Recent content by Herr Wizard

I routinely leave a message on the airport manager's voicemail with 1) Who I am, 2) What I'm doing, 3) Lat/Lon plus operating radius along with the direction and distance from the runway, 4) AGL ceiling I will be operating under, 5) Start/Stop times/how long I expect to operate, 6) My mobile...

That sounds promising.

Probably true, although you could make the case that flying over the Potomac from a kayak is flight over a sparsely populated area which would then be allowed without waiver.

I've never flown there but I imagine as long as you can avoid any direct overflight of people you should be fine. Are you flying the MP or MPP? I fly in my neighborhood and the MPP does not sound like a typical drone at 100+ ft AGL. Only complaint I received was from a neighbor who didn't...

Yep, from what I've gathered, the airport management office is closed on weekends. I contacted the FBO and they confirmed the airport manager was the person to notify at JYO. I call and leave a message with my location, operating radius, max altitude AGL, operating times, and my name/contact info.

If you use the FAA's B4UFly app, it will notify you of all the airports, including heliports and private airports, you are supposed to notify based on your location. JYO (Leesburg) does not have a tower so you just have to notify the airport manager. There is also the private heliport at...

I'm using my old Samsung Galaxy S5 without SIM card and it's been rock solid. Don't know if it makes a difference but i use the USB 3.0 A to micro B cable to go between the S5 and the RC.

It really depends on how annoying you find the sound of the Mavic Pro. I've been quite impressed with how pleasant the MPP sounds in flight compared to non-MPP airframes.

The propellers will help lower/alter the MP sound but you need the updated ESCs that are only part of the Platinum variant to achieve the full effect. My MPP is remarkably quiet and unannoying.

This article is from a few years ago but the threats and lessons to be learned are still quite valid: How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking

Once a hacker gets access to your DJI account, they'll try those same credentials on other accounts you have to see of they get lucky. They will also collect your security questions/ answers for use on your other accounts if the stolen passwords don't work.

I think the best characterization I've read regarding their sound is it's considerably less "annoying" than the MP's props. I'm impressed how the MPP sounds more like a breeze blowing than a quadcopter flying.

In the US, over water/sparsely populated areas, min allowable altitude is that which allows for a minimum of 500 linear feet from any person, vehicle/vessel, or structure. If there was nothing else around, the C-17 could've gone as low as the pilot felt safe from a regulatory perspective. I have...

I use a Samsung Galaxy S5 and have had zero problems with it. I removed all unnecessary apps along with the sim card. I'm using the phone's USB 3.0 micro-B connector cable to connect to the USB-A female connector on the RC controller.

Don't know, haven't flown that far yet.