly identical to the Mavic 3 Enterprise. 

The M3D has a 55 minutes of flight time, obstacle avoidance, working temps between -13F and 113F (-25C and 45C), and a max take off altitude of 8200 feet.

The Dock 2 comes in smaller and lighter than the original dock, at 75lbs with an IP55 rating, an environmental monitoring system, security cameras and spotlights, air conditioning, and 4G/Ethernet connectivity. 

Currently the Dock 2 and M3D are only available in the Chinese market, with prices ranging between $9,600 for the enterprise payload to $10,700 for the Thermal.

We’ll keep you updated if we see anything else or hear of any plans to bring the dock to the US! 

Next up this week is a man in Missouri, who allegedly tried to crash his drone into a police drone. 

The sheriff’s drone was watching an area during a city-wide power outage when the other drone “attacked” maneuvering to hit the sheriffs drone. 

The officers were able to use the IR camera on the drone to locate the operator of the rogue drone, who was then arrested for obstructing government operations and attempted property damage. 

According to the sheriff’s office records have also been sent to the FAA for investigation. 

Don’t be that guy…

Last up this week is the DSPA, who has recently released their guidance on getting an operations over people waiver! 

This article explains how to apply for a 107.39 waiver and a 107.145 waiver with the Mini 3 Pro and the Mini 4 Pro.

Waivers can be tricky and we know based on the comments in our course how many folks are interested in flying over people and moving vehicles.

Check out the link below and be sure to write your own waiver — Don’t copy paste. 

The FAA has limited staff in the waiver office and will know if you’ve copied parts of someone else’s waiver. 

If you aren’t familiar with DSPA, they are an advocacy group focused on drone service providers and ensuring the FAA and other state, city, and local agencies create common sense drone laws that don’t restrict operators abilities to fly. 

We’re proud to support the DSPA and appreciate all the work Vic and Kenji put in to help the industry! 

That’s it! Have a great week and we’ll see you for our live on Monday!

https://dspalliance.org/107-39-107-145-application-info/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3wCMCVZ4_o

https://dronexl.co/2023/11/08/dji-releases-dji-dock-2-matrice-3dt/

https://www.newspressnow.com/news/regional_news/central_missouri/vandalia-man-arrested-for-attempting-to-attack-audrain-county-sheriff-s-office-drone/article_0648b2eb-3ee4-5ffb-8fcf-6864e7d0e4e1.html

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week, New bill proposes banning Chinese drones for the Federal Government, DJI Matrice 3D leaks, and Zipline’s new partnerships with Healthcare in Ohio. Make your voice heard: https://droneadvocacyalliance.com/?vvsrc=%2Fcampaigns%2F105982%2Frespond

First up this week is a “new” bill that would prohibit the Federal Government from purchasing Chinese Drones, again… To be clear, this is a reintroduction of a past, failed bill. Florida Senator Rick Scott introduced the American Safety Drone Act in the Senate and now Representative Gallagher from Wisconsin is now doing the same in the House. This new bill is set to be announced this week, and would prohibit the federal government from using any tax dollars to purchase UAV equipment from China. The bill would require a federal report detailing the number of foreign commercial drones and “Covered” unmanned aircraft procured by federal departments. At the non-federal level, the bill would also bar local and state governments from purchasing Chinese drones using federal grants. Both Scott, in the past, and Gallagher now are trying to attach this to the National Defense Authorization Act, which is the only likely way for it to advance since it’s highly unlikely to move on its own. Once again we see a country of origin ban rather than a set of comprehensive standards that any drone used for government purposes must conform to. The best way to fight this is to use the DAA’s link in the description for instructions on reaching out to your representatives and oppose the National Defense Authorization Act. Next up this week are some DJI leaks, for the Matrice 3D. New pictures of the drone and new pictures of the rumored DJI Dock Mini. As we covered previously, the Matrice 3D appears to be a simplified DJI Mavic 3 Thermal with fixed arms, top-mounted SDK port and mounting, and built-in RTK. New leaks about the Mini Dock appears to shows an angled channel that the Matrice 3D would fit into in contrast to the flat landing pad of the existing DJI dock. The M3D also appears to be slightly larger than the Mavic 3 with much thicker arms and larger propellers. Pretty cool innovations coming from DJI, we’ll see if this is released any time soon! Lastly this week is an announcement from Zipline, who has partnered with a number of healthcare providers in Ohio and Michigan. Zipline announced in September that they’d gotten FAA permission to operate BVLOS without visual observers, and now they appear to be ready to use that permission. Partnerships include the Cleveland Clinic, Michigan Medicine, Intermountain Healthcare, and Ohio Health. With these new partnerships, Zipline aims to deliver prescriptions directly to a home’s front door by 2025. The Zipline P2 system cruises at 70 mph, an altitude of 300 feet and uses a small “droid” to drop packages in places where the main aircraft can’t get to. Pretty cool tech! That’s it! Have a great week and we’ll see you for our live on Monday on our airplane channel! https://dronexl.co/2023/10/31/zipline-drones-deliver-meds/ https://www.flyzipline.com/newsroom/news/announcements/faa-authorizes-zipline-to-fly-bvlos https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-house-panel-seeks-ban-federal-purchases-chinese-drones-ft-2023-11-01/ https://dronexl.co/2023/10/30/dji-matrice-3d-dock-mini/ https://dronexl.co/2023/10/31/dji-dock-mini-matrice-3d-photos/ https://droneadvocacyalliance.com/?vvsrc=%2Fcampaigns%2F105982%2Frespond

First up this week is the new FAA Administrator, Michael Whitaker. 

As we previously speculated, this confirmation process appears to have gone smoothly. Z

Whitaker worked for three years as the Deputy Administrator of the FAA and Chief NextGen officer, coming to the FAA now from Hyundai’s Supernal eVTOL manufacturer.

AOPA’s President Mark Baker said “I am really pleased the Senate took action to confirm Mike and look forward to working with him to help pilots and to move GA forward… He’s a capable leader, knows aviation, knows the agency, and he’s a private pilot.” 

We’ll look forward to see how Whitaker lead the FAA in the coming months and years! 

Next up this week is one for all our Texas folks out there, the ruling labeling Texas drone law (Code 423) unconstitutional, has been reversed.

In March of last year (2022) a federal judge declared Texas code 423 unconstitutional under the first and 14th amendments, now after an appeal in the fifth circuit court, the decision has been reversed. 

The NPAA (National Press Photographers Association) says the law has been used to target journalists in situations where privacy hasn’t been an issue. 

The court decided the plaintiffs lacked standing for a 14th amendment claim because none of the plaintiffs had been arrested or prosecuted under Texas Code 423. 

In addition, the appeals judge said “And nothing in the No-Fly provisions has anything to do with speech or expression. These are flight restrictions, not speech restrictions,”, which is interesting considering the FAA is the sole party permitted to control the airspace. 

Brenden Schulman, former DJI VP of Legal said “In a very significant drone law update, the prior decision in Texas articulating a First Amendment right to drone journalism, and striking down a Texas statute that interfered with that right, has just been overturned by the Fifth Circuit… Depending on what the plaintiffs decide to do, this could be the first drone law case to go to the US Supreme Court.”

This means that Texas Code 423 is now back on the books, and we’ll see if it’s appealed again to the Supreme Court. 

Alright, last up is a fun one, we have a new possible world record for the largest foam quadcopter! 

Engineers in the UK have created and flow what they believe is the largest quadcopter, at over 21 feet from corner to corner! 

The “GFQ” or Giant Foam board Quadcopter appears to use hobby foam for its structure and weighs 54lbs. 

Next up, the team hopes to expand the project to create a quadcopter even larger! 

That’s it! Have a great week and we’ll see you for our live on Monday!

https://dronexl.co/2023/10/24/drone-innovation-manchester-quadcopter/

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.423.htm#:~:text=(a)%20A%20person%20commits%20an,is%20a%20Class%20C%20misdemeanor.

https://www.courthousenews.com/fifth-circuit-rejects-media-groups-challenge-of-texas-drone-regulations/

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/288975/

First up this week is Amazon, who has announce they will start delivering medicine in College Station, Texas. Prime air aims to transport medicine to homes within 60 minutes of ordering, and includes over 500 medications for the flue, asthma, and pneumonia. Amazon hopes to sameday delivery over 500 million packages a year, and recently we’ve seen a number of lay-offs suggesting their drone program was dying. We’ll have to wait and see if this is a turn around or a last-ditch effort to make the program a success. Next up this week is Aloft, who won the GENIUS NY challenge for innovation. The win provides Aloft with an additional $500,000, which will be used to expand their team in NY. Josh Ziering said “Securing this win at GENIUS NY is not just a testament to the innovation and hard work of the Aloft team but also underlines the promise and potential of our growing partnerships in the State of New York, With the support and visibility that comes with this investment, we’re poised to continue growing Aloft at an even faster pace.” If you’re somehow unfamiliar with Aloft, they’re the largest LAANC provider in the country and our preferred LAANC app. Aloft includes both fleet management, flight tracking, flight planning, incident tracking, and LAANC. If you’d like to learn more about Aloft, check out our Aloft Deep Dive! Third up this week is a company called DataBlanket, whose mission is to use AI to fight woodland fires. This start up was launched last year, and their goal is to use drones to determine where resources should be allocated to effectively fight the fire. DataBlanket uses a drone manufactured by Ascent Aero systems called the Spirit. The Spirit is a coaxial drone capable of flying in extreme conditions, temperatures, and weather including winds in excess of 40 mph, rain, and temps up to 130F. DataBlanket has taken the Spirit and equipped it with AI and a custom payload and swarming technology to map fires or conduct search and rescue missions. DataBlanket hopes to conduct pilot programs in late 2024 or early 2025, pending FAA approvals for BVLOS. Your final story this week is Pilot Institute! We just passed 80,000 people in our part 107 course, 80,000 subscribers on this channel, 169,000+ TRUST certificates, and over 27,500 free stickers shipped! Here’s a big thank you to those who follow us, your support makes this possible! We also just released the DJI Air 3 Deep Dive and the DJI Mini 4 Pro Deep Dive, with the Inspire 3 Deep Dive coming very soon! Last up, sorry about missing our scheduled live event this week. We got busy around the office putting out fires and when we finally stopped to think, it was already 4:15. Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you for the live next Monday! https://dronelife.com/2023/10/17/this-ai-enabled-system-teaches-drones-to-fight-fires-datablanket/ https://www.aloft.ai/blog/aloft-wins-500k-investment-at-the-genius-ny-drone-accelerator-pitch-competition/

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week, Drone pilot loses control of drone over stadium, an update on the man who shot down the police M300, and DJI releases new L2 LIDAR

The first story this week is a drone that flew over a college football game, resulting in players evacuating the field. This occurred in Columbus, Ohio when Rigoberto Canaca Escoto flew a drone he purchased the day before at best buy over the stadium. Upon returning to Escoto, Columbus counter terrorism police were able to track the drone back to the pilot. Escoto admits he had no knowledge of basic UAS safety, hadn’t take TRUST, and that he lost both control of the aircraft for about 3 minutes while over the stadium and line of sight. Escoto has been charged in Franklin County, OH with: Unsafe operation of aircraft in a careless or reckless manner, Two counts of aircraft operation without a license, Inducing panic by committing an offense with reckless disregard, And disorderly conduct in a physically offensive condition. Yikes. Next up is an update on a story we talked about nearly two years ago. If you’re unfamiliar with this story, a man in Florida named Wendell Goney shot down a Lake County Sheriff’s M300 drone in 2021. According to the man, the drone was “Harassing him”, however Lake County Sheriff was investigating reports of a burglary at a nearby 10 acre wear house. The man is a 29 time convicted felon, who now faces 10 years in prison for possession of a firearm and ammunition. So don’t be either of these guys, don’t shoot drones down and don’t fly over stadiums in TFRs. Final story this week is the Zenmuse L2 LIDAR from DJI! The new L2 is compatible with both the Matrice 300 and the Matrice 350. When compared to the L1, the L2 increases detection range by 30% with a reduced spot size of 4x12 cm at 100m. The L2 has a maximum point cloud rate of 240,000 points per second and a 20MP 4/3 CMOS with a mechanical shutter. The L2 isn’t as expensive as other LIDAR units, coming in at “only” $13,560 according to DJI’s website for the basic combo. Pretty cool device, and maybe we’ll get our hands on one eventually! Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next week! https://dronexl.co/2023/10/11/felon-shoots-down-sheriff-drone/ https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/ohio-state-university/pilot-arrested-after-losing-control-of-drone-over-ohio-stadium-during-buckeyes-game-records-say/ https://dronexl.co/2023/10/10/dji-zenmuse-l2/

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 4 stories for you this week, FAA authorization extended, DJI FlyCart 30 gets FCC approval for operation in the US, Leaked video reportedly shows a new DJI matrice, and some upcoming events!

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week, The Air Sentinel App, New Skydio Drone, and DJI event next week! 

First up this week is the Air Sentinel app, who has partnered with DroneResponders to provide remote ID information to Public Safety.

If you’re unfamiliar with Air Sentinel, it’s an app that allows you to pick up remote ID broadcast information but excludes the location of the pilot.

Only authorized users can access pilot location information via logging into the app, and they must prove they are public safety before being granted access to pilot location.

Air Sentinel is free to download on Android at this time, and it is one of the apps we tested in this video (Point - Lets add the thumbnail of the RID test video).

Next up this week is the new Skydio X10.

The X10 is Skydio’s newest enterprise drone, with a FLIR Boson+ 640X512 Radiometric, a 1 inch, 50 megapixel wide camera, and a 64 megapixel zoom camera. 

The X10 will also have other payloads with the V100-L coming soon. 

The V100-L will have the same wide and zoom camera with a flashlight instead of the thermal camera.

The X10 has a 40 minute maximum flight time, 4 payload bays, 5G optional connectivity, and a 7.5 mile range. 

Pretty interesting changes from the X2, we’re interested in getting one to test! 

And finally, DJI has announced an even this coming Monday, we assume to be the release of the Mini 4 Pro! 

The event “Mini to the Max” will release at 9 AM Eastern Time.

Based on pictures, the Mini 4 has redesigned obstacle avoidance, a downward facing LED, and adjusted front legs! 

We’ll see if this is indeed the new Mini drone we’ve seen so many leaks about! 

Before we go, we’ll be at the Colorado Drone Airshow in Fort Collins Colorado in two weeks! 

The event is free, and we’ll be doing first flights for people who haven’t ever flown drones before! 

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next week! 

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 5 stories for you this week; Remote ID Delay confirmed, Mini 4 pro pricing leaks, the FAA gives UPS and uAvionix BVLOS, TFR Violating Drone Pilot Sentenced, and the DAA announces more campaigns!

