JohnnyD
Busy member
Who has one here? Thinking of buying one
If you do have one, do you use it very often and for what
If you do have one, do you use it very often and for what
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the Daily hi thread
Drones
- Thread starter JohnnyD
- Start date
Nick_M
Well-known member
I am a building surveyor and use it a few times a week for building and site inspections as a safer and quicker method of visual access that access platforms. Limited by poor weather, seagulls and pigeons.
I also have my own side-line to the day job and use it for landscape photography to see things from a different angle etc.
Lots of red tape, rules and regulations, but nothing too onerous with some common sense. Have separate liability insurance too.
Here are a couple of recent jobs where I’ve used the DJI mini 4 pro.
If you like photography, they are a useful tool.
I also have my own side-line to the day job and use it for landscape photography to see things from a different angle etc.
Lots of red tape, rules and regulations, but nothing too onerous with some common sense. Have separate liability insurance too.
Here are a couple of recent jobs where I’ve used the DJI mini 4 pro.
If you like photography, they are a useful tool.
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JohnnyD
Busy member
Nice.......I have my flyer ID now, pretty straightforward and easy, thinking about the DJI mini 5 pro bundle as it has the upgraded camera.
I don't have a real use for it apart from looking at the roof on the house, and some nice photography when I can.
Its under 250g just and has a C0 status
I'm only on this planet once for a short time is my excuse
I don't have a real use for it apart from looking at the roof on the house, and some nice photography when I can.
Its under 250g just and has a C0 status
I'm only on this planet once for a short time is my excuse
Nick_M
Well-known member
That’s a good enough excuse!
Mark E Smith
Busy member
We use them at Work to show progress on large scale Construction Sites and the results are spectacular. Not too happy about any appearing over my garden, only happened once and neighbour took the hint 
JohnnyD
Busy member
We had one two doors away a few days ago on a house up for sale, and I was curious how they behaved with it, it was a company drone, and they were very well behaved, following regs as far as I could tell, it literally took a vertical flight, and took photos of the house and land, then came down, I think they knew I was watching from the garden though 
Doggard
Keen member
I owned multiple drones between 2015- 2022, all dji, great bits of kit. I was just using them for photography, travelling all over east anglia to places of interest. Really enjoyed it at first, i always maintained the rules and regs. When they changed the laws I registered them, and had my flyer id.
But towards the end I just got fed up by the attitude of the general public, was regularly getting hassled, although as I explained constantly, I was flying within the rules. The grief from Joe Public just got too much in the end, and I sold them.
But towards the end I just got fed up by the attitude of the general public, was regularly getting hassled, although as I explained constantly, I was flying within the rules. The grief from Joe Public just got too much in the end, and I sold them.
I have been flying drones for about 10 years and while the technology has improved greatly the regulations have got a lot tighter. Still I do maintain my flyer and operator IDs. I've flown both sports FPV drones and camera drones. I recently bought a secondhand DJI Avata which does both and am having some fun with getting back into flying manual mode.
For inspecting or photographing objects the Avata is not very good as the camera doesn't have a 3 axis gimbal. So even the slightest bit of wind and the horizon is on the slant. If you fly in manual mode you can work around this, though then you've got to realise you're not flying in the direction that you're pointing. I actually find manual mode easier as it doesn't feel like you're fighting the stabilisation and can get smoother and better looking moving shots. I also have a DJI mini 2 with a large capacity battery that I use for photography.
Hi , I have had various DJI'S over the years and still fly my Air 2s so and it's great, take it all over with me, done lots of coastline, castles, roof pictures for freinds and general countryside. They are really operator friendly and have so many trick options now .
Rickyt
Super member
I got into drones back in 2014. Bought a variety of them including Syma's. Then went on to building my own using KK2.1 FC's. Programming PIDS wasa nightmare so gave up on them and started buying them again. The mistake I made was not getting rid of older drones as I bought newer ones, so ended up with quite a collection. I dont fly them as often as I would like because of the wind and rain we seem to get a lot of. But ,one day.
Mark E Smith
Busy member
I was fortunate enough to be laid on a Palm Tree lined Beach in Cape Verde last January at an Adults Only Riu Hotel when, out of the blue, some guy in his 30's and his Dad in his 60's proceeded to unpack a Drone and started to hover it above their Sun Beds. I thought at the time 'WTF ?!' and they then climbed it to about 20' and hovered it on the edge of the Treeline which resulted in a large, angry Yorkshireman stomping over to them with a rock in his hand calling them pervert's for spying on his topless Wife and threatening to take out the Drone with his SAR (Surface to Air Rock) unless they immediately withdrew from his Airspace.
They sheepishly landed the Drone and packed it away before moving down the Beach but, seriously, what did they think was going to happen on a beach full of sunbathers ?!
They sheepishly landed the Drone and packed it away before moving down the Beach but, seriously, what did they think was going to happen on a beach full of sunbathers ?!
Mike Woody Watkins
Member Extraordinaire
Yes l have a DJI Mini 3 Pro that l’ve had for about a year now and it’s brilliant. There are more up to date models but to be honest the Mini 3 does everything l need.
I’ve used it quite a bit on several droning projects and also for people wanting roofs and chimneys looking at.
I’ve used it quite a bit on several droning projects and also for people wanting roofs and chimneys looking at.
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Mike Woody Watkins
Member Extraordinaire
Rickyt
Super member
Well, good question. I like the xk detect but the Disco's are something else. Not sticktly a drone but great to fly.What’s your favourite?
This is work for me….
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Bill.B
Member Extraordinaire
Don't get me going about filthy perverts with drones flying over the nudist beach where we are! 
Mark E Smith
Busy member
I was on a Site Inspection of a 10 acre Demo Site the other week with a couple of work Colleagues and we were followed around by an unknown drone, it shadowed us from about 20’ above for 15 minutes or so then flew off over a neighbouring housing estate. Felt like an invasion of privacy !
Is that perverts with a drone or perverts on the beach.Don't get me going about filthy perverts with drones flying over the nudist beach where we are!
BTB 500
Super member
We were walking the dogs round our fields a month or two back and saw a drone flying around very low over our house and yard. I wasn't impressed as we live out in the sticks and I've heard of people using them to scout for farm/garden machinery they can potentially nick. Then our neighbours' house went on sale and I saw this picture of it on RightMove - that's our roof in the foreground! Not technically illegal but a card through the door explaining why they were flying would have been nice.
I actually fly r/c aircraft including 'drones' myself and in fact the whole of Shropshire is designated as a military low-flying zone, with helicopters cleared to operate down to ground level. There's a procedure for notifying air traffic control at RAF Shawbury before flying anything 'unmanned', although strictly speaking this is voluntary outside the legally controlled areas around airfields (FRZ and RPZ).
I've built & flown multirotors since 2010 - 3 years before the first DJI model (the Phantom 1) came out. In the '80s and '90s I did a bit of professional aerial photography with a number of large fixed-wing r/c aircraft, and before consumer drones were available I did some paid photography work with multirotors as well. I've also built & flown FPV race / freestyle quads, from 'tiny whoop' size up to 5" (propeller diameter) - these are flown through goggles. Some of the ones I have currently - the first is 65 mm (diagonally, motor to motor) and the "Y6" hexacopter at the end is 900 mm: