June 24, 20196ByScott HinkleYou could have seen my Mavic Pro Preflight Checklist – Steps to Take for Each Flight. That’s a great submit for an in-depth guidelines you ought to use for all of your flights that, not solely consists of security concerns but additionally, helps to make certain you don’t overlook anything that can ruin your plans.
That’s not the aim of today’s publish. This submit goes to cover Drone Safety Tips and offer 15 Simple Ways to Make Your Next Flight a Safe One.
Let’s be real. Flying a drone is just fun. Many times, we come home from work or faculty, grab our drones and hit the sky. That’s great but, with a just a little little bit of effort, there’s lots we can do to verify our flights are carried out safely.
Let’s check out things to think about earlier than you subsequent flight. These won’t be large hurdles or anything that will take away from the experience, but somewhat a quantity of easy things to remember and be aware of to assist maximize the safety of the flight while nonetheless being in a position to get pleasure from it.
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Before Leaving the House/Office
Believe it or not, there are a number of steps to think about before you even depart your personal home or office…
Check the Weather Forecast
This could seem obvious, however many people don’t even take into consideration the climate situations when they seize their drones and head out the door. The apparent things to contemplate are the anticipated climate at the flight location (wind, visibility, will there be rain, etc.). Each of these performs a part within the over-all safety of the flight.
Wind
Can your drone and, extra importantly, your talent stage handle the current wind conditions? Don’t fly in situations which will cause lack of management.
Visibility
Will you have the power to maintain line of sight together with your drone to make sure you don’t run into anyone or anything? Too many times I see a video with a drone hitting a tree, building, boat, and so forth., all as a result of the pilot was not within the line of sight to see what was taking place.
Precipitation
Are the conditions proper for flight. I don’t have a water-resistant drone. Do you? Water can cause all types of issues with drones. The loss of just one motor may cause you to lose control of your aircraft.
Temperature
Is the temperature inside your drone’s operating range? Overheating may cause system failures and result in lack of management.
KP Index
This one is a hidden danger. It’s a geomagnetic storm index that may indicate attainable disruption to GPS reception. Many drone options rely on enough satellite lock and correct information to function properly. Loss of GPS services could cause some options to fail and lack of the plane (think RTH but without the correct GPS information).
One nice app for checking the climate info is UAV Forecast. It’s the one I go to.
Perform a Quick Inspection of your Aircraft and its Various Parts
Going over your plane before you allow the home or workplace will help you discover points that may forestall a flight altogether.
Batteries
A very common issue is battery swelling. Check your batteries for any indications of swelling. Check the contacts for corrosion (both on the batteries and aircraft).
Also ensure they’re totally charged. You don’t wish to get to your vacation spot and discover that the batteries have self-discharged limiting your flight time. It’s at all times a good suggestion to fully cost them earlier than flight. It gives you extra options time-wise ought to the need to change plans pop up. This contains the remote controller battery too.
Props
Make sure to verify the props and pack a spare set. Look for chips, cracks, indications of weakness and wear. Be additional vigilant at the hinge space and look for anything that means a prop ought to be replaced.
Aircraft
Look for cracks, loose elements, digital camera issues, and so on. A crack in the fuselage is probably not flight ending but one in an arm, might be.
Airspace
The FAA has been busy in phrases of guidelines and laws for recreational pilots. Make positive to check the airspace for the realm you plan to fly in. If it’s controlled, be sure to have the power to request and be granted clearance to fly within the area.
I use two apps for this purpose: B4UFly (this one was developed in partnership with the FAA) and AirMap (this is the one I use to double-check what B4UFly says and truly request permission to fly in controller airspace.
Those are the three major questions of safety to contemplate earlier than leaving your own home or office. Now let’s take a glance at what to consider when on-site…
Before the Flight
OK, so now you’re on-site and ready to fly. Take a second to take a look at your equipment and surroundings. Look for the following:
Your Aircraft
Do one other once-over of your aircraft. Make certain the battery and props are attached securely and take away any restrictive gadgets (like the digital camera gimbal).
People and Animals
Make sure to conduct your flight a safe distance from others. This includes, but just isn’t restricted to, your take off and touchdown points, flight path and base of operations. Flying around individuals could be dangerous. Even extra so around animals whose habits can be tough to anticipate.
