Why are drones not offered in more visible colours?

[Calicassy]

Here are some pics. I have strobe on at least 1 ft 1 bk arms and 1 bottom so it can be seen

 

[Feek]

but put firehouse strobes (6) when all needed and that takes me to about 1600-1800ft at 200ft alt. I can look down at controller and back up and see the strobe first then color and I am 60

If you've got front facing strobes, do you see the flashes on videos?

 

[Dale D]

I have a DJI mini4 pro and I often lose VLOS simply by looking briefly at the controller. And it got me wondering why they don’t make drones in more visible colours like red for example? I think i could locate it better then.
What if i hand painted it? Is that an option? Would the weight of the paint put me over 250g?
Any thoughts?

I had the original Mavic Air which was bright red. Frankly, once it gets in the air, I could not tell the color. I think you really needs to watch that drone like a hawk, and strobes would be very helpful.

Dale
Miami

 

[Calicassy]

If you've got front facing strobes, do you see the flashes on videos?

No I do not see the flashes. They are mounted on down legs with the skin and 5 strobes my mavic 2 pro weights in at 990 grams 83 grams over base weight.

 

[Parkerjh]

Any thoughts?

I use skins for fun. They add a lot of color and flair. What they don't add is any increased visibility. After 50' or so, doesn't much matter what color it is. If you're struggling for visibility, add a strobe.

 

[Calicassy]

I got these mounts thru aerial-pixel.com for the future strobes for the mavic 2 pro. They are great. Feel fine flying over 600ft dst. And over 200ft ht. 3rd. Well worth it

 

[Robert Prior]

I did chuckle when I had a look at some of the sites selling skins to see they do camouflage versions!

Chap I knew who was in the navy was rather critical of the new sea-pattern camouflage working uniforms when he was issued one. Just the thing to be wearing when you need to hide among the waves!

 

[qwerty53]

I've used Decal Girl to skin my drone and have had excellent results. You should try doing that and if you don't like it after a while you can easily remove them and change it out for something else.
Here's the link to them.

DecalGirl | Custom Skins, Wraps, and Sleeves for Your Gadgets!

Founded in 2003, DecalGirl has helped trendy shoppers personalize and protect millions of consumer electronic devices with full-color skins, wraps & sleeves.

www.decalgirl.com

$25 for a skin? They are out of their mind

 

[mavic3usa]

$25 for a skin? They are out of their mind

Give your email address for 15% off but actually, these skins are pretty good and well worth the price. Not only are they precise and accurate giving a clean and professional look but also they are durable and long-lasting and much resistant to fading which is important if you don't want the basic DJI drab look.

 

[anotherlab]

I have a DJI mini4 pro and I often lose VLOS simply by looking briefly at the controller. And it got me wondering why they don’t make drones in more visible colours like red for example? I think i could locate it better then.
What if i hand painted it? Is that an option? Would the weight of the paint put me over 250g?
Any thoughts?

I put skins from Decalgirl on my Phantom. It did not help that much for visibility. Most of the decal was on the top of the drone, which doesn't help finding it in the sky,

The darker color of the Mavic helps, but above 200ft, it's easy to lose sight of it.

When I lose sight of my drone, I aim the camera straight down. That helps me identify where it is.

 

[qwerty53]

Give your email address for 15% off but actually, these skins are pretty good and well worth the price. Not only are they precise and accurate giving a clean and professional look but also they are durable and long-lasting and much resistant to fading which is important if you don't want the basic DJI drab look.

Thanks. Oh and another thing. Will I need to register mu mini 3 if you put this skin on?

 

[mavic3usa]

Thanks. Oh and another thing. Will I need to register mu mini 3 if you put this skin on?

My understanding the standard skins on the market do not cause the Mini drone to go overweight such that you need to registered in the US.

 

[anotherlab]

Thanks. Oh and another thing. Will I need to register mu mini 3 if you put this skin on?

A Mini 3 weighs 248g, a drone skin will put it over the weight limit and you would be required to register it. On the DecalGirl site, they list the weight of a phone at 2g. A drone skin will take more material (top, bottom, legs...) and it's going to be a few grams above 250g.

