I can't remember exactly when in 2017 I purchased my first UAV aircraft or why I choose DJI. All I remember at the time I saw an ex-demo Inspire 1 for sale was that it was going to be the very best I could buy because, albeit second hand, it was made by DJI.
In many ways that aircraft was the very best and worst type of UAV on which to learn to fly. As I recall, it was a bit of a beast to control in almost anything but a light to moderate breeze. But hey; being a ( Mod Removed Langage)to fly was also an absolute great way to learn what not to do, if you wanted to successfully land it - and then be able to take off again at a later time, with landing gear and camera gimbal unit intact. I never did get any good at trying to do videography at the same time though with the Ins1.
Moving on about 18 months I purchased my "dreamliner", a DJI Mavic 2 Pro, then a further few months after that a Mavic 2 Zoom. Between them both I have since logged close to 3700 minutes of flying. Each Mavic was always maintained with a regular flying cycle of set maintenance, plus prop changes every 20 hours. Battery use was logged and cycled through in a strict rotation.
With hand on heart, I can honestly say I never experienced any system, flight control or camera problems and can only recall bringing the M2P down with more than a bit of anxiety when wind speed picked up and exceeded the aircraft tolerance level, by quite a margin.
I was able to on-sell the Inspire, and this weekend put my Mavic 2 'squadron' up for sale. The M2P sold within the hour, and I am hoping the M2Z will also attract a buyer this weekend.
Why am I selling them, if they were so darn good?
Two big drawbacks:
The small business I have set up, has evolved somewhat to the point where the Mavic style of foldable UAV isn't going to suit my business plans going into 2021. The single payload capacity of both the 'Pro' and 'Zoom' have become problematic through their lack of versatility. Do I buy a 'Dual' and/or 'Enterprise' to increase the versatility of my UAV lineup?
The second issue has been the inherent problems I've experienced with DJI's NFZ setup. While I fully support the concept of a system that is predicated on a safe flying environment, there have been too many instances where after applying to DJI for an unlock permit to fly in a particular location, I have gone to that area, in one case several hundred kilometres, away only to find DJI's NFZ simply would not allow me to fly. DJI were very apologetic - after the fact - but that wasn't really enough to placate an unhappy client and this very po'd operator. Even in a local park where I have done a lot of training flights, that is within 4km of a small regional airport, I have found that I cannot be absolutely assured the unlock permit from DJI was going to ensure I could fly, from one visit to the next, using the same coordinates for this same location.
So, after a near 4 year love affair with the 'Gold Standard' in UAV's is now all but at an end for me. I have two other foldable UAV's, each with an easily swappable multiple payload capacity. Neither are encumbered with the fickleness of DJI's NFZ system. In one single operation, I am able to log my flight coordinates with this country's CAA body that controls legitimate UAV traffic and have a response within a couple of minutes. My responsibilities as PiC are not diminished or hindered by a system that simply does not work for me, in a part of the country where more than 66% of the land is closed off as National Park/conservation land; but at least I know when I have flight approval, I can go to a location and actually complete a mission.
One thing I never considered several years ago, at the time I had all those "starry eyed dreams" about setting up a retirement business around UAV operations, was that I would also end up embracing ROV operations as a part of my retirement business.
It's been a funny old year, in more ways than just getting through a pandemic safely!!!
Happy and safe flying
In many ways that aircraft was the very best and worst type of UAV on which to learn to fly. As I recall, it was a bit of a beast to control in almost anything but a light to moderate breeze. But hey; being a ( Mod Removed Langage)to fly was also an absolute great way to learn what not to do, if you wanted to successfully land it - and then be able to take off again at a later time, with landing gear and camera gimbal unit intact. I never did get any good at trying to do videography at the same time though with the Ins1.
Moving on about 18 months I purchased my "dreamliner", a DJI Mavic 2 Pro, then a further few months after that a Mavic 2 Zoom. Between them both I have since logged close to 3700 minutes of flying. Each Mavic was always maintained with a regular flying cycle of set maintenance, plus prop changes every 20 hours. Battery use was logged and cycled through in a strict rotation.
With hand on heart, I can honestly say I never experienced any system, flight control or camera problems and can only recall bringing the M2P down with more than a bit of anxiety when wind speed picked up and exceeded the aircraft tolerance level, by quite a margin.
I was able to on-sell the Inspire, and this weekend put my Mavic 2 'squadron' up for sale. The M2P sold within the hour, and I am hoping the M2Z will also attract a buyer this weekend.
Why am I selling them, if they were so darn good?
Two big drawbacks:
The small business I have set up, has evolved somewhat to the point where the Mavic style of foldable UAV isn't going to suit my business plans going into 2021. The single payload capacity of both the 'Pro' and 'Zoom' have become problematic through their lack of versatility. Do I buy a 'Dual' and/or 'Enterprise' to increase the versatility of my UAV lineup?
The second issue has been the inherent problems I've experienced with DJI's NFZ setup. While I fully support the concept of a system that is predicated on a safe flying environment, there have been too many instances where after applying to DJI for an unlock permit to fly in a particular location, I have gone to that area, in one case several hundred kilometres, away only to find DJI's NFZ simply would not allow me to fly. DJI were very apologetic - after the fact - but that wasn't really enough to placate an unhappy client and this very po'd operator. Even in a local park where I have done a lot of training flights, that is within 4km of a small regional airport, I have found that I cannot be absolutely assured the unlock permit from DJI was going to ensure I could fly, from one visit to the next, using the same coordinates for this same location.
So, after a near 4 year love affair with the 'Gold Standard' in UAV's is now all but at an end for me. I have two other foldable UAV's, each with an easily swappable multiple payload capacity. Neither are encumbered with the fickleness of DJI's NFZ system. In one single operation, I am able to log my flight coordinates with this country's CAA body that controls legitimate UAV traffic and have a response within a couple of minutes. My responsibilities as PiC are not diminished or hindered by a system that simply does not work for me, in a part of the country where more than 66% of the land is closed off as National Park/conservation land; but at least I know when I have flight approval, I can go to a location and actually complete a mission.
One thing I never considered several years ago, at the time I had all those "starry eyed dreams" about setting up a retirement business around UAV operations, was that I would also end up embracing ROV operations as a part of my retirement business.
It's been a funny old year, in more ways than just getting through a pandemic safely!!!
Happy and safe flying
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