Apr 5, 2021
Pro-tips of drone flying
I have been droning since like more than 3 years now with level 16 as of now on my DJI Go 4 profile. Its been fun drone flying and I fly drone just for the sake of fun, entertainment and nature photography. The Maps below shows the places I have flown my drone so far.
I have learnt droning by experience after taking my DJI Spark into air. Most of the videos on YouTube that show drone reviews are just for the sake of giving review and they don’t actually tell you how to operate particular drone such as DJI Spark or Mavic etc. This article is more about pro tips of drone flying which you can learn once you take your drone up in the sky but its always helpful to learn from other’s experience to avoid the mistakes which they have made.
1. Keep Drone in your sight.
All the drones have some particular ranges depending on which model you are using. The drone which I fly (DJI Spark) has a range of 200 meter when operating directly from my phone and around 2 km when operated from the controller. Having said that, never follow these ranges because as soon as the drone reaches something around 200 meter it becomes so small that you lose sight of it. This is risky because the Wi-Fi signal can get disconnected and you can lose control of your drone. Also during windy days, the Wi-Fi signals can become very weak and it will give warnings of weak Wi-Fi signals with less distance as well. So its better to keep it in your signal and in a distance where you can easily control it. Talking of windy days, I have flown my drone at a max height of around 140 meters (roughly 450 foot) without any disturbance because of no wind and I have also had problem flying it at around 45 meters (roughly 150 foot) on a windy day near beach area.
2. Avoid flying in public or crowded places.
The second tip which I would like to give is that avoid flying in public areas or crowded places. I have had one incidence myself where I was operating my drone in a concert and my drone lost control and fell inside the crowd and one of its wings got damaged. Luckily no one got injured, just one or two scratches to one of the participant. Therefore It is not recommended flying in crowded areas. Another reason for this is that people might get offended that their privacy is being captured without their permission. Having said that I have seen many vloggers capturing drone videos in crowded areas. Its matter of how you can manage these situations.
3. Avoid ordering a new drone from international online store like Ali Express or Amazon.
The third tip which I can give is that one should avoid buying drone online from international stores like Ali Express and Amazon. This is because most of the countries have their own custom rules for import and export and there are chances that the drone you order will get stuck somewhere along the way. It is always better to buy from local market in your area. This is because they have custom clearance and they have paid import duties etc.
4. Avoid flying near military area/airports.
If you are flying your drone using DJI Go 4 App then it would not let you fly within a radius of 5 km from airports. But it is always recommended to be safe. Other than that it is recommended to avoid flying near military areas because it looks like a threat to them and there are chances they might fire and kill your drone.
5. Watch out for drone flying rules while travelling internationally
Every country have its own rules for drone flying and some countries might not allow your drone to pass immigration. The map below shows drone laws for every countries in the world. You can use it as a guide before travelling. My person experience is that, I have bought my drone from Sydney, Australia and my drone has crossed International border only once. I have travelled abroad after that but without a drone because I would prefer being hassle free which travelling for holidays.
Conclusion:
Drone flying is fun but one should do it at their own risk. I would personally recommend to buy a lighter / smaller drone and learn flying and operating it. Once you have a good grip of drone flying, then you can buy a bigger and expensive drone to fulfil your needs.
Happy droning.
