Recent content by wehobella

A few weeks ago someone posted a PDF that was a prime exhibit to be handed out to any over-zealous security personnel or aggressive bystanders who would accuse pilots of operating illegally. As an example, I’ve had security guards tell me it was “illegal to fly in the city of LA” before. Do...

New to the drone space and appreciate that the 400' limit has been beaten to death; however, I'm looking for an official source that says hobbyists aren't limited to 400' feet in height. Checked the FAA site and (as one would suspect) they don't make it super easy to find ... not that I can...

The Hollywood Sign is 4.69 miles away from the BUR airport. I called the phone number listed on the Airmap app and was connected to the tower with outbound voicemail that said, "if you are a drone pilot asking for permission, consider it refused." Yikes... seems a bit harsh and against the...

I'm using the RC and App. I found "DJI Assistant" in the Apple App store. Is that the one? I've seen a video that illustrates a hard-wire to your Mac rather than an app but didn't find the location of the DJI firmware update on DJI.com

New Mavic Pro out of the box and I got the notice (on my iPhone) that the drone needs a firmware update. I've tried to complete process 3X with no success. Each time, it appears to download the software but fails when it tries to communicate to the drone. (It gets to 77% and then fails.) Any...

OK... I just went through the settings again when the iPhone was paired to the drone. I absolutely was NOT in beginner mode during the maiden voyage. I know this because I was able to move my drone 300' vertically and about 1,000 feet away. As I understand it, in beginner mode, distances of...

HA! Good point. To offer a little more detail, on my maiden voyage, I had no issues. I was just flying in an empty patch of grass with a few trees. I was in a controlled flight, going slow, and the Mavic engaged it's safety protocol. You make a good point though. I would only engage sport mode...

Yes... I turned "beginner mode" off in the app settings (on my iPhone). But the drone wasn't "on". I was not connected. I thought that any modifications to setting in app would be set upon turning on the drone. Perhaps they need to both be on in order to change modes?

I took my Mavic out for her maiden voyage yesterday and was in Sport mode but it seemed like my top speed maxed out at around 12MPH. Is there another setting I need to look at in order to get the faster speed? Also, even though I was in sport mode, collision protection was enabled. (Several...

Thanks! Notifying airports makes sense. I live near very large airports (BUR and LAX) so I have no intention of going close to them. Better to be safe than sorry ... especially as I'm new to piloting. That said, there are a ton of helicopter spots that if I was to avoid, I'd have no place to fly...

I know I'm not allowed to fly within 5mi of an airport without notifying them; however, when I looked at my location via B4UFLY, it gave the following warning, "You are within 5 miles of an airport." I've uploaded screenshots from B4UFLY and UAV Forecast. You can see from both (especially UAV...