A synopsis of this thread, courtesy of @old man mavic:
"Its all about being aware of what you are doing and realising that as the PIC the buck stops with you"
Now, if you have time to read the rest, carry on.
I have alot of friends who are general and commercial pilots as well as drone owners. After flying with so many of these guys, it has become apparent to me that they are the safest people to fly with, and consider their drone as an aircraft, not a flying camera. They obey the rules, read the manual, use checklists, and have it ground into them that fuel management is critical, as well as weather and airspace restrictions.
As a pilot who grew up in the front seat of a Piper Cub, my dad taught me before we even left the house, to check for weather. But that wasnt good enough for him. He checked the weather, called the airport, then took a look outside. He didnt mess with the weather, and if his gut said not to fly, we didnt.
He also drilled into me to never let my fuel tank get below 1/4. To him, that was empty. I still believe that with my Mavic, 25% is empty to me, so I plan on landing at 30% or higher.
I use a checklist before flight, because while it might not stop me from forgetting something, it's kinda fun to go through it every time. Takes all of 2 minutes.
Lastly, he always planned his flight, and flew his plan. Even if we were just going out to goof around, he always had a plan, just in case. It made it more fun to plan, and became a ritual that follows me to this day. I laugh at myself when I go to fly my drones, and find myself flying a pattern. I guess after 2000+ hours of time in aircraft, thats the way my brain thinks. Take off upwind, turn crosswind, downwind, then final. I know its a drone and capable of VTOL, but flying a pattern just relaxes me.
Thanks for reading...
Rob
"Its all about being aware of what you are doing and realising that as the PIC the buck stops with you"
Now, if you have time to read the rest, carry on.
I have alot of friends who are general and commercial pilots as well as drone owners. After flying with so many of these guys, it has become apparent to me that they are the safest people to fly with, and consider their drone as an aircraft, not a flying camera. They obey the rules, read the manual, use checklists, and have it ground into them that fuel management is critical, as well as weather and airspace restrictions.
As a pilot who grew up in the front seat of a Piper Cub, my dad taught me before we even left the house, to check for weather. But that wasnt good enough for him. He checked the weather, called the airport, then took a look outside. He didnt mess with the weather, and if his gut said not to fly, we didnt.
He also drilled into me to never let my fuel tank get below 1/4. To him, that was empty. I still believe that with my Mavic, 25% is empty to me, so I plan on landing at 30% or higher.
I use a checklist before flight, because while it might not stop me from forgetting something, it's kinda fun to go through it every time. Takes all of 2 minutes.
Lastly, he always planned his flight, and flew his plan. Even if we were just going out to goof around, he always had a plan, just in case. It made it more fun to plan, and became a ritual that follows me to this day. I laugh at myself when I go to fly my drones, and find myself flying a pattern. I guess after 2000+ hours of time in aircraft, thats the way my brain thinks. Take off upwind, turn crosswind, downwind, then final. I know its a drone and capable of VTOL, but flying a pattern just relaxes me.
Thanks for reading...
Rob
Last edited:
