Drone News Update

Latest Episodes:

Drone News: Dragan Fly Heavy Lift, Wing's larger drones, DJI Lobbies against ASDA, Man caught flying contraband, one year of PI stickers Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

In this week's drone news; DraganFly has released a drone with a 66lb payload and a 55-minute endurance, Wing is creating a fleet of larger drones to carry different items, DJI is lobbying against the American Security Drone Act, a man was caught trying to fly contraband into a prison, and one year of Pilot Institute's Free stickers!

DraganFly has introduced a cargo drone with a payload of 66lbs and a range of 19 miles.

The heavy lift drone uses LTE for fully autonomous flights with an up to 55-minute endurance.

In addition to package delivery, the heavy lift can be equipped with a new long-range LIDAR unit to map large areas.

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/13/draganfly-heavy-lift-cargo-drone/

On the topic of larger drones, Alphabet’s Wing is expanding the size of its drones.

“Just as the ideal vehicle for carrying a ton of gravel would be a dump truck rather than a sedan, the ideal aircraft to carry a bottle of medication is not the same as the best one to deliver a gallon of milk, and neither is suited to deliver a refrigerator,” Wing CEO Adam Woodworth.

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/19/contraband-heavy-duty-drone-texas-prison/

DJI has hired lobbying firms in an attempt to persuade congress not to back the American Security Drone Act.

This would prohibit the government from buying drones made by Chinese firms or other companies that could be a national security risk

DJI is already on the Entity list and on the Chinese Military-industrial complex list.

https://archive.ph/Ijb8J

A Texas man was arrested in Houston after trying to use a heavy lift drone to drop a bag of contraband into a prison.

The contraband included wire cutters, money, smartphones, and tobacco.

Charges agains the man included two counts of improperly flying and aircraft, each carrying up to 3 years in prison.

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/19/contraband-heavy-duty-drone-texas-prison/

Drone News: NEW Yuneec, DJI Airworks, Largest DFR Network, Pilot Institute Anniversary Jul 15, 2022

Show notes

In this week's news, Yuneec announces a new commercial drone. DJI Airworks is happening in person this year, August 2022. Paladin and Odessa PD have created the largest DFR network in the states. Pilot Institute is 3 years old! We will go over some of our accomplishments all thanks to our students, viewers and community. 00:00 Introduction 00:36 Yuneec Announces Business Class Drone 02:00 DJI Airworks 2022 02:41 Largest DFR Program in the Country 03:49 Pilot Institute Anniversary

Yuneec announced the H850-RTK, a new hexacopter drone aimed at professional users 65 min flight time and multiple payload capabilities. Also introducing a smart controller with 7” built-in display (1000 nit) Designed to be a competitor to the Matrice 300 (but cheaper) 8 lb of payload, RTK GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, and Galileo constellations Compatible with existing Yuneec cameras such as the E90x (20MP 1” sensor), E30Zx (30x optical zoom), and the E20TVx (radiometric thermal imager) Expected to be $7500-8000 range. https://dronexl.co/2022/07/07/yuneec-h850-rtk-business-class-drone/

DJI Airworks was announced this week as a in-person event again after a few years of online-only meetings. It will be held at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas between October 10-12th. The show will feature outdoor demos, numerous workshops, and in-depth panels discussions. Tickets are available at $199 until August 8, then $299 after that. https://dronexl.co/2022/07/09/dji-airworks-2022-las-vegas/

The Odessa Police Department has teamed up with Paladin Drones to create the largest Drone as First Responder (DFR) program in the US. The drones will be used by Odessa Police and Odessa Fire Rescue personnel to gather key information prior to first responders' arrival. Paladins Knighthawk Drones will arrive on the scene prior to first responders and stream video directly to that person who needs it the most. They will fly in Class C, E, and G using a 5-drone DFR System https://paladindrones.io/odessa-police-department-announces-largest-dfr-program-in-the-us/

Check out the tour of our facility!

Let’s take a look at some numbers for the past 3 years!

167k students, 252k course enrollments 47k Part 107 trained.

