Recent content by Rick W

As a new-bee I applaud your view on safety and your concern for the hospital's helipad. You have won my admiration. I am also routinely flying about 1/2 mile from a hospital helipad. There are some general behaviors of the in-bound helicopters that can help you to avoid being in their flight...

It can be done while complying with regulations. Just have to pick your clouds carefully. Technically I flew through two cloud layers below about 150 ft while within my visual line of sight.

Beautiful. Thank you.

A short time ago, I was confronted by a neighbor concerned about my drone fights, privacy, stalking and the general "paranoid" stuff. I invited the neighbor(s) and their two children to come over to share the "droning experience" and to see first hand what I was doing. While I may have been...

Chevy Silverado has a predominantly aluminum polimer body. Similar to most aircraft, steel is too heavy to use for good fuel economy. Stay away from the engine compartment and you will avoid most of the steel and electromagnetic interference. Ever try to put a refrigerator magnet on the...

In addition to the battery drain to get to 3500 AGL, the winds aloft on most days would make drone flying a challenge-impossible and battery life very limited. The investigation should start and perhaps stop with wind speed that day at 3500. Wind speed increases significantly with altitude.

Here is the link: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com Thank you!!

Wasn’t sure which would be easier. Was surprised I couldn’t upload a CSV data file to this forum. It is not one of the allowable attachment formats.

I have attached the file as a zipped CSV if that helps.

This past weekend I was flying my Spark out over the Everglades. I was out a distance of about 1,500 feet when the battery indicator showed a red 64% and I received a battery error message. I immediately flew back toward my take-off point in as direct a course as possible fearing that I had a...

Let them continue to collect what might be exagerated data. In time, it might help our drone community. If the data continues to grow at what seems to be a very rapid pace, will they someday report 15,000 “detected drones” without there being a single “real” drone-related incident? At some...

I wish that "responsible drone pilots" had a voice through a membership organization who could disseminate the message that what has happened at Gatwick Airport is not who we are or what we are about. I fear in that absence of that voice, we become one with those who have chosen to break the...

If you allow your drone and batteries to be stored inside your nice warm house and don't allow the batteries to be exposed to the -3 C for any longer than necessary, you should have nearly normal battery performance as the drone and batteries will generate heat as you fly. When cold, the...

The Flight Record indicates Light Rain. Also noticed that there was a significant spike in temperature as the voltage dropped. Was wondering what the Flight Record would show if the battery got wet?

Sorry about your loss. Any chance that water/moisture contributed to first the gimbal failing and then a critical electronics/control system failure on the drone? As the ocean strikes the rocks along the coast of Maui a significant amount of sea spray (along with sand) is often launched into...