Drone pilot from Washington, D.C.

[DCDronePilot]

I'm a second year Ph.D candidate in Washington, D.C., and a technology geek/nerd. I love photography and being outdoors amongst nature. I'm also an avid backpacker, and enjoy doing a great many other things outside. Besides being athletic, I am a private pilot and received my single engine license at 17 years old (presently 30), and followed that up with a number of other certifications in flying single and multi-engine aircraft, as well as was a member of CAP and a Expert Ranger that trained at Hawk Mountain Ranger School. Five years ago I was also trained with Tom Brown in New Jersey in a multitude of courses, but none of that pertains to flying, and more closely to SAR.

I recently decided to start droning but have not yet purchased my first drone because I am currently researching every aspect of the hobby. I do plan to make my purchase soon. Thus far, I have purchased a portable external hard drive, micro SD cards, F-Stop backpack, and a number of pouches from Think Tank as well as others for organization.

I am presently researching the DJI Mavic Pro II, and the Autel Evo, because I want portability with my aircraft. If you have any advice for a newbie, I am definitely willing to listen.

 

[joejaxvic123]

Welcome, that's quite a resume. Let's hope DJI doesn't foul up the inevitable Mavic II with an Air Platinum, or whatever.

I never studied the Autel. When I first laid eyes on the Pro I said that thing looks wicked, I got to have it.

I'm still a noob who crashed into a tree within 2 months of ownership so I could just be talking out of my butt.

Hang around, lots of info here and some good people who are true fans of the hobby.

 

[dirkclod]

Little late but Welcome to Mavic Pilots .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[mel.m]

Hi and welcome your resume sounds like one of my children one a scientist and another a doctor and me well I manage to finish 6th grade . The Mavic Pro I fly only had it a short time but for me a beautiful piece of technology the autel evo have read about but really no nothing about their has been talk of a MP 2 to be released in a few months maybe a wait would be worth it.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mavic Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in Mavic quadcopters.
Enjoy!
*MAVIC PRO MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20171219/Mavic Pro User Manual V2.0.pdf
*MAVIC PRO PLATINUM MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20171123/Mavic_Pro_User_Manual V1.8.pdf
*MAVIC AIR QUICK START GUIDE: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic Air/Mavic Air Quick Start Guide v1.0 .pdf
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

 

[DCDronePilot]

Welcome, that's quite a resume. Let's hope DJI doesn't foul up the inevitable Mavic II with an Air Platinum, or whatever.

I never studied the Autel. When I first laid eyes on the Pro I said that thing looks wicked, I got to have it.

I'm still a noob who crashed into a tree within 2 months of ownership so I could just be talking out of my butt.

Hang around, lots of info here and some good people who are true fans of the hobby.

Thank you! I have not crashed once lol But wait... I have't even started to fly a drone yet. Haha

 

[DCDronePilot]

Little late but Welcome to Mavic Pilots .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

Thank you! I will start posting more visual content once I have a drone. For now, I will be mainly chatting it up with all the other pilots here. Seems like a great group, and I am glad to be apart of it.

 

[DCDronePilot]

Hi and welcome your resume sounds like one of my children one a scientist and another a doctor and me well I manage to finish 6th grade . The Mavic Pro I fly only had it a short time but for me a beautiful piece of technology the autel evo have read about but really no nothing about their has been talk of a MP 2 to be released in a few months maybe a wait would be worth it.

Interesting! What type of scientist and doctor? Well, my Ph.D is focusing on international business (same as one of my dual bachelors), but I hope to enter into real estate development or some type of financial business after achieving my doctorate.

I am strongly considering the MP 2 or the Autel Evo. Been researching and have contacted both companies to gain a better understanding of the technology and people that are creating these drones. I really am impressed with both, but Autel seems to lack certain things such as the "Quick Shots" and I'm not sure how much I like the "pumpkin" orange color of their drones. But that's not to say that I couldn't change the color with decals. There is much talk that the MP 2 will be black, and I hope it is, but time will tell.

 

[DCDronePilot]

Little late but Welcome to Mavic Pilots .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

Haha! I am very shy outside of the digital world, but I will definitely be asking many questions along the way. Thanks again.

 

[DCDronePilot]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mavic Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in Mavic quadcopters.
Enjoy!
*MAVIC PRO MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20171219/Mavic Pro User Manual V2.0.pdf
*MAVIC PRO PLATINUM MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20171123/Mavic_Pro_User_Manual V1.8.pdf
*MAVIC AIR QUICK START GUIDE: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic Air/Mavic Air Quick Start Guide v1.0 .pdf
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

Thank you! I'm sure this forum will be a very rewarding experience for me. I like exchanging ideas and hearing others opinions, so I'm really looking forward to learning from everyone here.