92% average on exam, 99.995% pass rate

Almost exactly 50,000 comments left in the part 107 course alone

9.3m lectures completed, that’s almost 6 lectures per minute.

29 courses in our catalog with 3 more soon.

12,600 Free stickers bringing awareness to Registration schemes online.

73k+ TRUST Certificates (last year): 25% of all TRUST certificates ever issued!

894 Continuing education credits issued in the last 12 months

58,000 subs on YouTube and over 8.5m combined views (over 3 channels) 15k reviews with an average of 4.9/5

Drone News: Drone Flies for 17 days, Mavic 3 Shot Down, Ag operations, Samsung Personal Safety Drone Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

This week in Drone News: An Airbus Zephyr UAS has been flying for 17 days so far, A Mavic 3 was shot down, NAAA cautions UAS operators for crop spraying operations, and Samsung’s Airborne surveillance camera.

An Airbus Zephyr S Solar powered UAV has been flying above Arizona for 17 days - So far…

While not a small UAS, This goes to show how solar power could one day allow for perpetual operation of a UAV!

The Zephyr S remained above the Sofa Wilderness and Yuma Test Range before flying to Belize.

It’s unclear how long the aircraft will remain airborne. During the testing of the Zephyr System in 2018, the aircraft flew for 28 days.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/zephyr-high-flying-drone-has-been-up-for-17-days-as-part-of-army-test

An investigation is ongoing in North Carolina, after a man’s Mavic 3 was shot down during a family gathering.

The pilot was taking pictures of the sunset when they heard 4 shots, and the aircraft fell out of the sky.

The operator reported the incident to both local law enforcement and the FAA.

The FAA stated “A private citizen shooting at any aircraft – including unmanned aircraft – poses a significant safety hazard… Could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” said Elizabeth Cory (FAA).

https://dronexl.co/2022/07/06/dji-mavic-3-drone-shot-north-carolina/

Samsung has created a drone to provide overwatch in dark areas.

This drone is designed to provide overwatch to people traveling through areas in cities that are poorly lit or have a high crime rate.

The drone captures 360 degree video and can summon police if it detects a crime has been committed, and even can track the suspects.

https://www.yankodesign.com/2022/07/04/this-samsung-drone-wasnt-designed-for-consumers-it-was-designed-for-public-safety/

The National Agricultural Aviation Association released a flyer cautioning UAS operators for upcoming agricultural operations

This flyer advised the following

Equip UAV with Strobe Lights and Tracking Technology like and ADS-B out system

Get Certified and Trained in operating a UAV

Follow the law- Always give the right of way to manned aircraft

Coordinate with local aircraft operators about your UAV operations

Carry sufficient UAV liability insurance

https://agairupdate.com/2022/04/18/naaa-cautions-unmanned-aircraft-operators-not-to-interfere-with-low-altitude-manned-agricultural-aircraft-this-growing-season/

Drone News: DJI Avata, Influential Drone's new acquisition, Drone Rescue, Drone Pilot Safety - AAAC Jul 01, 2022

Show notes

This week in drone news: A new video on the DJI Avata shows an artist's concept of the drone, Influential Drones has acquired Buzz my Property, Phoenix Fire used a drone to help locate and rescue overheating hikers, an upcoming AAAC meeting will discuss pilot safety, and a new course for visual observers from Pilot Institute.

VO Course: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/visual-observer-essentials/

A new video shows the potential concept of the DJI Avata

It is important to note that this video is NOT made by DJI, this is an artist's representation of the Avata.

There haven’t been any new leaks at this time, however, according to DJI’s roadmap for 2022, we may see the Avata as soon as July of this year!

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/22/dji-avata-rendering-cinewhoop-drone/

Influential drones has announced a partnership with Buzz My Property.

Buzz My Property is a real-estate drone service for Realtors, landscapers, arborists, and municipal departments.

Influential drones is drone reseller and commercial drone service provider

https://www.newswire.com/news/influential-drones-acquires-buzz-my-property-21751151

Phoenix fire rescued 8 people using drones and a helicopter

The group was hiking camelback mountain in Phoenix and were filming a reality TV show.