Your first story will sound familiar if you saw our video earlier this week, the FAA has announced discretionary enforcement of remote ID. The FAA has officially - See link in the description - published discretionary enforcement for Remote ID until March 16th, 2024. Compliance date if you are able is STILL Sept. 16th, 2023. Discretionary enforcement ENDS on March 16th, 2024. If you’re waiting on your module, firmware, or FRIAs, you have an extra 6 months. For everyone else, you still need to comply as of the 16th of September, 2023. We’re very glad to see the FAA has responded to our previous video and letter requesting for discretionary enforcement until March. Alright, next up we have some pricing leaks for the rumored Mini 4 Pro, coming from Europe. As reported by DroneXL, the drone only will run 799, drone with the RC 2 at 999, and the fly more combo at 1129. Pricing is currently only reported as euros, but we can expect similar pricing here as drone prices in Europe tend to be just a bit more expensive than the US. Interestingly we see the DJI RC 2 package here nearly confirming that the Mini 4 will come with O4. We haven’t seen any other leaks on when the new Mini will be released, but we speculate within the next month. In the third story this week, the FAA granted UPS Flight Forward and uAvionix BVLOS waivers. UPS will be utilizing Matternet M2 drones, which have an airworthiness certificate. uAvionix will utilize Rapace drones to test their detect and avoid technology. These two companies join Phoenix Air Unmanned in operating BVLOS to capture data for the FAA. The FAA will then use this data to create standards for routine BVLOS in the future. According to the FAA at Commercial UAV Expo, we could see a BVLOS NPRM as soon as August of 2024 with a final rule in 2025. We’ll keep you updated as we see more! Next up we have sentencing for the Bengals Game TFR violation… 25 Year Old Dailon Dabney was sentenced to a year of probation and 40 hours of community service for operating his DJI Air 2S over the Bengals VS Raiders game last year. Dabney posted the video on YouTube, resulting in massive backlash from those in the UAS industry, and went as far as to taunt the FAA that they couldn’t find him. In the video, the Air 2S is flow down into the stadium, over people and the field, and inside of a stadium TFR. The sentencing comes from the Department of Justice, not from the FAA, so it’s possible the FAA has fined Dabney in addition to the sentencing. We’ve said it once and we’ll keep saying it… Don’t be that guy. Finally, we have the Drone Advocacy Alliance who has announced three more campaigns. If you’re unfamiliar with the Drone Advocacy Alliance, the group is an alliance of companies across the UAS industry that advocate against restrictions in what drones may be used by industry and public safety. The new campaigns include opposing restrictions in federal bill appropriations, restrictions in the FAA Reauthorization act, and other market restrictions in the NDAA. If you’d like to get involved or read more about these topics, we’ll put a link in the description below! That’s all for this week, we’ll be in Buena Vista Colorado on Sunday for the Colorado UAS Roundup! We hope to see you there, we’ll see you next week! https://dronexl.co/2023/09/08/faa-ups-uavionix-bvlos/ https://dronexl.co/2023/09/11/dji-mini-4-pro-european-pricing/ https://dronexl.co/2023/09/13/drone-disruption-changes-nfl-game-rules/ https://droneadvocacyalliance.com/take-action/

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update and this week we are live from Las Vegas. We have three stories that we want to share. The first one is information about Remote ID. The second one is the Mini 4 Pro. And lastly, we have a person that decided to do something not so great with their drone.

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week; Aloft integrates RID into fleet management, Phoenix Air gets nationwide BVLOS, and lastly an AI system that is faster at FPV racing than professional FPV pilots.

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week; DJI releases delivery drone, DJI warns against imitating apps, FAA Registration change, Pilot Institute success and some upcoming events!

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week; Some news from the FAA Symposium and AAM Summit, Pyka Pelican Spray gets FAA approval, and China is imposing export restrictions on some drone products.

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 4 stories for you this week; Reckless Drone pilot pleads guilty, we might finally have a release date for the Air 3, New FAA guidance about federal preemption, and a malfunction that caused 500 drones to fall from the sky.

Welcome to your weekly news update, we have 3 stories for you this week; Drone Light Show Record Set, More DJI Leaks, and a Big Upcoming Event - EAA AirVenture!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 3 stories for you this week; NYC is proposing an approval process to fly drones in the city, Aloft Air control has released their API, and some drone leaks. Lets get to it!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update, we have 3 stories for you this week; The FAA is seeking public comments on BVLOS below 400’ for data collection, DJI Air 3 Leaks, and Korean Air who is using drones to inspect their airplanes.

This week in Drone News we have three stories for you. The FAA recently released a document outlining AAM integration into airspace, a scary Iowa bill has passed the Iowa House, Aloft releases Air Boss aimed to have one person able to boss their immediate airspace for use with multiple pilots and aircraft.

DJI Mavic Pro Leak This week in drone news we have four stories for you: DJI Mavic 3 Pro leaked price, Yet another bill to prevent first responders from doing their jobs, organized drone crime ring busted, Upcoming events and Deep Dives! Don't forget about the LIVE AMA with Greg on Monday April 24th at 4PM MST!

DJI Mavic Pro Leak This week in drone news we have four stories for you: DJI Mavic 3 Pro Leaked price, Yet another bill to prevent first responders from doing their jobs, organized drone crime ring busted, Upcoming events and Deep Dives!

This week in drone news we have three stories for you: Inspire 3, Check your currency (Public Service Announcement), and a device to make DJI drones NDAA compliant.

This week in drone news we have four stories for you: Inspire 3 and Mavic 3 Pro are around the corner, Wing’s CEO testifies before Congress and some heated discussion about Florida’s DJI ban.

In this week's drone news we have three stories: DJI releases new goggles and controller for Avata, there is an Autel Evo support update, and a New York drone corridor for testing.

This week in drone news we have four stories for you and the first one is a big one, Oregon nominates a new Aviation Director, Florida public safety pushes back against the country of origin ban, A new partnership for Pilot Institute, and 200 weeks of news!

This week in drone news we have four stories for you; A UK Drone Pilot was fined after flying too close to a warbird, AUVSI Green UAS program, DJI discontinues aeroscope, and a petition to raise the weight limit for remote id and registration.

This week in drone news we have three stories for you; IACRA glitch means anyone who applied for certs needs to re-apply, AZ bill to make flying drones over houses a felony, and the “American Security Drone Act of 2023” bill in congress.

This week in drone news we have three stories for you; Recreational LAANC enabled for night flights, Freefly Grounding, Spright gets nationwide BVLOS.

This week in drone news we have four stories for you; DJI SDK and New DJI Mini 2 SE, Super Bowl Drone Incursions down, the upcoming Texas drone workshop and a kuddos!

This week in drone news we have four stories for you; A new drone announcement from Brinc, TN law to ban non-NDAA drones from government uses, a New FAA CBO, and a potential new drone from DJI.

This week in drone news we have three stories for you; the Government Accountability Office says the FAA needs to stop dragging its feet on UAS integration, New Pyka Pelican Cargo, and Flytrex gets Part 135!

This week in drone news we have three stories for you; Amazon and other drone company layoffs, a follow-up on a crash between a drone and a Cessna 172, and Airbus is looking for partners on the Zephyr Project.

This week in drone news we have three stories for you; did Amazon fire someone for voicing safety concerns, a new world record for the fastest drone, and drone was used to locate a stranded boater.

This week in drone news we have three stories for you; DJI’s CES ban, FAA Delays Section 2209 again, and Walmart/DroneUp face delivery challenges.

This week in drone news we have four stories for you; the new Autel Evo Max, PSI changing the cut for testing centers, FCC announces NPRM for UAS, and a Ford Patent for operations over moving vehicles.

It’s time to recap 52 weeks of drone news update. We want to thank our community and our students for everything this year. Looking forward to another year of education and aviation.

In this week’s drone news update, we’ll talk about a rescue with a drone, DroneUp Expanding Deliveries, and a reminder for the holiday season.

In this week’s drone news update, we’ll talk about AUVSI Drone Prepared, a chance for those in Florida to comment on the country of origin ban, the new Ebee Vision, New CBOs, and finally, what happens today…

In this week’s drone news update, we’ll talk about a drone pilot getting fined for flying without a TRUST cert, a new DJI drone, and An autonomous aviation company working with the FAA and large drones to battle wildfires.

In this week’s drone news: Matternet, a medical drone delivery platform has received type and production certification from the FAA, DJI updates their data security following all the buzz about data security with Chinese company DJI, and the FCC database, amongst other things, has shown a new DJI Mini 3. Let’s get to it!

This week in drone news: A story of a Pilot Institute Student who saved two people in 9 days using drones, DJI released the Mavic 3 Multispectral & the new O3+ Air Unit this week, and a FOIA Showed 101 accidents reported to the FAA.

Your first story this week is a Pilot Institute Student who saved a life. 

Texas Game Warden Michael Hummert responded to two search and rescue calls in central Texas in less than ten days. 

As the only thermal drone in the county, Hummert led deputies to the first missing individual who was in a restricted DOD airspace.

Just nine days later officials reached out requesting assistance in another missing persons case. 

Hummert working in conjunction with federal officials was again successful in ensuring the person’s safety.

Huge shout out to Warden Hummert and all first responders! Thanks for what you do!

Your second story this week is the new DJI air unit and the Mavic 3 Multispectral!

O3+ has arrived in an air unit platform, and the video is amazing with 1080p 100fps in the goggles and 4K60 with rock steady recording in camera.

We’ve got a review you can check out here where we tested the air unit in a number of torture tests! 

Also check out Drone XL’s article on the new air unit!

Also released this week is the Mavic 3 Multispectral, signaling the true end to the Phantom line up.

The M3M uses a 4/3 CMOS sensor with 4 additional sensors in the Green, Red, Red Edge, and Near IR bands to collect data for agriculture.

Each additional sensor is 5MP while the main sensor is 20MP with a mechanical shutter. 

As with the rest of the Mavic 3 enterprise line up, the M3M has an available SDK, RTK, and uses the DJI Pilot 2 App. 

For those who were waiting for a Phantom 5, it looks like this is it! This is the 6th Mavic 3 from DJI, and the 4th one this year. 

Your third story this week is a FOIA request that showed 101 drone accident reports made to the FAA. 

Interesting notes are that 25 of the 101 pertain to near misses or collisions with manned aircraft, 8 were caused by fly aways, 7 by wind, 4 by low battery, and 3 were shot down. 

Many of the accidents were due to equipment malfunctions, however there are a few that are due to people being “That guy”. 

One discussed a person flying a mavic air 2 by an unlicensed operator who decided to go inside during the flight, resulting in the drone low-battery landing into a girl riding her bike resulting in lacerations to her face that required hospitalization. 

Remember that these were FAA reports, not NTSB reports. The NTSB reporting requirements are actually a lot lower than the FAA ones (which is only $500 in damage). 

The last story this week is that our Black Friday sale is going strong today. All the courses in our catalog are currently at the lowest they will be this year, and I mean that. Our Part 107 course is $107 right now, our photo/video fundamentals course is $75, the real estate course is $49, the mapping bundle is $199. See the full list on our website.

That’s it! We hope you had a great turkey day, time to go back to your food coma, we will see you next week.

This week in drone news: The FAA has snuck network Remote ID into the norm by approving a bid for a company to download local Remote ID information and broadcast it on a nationwide network. The FAA has approved the first community-based organization (AMA). A study published by Aloft shows LAANC compliance is low, finally all the Pilot Institute courses are on sale! Go check it out!

This week in drone news: Researches have made a WiFi tracking drone and outline potential dangers, a DJI M30T was used just days after purchase to save a woman, Percepto has been approved for remote deploy of their drone in a box solution, this comes along with a BVLOS waiver nationwide, lastly there have been leaks and rumors regarding a DJI Mini 3 SE.  What do you think the specs are going to be?

This week in drone news, the senseFly (now AGEagle) eBee was approved as the first class 3 drone this week, DJI releases the Mavic 3 Classic, a more simple version of the base Mavic 3, and Pilot Institute published a free course on how to 3d map with SkyeBrowse!

This week in drone news: SkyeBrowse released a completely free version of their videogrammetry software called Freemium. Check it out using the link below. The FAA has released a new advisory circular that is aimed toward community based organizations and recreational flyers; we put out a video on this if you want more information. More DJI leaks and updates, the Air2S is seen with the new smart controller, Mavic 3 Classic, and more.

This week in drone news: over eighty thousand drone identification numbers were leaked causing panic and distrust; the database was a result of an aeroscope user not DJI; the Drone was reported as spying but in fact it was just an FP&L drone doing inspections not related to the accuser; the recent Dodgers/Padres game in San Diego was interrupted by a rogue drone flying over first base; lastly, we will be attending AZDrone fest this weekend, come say hi!

This week in drone news we speak with Paul Brown, a PI student, about NYC ticketing him for flying a drone, next we will discuss a company that is tracking volcanos with what looks like a DJI M600, lastly, we will recap airworks, recent DJI troubles, and the Mavic 3 Classic leak.

This week in drone news: the first remote id app was released to the app store, Paladin released an LTE dongle that attaches to the DJI M30 and M300, there was a drone show in New Mexico during the balloon festival, and a Wing delivery drone crashed into a power line leaving people without power.

In this week's drone news, the infamous pilot that flew inside the stadium during the Bengals game was finally indicted, the Mavic 3 Thermal has been leaked on the FAA DOC page amongst other places, wildfire ops were halted after sightings of a drone in the airspace, and finally, less than a minute after a search drone was launched a missing man was found and brought to safety.

This week in drone news: Remote ID delayed for manufacturers working on compliance, DJI Leaks on Mavic 3 Classic, and Autel releases V3 aircraft and new smart controller.

Check out our gear list: https://www.amazon.com/shop/pilotinstitute

Free drone registration labels:

https://pilotinstitute.com/free/

Our Other Channels

- PIXL Drone Show: drone-related podcast, posts every Tuesday morning. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbeSmbjvE0etKry8Nk2n0CQ

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Our courses

- Part 107 Made Easy: the most comprehensive ground school online. https://bit.ly/2AkRWq0

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Remote Id Delayed for manufacturers actively working on RID compliance. The new compliance date for these manufacturers is Dec. 16th, 2022. 

Leaks show a new Mavic 3 classic drone with a fixed aperture camera. 

https://dronexl.co/2022/09/03/dji-mavic-3-classic-camera-drone-photos/

https://dronexl.co/2022/09/01/dji-rumors-dji-mavic-3-classic-drone/

New Autel aircraft

V3 aircraft will be compliant with Remote ID and can come with a smaller more compact Autel Smart Controller!

This week in drone news; DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise leaks, Rogue Drone stopped firefighting efforts in Montana, Drone tracking installed at LAX, and some new Pilot Institute Deep-dive courses! 

DJI Avata Deep Dive: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/dji-avata-deep-dive/

Parrot Anafi Ai Deep Dive: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/parrot-anafi-ai-deep-dive/

Matrice 300 Deep Dive: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/dji-m300-deep-dive/

An image shared by DealsDrone potentially shows the payload for the Mavic 3 Enterprise.

Currently, there are no specs on the Mavic 3 Enterprise or the payload

The Mavic 3 Enterprise is expected to be released or announced at DJI Airworks 2022, in just a few weeks. 

https://dronexl.co/2022/08/29/dji-mavic-3-enterprise-camera-leaked-photo/

A rogue drone in Montana delayed firefighting efforts.

Firefighters were able to chase the drone back to the owner. 

“The crew member actually kind of chased the drone down the hill and was able to find some kids that helped him out, that got him to the person that was actually operating the drone. We quickly called the PD and they responded within a few minutes, and we were able to catch up with the gentleman,” says Huston.

https://dronexl.co/2022/08/30/rogue-drones-mount-helena-firefighting/

In light of recent “Guy in a jetpack” sightings at LAX, TSA will be testing a new technology to track drones.

See our aerial armor video - 

No confirmation on if this particular system will be used at LAX or not…

TSA reports that there have been 38 drone sightings at LAX this year.

https://dronexl.co/2022/08/26/drone-tracking-tech-tested-lax-airport/

Commercial UAV Expo: Sept 6-8 in Las Vegas, NV

Colorado UAS Roundup: Sept 11-12 in Mount Princeton, CO

DJI Airworks: Oct 10-12 in Las Vegas, NV

DRL Drone Race: Oct 11 at the PayPal Park in San Jose, CA

$15 tickets for PI Students, family, and Friends.

https://offer.fevo.com/drone-racing-league-kywoakr-8083d5a?fevoUri=drone-racing-league-kywoakr-8083d5a%2F

Commercial UAV Expo: Sept 6-8 in Las Vegas, NV

Colorado UAS Roundup: Sept 11-12 in Mount Princeton, CO

DJI Airworks: Oct 10-12 in Las Vegas, NV

DRL Drone Race: Oct 11 at the PayPal Park in San Jose, CA

$15 tickets for PI Students, family, and Friends.

https://offer.fevo.com/drone-racing-league-kywoakr-8083d5a?fevoUri=drone-racing-league-kywoakr-8083d5a%2F

This week in drone news; the DJI Avata has been released after weeks of leaks, the long-flying Zephyr Drone has crashed hours short of the world record time, FCC filings suggest an EVO 2 V3, and some upcoming industry events including Commercial UAV Expo and DRL's first race of the season! 

Get the Avata here: https://click.dji.com/APt7wTOjepgyoDfSf0T_aA?pm=link

DJI Avata is out and it’s sweet!

4K 60, 18 minute of flight time, 

GPS, Sport and Manual modes

New goggles with Head Tracking

Free Deep Dive

Full Review

Comparative Footage

The Zephyr drone crashed shortly after our news update went out last week.

The drone totaled 64 days airborne

The Zephyr was just hours short of the longest flight ever, which was set in 1958.

Two men flew a C172 Skyhawk for 64 days and 22 hours.

https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-powered-airbus-zephyr-drone-apparently-crashed-in-arizona-2022-8

According to recent FCC filings, Autel is preparing to release up to 6 new models of the EVO 2.

EVO II Pro V3: Quadcopter equipped with a 1-inch CMOS sensor that can shoot up to 6K video.

EVO II Pro RTK V3: Quadcopter equipped with a 6K camera and a RTK module that has centimeter-level positioning accuracy.

EVO II Pro Enterprise: Quadcopter equipped with a 6K camera and compatible with four kinds of enterprise accessories (Spotlight, Loudspeaker, Strobe, RTK Module).

EVO II DUAL 640T V3: Quadcopter equipped with a 4K camera and a thermal camera.

EVO II DUAL 640T RTK: Quadcopter equipped with a 4K camera, a thermal camera, and an RTK module that has centimeter-level positioning accuracy.

EVO II DUAL 640T Enterprise V3: Quadcopter equipped with a 4K camera, a thermal camera, and compatible with four kinds of enterprise accessories (Spotlight, Loudspeaker, Strobe, RTK Module).

This appears to be another chipset for the drones and controllers

New Autel smart controller “SE” for Evo lite and Nano series

Commercial UAV Expo: Sept 6-8 in Las Vegas, NV

Colorado UAS Roundup: Sept 11-12 in Mount Princeton, CO

DJI Airworks: Oct 10-12 in Las Vegas, NV

DRL Drone Race: Oct 11 at the PayPal Park in San Jose, CA

$15 tickets for PI Students, family, and Friends.

https://offer.fevo.com/drone-racing-league-kywoakr-8083d5a?fevoUri=drone-racing-league-kywoakr-8083d5a%2F

This week in drone news, the Airbus Zephyr has completed 60 days of flying so far, DJI Avata accessories leaked by Adorama, another drone smuggling attempt, more PI content coming to the Photography and videography course, and the upcoming Commercial UAV Expo! 

The Zephyr drone is still flying!

82’ wingspan, 165lbs.

Solar powered

This is the same drone (and same flight) that flew to Belize and back.

The previous record for a sustained UAS flight was 26 days… we’ve passed 60 days now.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/armys-zephyr-drone-is-still-aloft-after-50-days

These leaks show the Avata accessories!

Looks like parts including new props, ducts/propeller guards, and the “upper frame” are available for purchase

Extra batteries, fly more combos, ND filters, and a battery hub are also available. 

https://dronexl.co/2022/08/16/9-dji-avata-accessories-pricing-adorama/

DJI Battery Charging Hub for Avata Intelligent Flight Battery – $59

DJI Propellers for Avata Drone – $9

DJI ND Filter Set with ND8, ND16, ND32 for DJI Avata drone – $79

DJI 2420mAh Intelligent Flight Battery for Avata Drone – $129

DJI Fly More Kit w/2x Intelligent Flight Battery & Charging Hub for Avata Drone – $279

DJI Headband for Avata Goggles 2 – $19

DJI Propeller Guard for Avata Drone – $29

DJI Upper Frame for Avata Drone – $19

DJI 1800mAh Battery for Avata Goggles 2 – $39

Another smuggling attempt via drone was stopped this week in Fort Worth, Texas.

A man attempted to smuggle contraband into a prison including drugs, smartphones, and MP3 players.

Flight logs from the drone show that it was flown over a number of other correctional facilities previously. 

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-man-accused-of-flying-drone-over-federal-prison-to-deliver-drugs-other-contraband/

Don, Greg, and Jason (and DSPA!) will be attending Commercial UAV Expo this year!

The Expo will have at least 193 exhibitors and project at least 200+ will actually fill the floor, a 50% increase over last year and a record-sized show.  

It is the most important commercial drone show ever held in the Americas.  Our attendance is also tracking at a record level, and our full-conference registration is way ahead of last year.

This week in drone news; More leaks for the DJI Avata, Skyebrowse has released a new hyper-realistic modeling software, ASTM has gotten the first MOC for remote ID, the FAA's Dronezone got a new look this week, and an update on Pilot Institute's new courses! 

Check out Skyebrowse: https://www.skyebrowse.com/

DJI Avata leaks continue, suggesting the drone is nearing release

Rumored specs include

18 minute flight time

RTH

408g

DJI Goggles 2 (looks like 2 different types)

A motion controller

1/1.7” sensor, 4K 60

3 modes: Manual, Sport, Normal

$629 to $1388

Also looks like an Avata Air Unit ($250-300)

DroneXL reported a leaked published day of 8/23

https://dronexl.co/2022/08/08/dji-avata-specs-drone-photo/

The DroneZone got a new look! 

Functionality of the site remain the same, with additional links to mission specific rules and guidelines.

Remember that the Dronezone is the ONLY place to register your drone. If it doesn’t end in .gov, you’re in the wrong spot!

https://faadronezone-access.faa.gov/

Skyebrowse has released Hyper.

This system generates realistic models in as little as 2 minutes

This is a fully textured centimeter accurate 3D model

https://www.skyebrowse.com/?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_email_id=62f10995ac12f171652d0858

In this week's drone news; The RDQ vs FAA court case has been settled and remote ID will continue as planned, NASA and Zipline partner for fleet integration, an experimental eVOTL crash, and a new FAASafety course by Pilot Institute. 

ALC-803: https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_content.aspx?pf=1&preview=true&cID=803

Remote ID was upheld in the US. Court of Appeals this week.

Race Day Quads sued the FAA based on the 4th amendment, procedural Mis-steps, and concerns of pilot safety.

“Remote ID technology requires drones in flight to emit publicly readable radio signals reflecting certain identifying information, including their serial number, location, and performance information. Those signals can be received, and the Remote ID information read, by smart phones and similar devices using a downloadable application available to the FAA, government entities, and members of the public, including other aircraft operators.”

For a full analysis, see our live stream and the article from DroneXL!

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/29/faas-remote-id-for-drones-upheld-in-court/

NASA has partnered with Zipline to create a vision for autonomous fleets of drones.

To achieve this, researchers are using a small number of people to operate large amounts of drones. 

This experience along with Zipline’s other experience with operations of many aircraft will help shape the future of fleet operations in the US. 

https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/nasa-partners-with-zipline-to-shape-future-operations-of-autonomous-fleets

The Guardian G1 is an eVTOL made by the company Aura Aerospace.

In a recent test, the G1 caught fire due to a failed current regulator.

“The problem is that certain components, such as commercially available high-power transistors and FETs, are not at all suited to aerospace electric applications. Only when certified power controllers are available will electric flying be able to get off the ground safely,” Thompson said.

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/28/passenger-drone-evtol-catches-fire/

What is FAASafety 

Sarah Nilsson 

ALC-803 - Regulations, Laws, Airspace Ownership and FAA Enforcement 

Available for free on the FAA website

In this week's drone news; Leaks for upcoming DJI drones include the Mavic 3 Enterprise, Inspire 3, and the Avata, an update on the large UAS crash in California, lifeguards save a swimmer using a drone to drop a life jacket, and a new FAA safety course by Pilot Insitute.   

FAA Safety ALC-803: https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_content.aspx?pf=1&preview=true&cID=803

The DJI Avata showed up in FCC filings this week, along with DJI goggles 2 and an O3 Air unit.

This appears to be a successor to the DJI FPV

According to registration, the Avata has a 2420mAh battery

No word on the launch date, but it’s in the FCC database!

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/26/dji-avata-drone-fcc-database/

New leaked photo of the Inspire 3!

The Inspire 3 is expected to have

Zenmuse X9

8K 75FPS

O4

Time code sync

Built-in ND filters

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/26/dji-inspire-3-drone-leaked-photo/

We previously reported on a possible Mavic 3 Enterprise after the April fool’s post by DJI.

Now, leaked photos appear to show a Mavic 3 with a Matrice 30 payload.

Rumored features include a 3-1200m Laser Range Finder

24 MP 1” CMOS sensor

3-16X optical zoom

Up to 300X hybrid zoom

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/23/dji-mavic-3-enterprise-thermal-leaked-photos/

We previously reported on a large UAS crash in California

The pilot reported that the aircraft was on its third spraying mission of the day

The pilot completed a pre-flight and updated the previous mission.

The aircraft took off in autonomous mode, climbed to ~125 feet, and went into a left turn. The pilot noted no unusual behavior during the turn.

The aircraft’s right wing skin separated from the aircraft taking flaps and ailerons with it.  

The aircraft rolled right and lost altitude crashing into the ground.

The batteries caught fire after the crash but did not spread.

(See pics)

https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=105109

Spanish lifeguards saved a 14 years old from drowning off of a beach in Valencia.

The drone dropped a lifejacket into the sea which kept the swimmer afloat until other guards were able to get to the distressed swimmer.

Don, Greg, and Jason (and DSPA!) will be attending Commercial UAV Expo this year!

The Expo will have at least 193 exhibitors and project at least 200+ will actually fill the floor, a 50% increase over last year and a record sized show.  

It is the most important commercial drone show ever held in the Americas.  Our attendance is also tracking at a record level, and our full-conference registration is way ahead of last year.

In this week's drone news; DraganFly has released a drone with a 66lb payload and a 55-minute endurance, Wing is creating a fleet of larger drones to carry different items, DJI is lobbying against the American Security Drone Act, a man was caught trying to fly contraband into a prison, and one year of Pilot Institute's Free stickers!

DraganFly has introduced a cargo drone with a payload of 66lbs and a range of 19 miles.

The heavy lift drone uses LTE for fully autonomous flights with an up to 55-minute endurance.

In addition to package delivery, the heavy lift can be equipped with a new long-range LIDAR unit to map large areas.

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/13/draganfly-heavy-lift-cargo-drone/

On the topic of larger drones, Alphabet’s Wing is expanding the size of its drones.

“Just as the ideal vehicle for carrying a ton of gravel would be a dump truck rather than a sedan, the ideal aircraft to carry a bottle of medication is not the same as the best one to deliver a gallon of milk, and neither is suited to deliver a refrigerator,” Wing CEO Adam Woodworth.

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/19/contraband-heavy-duty-drone-texas-prison/

DJI has hired lobbying firms in an attempt to persuade congress not to back the American Security Drone Act.

This would prohibit the government from buying drones made by Chinese firms or other companies that could be a national security risk

DJI is already on the Entity list and on the Chinese Military-industrial complex list.

https://archive.ph/Ijb8J

A Texas man was arrested in Houston after trying to use a heavy lift drone to drop a bag of contraband into a prison.

The contraband included wire cutters, money, smartphones, and tobacco.

Charges agains the man included two counts of improperly flying and aircraft, each carrying up to 3 years in prison.

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/19/contraband-heavy-duty-drone-texas-prison/

In this week's news, Yuneec announces a new commercial drone. DJI Airworks is happening in person this year, August 2022. Paladin and Odessa PD have created the largest DFR network in the states. Pilot Institute is 3 years old! We will go over some of our accomplishments all thanks to our students, viewers and community.  00:00 Introduction 00:36 Yuneec Announces Business Class Drone 02:00 DJI Airworks 2022 02:41 Largest DFR Program in the Country 03:49 Pilot Institute Anniversary  

Yuneec announced the H850-RTK, a new hexacopter drone aimed at professional users 65 min flight time and multiple payload capabilities.  Also introducing a smart controller with 7” built-in display (1000 nit) Designed to be a competitor to the Matrice 300 (but cheaper) 8 lb of payload, RTK GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, and Galileo constellations  Compatible with existing Yuneec cameras such as the E90x (20MP 1” sensor), E30Zx (30x optical zoom), and the E20TVx (radiometric thermal imager) Expected to be $7500-8000 range.  https://dronexl.co/2022/07/07/yuneec-h850-rtk-business-class-drone/  

DJI Airworks was announced this week as a in-person event again after a few years of online-only meetings.  It will be held at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas between October 10-12th.  The show will feature outdoor demos, numerous workshops, and in-depth panels discussions.  Tickets are available at $199 until August 8, then $299 after that.  https://dronexl.co/2022/07/09/dji-airworks-2022-las-vegas/  

The Odessa Police Department has teamed up with Paladin Drones to create the largest Drone as First Responder (DFR) program in the US.  The drones will be used by Odessa Police and Odessa Fire Rescue personnel to gather key information prior to first responders' arrival. Paladins Knighthawk Drones will arrive on the scene prior to first responders and stream video directly to that person who needs it the most. They will fly in Class C, E, and G using a 5-drone DFR System https://paladindrones.io/odessa-police-department-announces-largest-dfr-program-in-the-us/  

Check out the tour of our facility!  

Let’s take a look at some numbers for the past 3 years!  

167k students, 252k course enrollments 47k Part 107 trained. 