 

[Bunny Too]

I'm a second year Ph.D candidate in Washington, D.C., and a technology geek/nerd. I love photography and being outdoors amongst nature. I'm also an avid backpacker, and enjoy doing a great many other things outside. Besides being athletic, I am a private pilot and received my single engine license at 17 years old (presently 30), and followed that up with a number of other certifications in flying single and multi-engine aircraft, as well as was a member of CAP and a Expert Ranger that trained at Hawk Mountain Ranger School. Five years ago I was also trained with Tom Brown in New Jersey in a multitude of courses, but none of that pertains to flying, and more closely to SAR.

I recently decided to start droning but have not yet purchased my first drone because I am currently researching every aspect of the hobby. I do plan to make my purchase soon. Thus far, I have purchased a portable external hard drive, micro SD cards, F-Stop backpack, and a number of pouches from Think Tank as well as others for organization.

I am presently researching the DJI Mavic Pro II, and the Autel Evo, because I want portability with my aircraft. If you have any advice for a newbie, I am definitely willing to listen.

Howdy from Wyoming @DCDronePilot , welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here.

 

[DCDronePilot]

Howdy from Wyoming @DCDronePilot , welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here.

Thank you.

 

[Djockey87]

I'm a second year Ph.D candidate in Washington, D.C., and a technology geek/nerd. I love photography and being outdoors amongst nature. I'm also an avid backpacker, and enjoy doing a great many other things outside. Besides being athletic, I am a private pilot and received my single engine license at 17 years old (presently 30), and followed that up with a number of other certifications in flying single and multi-engine aircraft, as well as was a member of CAP and a Expert Ranger that trained at Hawk Mountain Ranger School. Five years ago I was also trained with Tom Brown in New Jersey in a multitude of courses, but none of that pertains to flying, and more closely to SAR.

I recently decided to start droning but have not yet purchased my first drone because I am currently researching every aspect of the hobby. I do plan to make my purchase soon. Thus far, I have purchased a portable external hard drive, micro SD cards, F-Stop backpack, and a number of pouches from Think Tank as well as others for organization.

I am presently researching the DJI Mavic Pro II, and the Autel Evo, because I want portability with my aircraft. If you have any advice for a newbie, I am definitely willing to listen.

Welcome to the world of drone photography. Much less work to get a Mavic in the air than a manned air frame. Make sure you research the areas you can fly, DC is extremely limited if possible at all. I live just a short jog north in Columbia, MD and the air space opens up a bit out here, but still pretty limited. Good luck!

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

Welcome to the group. Impressive resume. If you can wait, I would. As you said the two contenders are the EVO and the MP2. One of the most anticipated developments will be the camera. Will they have a new 1" sensor or not. The new EVO being released did not come out with the increase 1" sensor, however, they did present a prototype at CES with a 1" sensor. This was to obtain feedback to decide if it they should proceed with a second version with the 1" sensor. The feedback was great and production has begun with an unofficial projection for later this year. It is projected to be about $300 more that the smaller sensor version.

The Mavic Pro 2 is also "suppose" to have a 1" sensor and hopefully there will be an announcement in March. Keeping the fingers crossed. If it has the proven performance of the Mavic Pro, it will be a game changer.

The other very large issue, especially for commercial UAV pilots, is the NFZ lockouts imposed by DJI. This has been a battle for sometime as Pilots may arrive on a job site and are unable to take off at all, or without a lot of hassle. Not being in DC, but with postings I hear this may be a bigger problem in your area. Others could give you more info on this. Autel does not have the NFZ problem. So this is something to consider when looking at a UAV purchase.

Autel has a history of quality and Customer Support so I am hoping the EVO will continue with this history. The MP is a workhorse with sound quality, the NFZ issue and camera are the only limitations I and I am sure others have.

My two MP's are stable, reliable workhorses. I personally will wait for both the MP2 and the EVO with the 1" sensor to come out and be reviewed. Then make my final decision.

You could also get a Mavic Pro/Air now with their lower price and upgrade later. This would give you several months of learning, flying and enjoying the Drone Life.

Happy and Safe Flying (both Unmanned and Manned in your case)

 

[jag32266]

_drone WDC

• jag32266
• Feb 25, 2018

As Djockey87 stated, become familiar with the related laws and possibly getting your Part 107 (you're already a pilot). You can't fly anywhere in DC so the suburbs will be your play ground. Good luck and welcome!