After running out of water, the group called 911, and phoenix fire was dispatched.

They used their drone to find the groups of hikers, and then the hikers were air-lifted off the mountain.

https://www.azfamily.com/2022/06/23/more-than-10-people-treated-heat-related-illness-echo-canyon-trail/

There is an upcoming AAAC meeting, on June 30th, 2022 from 10 AM to 2:30 PM ET that will discuss UAS operator safety

Other topics to be covered will be the remaining items on the 2018 reauthorization act

FAA’s rule-making process

Operations of UAS in class E airspace - Over the top of class A.

Drone News: Zipline gets part 135, Wingcopter raises 42 million, Amazon Secret, Photography Course Jun 24, 2022

Show notes

This week in drone news: Zipline has gotten their PArt 135 certificate from the FAA, The FAA is soliciting public comments about Zipline's proposed drone deliveries, Wingcopter has raised 42 million to expand deliveries, Amazon's announcement a surprise for the small town where their deliveries will begin, and finally, we've released our Photography course!

Enroll in the Photography Course here: https://pilotinstitute.com/course/drone-photo-video-made-easy/

The FAA on Tuesday approved Zipline to operate as an air carrier under part 135

Zipline is the first company to a its 135 cert under the FAA’s BEYOND

program along with Zipline receiving their part 135 certificate, the FAA is asking for public comments on package deliveries in the Pea Ridge Arkansas area

Zipline's proposed area covers 1200 square miles in NW Arkansas, with a maximum of 20 flights per day

Comments will be open for 14 days, the proposal can be viewed here: https://www.faa.gov/advancedoperations/nepaanddrones/zipline-pea-ridge-environmental-assessment

Send comments to: 9-FAA-Drone-Environmental@faa.gov

https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/nepa_and_drones

Wingcopter has announced they raised 42 million dollars to expand drone delivery beyond medicine.

The company hopes to use this money to begin deliveries of things like groceries.

“At Wingcopter, we create efficient and sustainable drone solutions to save and improve lives. For this, we are hiring passionate pioneers with whom we build what has not existed before,” said Tom Plümmer, co-founder and CEO of Wingcopter. “The new funding, combined with growing revenues, puts us in an excellent position to establish our industry-leading drone delivery solution with our customers around the globe to optimize supply chains.”

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/wingcopter-raises-42m-to-expand-beyond-medical-drone-deliveries

Currently Zipline is making deliveries every 4 minutes (Worldwide), and is working with Walmart in the US.

Amazon’s plan to launch their drone deliveries later this year in Lockeford, CA came as a surprise to many folks in the town

It appears that this, as with many Amazon ventures, was kept secret in an attempt to prevent backlash.

Amazon is apparently reaching out to those within 4 miles of the distribution center to determine who is interested in trying drone deliveries.

Packages will be under 5lbs, and will be limited to certain goods.

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/jun/21/amazons-drones-plan-a-surprise-to-residents/https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3531431-faa-approves-drone-delivery-from-zipline/

Drone News: Amazon Drones Updates, Drone found Crashed at airport, Drone Act of 22, Drone Safety Day Jun 17, 2022

Show notes

This week in drone news: Amazon is starting drone deliveries this year, A small drone was found crashed near a runway in Arkansas, the proposed drone act of 2022, drone safety awareness day, and a new Pilot Institute course!

Amazon plans to begin deliveries in northern California this year the company announced this week

Prime Air drones will carry packages that weigh up to 5lbs and are shoe-box sized or smaller

The drone will hover ~10 feet over the ground to drop the package and will find this spot via a QR code printed by the customer.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-13/amazon-plans-to-start-drone-delivery-in-california-this-year

A small drone was found crashed near a runway at Boone County Regional Regional Airport in Arkansas

The drone is a “Skyrider” and models cost ~$50. The aircraft was not registered

The airport manager stated “Our airport is in a Class E airspace. A drone is not allowed to go zero feet within four miles of our airport and can then go up to 400 feet after that,” said Boone County Regional Airport Manager Judy McCutcheon according to KY3. “That covers the entire city limits of Harrison, Arkansas, with the exception of the far southeast side. That is a no drone sight unless you are a 107 drone operator, and get permission with the FAA before you fly.”