92% average on exam, 99.995% pass rate 

Almost exactly 50,000 comments left in the part 107 course alone 

9.3m lectures completed, that’s almost 6 lectures per minute.  

29 courses in our catalog with 3 more soon.  

12,600 Free stickers bringing awareness to Registration schemes online.  

73k+ TRUST Certificates (last year): 25% of all TRUST certificates ever issued!  

894 Continuing education credits issued in the last 12 months 

58,000 subs on YouTube and over 8.5m combined views (over 3 channels) 15k reviews with an average of 4.9/5

This week in Drone News: An Airbus Zephyr UAS has been flying for 17 days so far, A Mavic 3 was shot down, NAAA cautions UAS operators for crop spraying operations, and Samsung’s Airborne surveillance camera.

An Airbus Zephyr S Solar powered UAV has been flying above Arizona for 17 days - So far… 

While not a small UAS, This goes to show how solar power could one day allow for perpetual operation of a UAV!

The Zephyr S remained above the Sofa Wilderness and Yuma Test Range before flying to Belize.

It’s unclear how long the aircraft will remain airborne. During the testing of the Zephyr System in 2018, the aircraft flew for 28 days.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/zephyr-high-flying-drone-has-been-up-for-17-days-as-part-of-army-test

An investigation is ongoing in North Carolina, after a man’s Mavic 3 was shot down during a family gathering.

The pilot was taking pictures of the sunset when they heard 4 shots, and the aircraft fell out of the sky.

The operator reported the incident to both local law enforcement and the FAA. 

The FAA stated “A private citizen shooting at any aircraft – including unmanned aircraft – poses a significant safety hazard… Could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” said Elizabeth Cory (FAA).

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/06/dji-mavic-3-drone-shot-north-carolina/

Samsung has created a drone to provide overwatch in dark areas.

This drone is designed to provide overwatch to people traveling through areas in cities that are poorly lit or have a high crime rate.

The drone captures 360 degree video and can summon police if it detects a crime has been committed, and even can track the suspects.

https://www.yankodesign.com/2022/07/04/this-samsung-drone-wasnt-designed-for-consumers-it-was-designed-for-public-safety/

The National Agricultural Aviation Association released a flyer cautioning UAS operators for upcoming agricultural operations

This flyer advised the following

Equip UAV with Strobe Lights and Tracking Technology like and ADS-B out system

Get Certified and Trained in operating a UAV

Follow the law- Always give the right of way to manned aircraft

Coordinate with local aircraft operators about your UAV operations

Carry sufficient UAV liability insurance

 https://agairupdate.com/2022/04/18/naaa-cautions-unmanned-aircraft-operators-not-to-interfere-with-low-altitude-manned-agricultural-aircraft-this-growing-season/

This week in drone news: A new video on the DJI Avata shows an artist's concept of the drone, Influential Drones has acquired Buzz my Property, Phoenix Fire used a drone to help locate and rescue overheating hikers, an upcoming AAAC meeting will discuss pilot safety, and a new course for visual observers from Pilot Institute.

VO Course: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/visual-observer-essentials/

A new video shows the potential concept of the DJI Avata

It is important to note that this video is NOT made by DJI, this is an artist's representation of the Avata.

There haven’t been any new leaks at this time, however, according to DJI’s roadmap for 2022, we may see the Avata as soon as July of this year!

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/22/dji-avata-rendering-cinewhoop-drone/

Influential drones has announced a partnership with Buzz My Property.

Buzz My Property is a real-estate drone service for Realtors, landscapers, arborists, and municipal departments. 

Influential drones is drone reseller and commercial drone service provider

https://www.newswire.com/news/influential-drones-acquires-buzz-my-property-21751151

Phoenix fire rescued 8 people using drones and a helicopter

The group was hiking camelback mountain in Phoenix and were filming a reality TV show.

After running out of water, the group called 911, and phoenix fire was dispatched. 

They used their drone to find the groups of hikers, and then the hikers were air-lifted off the mountain.

https://www.azfamily.com/2022/06/23/more-than-10-people-treated-heat-related-illness-echo-canyon-trail/

There is an upcoming AAAC meeting, on June 30th, 2022 from 10 AM to 2:30 PM ET that will discuss UAS operator safety

Other topics to be covered will be the remaining items on the 2018 reauthorization act

FAA’s rule-making process

Operations of UAS in class E airspace - Over the top of class A.

This week in drone news: Zipline has gotten their PArt 135 certificate from the FAA, The FAA is soliciting public comments about Zipline's proposed drone deliveries, Wingcopter has raised 42 million to expand deliveries, Amazon's announcement a surprise for the small town where their deliveries will begin, and finally, we've released our Photography course!   

Enroll in the Photography Course here: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/drone-photo-video-made-easy/

The FAA on Tuesday approved Zipline to operate as an air carrier under part 135

Zipline is the first company to a its 135 cert under the FAA’s BEYOND 

program along with Zipline receiving their part 135 certificate, the FAA is asking for public comments on package deliveries in the Pea Ridge Arkansas area

Zipline's proposed area covers 1200 square miles in NW Arkansas, with a maximum of 20 flights per day

Comments will be open for 14 days, the proposal can be viewed here: https://www.faa.gov/advancedoperations/nepaanddrones/zipline-pea-ridge-environmental-assessment

Send comments to: [email protected]

https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/nepa_and_drones

Wingcopter has announced they raised 42 million dollars to expand drone delivery beyond medicine.

The company hopes to use this money to begin deliveries of things like groceries.

“At Wingcopter, we create efficient and sustainable drone solutions to save and improve lives. For this, we are hiring passionate pioneers with whom we build what has not existed before,” said Tom Plümmer, co-founder and CEO of Wingcopter. “The new funding, combined with growing revenues, puts us in an excellent position to establish our industry-leading drone delivery solution with our customers around the globe to optimize supply chains.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wingcopter-raises-42m-to-expand-beyond-medical-drone-deliveries

Currently Zipline is making deliveries every 4 minutes (Worldwide), and is working with Walmart in the US.

Amazon’s  plan to launch their drone deliveries later this year in Lockeford, CA came as a surprise to many folks in the town

It appears that this, as with many Amazon ventures, was kept secret in an attempt to prevent backlash.

Amazon is apparently reaching out to those within 4 miles of the distribution center to determine who is interested in trying drone deliveries.

Packages will be under 5lbs, and will be limited to certain goods.

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jun/21/amazons-drones-plan-a-surprise-to-residents/https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3531431-faa-approves-drone-delivery-from-zipline/

This week in drone news: Amazon is starting drone deliveries this year, A small drone was found crashed near a runway in Arkansas, the proposed drone act of 2022, drone safety awareness day, and a new Pilot Institute course!

Amazon plans to begin deliveries in northern California this year the company announced this week

Prime Air drones will carry packages that weigh up to 5lbs and are shoe-box sized or smaller

The drone will hover ~10 feet over the ground to drop the package and will find this spot via a QR code printed by the customer.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-13/amazon-plans-to-start-drone-delivery-in-california-this-year

A small drone was found crashed near a runway at Boone County Regional Regional Airport in Arkansas

The drone is a “Skyrider” and models cost ~$50. The aircraft was not registered

The airport manager stated “Our airport is in a Class E airspace. A drone is not allowed to go zero feet within four miles of our airport and can then go up to 400 feet after that,” said Boone County Regional Airport Manager Judy McCutcheon according to KY3. “That covers the entire city limits of Harrison, Arkansas, with the exception of the far southeast side. That is a no drone sight unless you are a 107 drone operator, and get permission with the FAA before you fly.”

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/13/recreational-drone-runway/

This bill in the US House of Rep. seeks to cover malicious use of drones, including

Weaponization of UAS

Impairment of identification or lighting

Interfering with protected activities (Operations of aircraft, airports, vessels, vehicles, law enforcement, or military ops)

Operating in restricted airspace with knowledge of the prohibition

Transportation of contraband

Threats, attempts, or conspiracies of the above

Terrorism and electronic surveillance

Penalties for injuries/death based on above infractions

This law would allow DHS to prosecute certain offenses in the same manner as the FAA

https://www.justice.gov/ola/page/file/1465976/download

New paid course from PI! 

Learn the elements of photography from Greg and our guest instructors Billy Kyle and Ken Dobo!

This week in drone news, Paladin has gotten a BVLOS waiver for class B airspace, Axon stops r&d on a Taser drone, more blue UAS added to the approved list, and a firmware upidate to the Mavic 3!

Paladin Drones has received a class B BVLOS waiver for their Drone as First Responders system

The waiver is for the Elizabeth Police Department in New Jersey

Paladin’s aircraft, the Knighthawk is a 4G LTE quadcopter with a 55 minute endurance designed specifically for first responders.

Paladin’s Watchtower solution also integrates video feeds with other manufacters for maximum situational awareness.

https://paladindrones.io/class-b-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-waiver-granted-to-elizabeth-police-department/

Axon has stopped the plan to create a drone armed with a taser after a majority of its ethics board resigned due to the project.

Axon founder and CEO stated “we are pausing work on this project and refocusing to further engage with key constituencies to fully explore the best path forward,”

The board voted 8-4 against Axon continuing work on the project

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/axon-halts-plans-taser-drone-ethics-board-resign-85211941

More aircraft have been added to the Blue UAS list, including the Wingtra one, Alta x, Spirit, and Ebee Tac

We’ve been critical in the past of the limited aircraft on the blue UAS list, the addition of these aircraft should allow for more competition and more capability 

Previously we reported that the capabilities of Blue UAS are lacking when compared to other manufacturers, such as DJI and Autel.

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/03/wingtraone-altax-spirit-ebee-tac-blue-suas/

The telephoto lens now supports

RAW

Different frame rates for video (4K 25, 30, 50

Manual ISO and Shutter speed

DJI May have also finally fixed the GPS issues!

HLG on the main camera

D-Log and HLG when recording master shots and Quickshots

Check out the full changes on DroneXL! 

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/01/dji-mavic-3-firmware-update-gps/

This week in drone news, Amazon has apparently been telling the FAA not to investigate drone crashes as they are investigating, a new defense/public safety drone, and a large crop-spraying drone crash in California.

It appears that Prime Air has been avoiding FAA crash investigations by claiming the company has the authority to conduct its own investigations 

At least twice, FAA inspectors have found that Amazon has moved crash evidence and/or inhibited an investigation.

At least 8 Amazon drones crashed last year, one sparking a 20 acre wildfire in Oregon.

Amazon said that regulatory delays could “Totally Disrupt” the goal timeline of launching Prime Air delivery in 2024.

Amazon responded by stating that the company has"has complied with all incident reporting, investigation, and other applicable regulatory requirements," the spokesperson, Kelly Nantel, said. "Over the last seven years, the FAA has never taken an enforcement action against Prime Air, and has awarded us an air carrier certificate to enable commercial deliveries — showing that our comprehensive process has met the FAA's high bar.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-air-faa-regulators-investigation-drone-crashes-2022-5

A California Start up named “Realtime Robotics” has released a portable heavy lift drone that they say beats competitors in terms of situational awareness for first responders.

The Hera is a backpack-sized drone with a payload capacity of 30lbs and can be outfitted with up to 4 EO/IR cameras. 

The aircraft can be tethered or untethered with a flight time of 46minutes with a 5lb payload.

Realtime Robotics also says the Hera is NDAA compliant.

Guessed to be around $25k 

https://rtrobotics.com/

A large crop splaying aircraft crashed in Winters, CA

While news sources say the aircraft had a wing span of 10 feet, an NTSB report states the aircraft make/model, suggesting a wing span of 38 feet, and a MGTOW of 1320lbs.

The drone, a Pyka Pelican 7, crashed into a field, and was involved in a post-crash fire.

There were no injuries. 

NTSB Accident # WPR22LA183

https://www.wintersexpress.com/local-news/unmanned-aircraft-crashes-in-ag-field

This week in drone news:  Wyoming looking to create a drone trespass law, Insta360 sphere for the Mavic Air 2 and the Air 2S, Walmart expanding their drone delivery, and Skydio Symforce changes to open source.

A Legislative committee in Wyoming voted to continue work on legislation that would address trespass issues relating to drone flights

“Simply entering the airspace above somebody else’s land is a trespass, we’re saying that’s a criminal trespass in the bill, maybe that’s a misdemeanor?” said Olsen. “And maybe your felony occurs when you do these other activities including surveillance, what type of surveillance is it?”

https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/politics-government/2022-05-24/lawmakers-consider-adding-drones-to-trespass-law

Insta360 has released a new camera for the Mavic air 2 and the Air 2S

This camera is a 360 cam and renders the drone invisible! 

This camera straps onto the drone allowing you to fly and get two shots at the same time. One 360 and one of what the drone sees! 

See video 

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/25/insta360-sphere-dji-mavic-air-2-2s-drones/

Walmart is expanding their drone delivery platform to six major cities!

Phoenix, Tampa, Orlando, Dallas, Salt Lake, Richmond

Deliveries in 30 minutes or less

Walmart and DroneUp hope to expand up to 34 sites this year.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/24/walmart-drone-delivery-droneup-packages-doorstep-home

Skydio Symforce is a framework for writing algorithms to control robots.

The company has released symforce as an open-source project to accelerate the robotics and UAS industries

“It’s an incredible tool that allows our team to quickly progress from rapid prototyping to the type of highly-optimized runtime code that powers our drones,” Skydio says in a press release. “SymForce is the result of five years of development by Skydio’s autonomy team in an environment where performance and code maintainability are crucial. We think the challenges it solves are common and that SymForce can help robotics engineers build faster, the same way that PyTorch and TensorFlow accelerated the deep learning ecosystem.”

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/25/skydio-symforce-framework/

Join Greg, our lead instructor, as we learn about all the happenings in the drone industry this week. DJI had yet ANOTHER leak, it looks like a cinewhoop-style drone. Florida Light and Power has purchased an 1800+ lbs drone that will be used for disaster relief in up to a 1000-mile radius of takeoff. Fatshark is coming at DJI's digital system by releasing their own goggles boasting 1080p resolution. 

Thanks for all your support and love these past 3 years of news updates. We look forward to bringing you this content as long as drones are up in the air.

New DJI leaks have already started after the release of the Mini 3 Pro!

This new drone appears to be a cinewhoop-style FPV drone.

Some specs have been leaked

500g

No manual mode

Head chase mode

Vibration function

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/15/dji-avata-dji-cinewhoop-drone/

Florida Power and Light has purchased a drone for disaster response.

This aircraft is an 1800lb UAS that is capable of flying up to 1000 miles.

Florida Power and Light will use this drone along with smaller quadcopters such as the Mavic 2.

FPL hopes to be the first company to fly a large scale drone outside of testing areas

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/17/fpl-fixed-wing-storm-drone/

Fatshark has released a new set of digital FPV goggles, promising 1080p video. 

