Once and a while, I get to actually fly my drone and take some wonderful photos.  Here, we see a panorama east and south of my position, near Swartz Bay, the arrival location for the ferry from Vancouver, BC.

I say “once and a while” because so many beautiful places have declared themselves as “no fly” zones.  This includes all US national parks.  Canada no doubt will not be far behind.  This is very unfortunate for us nature photographers…  The situation has been spoiled by fools using their drones for mischief.

Just so you know, I am FAA licensed (and FCC licensed, too) as a “remote pilot for a UAS” so that not only means I know a whole lot about controlled airspace, know how to read sectional maps used by pilots, and know when I need to get permission to fly from the airport ATC.  Thus, this image can be used for “commercial purposes” if I wish.

It would make a great banner on a Victoria website, don’t you think?

And now, we have DJI trying to get between me and the FAA.  Apparently, there is a lawsuit against them because of this.  After all, we bought their expensive toys so we could take pictures.  We have to deal with the FAA and ATC, we don’t need DJI sticking their noses into the same area, making it almost impossible to actually get to fly (DJI will prevent you from flying higher than 100 ft unless you get THEIR permission, in addition to ATC – this is ridiculous!)

And the US Army has rejected all use of DJI, due to security leaks and fear of the Chinese government using streaming data from DJI drones for intelligence purposes.  Wow.

I can’t wait for my new Plexidrone to arrive!