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/13/recreational-drone-runway/

This bill in the US House of Rep. seeks to cover malicious use of drones, including

Weaponization of UAS

Impairment of identification or lighting

Interfering with protected activities (Operations of aircraft, airports, vessels, vehicles, law enforcement, or military ops)

Operating in restricted airspace with knowledge of the prohibition

Transportation of contraband

Threats, attempts, or conspiracies of the above

Terrorism and electronic surveillance

Penalties for injuries/death based on above infractions

This law would allow DHS to prosecute certain offenses in the same manner as the FAA

https://www.justice.gov/ola/page/file/1465976/download

New paid course from PI!

Learn the elements of photography from Greg and our guest instructors Billy Kyle and Ken Dobo!

Drone News: Paladin Class B BVLOS Waiver, Axon Taser Drone, Blue UAS Update, Mavic 3 update Jun 10, 2022

Show notes

This week in drone news, Paladin has gotten a BVLOS waiver for class B airspace, Axon stops r&d on a Taser drone, more blue UAS added to the approved list, and a firmware upidate to the Mavic 3!

Paladin Drones has received a class B BVLOS waiver for their Drone as First Responders system

The waiver is for the Elizabeth Police Department in New Jersey

Paladin’s aircraft, the Knighthawk is a 4G LTE quadcopter with a 55 minute endurance designed specifically for first responders.

Paladin’s Watchtower solution also integrates video feeds with other manufacters for maximum situational awareness.

https://paladindrones.io/class-b-beyond-visual-line-of-sight-waiver-granted-to-elizabeth-police-department/

Axon has stopped the plan to create a drone armed with a taser after a majority of its ethics board resigned due to the project.

Axon founder and CEO stated “we are pausing work on this project and refocusing to further engage with key constituencies to fully explore the best path forward,”

The board voted 8-4 against Axon continuing work on the project

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/axon-halts-plans-taser-drone-ethics-board-resign-85211941

More aircraft have been added to the Blue UAS list, including the Wingtra one, Alta x, Spirit, and Ebee Tac

We’ve been critical in the past of the limited aircraft on the blue UAS list, the addition of these aircraft should allow for more competition and more capability

Previously we reported that the capabilities of Blue UAS are lacking when compared to other manufacturers, such as DJI and Autel.

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/03/wingtraone-altax-spirit-ebee-tac-blue-suas/

The telephoto lens now supports

RAW

Different frame rates for video (4K 25, 30, 50

Manual ISO and Shutter speed

DJI May have also finally fixed the GPS issues!

HLG on the main camera

D-Log and HLG when recording master shots and Quickshots

Check out the full changes on DroneXL!

https://dronexl.co/2022/06/01/dji-mavic-3-firmware-update-gps/

Drone News: Amazon tells FAA not to investigate Drone Accidents, Hera Rescue, 1300lb drone crash Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

This week in drone news, Amazon has apparently been telling the FAA not to investigate drone crashes as they are investigating, a new defense/public safety drone, and a large crop-spraying drone crash in California.

It appears that Prime Air has been avoiding FAA crash investigations by claiming the company has the authority to conduct its own investigations

At least twice, FAA inspectors have found that Amazon has moved crash evidence and/or inhibited an investigation.

At least 8 Amazon drones crashed last year, one sparking a 20 acre wildfire in Oregon.

Amazon said that regulatory delays could “Totally Disrupt” the goal timeline of launching Prime Air delivery in 2024.

Amazon responded by stating that the company has"has complied with all incident reporting, investigation, and other applicable regulatory requirements," the spokesperson, Kelly Nantel, said. "Over the last seven years, the FAA has never taken an enforcement action against Prime Air, and has awarded us an air carrier certificate to enable commercial deliveries — showing that our comprehensive process has met the FAA's high bar.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-air-faa-regulators-investigation-drone-crashes-2022-5

A California Start up named “Realtime Robotics” has released a portable heavy lift drone that they say beats competitors in terms of situational awareness for first responders.