It appears the Dominator uses the same chipset (P1) as the DJI’s goggles and other aircraft (Such as the Mavic 3 and RC pro)

It will be interesting to see how the new Fatshark goggles compare to DJI!

https://www.suasnews.com/2022/05/the-dji-p1-and-s1-fpv-chipset-its-not-all-that/

This week in drone news; DJI released the Mini 3 Pro, the drone on mars is recovering from a dust storm, Wingcopter gets criteria for part 21 cert, and FliteFest 2022!

Download comparative footage and images on our blog!

Mini 3 Pro Blog Review: https://pilotinstitute.com/dji-mini-3-pro-review/

Learn about the newest addition to DJI's lineup!

DeepDive: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/dji-mini-3-pro-deep-dive/

See Greg and the Team's opinions on the Mini 3 Pro!

Review: https://youtu.be/pn2iJq5hrcU

Should you upgrade from the Mini 2?

Mini 3 Pro vs Mini 2: https://youtu.be/8oqmifYVVwQ

The Mini 3 Pro was officially released on Tuesday, and it packs some awesome features in a tiny drone.

4k60

1/1.3” CMOS

Landscape/portrait mode

Focus track, Master shots, and Quickshots

New RC Plus

Deep Dive! Link to our own review

Ingenuity experienced a blackout due to dust accumulation on its solar panels

This resulted in a pause in the mission for both ingenuity and for perseverance.

This shows that a “Test vehicle” designed for four flights has become a massive asset for the Perseverance team.

With 28 completed flights, the Ingenuity is the first power flight on another planet!

https://www.space.com/mars-ingenuity-helicopter-blackout-dust

On Wed Wingcopter announced the FAA had issued the special class airworthiness criteria.

This is NOT yet an airworthiness certificate but rather the requirements that must be met to obtain an airworthiness certificate!

This is a huge step forwards for drone delivery!

https://wingcopter.com/airworthiness-criteria

We just booked our travel to FliteFest 2022!

FliteFest is in Malvern, Ohio in June 22-26, and is a remote control flying conference.

Join us and the guys at flitefest to fly both drones and airplanes!

https://www.flitefest.com/

This week in drone news; Snapchat has released a drone, Skyward to end operations in June, Disney Paris celebrates with a drone show, an app to find your stolen drone, and finally an update on free stickers!

Snapchat has released a drone!

This drone, “Pixy” is a "free-flying sidekick” and is essentially a selfie drone.

Pixy is autonomous, taking video as it flies which is then transferred to and saved within Snapchat’s app.

The drone is ducted and weighs only 101g.

$249.99 - 

https://www.pixy.com/shop?utm_source=g_brandsearch&utm_medium=pixy_paid&utm_campaign=us_g_brandsearch_conversion_snapchatpixy&utm_term=snapchatpixy&utm_content=shop_page

Skyward, a Verizon company, announced this week that they would end operations. 

Skyward provided LAANC airspace authorization, and fleet management. 

Refocus on ground robot management. connectivity services, and solution development. 

They will continue services through June 30, 2022. 

This is yet another LAANC provider that is having a difficult time monetizing in the drone space. 

AirMap shut down operations a few months ago and was purchased by Drone Up shortly after. 

If you need a replacement, be sure to look at either Aloft or UASidekick. 

To celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Disney Paris, the park launched a drone show! 

The show featured 150 color changing drones prior to the fireworks show

The only previous drone show occurred in 2016 in Orlando. 

This goes to show that Drones may be the next big thing next to firework shows!

https://www.avinteractive.com/news/drones/first-drone-show-launched-inside-disney-theme-park-03-05-2022/

The Australian Company DroneSec has launched a “Stolen Drone Registry”

This database allows users to report drones stolen, including the make, model, serial number, and date/location of the loss.

The system actively scans eBay, Facebook marketplace, and other locations for matches.

Once a match has been found, the person who reported the theft is contacted.

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/27/stolen-drones-info/

Pilot Institute is proud to announce we’ve shipped over 10,000 stickers

We’re not stopping! We’re going to continue this to bring awareness to the only correct place to register your drones - the FAA’s website!

The cost is $5 on the FAA’s site, and our stickers are free. 

Order yours at pilotinstitute.com/free

This week in drone news; The Whitehouse has released an action plan calling for more power to regulate drones in and around sensitive locations, DJI Inspire 3 leaks, a new FLIR camera, and our newly released Pilot Institute Wiki!

The presidential administration is calling on congress to expand authority of both federal and local governments to take action against drones.

This action plan calls for expanding fed and local agencies that can track/monitor drones “flying in their airspace”.

It also involves creating a ground system to detect drones that can be used by federal/local governments.

“adopt legislation to close critical gaps in existing law and policy that currently impede government and law enforcement from protecting the American people and our vital security interests.”

This plan also involves allowing counter UAS operations for certain authorities.

https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-federal-aviation-administration-congress-90c34d902cacb04d0d7369356d9706c1

DJI Inspire 3 reportedly shown in a video

Zenmuse X9

To be released In September  - Before the 16th?

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/22/dji-inspire-3-video-dji-insiders/

Mini 3 release delayed?

According to Jasper Ellens, a longtime DJI Leaker, the Mini 3 will release May 10th.

FLIR has released a new camera!

This camera is a 640x512 Boson LWIR, along with a 64MP EO camera

IP54

56g

60Hz video output via USP or MIPI

Hopefully, we’ll see some cool new thermal drones soon!

https://www.flir.com/products/hadron-640r/

We know you guys have trouble finding a single resource for local drone regulations.

Over the last few months, we have been working hard to create a source that you can edit and update.

We just released our new wiki page which contains not only all the local drone regulations but suggestions for places to fly locally. 

The best part is, we want your contribution to telling us where you love to fly in your state, as well as any other drone laws we didn’t find.

Up and down vote locations to fly

Submit a photo and suggest places to fly

Submit new or updated regulation

The Phoenix page is the perfect example of what we will achieve for the rest of the country. 

Check it out at pilotinstitute.com/drones

We’ve also launched Facebook groups for each state! 

This is to help you network and get into your local UAS community.

This is a perfect place to organize meetups and learn about the local regulations and fight existing or new drone laws (alongside organizations like DSPA). 

Join your state’s group!

This week in drone news; More leaks of the DJI Mini 3 including pricing, GoPro has released a slim action camera for drones, the first BVLOS waiver has been granted for FPV without a visual observer, and Gresco acquires DJI Arizona.

Looks like the mini 3 will be released on either the 27th or 28th of April

Other leaks suggest a possible 1” sensor on the mini 3 pro

This has been supported by leaks on other sites, such as Amazon

Pricing has also been released, and combos may start as low as ~$520, and extend to ~$1250.

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/11/dji-mini-3-pricing-leaked/

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/08/mini-3-release-date-april/

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/13/amazon-dji-mini-3-drone/

GoPro has released the Hero 10 Black Bones

This is an action camera specifically for lightweight FPV drones.

Resolution up to 5.3K60 and hyper smooth 4.0

Pricing is currently 399.98.

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/13/gopro-hero10-black-bones-fpv-drones/

On April 11th, 2022 Kenji Sugahara was awarded a BVLOS FPV waiver that does not require a visual observer.

This waiver is based on sheltered operations and flying below obstacles.

https://dspalliance.org/fpv-bvlos-waiver/?fbclid=IwAR1V1Kxje4_i1YZ7tl4psBIeDmyW0z4wH2Ki5Z8xi2-CA75k6x55k-H3h-0

DJI Arizona/Innovative UAS will be merging with Gresco Technology Solutions. 

DJI Arizona has been servicing consumers in Arizona since 2014 and will now be focusing on the Enterprise Market as part of Gresco. 

Gresco has been one of the leaders in providing UAS services to the public safety, electric utility and transportation sector.

This week in drone news: Two DJI leaks point to a new Mavic 3S and a new Mini 3 and/or Mini 3 pro, AUVSI Xponential is just around the corner, and the Ingenuity helicopter has won the Collier Trophy.

Mini 3 pro? 

3 axis gimbal

Possible 180-degree view

Obstacle avoidance

Maximum aperture f/1.7

249g

https://dronexl.co/2022/04/02/dji-mini-3-pro-video-photos-release-imminent/

Rumors of a new Mavic 3s 

New telephoto sensor - 1”

Main camera unchanged

Larger battery - 15% increase in battery life

Fixed satellite lock time

Fall 2022 or Q1 2023

https://dronexl.co/2022/03/25/dji-mavic-3s-fall-release/

AUVSI Xponential is just a few weeks away!

Greg and Jason will be attending

Use promo code PILOTINST20OFF for 20% off tickets

Our partners at @AUVSI are known for convening the best & brightest minds in uncrewed systems and autonomous tech. This April, they’re hosting their flagship event, XPONENTIAL, in Orlando. Don’t miss your chance to shape the future of autonomy! Learn more: xponential.org

The Ingenuity helicopter has been awarded the Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association.

To date the Ingenuity has logged a total of 43 minutes of flight time over 24 flights.

Ingenuity is the first powered and controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. 

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/mars-helicopter-wins-collier-trophy/

This week in drone news: Texas law 423 has been found unconstitutional by a federal judge, a recreational pilot in New York was fined more than $15,000, an update from our travels to the Texas Public Safety Robot Response Summit, and an upcoming South Florida Drone Meetup.

Texas Drone law 423 was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge

The law restricted drone use and distribution of images captured via drones. 

“The challenged Texas statutes prohibited legitimate newsgathering that causes no harm, and unconstitutionally drew distinctions that disallowed journalistic drone photography but allowed the exact same drone photography when done for other favored purposes. Judge Pitman properly found that these distinctions were improper and that the statutes were so vague as to be unconstitutional.”

https://petapixel.com/2022/03/30/stringent-texas-anti-drone-law-overturned-in-federal-court/

A drone pilot from NYC was fined by the FAA over 15k last December.

The pilot stated they were operating under 44809 but did not meet the requirements.

The operator was issued a $15,205 fine.

The FAA issued fines for three flights, including 

107.12, No remote pilot certificate, 

107.13, drone not registered,

107.19(c) Posing a hazard to people, aircraft or property,

107.23(a) Flying at night without a waiver (Prior to new rules),

107.29(a) Flying over people without a waiver (Prior to new rules),

107.41 Flying in controlled airspace without authorization,

107.65 No 24 month recency of knowledge.

Brinc Drones and ICOR robotics have partnered to save lives. 

This partnership will enable ICOR robots to deploy Brinc aircraft into structures.

DroneSense has launched remote drone operations geared towards public safety.

This allows an operator to remotely pilot a drone in order to respond to emergencies.

The web-based interface allows for near-real-time control with minimal video latency. 

https://www.newswire.com/news/dronesense-launches-remote-drone-operations-software-designed-for-21667096

New firmware update for EVO Nano and Lite Series drones

Dynamic tracking of video subject (person only) on EVO Lite+

160Mbs video and image downloading from drone to phone via Wi-Fi

8-bit Log video

HDR video

More enhancements and issue fixes

April 2nd, 2022 7AM - 4PM

FREE

Jensen Beach Causeway Park

Jensen Beach Causeway (southside)

Jensen Beach, FL  34957

This week in drone news: the DJI Matrice 30 has been released, the Ingenuity drone on mars has been extended to continue flights, a man attempting to smuggle drugs using drones has been arrested, and events/UAS industry update.

Mavic 3 DeepDive: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/dji-mavic-3-deep-dive/

The Matrice 30 was released this week

 Available as M30 or M30T

48MP 1/2 CMOS and 5x to 16x optical and 200x digital zoom

12MP wide-angle cam

8k photo and 4k 30 fps and laser range finder. 

M30T has an additional 640x512px radiometric thermal cam

IP55, OcuSync 3 Enterprise, 41 minute flight time, quick recharge, local data mode, emergency 3 prop landing, 3.7kg

along with releases of the 

DJI RC Plus - New enterprise smart controller

DJI FlightHub 2 - Flight planning and docking station software

DJI Dock - Docking station for the M30

DJI Zenmuse H20N - Night Vision

https://dronexl.co/2022/03/21/foldable-dji-matrice-30-m30/

NASA has officially extended flight operations for the Mars drone Ingenuity!

Currently, Ingenuity has logged over 38 minutes of flight (One Evo 2 or Mavic 3 battery) and traveled 2.9 miles The missions will focus on supporting the Perseverance, providing route assistance, assessing targets, and imaging other features outside of the rover's reach.

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/space-flight/mars-helicopter-mission-extended

A man in Washington County Tennessee has been arrested after flying a drone over a jail yard. 

The drone was carrying a package wrapped in black electrical tape.

Officers managed to grab the package and disconnect it from the drone. 

The drone then crashed due to the fishing line being tangled in the propellers.

The package contained illegal narcotics and oxycodone pills.

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/drugs-smuggle-drone-washington-county-wcyb-east-tennessee/51-ef893852-e526-4dc7-ab3d-34844a89e532

Join Greg as we talk about the most recent DJI Leaks, the BVLOS Report published by the ARC, eBee Tac became an approved Blue UAS, and an update on the issue within Oregon State Parks.  

Give Billy some love: https://www.youtube.com/c/BillyKyle

New Matrice https://dronexl.co/2022/03/15/foldable-dji-matrice-drone-m400/Expected to be the Matrice 30. Expected to be released on March 21 Compact Enterprise drone, a hybrid between the Matrice 300 and the Mavic Enterprise 

Inspire 3 https://dronexl.co/2022/03/14/dji-inspire-3-specs/Rumored to have 8K @ 75 FPS, 4K at 200 FPSSuper 35 CMOS, ProRes 4444XQ 10 Bit & 422HQ 

Mini 3 body leaked https://dronexl.co/2022/03/15/dji-mini-3-body-leaked/

This could show the body of the rumored Mini 3  The BVLOS Report is out! There is tons of information in it, and we’ve been reading over the 250-page document along with the voting results. We will have a live Q&A session about the report today Friday, March 18 at 6pm Eastern/3pm Pacific with Kenji Sugahara (on the ARC) and Vic Moss  We’ll be making a full video on the results and what this may mean for the industry If you want to read it, here’s the link!  https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committees/documents/media/UAS_BVLOS_ARC_FINAL_REPORT_03102022.pdf 

The eBee TAC has been added to the Blue sUAS cleared list! 

This is the first under the DIU’s Blue sUAS 2.0 The Ebee is made by sensefly and owned by AgEagle. We’re interested to see how many others that are part of the Blues sUAS will be selected and we hope this adds more competition to the Blue sUAS market for better drones! https://www.suasnews.com/2022/03/ebee-tac-drone-solution-added-to-blue-uas-cleared-list-by-defense-innovation-unit/ 

This is a call to action!  

Oregon is looking to change the rules to allow drones to be flown inside their state parks - except in sensitive areas. Comments are currently open on this proposed rule change. We need YOU to email Oregon State Parks and support this change, many people are opposing this rule change simply because they don’t like drones. The email is in the description!  [email protected]  https://dronexl.co/2022/03/08/oregon-drone-community-help-now/

This week in drone news: Oregon State parks are looking to change their rules to allow drones and we need your help to ensure it goes through, an upcoming industry event in Texas, IRIS Automation's BVLOS waiver with Reno Fire has been approved, and Mini 3 Specs.

Please email the Oregon State Parks department!!! 

