The future of RC aircraft

[3rdof5]

I find it interesting to watch the evolution of all the RC aircraft. Dji has been a leader and at the forefront of innovation in the last decade. Their aircraft are in a league of their own with both cameras and flight capabilities. Are they at the limit of what can be improved? I currently have 3 of their models and love them all for different reasons. But honestly, I really don't forsee any new features that will make me want to upgrade or add to my fleet (see my fleet in my signature). I'm currently adding a flywing helicopter, no camera, no obstacle avoidance, but yes it does have GPS and the sticks behave exactly as they do with a Dji quad. I'm purchasing it for fun flying. It sounds and looks so cool. It has about a 15 minute flight time and a 1 mile range. Far lower specs than any of my Dji drones but I don't care. This will be a blast to fly! It's got to the point where the specs are less important than the enjoyment of flight. Gotta love technology

 

[Riptide]

I find it interesting to watch the evolution of all the RC aircraft. Dji has been a leader and at the forefront of innovation in the last decade. Their aircraft are in a league of their own with both cameras and flight capabilities. Are they at the limit of what can be improved? I currently have 3 of their models and love them all for different reasons. But honestly, I really don't forsee any new features that will make me want to upgrade or add to my fleet (see my fleet in my signature). I'm currently adding a flywing helicopter, no camera, no obstacle avoidance, but yes it does have GPS and the sticks behave exactly as they do with a Dji quad. I'm purchasing it for fun flying. It sounds and looks so cool. It has about a 15 minute flight time and a 1 mile range. Far lower specs than any of my Dji drones but I don't care. This will be a blast to fly! It's got to the point where the specs are less important than the enjoyment of flight. Gotta love technology

It really depends on what you're using them for. If you're into photography than either a Mavic 3 or 4 pro would be a nice upgrade over your Mavic 3 Classic; however, if you're just flying for fun then I can see fewer reasons to upgrade your fleet.

 

[3rdof5]

It really depends on what you're using them for. If you're into photography than either a Mavic 3 or 4 pro would be a nice upgrade over your Mavic 3 Classic; however, if you're just flying for fun then I can see fewer reasons to upgrade your fleet.

Ya I'm not a professional photographer but I do like quality video and pics and all my quads provide that. My Mavic 3 is my flagship and flies all the long distant photo missions with zero issues. The mini 4 pro is awesome and the fact that both of them have obstacle avoidance and are compatible with my Goggles2/mc2 is perfect for my needs. And the NEO is, well, probably the best idea Dji ever had. I love that little bird. Now I have a beast of a heli, something cool and fun just for that reason. Lol

 

[mavic3usa]

I see a lot of room for improvement for DJI. Where shall I begin:

1. Beacon for tracking.
2. They need to improve their OA to Skydio level
3. One day we get 2, 3 or 4 hour batteries (to support BVLOS) will make our current drones more like toys.
4. Completely stealth or near stealth with so little prop noise, you can't hear it over 50 feet away.
5. Cine/Regular/Sport mode, add Hyper mode and let's get speeds up to 90 mph to take advantage of long range and battery life.
6. 5G integration
7. We need some serious improvement on aircraft detection and avoidance to stay safe in the sky.
8. Kevlar or unbreakable lightweight materials so minor crashes or collisions are irrelevant.
9. complete AI intergration
10. SDK

 

[3rdof5]

I see a lot of room for improvement for DJI. Where shall I begin:

1. Beacon for tracking.
2. They need to improve their OA to Skydio level
3. One day we get 2, 3 or 4 hour batteries (to support BVLOS) will make our current drones more like toys.
4. Completely stealth or near stealth with so little prop noise, you can't hear it over 50 feet away.
5. Cine/Regular/Sport mode, add Hyper mode and let's get speeds up to 90 mph to take advantage of long range and battery life.
6. 5G integration
7. We need some serious improvement on aircraft detection and avoidance to stay safe in the sky.
8. Kevlar or unbreakable lightweight materials so minor crashes or collisions are irrelevant.
9. complete AI intergration
10. SDK

Agreed on all points! I stand corrected, there is definitely room for improvement!

 

[AeroJ]

9. complete AI intergration

No !!! Have you not seen Terminator ?!

 

[Rchawks]

That was a scary movie. Funny so many things back in the day that seemed to be fantasy turn out to come true. **** Tracy watch, AI, Jetsons, Max Headroom, Tasers. Beam me up Scotty! Ok maybe we’re not quite there yet and things that could go wrong ( have you seen the movie The Fly?).

 

[Cafguy]

I have many DJI Drones, The best thing DJI could do is make the cameras and gimbals on their drones.. removable ..
That way you could "practice" without worry of destroying the most expensive part!

 

[AeroJ]

I have many DJI Drones, The best thing DJI could do is make the cameras and gimbals on their drones.. removable ..
That way you could "practice" without worry of destroying the most expensive part!

They do give us a very good flight simulator, which is almost as good !

But I still remember my Yuneec Hex with its detachable cams and whatnot, very helpful initially.

 

[Droning on and on...]

That was a scary movie. Funny so many things back in the day that seemed to be fantasy turn out to come true. **** Tracy watch, AI, Jetsons, Max Headroom, Tasers. Beam me up Scotty! Ok maybe we’re not quite there yet and things that could go wrong ( have you seen the movie The Fly?).

"D i c k" is a perfectly normal, unoffensive first name, and shouldn't be censored by the site filters.

 

[wclugston]

"D i c k" is a perfectly normal, unoffensive first name, and shouldn't be censored by the site filters.

Wonder how many of us remember the "D_i_c_k Tracy" comic strip?

 

[mavic3usa]

I see a lot of room for improvement for DJI. Where shall I begin:

1. Beacon for tracking.
2. They need to improve their OA to Skydio level
3. One day we get 2, 3 or 4 hour batteries (to support BVLOS) will make our current drones more like toys.
4. Completely stealth or near stealth with so little prop noise, you can't hear it over 50 feet away.
5. Cine/Regular/Sport mode, add Hyper mode and let's get speeds up to 90 mph to take advantage of long range and battery life.
6. 5G integration
7. We need some serious improvement on aircraft detection and avoidance to stay safe in the sky.
8. Kevlar or unbreakable lightweight materials so minor crashes or collisions are irrelevant.
9. complete AI intergration
10. SDK

One more item:

As Fall colors begin the wrap up, there are so many large areas of colorful trees the long-life battery of the Mavic 3 Pro is ideal to cover as much ground as possible without having to swap batteries and go back to pickup where you left off. But what good is it if after 20 minutes or still 70% battery left you've basically hit the limit because the O3 (or O3+) is so limited that you can barely get BVLOS even if you wanted to. Sure the M3P has the ability to go long range and the capability is there under ideal conditions but in practice, the signal fluctuates so much and the stupid warnings are so prevalent that you basically have to give up and find a new location before you trigger a RTH or have to wait to regain the signal (i.e. you can't see much on the display or pay attention to the subject on the display that it is stuttering and freezing). At one point, I hear a helicopter coming and I'm at 200 feet and pretty far out but I was afraid to dip down to 50 feet because that would have let to a disconnect for sure....

I don't know if O4 is the answer but we could use some O9, not exactly for the long range, but for a good solid connection to keep control, not so prone to interference and cutouts, and a more reliable video feed. So I'm changing #6 to:

• 5G integration and O9+ implementation