If you want to see if the skin would help, buy some colored electrical tape and put some on the drone. If that doesn't help make it visible to you, a skin isn't going to help either.

 

[mavic3usa]

A Mini 3 weighs 248g, a drone skin will put it over the weight limit and you would be required to register it. On the DecalGirl site, they list the weight of a phone at 2g. A drone skin will take more material (top, bottom, legs...) and it's going to be a few grams above 250g.

If you want to see if the skin would help, buy some colored electrical tape and put some on the drone. If that doesn't help make it visible to you, a skin isn't going to help either.

Anyone who will nitpick over a couple of g's can simply add the skins one at a time and stop when they hit 250g and you'll probably have 90% of your drone covered.

Unless the skins are "neon" I don't think any of them will increase the visibility of your drone. If that's the goal with a skin, I suggest looking at skins from wrapgrade and choose one of the lite packages which is less stickers but accents in the right places...and it's looks good, too!

WRAPGRADE

We make unique products. Let us help you "wrap" your drones so you can enjoy flying with style in your favorite color! We are a dedicated manufacturer that produces and ships from Japan.

www.amazon.com

 

[Droning on and on...]

I just “skinned” my Air3 recently with a Decalgirl skin. To be honest whilst it looks cool, I don’t think it adds much to improving VLOS. But my three Firehouse Strobes (not pictured) certainly do!
View attachment 173759

Love that skin! Put the same one on my Mini 4 Pro and RC2.

 

[matt@tcdrones]

I had the original Mavic Air which was bright red. Frankly, once it gets in the air, I could not tell the color. I think you really needs to watch that drone like a hawk, and strobes would be very helpful.

Dale
Miami

try a wrap by decalgirl.com

 

[Torque]

I own a hangar full of drones and 98% of them are wrapped. Flourescent colors, bright colors or patterns - they all appear as "a dark spot in the sky" after a few thousand feet away from you. Flying in the Pacific Northwest's "DJI Gray"
colored skies, the wraps help a little, but there isn't one color that stands out over others once you have a little distance between you and the rig.
I wrapped my DJI FPV drone in metallic silver from Wrapgrade, and that is the only one that really makes a difference - when the sun hits the silver, it is like a mirror or a strobe, and it very easy to keep VLOS.
Bright colors are an advantage if you loose your drone in a tree or bushes - easy to see against all the green.

 

[Dale D]

I own a hangar full of drones and 98% of them are wrapped. Flourescent colors, bright colors or patterns - they all appear as "a dark spot in the sky" after a few thousand feet away from you. Flying in the Pacific Northwest's "DJI Gray"
colored skies, the wraps help a little, but there isn't one color that stands out over others once you have a little distance between you and the rig.
I wrapped my DJI FPV drone in metallic silver from Wrapgrade, and that is the only one that really makes a difference - when the sun hits the silver, it is like a mirror or a strobe, and it very easy to keep VLOS.
Bright colors are an advantage if you loose your drone in a tree or bushes - easy to see against all the green.

wrapped drones seem to me as an added impediment in the care and treatment. Also, it needs to be installed and then uninstalled when sold. It's an un neccessary expense for me.

 

[mavic3usa]

wrapped drones seem to me as an added impediment in the care and treatment. Also, it needs to be installed and then uninstalled when sold. It's an un neccessary expense for me.

I agree if you go the extra length to customize with crazy patterns or teams or you pick one of these crazy unknown colors then you may have problems selling but all my drones have subtle colors or I use the accent colors which are partial and only color batteries and major surfaces; sorta like racing stripes. And, they are easy to remove. I stick with the neutral colors but lately I have been known to go fluorescent which is popular.

 

[Dale D]

I agree if you go the extra length to customize with crazy patterns or teams or you pick one of these crazy unknown colors then you may have problems selling but all my drones have subtle colors or I use the accent colors which are partial and only color batteries and major surfaces; sorta like racing stripes. And, they are easy to remove. I stick with the neutral colors but lately I have been known to go fluorescent which is popular.

to each his own. I am a minimalist.