Oregon State Parks: [email protected]

This is a call to action! 

Oregon is looking to change the rules to allow drones to be flown inside their state parks - except in sensitive areas.

Comments are currently open on this proposed rule change.

We need YOU to email Oregon State Parks and support this change, many people are opposing this rule change simply because they don’t like drones.

The email is in the description! 

[email protected] 

https://dronexl.co/2022/03/08/oregon-drone-community-help-now/

Iris Automation, on behalf of the Reno Fire Department, has gotten a waiver to fly BVLOS

Without any visual observers

Without any use of ground-based detection equipment

This was achieved using the Casia X sense and avoid technology.

https://www.reno.gov/Home/Components/News/News/19976/576

More DJI Leaks now include possible specifications!

DJI Mini 3 Spec Guess. 1/1.3″ CMOS, F1.7 large aperture

The gimbal is tilted at a large angle, and you can shoot upwards

The camera supports vertical mode

3 direction obstacle avoidance

Active Track

O3 transmission

New remote control with screen

https://dronexl.co/2022/03/06/dji-mini-3-specs/

Have you experienced PSI testing troubles? If so:

This is not acceptable. I need you to do 3 things:

- Email PSI to let them know your experience: https://www.psionline.com/contact/form?tab=support

- Email the FAA Testing Branch to let them know about your experience as well at [email protected] so they can follow up.

- Email me at [email protected] so I can compile the data and email both of these entities.

This week in drone news: More DJI RC Plus images, DJI Mini 3 possibly leaked, DJI Agras T40 and T20P appear on the FCCs database, and a man arrested for smuggling drugs and other things with a drone into prison. 

Have you experienced PSI testing troubles? If so:

This is not acceptable. I need you to do 3 things:

- Email PSI to let them know your experience: https://www.psionline.com/contact/form?tab=support

- Email the FAA Testing Branch to let them know about your experience as well at [email protected] so they can follow up.

- Email me at [email protected] so I can compile the data and email both of these entities.

Free drone registration labels:

https://pilotinstitute.com/free/

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The DJI RC Plus that we talked about last week has been spotted in use!

The DJI leaker OsitaLV tweeted that the new DJI RC Plus may work with upcoming drone models, such as the DJI Matrice 400RTK

The controller appears to have a number of customizable buttons and large antennas. 

https://dronexl.co/2022/03/01/dji-rc-plus-spotted-matrice-drones/

(Photoshopped?) images of a possible Mini 3 have been leaked by the long-time DJI Leaker OsitaLV.

The images show a smart controller of sorts and a strange looking mini style drone.

Most are discarding this “leak” as a joke, however there are rumors that a Mini 3 will release in April.

https://dronexl.co/2022/03/01/dji-mini-3-release-date/

Another leak from the FCC has added the DJI Agras T40 and the DJI Agras T20P to the list of upcoming DJI aircraft

Both aircraft seem to use the new DJI RC Plus smart controller

No word on when these will be released or which aircraft is shown in the picture.

https://dronexl.co/2022/02/25/drones-in-agriculture-dji-agras-t40/

A man in South Carolina was arrested after authorities say he crashed a drone filled with contraband into a prison yard.

The package on the drone contained 558g of Marijuana, 585g of tobacco, four hacksaw blades, and three lighters.

According to warrants, the man, Joshua Bryan Jordan, was seen flying on the aircraft’s video.

https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/summerville-man-arrested-after-crashing-drone-with-contraband-into-prison-yard/

This week in drone news: a possible DJI RC Plus leak, Autel firmware update fixes issues with the Nano and Lite, Video of the Mavic 2 crash into a helicopter, and a litchi update adds the A2S, Mini 2, and Mini SE.

A new FCC filing suggests DJI will be releasing a new transmitter! According to the filing, the RC Plus seems to be an intermediate between the RC pro and the RC-N1. We’re not sure if this new controller has a screen This could also be an indication of new drones to come.  Will we see this as an option with the rumored Mini 3 or Inspire 3? https://dronexl.co/2022/02/17/dji-rc-plus-fcc-filings/ 

Autel has released an update for the Nano and the Lite This firmware update adds  24/25/48/50 FPS video Solves Jello issue with nano Adds manual focus Customizable time stamps Speed/video priority modes EVO Nano+ and EVO Nano have gained new high photo resolutions of 8192×6144 and 8000×6000 respectively. https://dronexl.co/2022/02/17/firmware-update-evo-nano-lite-drones/ 

This story is a bit old, but the video of the crash has finally been released Back story Roughly two years ago - Feb 2020, a Mavic 2 collided with an Airbus helicopter while filming the King of Hammers off-road race in California. There were luckily no injuries, however, The NTSB stated probable cause was the “ failure of the small UAS remote pilot to give way to the helicopter, resulting in an inflight collision” It is important to note that the helicopter operations had a waiver to operate below standard altitudes.  https://dronexl.co/2022/02/16/dji-mavic-2-drone-collision-helicopter-ntsb/ 

Litchi has added support for the Air 2S, Mini 2, and the Mini SE. Litchi says they will support the Mavic 3 as soon as the SDK is released.  This update is only for those using an Android operating system An iOS update will be coming in the last week of March or the first week of April. https://dronexl.co/2022/02/23/litchi-update-dji-mini-2-air-2s-mavic-3/

This week in drone news:  FAA Administrator has announced he will be resigning, the FAA announced this week they will begin Unmanned Traffic Management field testing, the Superbowl drone show, more concerns over blue UAS in comparison to the NDAA, and a new FPV course.

Friday the 11th, the FAA announced the plan to begin testing unmanned traffic management capabilities. Testing will start in the spring of 2022.  UTM service will be complimentary but separate from ATM services This field testing is aimed at sUAS operations, generally, below 400’. https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-begins-new-phase-testing-safely-integrate-drones-national-airspace 

The NFL put on a drone show for the Super Bowl. This show was shown 4 times, once the Friday prior and three times on Saturday. There were none on Sunday due to the TFR.  

Two NDAA compliant drones manufacturers, Terraview and Skyfish are petitioning congress to remove the blue sUAS requirement.  These two manufacturers claim the Blue UAS program is causing damage to NDAA compliant manufacturers.  Both manufacturers applied for blue UAS, but were told the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) lacked the funding to evaluate their systems. “The Blue sUAS list was never designed to be a gate-keeper for federal government procurement,” says Bruce Myers, Terraview CEO.  “It’s actually stifling competition… The DIU never intended the Blue sUAS list to be the be-all-end-all. ” https://dronelife.com/2022/02/12/ndaa-compliant-us-drone-manufacturers-petition-congress-to-remove-blue-suas-requirement-from-gsa/ 

Check out our new FPV course!  This is a step-by-step guide to building a cinematic FPV drone, taught by Don, our FPV instructor. Don goes over what parts to use, how to assemble, and configure the drone to get those awesome dynamic FPV shots. Enroll here: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/cinematic-fpv-drone-from-scratch/ 

The FAA administration released a memo stating: “Over the past several years, my family has been a source of tremendous encouragement, strength, and support. Nevertheless, after sometimes long and unavoidable periods of separation from my loved ones during the pandemic, it is time to devote my full time and attention to them. As I wrote in my letter to President Biden, it is time to go home.” Administrator Dickson said he made the decision in light of growing extended family and time away from his family. It’s expected Deputy Administrator Bradley Mims will take over Dickson’s duties. https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/faa-administrator-to-resign/

This Week, Greg talks with FAA Drone Guy Kevin Morris about the National Airspace System (NAS), Superbowl TFRs, and Remote ID. Bobby Quin, CEO of Paypixl, joins us to talk about his software that helps drone service providers share their data and get paid. Drones are being restricted across the US and the DSPA is fighting back, Greg updates you on what the DSPA is up to. DRL has announced a PAID tournament where contestants will race FPV drones in their app.   

Superbowl TFR:https://www.faa.gov/superbowl

DSPA: https://dspalliance.org/

PayPixl: https://paypixl.io/  

Check out more from Kevin Morris and the FAA: https://youtu.be/KCXvQ-TYhFs

Paypixl has released its portfolio paywall platform for photographers and pilots This program allows pilots, photographers, and clients to interact, complete jobs, share files, and pay all in one location. Unlike other programs, PayPixl does not own the customer relationships nor the images, models, or other data captured by the pilot. Check out app.paypixl.io  

Wisconsin SB868 Assembly Bill 907 No DJI Drones for any state agency 

Seattle, WA - Film Permit 

Washington State Drone Registration Fee? $15 per aircraft (Part 107) 

Money used to create a UAS position 

Oregon State Parks Maps with approved locations to fly Could be used for a model in other states 

DRL Arcade, a free drone racing app we reported on a few weeks ago, is running a mobile game tournament! The top finishers in each tournament will receive Prizes from DRL including a $250 gift card, a Nacon Headset and controller, and other DRL merch.  Check out the app here: https://thedroneracingleague.com/arcade/

This week in drone news, DJI has announced the end of life for the inspire 2, Natulis cargo drones, Autel drones are being used in the Ukraine conflict, the upcoming Superbowl TFR, and new information ties DJI to the Chinese Government.

DJI will be discontinuing the Inspire 2 in February “the following products are expected to be sold out in February 2022 the sales will be stopped immediately.” Will we see an Inspire 3 later this year? Drone XL reported a leak that the inspire 3 may be coming as soon as September! https://dronexl.co/2021/12/09/dji-drones-in-2022-inspire-3-mini-3-fpv-mini/ https://dronexl.co/2022/01/27/dji-inspire-2-discontinued/   

The company Natilus Drone claims they will be able to reduce air freight costs by 50%. Natilus is based in San Diego, and has 4 sizes of drones in their plan.  The 130T is the largest, and has a maximum takeoff payload of 955,000lb. It is suitable for intercontinental flights, as has a range of 5,880 miles. The N3.8T has a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 19,000 lb, will be able to carry a load of LD3 containers with a maximum weight of 8,500 lb. https://www.autoevolution.com/news/natilus-drone-claims-it-can-cut-air-freight-costs-by-50-percent-features-a-large-payload-180467.html 

Autel aircraft are being used as a resource by those opposing Russian-backed rebels in Ukraine. Autel’s aircraft are not militarized but are instead providing overwatch and recon. These units are being donated by businesses and charities to Ukraine.   

There WILL be a TFR around the Superbowl again this year. This will occur on Feb. 13th, 2022 around SoFi Stadium in Inglewood CA. Game day TFR will go into effect at ~2:30 PM PST.  30 NM ring centered over the stadium, the surface to 18,000’. Drones are PROHIBITED in the TFR.  https://www.faa.gov/superbowl https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-announces-super-bowl-lvi-safety-plan 

A Washington Post report reported that DJI maintains close ties to the Chinese government and received state funding.  This is despite repeated claims to the contrary.  DJI is not publicly traded, so the list of investors is hard to uncover.  Some call this a hit piece ahead of an upcoming FCC vote regarding DJI.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/01/china-funding-drones-dji-us-regulators/

This week in drone news, Navajo Nation uses drones for medical deliveries, Drone saves a dog using a sausage, Osprey vs EVO 2, and a big update for the Mavic 3!

A Native American-owned company called “MissionGo” will be helping launch the “Healing Eagle Feather” project This project will deliver essential materials such as insulin kits, meals, anti-venom, and emergency communication devices. No word yet on what aircraft is used, however in the demonstration, an M300 is shown along with a helicopter-styled sUAS.  https://www.abc15.com/news/region-northern-az/navajo-nation-to-use-drones-to-deliver-medical-supplies

A Dog in the UK was rescued using a drone and sausage after avoiding rescuers. The dog was stuck in mudflats that would be submerged by the incoming tide when someone had the idea to lure the dog out with sausage attached to a drone. Millie - the Jack Russel was then reunited with her owner.

A student of ours had their EVO 2 taken down by an Osprey. While flying close to a cell tower, the Osprey went after the drone. These pictures tell the rest of the story.   

DJI updated the Mavic 3 with promised features Quickshots, Panorama, burst shooting Digital zoom in Video mode Color Display Assist in D Log Support to set RTH altitude for advanced RTH The RC Pro was updated as well to be compatible with the Air 2S.  https://dronexl.co/2022/01/24/dji-mavic-3-firmware-update-features/

This week in drone news: A new app allows for DJI drones to be flown without transmitting sensitive information, Bengals VS Raiders NFL game flown over by drone, and a drone that folds while flying!

Secure DJI app: https://dronexl.co/2022/01/14/dji-drones-airhub-secure-data-mode/ 

Last week, during the Bengals and Raiders game, someone with a drone flew over (and inside) the stadium. The operator then went on to post the video on social media. It looks like the drone is only about 20-30 feet over the field during some parts of the video. https://dronexl.co/2022/01/17/illegal-drone-footage-bengals-football-game/ 

This drone folds in flight to navigate through obstacles that would otherwise cause the drone to crash. Using the propeller’s thrust and reverse thrust, the aircraft can fold up to two arms at a time to fix through smaller holes or into tighter places. These folded arms can also be used to pick up objects, such as a package. Pretty cool use of drones!  https://newatlas.com/drones/midair-reconfigurable-quadcopter/

This week in drone news: the FAA has approved a 35-mile BVLOS corridor, an M600 with an AED resulted in a life saved, a woman in China spent $12,500 on a drone show for her dog's birthday, and two records set by a drone show in the UAE.

The FAA has approved a BVLOS drone corridor in NY. This corridor will allow BVLOS flights of unmanned aircraft for up to 35 miles.  To monitor the BVLOS flights, NUAIR will deploy ground-based surveillance systems to monitor all air traffic and visual observers. https://dronexl.co/2022/01/06/faa-bvlos-flights-new-york/ 

A DJI M600 saved a life last year by delivering an AED to a man who’d suffered a heart attack in Stockholm. The man was shoveling snow from his driveway when he collapsed. A passerby (who happened to be a doctor) called emergency services. The AED was delivered by drone in 3 minutes, and the man’s heart was restarted before the ambulance arrived. https://dronexl.co/2022/01/05/dji-matrice-delivers-aed/

A woman in China spent $12,500 on a drone show for her dog’s 10th birthday. The show included 520 drones to spell out "Happy 10th birthday to Doudou”. Other images included a birthday cake and a box with a bone in it. The show however was flown inside of a no-fly zone, meaning the drones were at risk to be shot down.  Police warned next time, they would shoot the drones down. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/devoted-dog-lover-spends-11000-25898649 

DRONE LIGHT SHOW / FIREWORKS SETS -TWO- WORLD RECORDS in the UAE 

1 “Highest Altitude Multirotor/Drone Fireworks Display” was the tower of pyrotechnic drones 1,055.8 meters in height, taller than any skyscraper in the world. 

2 “Most Remote Operated Multirotor/Drones Launching Fireworks Simultaneously”, when 452 drones launched fireworks simultaneously to create the “Happy New Year” visual in the sky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDIT5gBuNrY

This week in drone news: the Evo Nano and Evo Lite have arrived, Christmas day rescue using drones, the new Skydio Keyframe feature, and CES!

