Newer pilot from Hampton Road Virginia

[Renard]

I am an ex military pilot, Vietnam era, now trying to fly a Protensic atom

I say try to fly because I can’t connect to my phone now for some reason. I’ve had it for almost a year and it’s been working fine and I really like it, but I had to send a Long support letter to the company today and threaten to file a warranty claim if they can help me fix this annoying issue which makes it unsafe to fly the drone

I suspect they will fix it or perhaps give me a refurbished model

I did get the full FAA license, and I put lights on the drone to fly at night, a red and green light plus a very bright strobe light

The Atom flies very well and I have had no complaints. Really until now.

It may be just an issue with the recent iPhone update or something like that

I’m thinking of getting a FPV drone sometime so I can fly it more like I used to fly an airplane

I’m glad to be part of this community!

 

[LoudThunder]

I am an ex military pilot, Vietnam era, now trying to fly a Protensic atom

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA.

No, this is not an Echo of your intro title. I live here too… I am sorry about your drone and I hope they fix it for you… When I had problems with my DJI Drone, I received a return shipping label within minutes of notifying them of the issues I was having and they did exchange the drone and it too started having problems a couple of weeks later and they exchanged that one by overnight delivery and even included an extra battery and propellers as way to say "sorry…"

I am a bit confused by your statement, "I did get the full FAA license", are you referring to the TRUST Certificate or the Part 107 Certification?

The TRUST is for Recreational Flyers and the Part 107 is for commercial enterprises (flying drones for profit…).

The Hampton Roads area is plagued with Controlled Class D Airspace and all the controlled airspace requires an FAA Authorization to fly…

Here is what my area of Hampton Roads looks like… The Blue Circles are Military Class D Airspace (Faa Authorization required), the Green Circle is the Airport's Class D airspace (LAANC enabled), and the RED are National Parks and are no fly zones…



And this is the view from my back yard…



and just to say HI, here is a video of the local area…

Once again, Good Luck with your drone…

 

[Renard]

Thanks for the welcome aboard and the newsy information about how hard it is to fly drones here. I agree it is a very crowded air space. Yes I have the 107. Why not?

You won’t believe it, but my drone would not connect to the iPhone app because there was dirt in the lightning connector hole on my phone. It seems

I’m not 100% sure on that but it is working now and that’s all the counts

I’m glad you have had such amazing customer service and DJI.

So where do you fly your drone in this area?

 

[LoudThunder]

So where do you fly your drone in this area?

I have over 20 FAA Authorizations in various different areas, most restrict me to a 1/2-mile diameter circle but I can live with that… Before I got my Part 107, I could not even legally fly in my own yard as it is in a Zero Altitude Quadrant (what I call a "Drone Taxi Zone…") because the FAA will not grant an authorization to a Rec Pilot in the Zero Quadrants. Once I got my certificate, my authorizations are all granted for up to 1-year and the renewal is just a click on the FAA web page…

But Truth be told, I only fly for fun and the Part 107 makes it possible... My Rec Pilot buddies want to piggyback on my Authorizations, but for that to happen means that I don't get to fly, as I as the PIC, I must be ready to take the controls form any un-certified pilots flying under my supervision. I know, who would know, I would and it's mainly I spent the money to get the certification and they can too. Now, if they were more than "fair weather friends" I would feel different…

Any case, go and enjoy that beautiful country and makes lots of Great videos and take award winning photos…

 

[Renard]

Yes, that’s why I got the 107 also. I just wanted to be able to fly and enlarge your number of areas. Part of it was also to use some of my training as a military pilot. I found out I was pretty rusty in the map, reading area and some other things. In the military, we use different maps and we don’t have to worry about some of the rest restrictions civilians deal with.

I’m headed to Kentucky right now for my granddaughter’s graduation and I’ve got my Drone with me so maybe I’ll get some good footage of the ceremonies if the weather permits