Recent content by pooderbill

... Helicopter blades over 700 mph... Everyone forgets about the rock hard battery that is nothing like a bird. For all fixed wing aircraft, the speed of the drone is irrelevant. The battery will hit the aircraft at more than 100 mph, way more for jets. If the drone hits the tail or main rotor...

I think some people are forgetting that the speed of a Mavic pro drone hitting a Cessna is about 170 to 200 mph (270-320 kph) with a very hard battery weighing about 10.5 oz (300 grams), about twice the weight of a hardball. The battery is the dangerous part and is a lot worse than a bird strike.

I didn't see this mentioned, but loss of signal or controller or tablet/phone failure will be a disaster. There are two things the drone will do depending on what you previously setup before takeoff: 1. Stop and hover until the battery runs out then tries to land immediately. 2. Initiate Return...

There's an old saying among fliers: There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. But there aren't any old bold pilots. I am flying regularly in heavy forests next to the ocean. In documenting an extremely tall red cedar (150ft), it is closely surrounded by similar sized trees with one...

Has anyone clarified VLOS, that is, the pilot or observer must have 20:20 vision and be able to see the aircraft at 400' away? My Mavic is essentially invisible at 300' straight up. Does this mean that any flight where the drone cannot be seen is illegal? What does this mean to 107 pilots flying...

...Do you ever get "MAG INTERFERE" across the Remote Controller? Big surprise: Almost all modern laptops have a massively large magnetic field at the left and right end of the case. These thin laptops don't use a mechanical switch and instead use hidden magnets. This is strong enough to grab...