The Hera is a backpack-sized drone with a payload capacity of 30lbs and can be outfitted with up to 4 EO/IR cameras.

The aircraft can be tethered or untethered with a flight time of 46minutes with a 5lb payload.

Realtime Robotics also says the Hera is NDAA compliant.

Guessed to be around $25k

https://rtrobotics.com/

A large crop splaying aircraft crashed in Winters, CA

While news sources say the aircraft had a wing span of 10 feet, an NTSB report states the aircraft make/model, suggesting a wing span of 38 feet, and a MGTOW of 1320lbs.

The drone, a Pyka Pelican 7, crashed into a field, and was involved in a post-crash fire.

There were no injuries.

NTSB Accident # WPR22LA183

https://www.wintersexpress.com/local-news/unmanned-aircraft-crashes-in-ag-field

Drone News: WY Trespass Laws, Insta360 Sphere, Walmart Delivery, Skydio Symforce May 27, 2022

Show notes

This week in drone news: Wyoming looking to create a drone trespass law, Insta360 sphere for the Mavic Air 2 and the Air 2S, Walmart expanding their drone delivery, and Skydio Symforce changes to open source.

A Legislative committee in Wyoming voted to continue work on legislation that would address trespass issues relating to drone flights

“Simply entering the airspace above somebody else’s land is a trespass, we’re saying that’s a criminal trespass in the bill, maybe that’s a misdemeanor?” said Olsen. “And maybe your felony occurs when you do these other activities including surveillance, what type of surveillance is it?”

https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/politics-government/2022-05-24/lawmakers-consider-adding-drones-to-trespass-law

Insta360 has released a new camera for the Mavic air 2 and the Air 2S

This camera is a 360 cam and renders the drone invisible!

This camera straps onto the drone allowing you to fly and get two shots at the same time. One 360 and one of what the drone sees!

See video

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/25/insta360-sphere-dji-mavic-air-2-2s-drones/

Walmart is expanding their drone delivery platform to six major cities!

Phoenix, Tampa, Orlando, Dallas, Salt Lake, Richmond

Deliveries in 30 minutes or less

Walmart and DroneUp hope to expand up to 34 sites this year.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/24/walmart-drone-delivery-droneup-packages-doorstep-home

Skydio Symforce is a framework for writing algorithms to control robots.

The company has released symforce as an open-source project to accelerate the robotics and UAS industries

“It’s an incredible tool that allows our team to quickly progress from rapid prototyping to the type of highly-optimized runtime code that powers our drones,” Skydio says in a press release. “SymForce is the result of five years of development by Skydio’s autonomy team in an environment where performance and code maintainability are crucial. We think the challenges it solves are common and that SymForce can help robotics engineers build faster, the same way that PyTorch and TensorFlow accelerated the deep learning ecosystem.”

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/25/skydio-symforce-framework/

Drone News: Another DJI Leak, FPL's 1800lb Drone, Fatshark Dominator Goggles May 21, 2022

Show notes

Join Greg, our lead instructor, as we learn about all the happenings in the drone industry this week. DJI had yet ANOTHER leak, it looks like a cinewhoop-style drone. Florida Light and Power has purchased an 1800+ lbs drone that will be used for disaster relief in up to a 1000-mile radius of takeoff. Fatshark is coming at DJI's digital system by releasing their own goggles boasting 1080p resolution.

Thanks for all your support and love these past 3 years of news updates. We look forward to bringing you this content as long as drones are up in the air.

New DJI leaks have already started after the release of the Mini 3 Pro!

This new drone appears to be a cinewhoop-style FPV drone.

Some specs have been leaked

500g

No manual mode

Head chase mode

Vibration function

https://dronexl.co/2022/05/15/dji-avata-dji-cinewhoop-drone/

Florida Power and Light has purchased a drone for disaster response.

This aircraft is an 1800lb UAS that is capable of flying up to 1000 miles.

Florida Power and Light will use this drone along with smaller quadcopters such as the Mavic 2.

FPL hopes to be the first company to fly a large scale drone outside of testing areas