Overlandnm

Vast wide open landscapes, plumes of dust wafting up from worn two track roads that continue for miles in any direction. Floating through the canopies that line the road as we wind into camp, passing above the fire pit, roof top tents, showing the perfect place to escape. How did ever get shots like these with before drones? 

We started making short videos on our trips to share with family that is not able to visit the same places we do, so they could follow along with our adventures. We would film parts of the drive, talk about the area, walk the dogs and show off gear. I have always been interested in photography, I carried a 110 camera around as a kid. I’ve also always been fascinated with anything involving flight. Getting into aerial photography with a drone just seemed like something I had to do. 

As with many things, I dove right in. Started flying whenever I could on a DJI Mini SE. I quickly learned about the limitations of lower end consumer drones, and I absolutely fell in love with the potential. The fleet quickly grew, the standard and daily flyer has been a DJI Air 3 for the last couple of years. This drone has taken us to some epic spots, its been through more than most drones would hope. It has spent nights in trees after crashes, has flown over 200 miles and recorded hours and hours of footage. And only replaced once due to damage! 

Drones have been in the news a lot lately, not always in the best light. By law, any drone flight by a non-licensed pilot must be strictly for recreational purposes, in a designated area, under a specific weight. Generally, between these three things, most drone flights are legally in a gray area and many pilots unknowingly violate these rules all the time. As my social media presence grew I realized that I was going to have a harder and harder time justifying a lot of these flights as purely recreational, especially as I started flying events and creating content for others. I knew I needed a “Part 107” UAV license. 

The Part 107 license is an FAA Pilots license. You pay a fee and sit for a written test at an FAA approved exam center. A lot of people would agree that I tend to do things the hard way. I decided to sit for my Part 107 exam about two hours after I sat for the NREMT exam. In my simple brain, I was just saving a drive to Albuquerque by taking both tests the same day. My brain was cooked but I ended up passing both tests that day. 

So here we are, a licensed pilot. Kinda. I fly stuff and have a license anyway. So where do we go from here? The past year or so FPV style drones have been my obsession. These are flown while the pilot where’s goggles and is fed a live view from the drone. Most commercial drones from big brands like DJI are very simple. They can be flown by almost anyone in a matter of minutes. They have a tone of safety features built in, they can return and land own their own, they avoid obstacles on their own, etc. Welcome to FPV where almost all of that changes. 

The learning curve has been steep to say the lease. Going from a system that is plug and play and just works out of the box, to an open source environment with many manufacturers. It’s a choose your own adventure at its finest. It’s been frustrating, but also very satisfying to finally get the drone in the air. For now, I will be focusing on cinematic whoop style flights. I will always be a kid and a nerd at heart. Building and learning drones is just what I am doing now. Who knows where we go from here?

Do you fly a drone on your outings? If so, let’s hear about it? Looking to get started with drones, FPV or otherwise? Lets chat!

Until the next one!

Andy