Flying in Australia

Geo · Jan 19, 2019

Went on an Australian cruise and brought my Mavic. I'm in my 60's, so I guess people see me as an old coot. Between New Zealand and Australia no one ever bothered me about my drone. I was always asked how I got it through customs, like it was a bar of uranium. I always just told them, Drones are not illegal. Some observations though.
As on oldster I was on many tour buses around the continent. Sometimes they stop for a 10-15 minute stop to look at a site. With the Mavic you go through a 5 minute setup before you can fly. Too much time if you are only going to be there 10 minutes. I was thinking, wish I had a Spark that I could just take out of a pocket and throw into the air to fly. Smaller footprint, so less noticeable as you fly away (I prefer to be almost invisible when I fly) . Don't own one so only speculating.

Birds at the beach were a huge problem. They would attack the drone constantly. I was lucky it never got knocked down, but it caused me to not do a lot of beachshots (over the water). Or I would come over the beach at 200 feet so as to avoid them. Tourists feed the birds so flocks of hungry seagulls are at every beach.

Drones are not allowed on cruise ships. Security would take my drone every time I got on the ship. They treated it very well and there was never a problem with this setup. It was always waiting for me on departure.

The Mavic performed flawlessly.

I wonder if the Spark is a better idea on trips? Don't own one so will never know. Got through 2 flying seasons with this Mavic. Has been flawless the entire time. 3 blades are originals.

So enjoy your drone as you travel the world.

jeplane · Jan 19, 2019

I first got a Spark, to start with.
The size was great, because people saw it as a toy and never bothered me.

The mavic is obviously a much better product for pictures. And although the Spark was OK, there is no question that I can do a lot more with the Mavic 2.

Because, like you mentioned, the Spark was already with the props installed, I carry the Mavic with a case allowing me to keep the props in place. Same with the controller: the joystick stay in place as well, allowing me to send the Mavic in the same amount of time as the Spark.

Plus I do not have to deal with a wrong install of the props, or tear and wear on the attachments.

Just a thought....

Geo · Jan 19, 2019

jeplane said:
I first got a Spark, to start with.
The size was great, because people saw it as a toy and never bothered me.

The mavic is obviously a much better product for pictures. And although the Spark was OK, there is no question that I can do a lot more with the Mavic 2.

Because, like you mentioned, the Spark was already with the props installed, I carry the Mavic with a case allowing me to keep the props in place. Same with the controller: the joystick stay in place as well, allowing me to send the Mavic in the same amount of time as the Spark.

Plus I do not have to deal with a wrong install of the props, or tear and wear on the attachments.

Just a thought....

Thanks for that

caspian · Jan 19, 2019

I'm going on a cruise shortly and was thinking of taking my Spark with me, but the "no drones on board" rule put me off. might inquire about having it stored while onboard. a PGYTech hard case holds everything for about 45 minutes photographic flight.

Geo · Jan 19, 2019

Mine was in a case and they treated it very gently.

caspian · Jan 19, 2019

which line was it?

Geo · Jan 19, 2019

Vicking, new ship

Mavic Pro Platinum · Jan 19, 2019

Geo said:
Went on an Australian cruise and brought my Mavic. I'm in my 60's, so I guess people see me as an old coot. Between New Zealand and Australia no one ever bothered me about my drone. I was always asked how I got it through customs, like it was a bar of uranium. I always just told them, Drones are not illegal. Some observations though.
As on oldster I was on many tour buses around the continent. Sometimes they stop for a 10-15 minute stop to look at a site. With the Mavic you go through a 5 minute setup before you can fly. Too much time if you are only going to be there 10 minutes. I was thinking, wish I had a Spark that I could just take out of a pocket and throw into the air to fly. Smaller footprint, so less noticeable as you fly away (I prefer to be almost invisible when I fly) . Don't own one so only speculating.

Birds at the beach were a huge problem. They would attack the drone constantly. I was lucky it never got knocked down, but it caused me to not do a lot of beachshots (over the water). Or I would come over the beach at 200 feet so as to avoid them. Tourists feed the birds so flocks of hungry seagulls are at every beach.

Drones are not allowed on cruise ships. Security would take my drone every time I got on the ship. They treated it very well and there was never a problem with this setup. It was always waiting for me on departure.

The Mavic performed flawlessly.

I wonder if the Spark is a better idea on trips? Don't own one so will never know. Got through 2 flying seasons with this Mavic. Has been flawless the entire time. 3 blades are originals.

So enjoy your drone as you travel the world.

Welcome to the forum![emoji16]

Aussie Oldtimer · Jan 20, 2019

caspian said:
I'm going on a cruise shortly and was thinking of taking my Spark with me, but the "no drones on board" rule put me off. might inquire about having it stored while onboard. a PGYTech hard case holds everything for about 45 minutes photographic flight.

Did it put you off doing the cruise or just to not take your drone?

Aussie Oldtimer · Jan 20, 2019

Geo said:
Went on an Australian cruise and brought my Mavic. I'm in my 60's, so I guess people see me as an old coot. Between New Zealand and Australia no one ever bothered me about my drone. I was always asked how I got it through customs, like it was a bar of uranium. I always just told them, Drones are not illegal. Some observations though.
As on oldster I was on many tour buses around the continent. Sometimes they stop for a 10-15 minute stop to look at a site. With the Mavic you go through a 5 minute setup before you can fly. Too much time if you are only going to be there 10 minutes. I was thinking, wish I had a Spark that I could just take out of a pocket and throw into the air to fly. Smaller footprint, so less noticeable as you fly away (I prefer to be almost invisible when I fly) . Don't own one so only speculating.

Birds at the beach were a huge problem. They would attack the drone constantly. I was lucky it never got knocked down, but it caused me to not do a lot of beachshots (over the water). Or I would come over the beach at 200 feet so as to avoid them. Tourists feed the birds so flocks of hungry seagulls are at every beach.

Drones are not allowed on cruise ships. Security would take my drone every time I got on the ship. They treated it very well and there was never a problem with this setup. It was always waiting for me on departure.

The Mavic performed flawlessly.

I wonder if the Spark is a better idea on trips? Don't own one so will never know. Got through 2 flying seasons with this Mavic. Has been flawless the entire time. 3 blades are originals.

So enjoy your drone as you travel the world.

Firstly, welcome
ive also been mobbed by lots of different birds from little swallows up to raptors. Thankfully nothing has made contact (yet)

i always like to allow plenty of time to fly and being on a bus trip would be a nightmare

caspian · Jan 20, 2019

Aussie Oldtimer said:
Did it put you off doing the cruise or just to not take your drone?

we had the cruise booked 6 months before I bought my rig. it's a little disappointing but I presume that's been a lesson learned from experience by the cruise lines.

Aussie Oldtimer · Jan 20, 2019

so did you cancel the cruise?

Geo · Jan 20, 2019

Why would you cancel the cruise, you weren’t going to fly from the ship anyhow.

caspian · Jan 20, 2019

I also doubt that any other cruise line would have much different rules.

W2EJ · Jan 21, 2019

Geo said:
Went on an Australian cruise and brought my Mavic. I'm in my 60's, so I guess people see me as an old coot. Between New Zealand and Australia no one ever bothered me about my drone. I was always asked how I got it through customs, like it was a bar of uranium. I always just told them, Drones are not illegal. Some observations though.
As on oldster I was on many tour buses around the continent. Sometimes they stop for a 10-15 minute stop to look at a site. With the Mavic you go through a 5 minute setup before you can fly. Too much time if you are only going to be there 10 minutes. I was thinking, wish I had a Spark that I could just take out of a pocket and throw into the air to fly. Smaller footprint, so less noticeable as you fly away (I prefer to be almost invisible when I fly) . Don't own one so only speculating.

Birds at the beach were a huge problem. They would attack the drone constantly. I was lucky it never got knocked down, but it caused me to not do a lot of beachshots (over the water). Or I would come over the beach at 200 feet so as to avoid them. Tourists feed the birds so flocks of hungry seagulls are at every beach.

Drones are not allowed on cruise ships. Security would take my drone every time I got on the ship. They treated it very well and there was never a problem with this setup. It was always waiting for me on departure.

The Mavic performed flawlessly.

I wonder if the Spark is a better idea on trips? Don't own one so will never know. Got through 2 flying seasons with this Mavic. Has been flawless the entire time. 3 blades are originals.

So enjoy your drone as you travel the world.

I don't know exactly which Mavic you have, but the brand new DJI Smart Controller, will be much faster to set up and fly than the one you have. If it works with your Mavic and you don't have a problem with the price, it could be your solution.

Geo · Jan 21, 2019

W2EJ said:
I don't know exactly which Mavic you have, but the brand new DJI Smart Controller, will be much faster to set up and fly than the one you have. If it works with your Mavic and you don't have a problem with the price, it could be your solution.

I do have a problem with the price. A lot of money for something I already have, more or less.