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What is everyone flying? Current projects?

B_Dawson

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Location
McKinney, TX
I know a lot of people answered these questions in the introduction section but it is a little tedious to go through all the individual threads. I thought it would be nice to just scroll through all the responses in one common thread...
  • What aircraft are in your fleet?
  • What do you like/dislike about your current fleet?
  • What industries do you currently work in?
  • Have you run into any limitations with your current fleet?
  • What project are you currently working on?
  • Link to website, Instagram, Facebook, etc so we can all support each other.
 
  • 3DR Solo with GoPro Hero 4 Silver & DJI Phantom 3 Pro.
  • I like the stability of the solo and also the agility. On the downside I only get about 13-15 minutes of battery life, the Solo app hasn't been updated in quite a while, and the spare parts are a bit hard to come by. My other biggest gripe is having to use the GoPro for the camera as opposed to having an integrated camera. The GoPro/Solo connection through the gimbal is a little wonky. With the P3P, it just works all the time. More often than not with the Solo, the video doesn't come through the downlink so I have to reboot the GoPro, reboot the Solo, and rinse and repeat until it starts working. I really enjoy working with the P3P. The app is great, the bird is very stable, and the video/picture performance is very good. I would like to upgrade to the P4 though to see how the 1" sensor improves the performance.
  • The current limitations with the Solo revolve around battery life and the GoPro. The GoPro because of the wide-angle lens which causes significant distortion when you look either up or down from horizontal. It's possible to fix in post, but that causes other issues.
  • My current "project" includes putting together some proposals to get some work lined up for this spring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skylux Media
Awesome Idea!
  • What aircraft are in your fleet?
2x 3DR Solos and 1x DJI Mavic (plus 2x Syma X80s, but I generally don't count them)
  • What do you like/dislike about your current fleet?
The Solos are customizable, so that has opened up my business to Research and Development money and that is proving to be fun. I dislike that the Solos are somewhat small, I would like to invest in a larger drone for heavier payloads. I have flown the DJI S1000+ for some other work, but I think I want something non-DJI if I can.
  • What industries do you currently work in?
Research and Development and Real Estate pics.
  • Have you run into any limitations with your current fleet?
3D mapping using the Solos is highly desired.
  • What project are you currently working on?
Some pretty cool stuff that is, unfortunately, proprietary so I can't talk about it. Pretty soon I'll be posting images.
  • Link to website, Instagram, Facebook, etc so we can all support each other.
www.nxaviation.com (needs some love from me)
NX Aviation (@nxaviation) • Instagram photos and videos
 
I'm flying the Phantom 4, and the Inspire 2. I have a three year job and UC Merced CA construction site. I do mapping, panos, and progressions for them. I also do home inspections and use the Phantom for doing roof inspections, and some work for local ranchers. Since my wife says I'm supposed to be retired, I'm beginning to drop the home inspection business and turning it over to my grandson. The UC job is only two days a week, and requires two to three hours of flying and the a few hours of uploading the photos for editing.
 
Oh, this is a cool topic
For my employer :
  • What aircraft are in your fleet? One Draganfly x4s, two Draganfly Commanders, old Phantom, and soon to get a Draganfly Tango2 fixed wing
  • What do you like/dislike about your current fleet?l Like - great manufacture, custom equipment, very reliable Dislike:flight times, but expected from multi-rotors
  • What industries do you currently work in? Air quality compliance, mapping, 3d modeling, vegetation health etc
  • Have you run into any limitations with your current fleet? Flight times, often need to cover large ares, hopefully fixed wing will take care of problem
  • What project are you currently working on? Owens Lake, Ca
Personally :
  • What aircraft are in your fleet? Inspire 2
  • What do you like/dislike about your current fleet? Like - Quality, abundance of apps for different missions, Dislike - not so such anymore, but limited aftermarket cameras
  • What industries do you currently work in? Mapping, survey, real estate, SAR
  • Have you run into any limitations with your current fleet? None
  • What project are you currently working on? None currently :(
  • Link to website, Instagram, Facebook, etc so we can all support each other. www.esaerialmapping.com
Nik
 
Hey Rodger,

Have you found yourself tending to use one more often than the others? Do you typically use each one for a certain task?


Hey B, I use the P4 Obsidian most often, I like to go to my large open area and just fly and develop my eye hand coordination. I feel that training will make things second nature if something goes astray. I really enjoy the Inspire 2, it is a blast to fly, so responsive, I also have the Cendence controller with the Crystal Sky. The Mavic pro I have not flown much at all, a lot of issues with the Go Program disconnecting. I like the Obsidian because it is easy to find in the sky, the Inspire is as well, probably much easier than the Phantom due to its size. Hope this helps.
 
Oh, this is a cool topic
For my employer :
  • What aircraft are in your fleet? One Draganfly x4s, two Draganfly Commanders, old Phantom, and soon to get a Draganfly Tango2 fixed wing
  • What do you like/dislike about your current fleet?l Like - great manufacture, custom equipment, very reliable Dislike:flight times, but expected from multi-rotors
  • What industries do you currently work in? Air quality compliance, mapping, 3d modeling, vegetation health etc
  • Have you run into any limitations with your current fleet? Flight times, often need to cover large ares, hopefully fixed wing will take care of problem
  • What project are you currently working on? Owens Lake, Ca
Personally :
  • What aircraft are in your fleet? Inspire 2
  • What do you like/dislike about your current fleet? Like - Quality, abundance of apps for different missions, Dislike - not so such anymore, but limited aftermarket cameras
  • What industries do you currently work in? Mapping, survey, real estate, SAR
  • Have you run into any limitations with your current fleet? None
  • What project are you currently working on? None currently :(
  • Link to website, Instagram, Facebook, etc so we can all support each other. www.esaerialmapping.com
Nik

Nik,

I haven't heard of the Draganfly brand I'll have to check them out. What kind of flight times are you getting?