After a bit longer than a nano-second, the new Autel drones have arrived!

The Nano is a 249g aircraft with a 1/2” (Nano) or a 1/1.28” (Nano +) sensor and a three-axis gimbal 

The Lite is a bit bigger and boasts a 4-axis gimbal with a 1/1.28” or 1” (Lite+) sensor capable of 6k/30 FPS

We’ll be working on getting DeepDives for these new aircraft soon! 

CES B-Roll

https://dronexl.co/2021/12/29/autel-evo-nano-lite/

A fire department in VA was able to find two lost hikers on Christmas Day thanks to thermal imaging on a drone.

Rescuers were then guided to the location of the hikers, who’d gone out unprepared for nighttime travel.

There were no injuries reported.

https://nypost.com/2021/12/27/virginia-fire-department-rescues-hikers-on-sharp-top-mountain-with-drone/

Skydio has announced their new “Keyframe” feature which allows an operator to select keyframes and the aircraft will create a cinematic path to match these frames. 

Once these frames are set, the user will be able to play back and forwards, as many times as needed and at different speeds

"One of the main things that set professional productions apart is the motion of the camera. With the help of cranes, jibs, and large production crews, Hollywood productions do really unique, interesting things. In the hands of an expert pilot, drone footage can be very cinematic," said Skydio CEO, Adam Bry. "KeyFrame makes this capability accessible to a new wave of creators. Hollywood quality cinematography, available anywhere, anytime." 

prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-autonomous-drone-maker-skydio-announces-new-keyframe-capability-for-breakthrough-autonomous-cinematography-301453453.html

This week in drone news: A recap of the 2021 year including the new drones we’ve seen, drone bans, regulation changes, UAS in public safety, and Pilot Institute milestones. 

TRUST: https://trust.pilotinstitute.com/

This week in drone news: Seattle drone laws in question requiring permits for UAS flights, Virginia Tech has received the first approved means of compliance for category aircraft, and the Ingenuity helicopter has hit 30 minutes airborne!

A means of compliance has been accepted by the FAA! Virginia Tech has received the first means of compliance from the FAA. Details are not available on the actual testing method, however, this is the first step towards approved operations over people and category 2/3 aircraft. https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2021/12/ictas-maap-meansofcompliance.html

The Ingenuity UAS has hit the 30-minute mark! The aircraft has flown 17 times, for a grand total of 30 minutes 48 seconds.  “Few thought we would make it to flight one, fewer still to five. And no one thought we would make it this far,” said Ingenuity team lead Teddy Tzanetos. “On the way to accumulating over a half-hour aloft Ingenuity has survived eight months of bitter cold, and operated out of nine unique Martian airfields. The aircraft’s continued operations speaks to the robustness the design and the diligence and passion of our small operations team.” https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/space-flight/mars-helicopter-reaches-30-minute-milestone/

Lots of people are going to be getting drone this holiday season. Pilot Institute asks you to do a few things: Be a good mentor and help educate!  Invite new folks with drones or those interested to fly with you. The more in this hobby, the better. Fly safe and Happy holidays!

This week in drone news; a leak has shown possible new DJI drones in 2022, DJI also to be added to an investment and export blacklist, Flytrex expands their drone deliveries, and drones are being used to recover from the Kentucky tornados.

New DJI Products and their associated release dates have been leaked online We’re possibly looking at Mini 3 in April FPV Mini in July Inspire 3 in September https://dronexl.co/2021/12/09/dji-drones-in-2022-inspire-3-mini-3-fpv-mini-and-more/ 

DJI will be added to the investment and export blacklist The US Department of Commerce will put DJI along with more than 24 other companies on the entity list that restricts American exports and investment. The US Treasury Department will also put DJI and others on the “Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies” Blacklist.  https://dronexl.co/2021/12/15/dji-to-be-added-to-investment-and-export-blacklists/ 

Flytrex has received approval to expand the delivery area for its operations to 1 mile from all of its NC locations. This expansion will allow Flytrex to reach an additional 10,000 households Flytrex partners with both foodservice and retail establishments to provide UAS deliveries.  https://www.avweb.com/recent-updates/unmanned-vehicles/faa-approves-flytrex-drone-delivery-service-expansion 

Drones are being used as part of the recovery efforts for the Tornados in Kentucky. We know a few folks who are out working on these operations  Shout out to StormPoint, SkyeBrowse, and other First responders in Kentucky. https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2021/12/11/1063367722/drone-footage-captures-devastating-aftermath-of-mayfield-kentucky-tornado

Join us in learning about the recent up-comings in the drone community. DroneUp, a DSP, has squired the former LAANC provider, Airmap. The Drone Racing League has been accredited by the FAA in a first-of-its-kind drone safety event accreditation. A pilot, and friend of Pilot Institute, Kenji Sugahara, has received a response from the FAA regarding is p.107 exemption for a +55lb drone.

DroneUp is acquiring Airmap No disclosed price for the transaction or date. This is interesting to see a drone delivery platform purchase a software provider such as airmap.  AirMap has been in the news over the years and more recently for losing their ability to issue LAANC requests and wanting to monetize on the airspace access.  https://www.zdnet.com/article/mergers-pave-way-for-scaling-drone-delivery/ 

DRL is now an FAA-accredited drone event organizer.  DRL will help to oversee UAS events to ensure safety. “We’re honored the FAA has accredited DRL as the first UAS event organization, and we’re excited to participate in the FAA’s PSP program to ensure safety is the priority at all UAS events,” said DRL COO Ashley Ellefson. “We look forward to sharing our expertise in drone-event safety more widely with the industry and continuing to work with venue organizers to curate safe and spectacular drone racing experiences through the most unique and incredible spaces.”  

Kenji Sugahara has received the first 55lb+ exemption using only a part 107. This paves the way into part 107 operators potentially receiving waivers to operate aircraft that weigh more than 55lbs.  Currently, part 107 operations are limited to aircraft less than 55lbs. 

Fears of more expensive GPS appear to not be an issue for transmitters and Standard RID. With this change however, comes the possibility that cellphone’s GPS may not suffice for standard RID.  An increase in cost however is unlikely, as WAAS GPS units are within $5 of other GPS units currently in use on unmanned aircraft.

This week in Drone News: More leaks on the Mavic 3, a proposed drone operation to rescue dogs has been canceled due to the dogs disappearing, Mesa Airlines and drone delivery, and a new MicaSense RedEdge Camera

Mavic 3 / Mavic 3 Pro / Mavic 3 Cine

The Mavic 3 specs have been leaked ahead of the assumed Nov. 5th launch.

5.1K 50FPS, 4K 120FPS, 1080 200 FPS+, 20 MP

200MBPS H.264 & 140MBPS H.265

Cine can record Apple ProRes 422 HQ

The secondary camera is 12 MP and can record 4K 30

Mavic 3 Cine has 1 TB internal storage

Standard Mavic 3 has 8 GB

Micro SD up to 2TB are supported

4S 5000mAh LiPo battery, 46 minutes of flight time

OcuSync 3.0

Controller quality video is 1080P @ 30 or 60 FPS

https://dronexl.co/2021/10/26/mavic-3-specs-leaked-launch-dji-drone/

A-Team rescues dogs

Drone operations in Spain had been feeding dogs on a portion of the mountain surrounded by lava flows.

A plan was in place and operators received permission to fly their UAS to the dogs in an attempt to rescue them.

Once the plan was solidified and in place, the dogs disappeared. 

The animals were apparently rescued by unknown persons who spray-painted a message “The dogs are fine. - The A-Team”.

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/21/1048003713/a-team-dogs-rescue-volcano-lava-la-palma-spain

Mesa Airlines and drone delivery

Mesa Air group has signed an agreement with Flirtey Eagle drones. 

Mesa will be using these aircraft for nearly all delivery types but will start with commercial food and beverage deliveries.

So far, Mesa has purchased 4 sUAS for testing, with the option of 500 more. 

With the purchase of these drones, Mesa becomes the first US-scheduled airline to launch a commercial drone delivery service. 

https://www.aviationtoday.com/2021/10/21/mesa-air-group-first-scheduled-us-airline-launch-commercial-drone-delivery-service/

New MicaSense Camera

AgEagle, who we reported on last week is releasing a new MicaSense RedEdge-P sensor

This sensor is a multi-spectral and RGB sensor designed for spectral analysis of plants and has a larger spatial resolution than the previous RedEdge.

It is interesting to see this release only a week or so after AgEagle announced the purchase of SenseFly.

We may soon see MicaSense and ebee aircraft together!

https://www.suasnews.com/2021/10/ageagle-unveils-the-micasense-rededge-p-drone-sensor/

This week in drone news, the FCC has released a document discussing DJI as a security concern and the commissioner has called for a ban, an 8-day flight by an unmanned aircraft, AgEagle is purchasing senseFly from Parrot, and Arizona DroneFest 2021.  

Parrot Anafi Thermal Deep dive: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/parrot-anafi-thermal-deep-dive/

FCC Commissioner calls for DJI ban 

The FCC commissioner called for the process of adding DJI to the FCC’s covered list. This would prohibit the use of federal money from being used to purchase DJI equipment.  “The FCC also has a proceeding underway examining whether to continue approving equipment from entities on the Covered List for use in the US, regardless of whether federal dollars are involved”  The covered list is a list of companies whose products contain or pose an “unacceptable security risk” The FCC Commissioner also stated that additional consideration was required to “determine if other entities warrant closer scrutiny” 

https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1450496145516544001/photo/1 

8-Day UAS flight 

Vanilla UAV has claimed the world record with an 8 day, 50-minute flight without refueling. Over 8 days, the aircraft flew a total of 10,600 NM before landing This is a fixed-wing UAS designed primarily for the military.  The Vanilla is not an sUAS but is instead in the group 3 category - between 25 and 599kg. The Vanilla UAV has a payload of 68kg or 150lbs. 

https://www.flightglobal.com/military-uavs/vanilla-uav-claims-world-record-eight-day-flight-without-refuelling/145774.article 

AgEagle to Aquire Sensefly

 AgEagle Aerial Systems is purchasing senseFly from Parrot. senseFly is most widely known for the creation of the ebee (fixed wing  Parrot stated that this sale was necessary to their future plans of focusing on quadcopter/multi-rotor aircraft.  “Moving forward, Parrot will focus its expertise and resources on the growth of its professional quadcopter drone equipment and drone data analysis software activities. The transaction will provide additional cash and lower operational expends to drive Parrot’s growth and industry standing. With the expanded capabilities of the ANAFI line of professional drones and of the Pix4D software suites, Parrot will continue to address its core market segments: 3D Mapping, Surveying and Inspection, Agriculture, and Defense and Security.” 

https://www.suasnews.com/2021/10/ageagle-to-acquire-sensefly-from-parrot/ 

Come visit us at AZ DroneFest! 

This Saturday we’ll be at Grand Canyon University at the Arizona Drone Fest! Come by the booth, stop in for Greg’s talk on regulations @10am, meet the team, and get your registration stickers printed, fly the drone sim!  General admission is free!  We hope to see you there!

This week in drone news, A new round of Blue UAS has started testing, a bird that was rescued using a drone, a drug-loaded large UAS lands on a police car, and DJI's latest announcement: Good things come in 3s.

Blue UAS 2.0 A new round of blue UAS testing has begun.  

This round includes 11 vendors, such as Sense fly, Skydio, Harris Aerial, and Wingtra. The goal of this is to further expand the U.S. government’s ability to obtain sUAS that are effective in their mission goals. We reported recently about how Blue UAS are not measuring up to the standards set by other consumer aircraft, such as DJI.  Hopefully, Blue UAS 2.0 will help to expand the available aircraft for the government. https://www.diu.mil/latest/new-streamlined-option-for-dod-organizations-to-access-UAS

Bird rescued by drone! 

This took place in Peru, a bird was tangled in a string that was attached to an electrical wire. Using a Mavic Mini or Mini 2, police attached a razor blade and cut the string. The bird fell onto a nearby roof where it was captured and taken to a wildlife rehab center. This goes to show there are infinite uses for drones! https://www.yahoo.com/now/pigeon-stuck-high-voltage-cable-160619176.html

Drug-loaded drone lands on police car

 A man in Georgia is facing charges after being found near a prison.  The story gets more interesting when police noticed a drone that came and landed on top of the investigating deputy’s patrol car.  This drone was loaded with drugs, cellphones, and other contraband. Police say the man was attempting to make a contraband drop at the prison. Looks to be a DJI Matrice 600  https://www.wrdw.com/2021/10/11/man-charged-after-contraband-carrying-drone-lands-deputys-patrol-car/

DJI's Good things come in 3s 

Based on the image included in the post DroneXL is reporting that the likely release of products from DJI will be A DJI Osmo on October 20th The DJI Action 2 on October 27th The Mavic 3 on November 5th No more info as of now, but we’ll keep you posted!  https://dronexl.co/2021/10/12/mavic-3-release-date-dji/

This week in drone news: A new product that houses the EVO 2 from Autel Robotics,  drone shoot down in PA, drone show fail in China, rumors of new DJI drones, and a new Pilot Institute course on FAAsafety.gov  

FAA Safety: https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_catalog.aspx 

New videos! Intermediate 

FPV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dw6ZIysrjo

ADS-B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeEohJoGAXw

It appears that Autel Robotics has developed an automated docking station for the EVO 2 line of aircraft. This system is called the EVO Nest Works with the EVO 2, EVO 2 RTK, and EVO 2 Enterprise series This keeps the drone charged and ready to fly 24/7 The drone takes-off and lands in the box where it is stored and charged IP54 certification The Nest takes 45 minutes to charge the aircraft

 https://dronexl.co/2021/10/05/autel-evo-nest-drone-docking-station/ 

A man in Pennsylvania is facing charges after allegedly shooting down an inspection company’s drone. The business, Exelon Business Services was contracted to inspect power poles and lines. During the flight, the rPIC heard gunshots and lost contact with the aircraft. The aircraft was found in a trashcan behind the man’s house but he refused to discuss how it ended up there. State police state that the charges include criminal mischief worth more than $1,000 and that charges will be filed in the county courts. 

 https://www.pahomepage.com/news/local-news/sayre-man-allegedly-shoots-down-drone-charges-expected-to-be-filed/ 

A drone show in China experienced a major failure this week  After lifting off, all 200 of the drones came down on top of people watching the show.  Videos show the aircraft dropping out of the sky, however, it’s difficult to tell if they were descending or falling Luckily there were no injuries https://supchina.com/2021/10/05/drones-fall-from-the-sky-during-failed-performance-in-zhengzhou/ 

DJI Mini 3 - Some leaks suggest a DJI Mini 3 could be released in November! No pictures yet of the Mini 3 DroneXL is reporting that DJI actually reached out to deny that a new Mini series aircraft is in the works/will be released. Remember that DJI also denied the Mini SE would be available in the US and Europe DJI Mavic 3 - Lots of leaks, DroneXL is reporting that the release will be on October 20th. We’re very excited for these releases!

https://dronexl.co/2021/09/30/dji-mini-3-drone-november-15th/ 

https://dronexl.co/2021/10/04/mavic-3-retail-price-confirmed/ 

https://dronexl.co/2021/10/04/dji-mini-3-existence-denied/ 

We’ve got a new course, available only on FAAsafety.gov!  This course is an interactive course discussing Aeronautical Decision Making for sUAS - ALC-723  This course IS available for wings credits and is 100% FREE! We’re working on more FAA safety courses geared towards drones. We put out two new videos this week, ADS-B and some Intermediate FPV maneuvers!

This week in Drone News: Skydio announces the X2D drone and a series of new software. UPS Flight Forward and Matternet expand their delivery network at hospitals. The CEO of Kittyhawk discusses an increase in LAANC authorization in the last 6 months. 

Skydio's new drone : 00:43

Expanded delivery network for UPS/Matternet : 02:42

Increase in LAANC authorisations : 04:50

Now on Podcast : 06:21

Script/notes

Skydio Launches Skydio X2 commercial Drone

Skydio announced the launched of a new commercial drone called the X2. 

Comes in two format: X2D and X2E

X2D: designed for the US Army as a reconnaissance drone 

X2E: designed for first reponders and enterprise

Comes with a 360-deg camera and a FLIR system (320x256)12 MP photos, 35 minutes flight time, 6.2 mi range

Also comes with a new set of software, including 360 zooming, 180 vertical images for inspections, and scanning software. 

Will start shipping 4th quarter of 2020. 

Skydio also raised $100 million to speed up the development of their drones and marketing efforts.

https://dronelife.com/2020/07/13/skydios-x2-drones-ceo-adam-bry-talks-breakthrough-autonomy-and-100-million/

UPS Flight Forward expands

UPS Flight Forward is expanding its hospital delivery network with the helps of Matternet M2 drones. 

They will carry patient specific and time/temperature sensitive medicine

They will also carry PPE to medical professionals. 

This is happening in Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina. 

They have made more than 2200 deliveries so far (4400 flights)

Increase in LAANC authorization

Jon Hegranes, CEO and Co-founder of Kittyhawk, said that LAANC authorizations are hitting an old time high. 

There have been over 320,000 LAANC authorizations granted with more authorizations granted this year than in the first 21 months of LAANC.

Over a third of all LAANC authorizations were granted in the first 6 months of 2020.

This week in Drone News: A near miss between a drone and a police helicopter in Tusla, OK. A video submitted by one of our students showing a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). And a length recap of the AUVSI/FAA Symposium including Remote ID information from the FAA's Jay Merkel and Administrator Dickson, the newly announced FAA Drone WINGS (or Drone PROPS) program and other things. 

Timing

Helicopter coming too close : 00:54
Drone-UFO : 02:44
FAA/AUVSI Symposium: 3:56

Links
- Get your own Pilot Institute T-shirt or Long Sleeve T: https://amzn.to/30CLtBw
- Part 107 Made Easy: the most comprehensive ground school online. https://bit.ly/2AkRWq0
- Drone Business Made Easy: start your drone business with a solid foundation. https://bit.ly/3dVT55T
- Drone Flying 101: the perfect course for beginners. https://bit.ly/2XUy3Pc
- Drone Maneuvers Mastery: become a better pilot with these 50 maneuvers designed to improve your flying skills. https://bit.ly/3hkWkG3
- Cinematic FPV Drone From Scratch: build your own cinematic machine with this course. https://bit.ly/37oOfeG

Script/Notes:

Near-miss between drone and police Helicopter

Captured in Tulsa during a procession.
Looks like an inspire 2 heading toward a helicopter and getting prop washed.
https://ktul.com/news/local/a-near-miss-with-a-drone-and-a-crash-on-the-turnpike-heightens-stress-on-law-enforcement

Drone or UFO?

Breanna, who is one of our graduates (98% on the exam!!) shared this video she took from her backyard.
Thought it was firework at first.
Then after a while, the lights shut off. She said the lights also turned blue at one point. 

FAA/AUVSI Symposium

Jay Merkle: Final Ruling is pretty much done, going through the review stage before release to the public.
FAA Administrator Dickson: “service providers”
WINGS Program for Drone Pilots
182k remote pilots as of 7/1/20
Shoutout to Kevin Morris, the FAA Drone Guy, and the team of other FAA inspector including John, who I know watches every week!

This week in drone news, we discuss a Mavic 3 rumor that wasn’t really a rumor. We talk about FAA extending the Special Federal Aviation Regulation until September. We go over the new Parrot Anafi USA and how Parrot’s CEO, Henri Seydoux, unexpectedly slammed DJI in public. And lastly, we will show you a map of drone rescues over the world. 

Timeline

0:42 The Mavic 3 rumor that never was
1:27 FAA Special FAR is extended until September 2020.
3:55 Parrot releases Anafi USA and slams DJI
7:18 A map showing all the drone rescues in the world

Drone Training

- Get your own Pilot Institute T-shirt or Long Sleeve T: https://amzn.to/30CLtBw
- Part 107 Made Easy: the most comprehensive ground school online. https://bit.ly/2AkRWq0
- Drone Business Made Easy: start your drone business with a solid foundation. https://bit.ly/3dVT55T
- Drone Flying 101: the perfect course for beginners. https://bit.ly/2XUy3Pc
- Drone Maneuvers Mastery: become a better pilot with these 50 maneuvers designed to improve your flying skills. https://bit.ly/3hkWkG3
- Cinematic FPV Drone From Scratch: build your own cinematic machine with this course. https://bit.ly/37oOfeG

Script/Notes

Mavic 3 rumor that never was

This week, DroneXL reported that the Mavic 3 was expected to be released at the end of September based on images that surfaced online. 

As it turns out, the images were part of another existing DJI agro drone called the T16. 

So we will have to wait a little longer for a release date for the Mavic 3! 

Extension of Special FAR

The FAA has extended its special FAR that was issued a few months ago to deal with COVID shutdowns. 

Remote Pilot whose privileges are due to expire between March and September (previously June) can renew online. 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/06/29/2020-13960/limited-extension-of-relief-for-certain-persons-and-operations-during-the-coronavirus-disease-2019

Parrot Anafi USA

Two weeks ago, we discussed the new Parrot Anafi “rugged version”. More information was release this week from Parrot. 

It’s called the Parrot Anafi USA because it was designed for the US Army. 

Equipped with 3 cams: 

32x zoom 2 cameras 21-MP cam claiming to see from 3.1 mi. 

FLIR camera coupled with the zoom. 

500 gram, quiet (79 dB), ready in 55 seconds and all-weather. 

Something unexpected came out of the release when Henri Seydoux, the CEO of Parrot, openly slammed DJI publicly by claiming that a version of DJI Go was silently modified after data leaks were supposedly found. 

DJI responded by saying the data was not for the DJI Go app but for its Osmo device (DJI Mimo app) and the information was not leaked but going to a third-party provider to share footage. 

Drone Rescues Maps

Drones are used for good daily in the world. 

DJI has compiled a map of all drone rescues in the world 

130 in the US, 63 in Europe, 23 in Asia, 14 in Latin America 

https://dronelife.com/2020/06/29/dji-drone-rescue-map/

This week in drone news, we discuss a recap of the Drone Advisory Committee held on June 19, 2020. Remote ID and UTM were hot topics discussed along with recommended changes to the drone culture. In the second part of the video, we discuss an update from the FAA regarding your hobbyist registration. 

Timestamps

0:40 DAC Meeting Recap
11:07 FAA Registration update

Drone Training

- Get your own Pilot Institute T-shirt or Long Sleeve T: https://amzn.to/30CLtBw
- Part 107 Made Easy: the most comprehensive ground school online. https://bit.ly/2AkRWq0
- Drone Business Made Easy: start your drone business with a solid foundation. https://bit.ly/3dVT55T
- Drone Flying 101: the perfect course for beginners. https://bit.ly/2XUy3Pc
- Drone Maneuvers Mastery: become a better pilot with these 50 maneuvers designed to improve your flying skills. https://bit.ly/3hkWkG3
- Cinematic FPV Drone From Scratch: build your own cinematic machine with this course. https://bit.ly/37oOfeG

Drone Advisory Committee 

Drone Advisory Committee met last Friday and it was broadcasted live. 

Final rule in Dec 2020 for Remote ID

I have to be a little cynical. This means that the FAA already went through the 50,000 comments that were left in the NPRM, in about 60 working days. That’s over 800 comments per day. 

There was discussions about the need for a UTM and I detected a hint at wanting to know where UAS are, even in uncontrolled airspace. 

Joe DePete, the president of ALPA took a large part of the meeting congratulating his team mates for coming up with pillar of operation that, in my opinion, are already in place for most serious commercial UAS pilots.  

I applaud the push for a learning-focused environment but… 

He kept bragging about the safety records for the airlines (which is indeed great) but also he showed a serious lack of understanding of the UAS industry. 

While I appreciate that manned aircraft organizations are trying to bring the safety culture (I do the same with our PI courses), their lack of credentials in the UAS world reduces their credibility drastically.

Brendan Schulman from DJI is the only one who spoke for UAS operators in the field by reminding everyone in the DAC that the industry had a perfect record thus far with no fatalities and hundreds of millions of flight conducted. 

Sadly, no talk from the AMA representative for the FPV community. 

FAA Registration for Hobbyists

The FAA released a statement saying that the first batch of registration that was recently extended to December 12, 2020 will expire soon. 

Initially, back in 2016, Hobbyists had to register. Then they didn’t, and then they had to again. For those who initially registered but didn’t ask for their money back, the FAA had extended registration until December 12, 2020. 

Registration can be renewed within 180 days so you can login today to the FAA drone Zone and renew yours. 

The registration number will remain the same, and 

The new expiration will be December 12, 2023 (3 more years).

This week in Drone News. Rumors of a Parrot Anafi Thermal rugged version. A DJI Mavic Pro was shot in the air by a riffle and survived the encounter. An update on the 2018 alleged Gatwick Drone incident. And finally, a drone helps rescue a father and daughter from drowning. 

Timeline
0:00 Intro
0:45 Parrot Anafi Thermal rugged version rumored
2:07 Mavic Pro shot and kept flying
3:45 Update on the Gatwick Incident
5:39 Drone helps with father/daughter river rescue

- Get your own Pilot Institute T-shirt or Long Sleeve T: https://amzn.to/30CLtBw

- Part 107 Made Easy: the most comprehensive ground school online. https://bit.ly/2AkRWq0

- Drone Business Made Easy: start your drone business with a solid foundation. https://bit.ly/3dVT55T

- Drone Flying 101: the perfect course for beginners. https://bit.ly/2XUy3Pc

- Drone Maneuvers Mastery: become a better pilot with these 50 maneuvers designed to improve your flying skills. https://bit.ly/3hkWkG3

- Cinematic FPV Drone From Scratch: build your own cinematic machine with this course. https://bit.ly/37oOfeG

Anafi Thermal Rumors

Images surfaced on DroneXL this week of a rugged version of the Parrot Anafi Thermal drone. 

The current model is popular with first responders so an outdoor tactical version would make sense. 

It shows larger motors with serrated blades, a built-in bright screen.

It is equipped with a triple camera setup with a FLIR thermal cam and a 32x optical zoom. 

Parrot, a french company, is expected to build the drone in the US and will not include any Chinese-made part. 

Mavic Pro shot

Instagram user @vandy007 posted images of his Mavic Pro after it was shot at with a rifle. 

The user reported that he was flying close to 400 feet and adjusting the settings on his camera and he heard a shot. 

He didn’t think anything of it and just landed only to see the damage.  

The damage was mostly to the battery but it’s amazing that the drone survived. 

Yes, it is a federal crime to shoot at an aircraft, including a drone… 

Update on the Gatwick incident

Remember the Gatwick alleged drone incident in 2018? 

A couple had been falsely arrested in conjunction with the alleged incident. 

Their house was assaulted by police and they were held for 36 hours in December 2018. 

They sued and just settled $250,000 

There was never any confirmed drone sighting and with hundreds of journalists and government official, no proof has been provided to date. 

Gatwick did however spend $6 million to install Anti-UAV Defense system. 

Over a $1 million has been spent investigating the supposed incident. 

Drone helps father/daughter in the river

A drone was used to locate a father and his daughter whose canoe had capsized in the San Joaquin River in California. 

The drone followed a citizen who rescued the daughter and brought her back to land. 

The drone helped the fire department located the father who had stayed behind. 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rick-smith-298376199_antiochpd-apd-uas-activity-6677326574427238400-s4Oh/

This week in drone news: An update to the DJI data leak that’s been going on for years. A Canadian police drone collides with a Police Helicopter. Pix4D releases a new photogrammetry cloud service: Pix4Dcloud and Pix4Dcloud Advanced. And finally a Pilot Institute update: we reach 20,000 students and 36,000 enrollments, all thanks to you! 

Summary

00:42 - DJI Data Leaks: real or not?
04:03 - Police drone collides with a police helicopter
06:15 - New Pix4Dcloud offering
07:43 - 20,000 students at Pilot Institute

- Get your own Pilot Institute T-shirt or Long Sleeve T: https://amzn.to/30CLtBw

- Part 107 Made Easy: the most comprehensive ground school online. https://bit.ly/2AkRWq0

- Drone Business Made Easy: start your drone business with a solid foundation. https://bit.ly/3dVT55T

- Drone Flying 101: the perfect course for beginners. https://bit.ly/2XUy3Pc

- Drone Maneuvers Mastery: become a better pilot with these 50 maneuvers designed to improve your flying skills. https://bit.ly/3hkWkG3

- Cinematic FPV Drone From Scratch: build your own cinematic machine with this course. https://bit.ly/37oOfeG

Script/Links

DJI Data Leaks: real or not? 

A report from Booz Allen, an IT consulting company, was released this week regarding the long-debated possible data security issues from DJI drones. 

The report was prepared for PrecisionHawk, a commercial drone and data company. 

Booz Allen tested risk assessments of possible vulnerabilities for 3 drones: the Government Edition Mavic Pro, Matrice 600, and the Mavic 2 Enterprise. 

The testing did not identify data connections made by the drone platforms to DJI or Chinese servers.

They did identify potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited or triggered by a threat source. 

The attacker would need to have physical access to the drone itself, or be within direct radio range during specific operations. 

The vulnerabilities were provided to DJI who said they mitigated several of them and will address the rest shortly. 

The report also said that “vulnerabilities will exist to some degree regardless of the UAS platform”. 

https://www.precisionhawk.com/blog/unmanned-aerial-intelligence-technology-center-of-excellence-conducts-risk-assessment-of-drone-technology

When a police drone collides with a police helicopter

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police AS350 helicopter collided with a SkyRanger R60 drone earlier in February but was only reported in June. 

The two aircraft were on a joint mission in British Columbia when the accident happen. 

It was classified as a midair collision, which happened at 300 feet AGL.

No one was hurt and the helicopter did a precautionary landing on a road nearby. 

Damage was found on the helicopter to the main rotor blades and the tail boom and rotor. 

The drone itself was destroyed and with has a listing price of $100,000, it’s an expensive lesson. 

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/police-helicopter-collides-with-police-drone/