Take Off and Landing Point(s)
Make certain that your take off and touchdown factors are sufficiently clear of obstacles. Tree and constructions may cause issues, especially if the Return to Home feature is engaged. Be sure there’s enough clearance.
Other Aircraft
You may not be the one one flying in the area right now. Take a moment to search for another pilots on the market and, after all, maintain a watch out for manned areal site visitors as nicely.
Take Off
Make sure the take off area is obvious and, if there are others nearby, announce your intentions earlier than taking off. This step is straightforward, but can prevent surprising habits from folks nearby startled by your actions.
These 5 steps could make a big difference in your over-all flight safety.
During the Flight
Now that you’re within the air, there are some things to remember as you get pleasure from your flight…
Be Aware of Your Surroundings
This truly applies to your self as well as your plane.
Pilot
Keep an eye fixed out for others close to you that can be a distraction. If you’re in a park, for example, pay consideration to others enjoying close by. Frisbee, tossing a football, enjoying fetch with the canine, and so forth. can all end up with somebody or something operating into you whereas you’re concentrating in your flight. Be aware of such conditions and attempt to place yourself outside of “harms way”.
Aircraft
Keep line of sight on your plane and keep an eye fixed out for any airborne objects that may intersect your flight path. Birds, planes, the Frisbee I mentioned earlier can all have undesirable results on your plane should they arrive in touch with it.
If you’re planning to fly lengthy distances our around objects, make sure you have a buddy that can hold observe of it when it leaves your line of sight and that you’re in fixed and direct communication with them. This could be the distinction between an uneventful flight and a lost or broken drone (not to say injury or injury to others).
Weather
You might have checked the weather before your flight however it can be a fickle factor and we know the forecast is something however accurate. Pay consideration to what’s going on with the clouds, wind and so on. Weather patterns can change quickly, making a clean and gratifying flight into a fight for control.
Lading
Just like taking off, make sure the landing space is clear and announce your intentions to those nearby. Be aware of animals which may see your aircraft as a toy to chase and try to kill the motors as soon as your aircraft is safely on the ground.
Focus
Don’t get distracted. I see pilots, on a daily basis, which might be carrying on conversations and displaying folks their controllers and screens. That’s nice, when your objective is to eductate others or present them what droning is all about, and I do encourage such actions, but do that in a controlled way.
Make it your goal for that flight vs, mixing it into a flight your conducting for different purposes. Focus on your flight and its meant objective.
These five ideas will go a great distance to assist prevent a security incident.
After the Flight
There’s not a whole lot to contemplate after the flight has accomplished from a safety standpoint. Most of the work is finished within the preflight and flight phases. Still, there are a few issues you are capable of do:
Power Down the Aircraft
I already mentioned stopping the motors as quickly as your plane is safely on the ground. Another step to take is to energy it off utterly. This will assist to mitigate any threat of the motors being began up inadvertently, which may trigger injury, ought to any of the props are available contact with somebody or one thing.
Check the Batteries
It’s a good idea to take away and examine the batteries after a flight. Batteries can increase or even break up open and have a tendency to get sizzling when in use. Removing the batteries from the plane ensures that the plane is not going to be inadvertently powered on (I truly had that occur when my Mavic Pro was in the delicate carrying bag. I’m lucky it didn’t overheat or worse.), lets you take a better look at it and exposes extra of it to the encircling air for quicker cooling (assuming you’re not in 100° weather.
These two tips, are just about it. I suppose you could take notes for future reference but, as far as safety goes, I can’t actually think of a lot else.
Conclusion – What Do You Think of These Drone Safety Tips?
I even have provided you with 15 Simple Ways to Make Your Next Flight a Safe One. If you implement my suggestion here, you need to have a pretty secure flight expertise over-all.
I attempt to present Drone Safety Tips on a regular basis. If you found this submit helpful (or at least interesting), please try this publish titled Drone Safety Tips – A Man Was Killed While Trying to Retrieve a Drone From a Tree.
What do you think? Did you discover these tips useful? Did I miss one you suppose should be included. Do you’ve a associated experience you’d wish to share? Please let me know by commenting beneath.
Thank you,
Scott Hinkle
MavicManaics.com