It's sounds like you've got quite a bit going on!

I like the website, especially the Paloose Flats video. Just so you know a few of the links on your homepage aren't working. Under crop management and 3D modeling.
 
1 inspire 1 v1
Inspire 1 v2 with X5
Phantom 4 Pro
And just today Mavic Air

My P4 Pro is the workhorse of the fleet. For what I do it fits my needs perfectly. Can’t wait to open the box a test the Air though...
 
I like the website, especially the Paloose Flats video. Just so you know a few of the links on your homepage aren't working. Under crop management and 3D modeling.

Thanks! I will look into the website issues. Yeah, I keep quite busy :)

As for flight time we are getting in the low 20 minute range, a bit less than what the company claims, but we believe its due to elevation and ambient temperature.... Still looking into it.

Nik
 
Last edited:
Hey B, I use the P4 Obsidian most often, I like to go to my large open area and just fly and develop my eye hand coordination. I feel that training will make things second nature if something goes astray. I really enjoy the Inspire 2, it is a blast to fly, so responsive, I also have the Cendence controller with the Crystal Sky. The Mavic pro I have not flown much at all, a lot of issues with the Go Program disconnecting. I like the Obsidian because it is easy to find in the sky, the Inspire is as well, probably much easier than the Phantom due to its size. Hope this helps.

I do the same thing to develop my hand-eye coordination. I like putting it in "manual" mode so that it doesn't use GPS to maintain position. It still maintains altitude, but you really have to work to correct for the wind drift, especially on windy days.
 
Excellent topic!

I'm just getting off the ground commercially (pun intended). :p I just passed my 107 test. I have been using the Yuneec Typhoon H and it shoots such stable HD video that I thought I would break into the commercial markets - I'm targeting all kinds of markets, real estate, general advertisements, construction, events, wildlife, art, geomapping, etc...

I had some common issues with the Typhoon H until I updated the firmware. It's been solid ever since. So, I added several 6700Mah batteries, extra ST16 controller batteries, and micro SD cards for my business inventory. Now I'm working on my portfolio for my FB page and website! This forum came along at the right time for me.
 
Awesome Idea!
  • What aircraft are in your fleet?
2x 3DR Solos and 1x DJI Mavic (plus 2x Syma X80s, but I generally don't count them)
  • What do you like/dislike about your current fleet?
The Solos are customizable, so that has opened up my business to Research and Development money and that is proving to be fun. I dislike that the Solos are somewhat small, I would like to invest in a larger drone for heavier payloads. I have flown the DJI S1000+ for some other work, but I think I want something non-DJI if I can.
  • What industries do you currently work in?
Research and Development and Real Estate pics.
  • Have you run into any limitations with your current fleet?
3D mapping using the Solos is highly desired.
  • What project are you currently working on?
Some pretty cool stuff that is, unfortunately, proprietary so I can't talk about it. Pretty soon I'll be posting images.
  • Link to website, Instagram, Facebook, etc so we can all support each other.
www.nxaviation.com (needs some love from me)
NX Aviation (@nxaviation) • Instagram photos and videos

Colin,

Have you seen or used the Mapir cameras on your Solo? Since they released the Survey 3 cameras the Survey 2s are on a crazy sale.

I'd like to pick up a few of those along with the quad mount.

What's the reason behind the high demand for Solo 3D mapping vs another vehicle?

Survey2 Cameras
 
Experienced stills photographer (35 years), based on the far west of Ireland. Only recently into using drones, but have photographed from "real" aircraft (helicopters) and flew scale model heli's, including rotor-span models.

Only drone (so far), Phantom 4 Advanced. Bought lens hood and additional landing gear.

Long-held interest in cine photography; recently revitalized that to make a 15 minute commercial video for local ice cream company. 2 drone sequences in it.

Mainly using the drone for property shoots, and some editorial work. Tomorrow, will be photographing the local car ferry being towed to a dry dock 90km away. This is one of the images for a long magazine feature I write each month for Cameracraft magazine (published in the UK). The next one has the theme of "photographers photographing transport". I will include my own ferry story in it.

One of the property shots and one of the ferry shots below. This is a link to the opening titles of my video (first 2 drone sequences):

house.jpg

ferry.jpg
 
Experienced stills photographer (35 years), based on the far west of Ireland. Only recently into using drones, but have photographed from "real" aircraft (helicopters) and flew scale model heli's, including rotor-span models.

Only drone (so far), Phantom 4 Advanced. Bought lens hood and additional landing gear.

Long-held interest in cine photography; recently revitalized that to make a 15 minute commercial video for local ice cream company. 2 drone sequences in it.

Mainly using the drone for property shoots, and some editorial work. Tomorrow, will be photographing the local car ferry being towed to a dry dock 90km away. This is one of the images for a long magazine feature I write each month for Cameracraft magazine (published in the UK). The next one has the theme of "photographers photographing transport". I will include my own ferry story in it.

One of the property shots and one of the ferry shots below. This is a link to the opening titles of my video (first 2 drone sequences):

house.jpg

ferry.jpg

Nice work! Looks like a beautiful place.
 

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