Xponential 2024

Recoveryone · Apr 27, 2024

Dave Pitman · Apr 28, 2024

Didn't watch your video. Hopefully you were pointing out that AUVSI, the sponsor of Xpontial, is the enemy.

Recoveryone · Apr 29, 2024

Dave Pitman said:
Didn't watch your video. Hopefully you were pointing out that AUVSI, the sponsor of Xpontial, is the enemy.

I would suggest you watch and see how many foreign groups were there before judgment can be passed. I went with an open mind and had a good time seeing and meeting several people in the industry.

Dave Pitman · Apr 30, 2024

I would suggest you watch and see how many foreign groups were there before judgment can be passed. I went with an open mind and had a good time seeing and meeting several people in the industry.

If you had an enjoyable time, that's great. My point is simply to share that AUVSI is in cahoots with some American manufacturers, and their lobbyists, to try and get Chinese drones banned in the US because they cannot, or are unwilling, to compete by value. By supporting AUVSI, one supports the end of the marketplace as we have come to know it.

Maybe give Commercial UAV Expo a try instead.

Recoveryone · May 1, 2024

Dave Pitman said:
If you had an enjoyable time, that's great. My point is simply to share that AUVSI is in cahoots with some American manufacturers, and their lobbyists, to try and get Chinese drones banned in the US because they cannot, or are unwilling, to compete by value. By supporting AUVSI, one supports the end of the marketplace as we have come to know it.

Maybe give Commercial UAV Expo a try instead.

This my take on it, I saw several Chinese manufactures their, Japanese manufactures Turkish, Germen and many others from around the globe. AUVSI may have an issue with DJI, but several vendors had DJI products on display at the show, just saying.

jaja6009 · May 4, 2024

While I cannot speak for Dave Pitman, my take is that maybe we, the drone end users, need to hold an organization to account for possible practices that threaten our drones whether we are hobbyists, or commercial operators. This could include not spending a penny on anything related to them as the perception whether true or not is that they and other American drone manufacturers are behind the scenes lobbying and sending political money to lawmakers to remove DJI drones from our hands without conclusive evidence of DJI conducting anti-USA activities.

KLAX · May 11, 2024

AUVSI has been struggling to show "value" and relevance since its inception. Similar to NIST trying to train UAS pilots with 5 gallon buckets. Pass.
"Certificates" not recognized by anyone; nor standardized, etc. The blurb above re: lobbying activity is accurate. You can see AUVSI "plants" on most every early-adoption FAA+UAS community panel for rulemaking.
This is a harsh take, but it is what it is....the wild west. People fighting for relevance and their flavor of "standard" where none exist due to new-ness of the industry, superior foreign solutions, and bureaucratic mine fields.