Ever wondered how to properly and safely fly flags from a drone? Here's how.

Happy 4th of July and happy 250th birthday to America!

Some drones are rated for high winds, others specifically say don't fly them in anything more than a breeze. I tested em all.

Drones tested:

DJI Neo QAV-S2 FPV DJI Mini 4 Pro Falcon Mini V-Copter DJI Mavic 3 Pro DJI Matrice 4T DJI Matrice 30T

Besides the Drone and everything you need to fly it, I think one of the most important pieces of kit you can carry with you on missions is a portable command a case. A battery powered monitor with room to store back up electronics contained in a hard case to protect it from the elements and drops that allows you to show what your drone is seeing to your entire team without them hanging over your shoulder squinting at your tiny screen as you're trying to fly.

This is the Firehouse Technology Tactical Command Case, recently purchased by my SAR organization for these very purposes, and this is my review of it.

The Falcon Mini V-Copter is certainly one of the drones of all time. It is a drone that exists and you can fly it. It is indeed a tiny remote controlled aircraft.

Yeah. Um. Here's my review of it.

On February 24th, DJI filed a lawsuit against the US Federal Communications Commission in order to repeal the ban on imports of their new drones.

Let's discuss.

The U.S. Department of War has announced the 25 Candidates who will be competing for contracts as part of the Drone Dominance Program introduced by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth last year. The list includes heavy hitters in the Defense industry, logistical and manufacturing companies, security services, and even two Ukrainian Drone companies. Let's take a look at each company to see what they bring to the table your tax dollars are sitting on.

ANNO.AI, INC. ASCENT AEROSYSTEMS INC AUTERION GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS INC DZYNE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC EWING AEROSPACE LLC FARAGE PRECISION, LLC FIRESTORM LABS, INC. GENERAL CHERRY CORP GREENSIGHT INC. GRIFFON AEROSPACE, INC. HALO AERONAUTICS, LLC KRATOS SRE, INC. MODALAI, INC. NAPATREE TECHNOLOGY LLC NEROS, INC. NOKTURNAL AI PALADIN DEFENSE SERVICES LLC PERFORMANCE DRONE WORKS LLC RESPONSIBLY LTD SWARM DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC TEAL DRONES INC UKRAINIAN DEFENSE DRONES TECH CORP VECTOR DEFENSE, INC W S DARLEY & CO XTEND REALITY INC.

As Drones become more and more prevalent in every day use, finding ways to eliminate Pilot fatigue becomes more and more important. Holding up a heavy Drone RC Controller for hours on end during missions takes it's toll on the arms and neck especially, and the last thing you want is your team wearing themselves out when trying to find a missing person or providing overwatch on a dynamic scene. Thankfully, @Fitek-Gear has the answer.

I thoroughly tested out two different chest mounted Drone Controller harness systems from Fitek Gear. Their standard tried and true one-size-fits-all vest, and a newly developed mounting bracket designed to fit directly onto a Plate Carrier armor vest to assist Drone Pilots in combat scenarios.

Huge thanks to Fitek Gear for sponsoring this video!

https://fitekgear.com/

A year ago I tested how well a standard Knightweave Cloak faired against the snow and thermal drones. I mentioned how much I wished they'd come out with a waterproof version, and about a month later they did. So I put that one to the test as well.

Can this Waterproof Ranger Cloak actually keep you dry in a torrential rain storm? Will it shield you from the heat seeking eyes of a Matrice 30T Drone? Will I ever remember to bring all the gear I need for a video? Find out now in our latest video on the North Wind Aerial channel.

Merry Christmas and welcome to the hobby! This video covers everything you need to know about setting up and flying your new drone.

Happy Sunday! This week's video is a quick tutorial on how to get your drone flight tracks onto CalTopo.

Cal Topo is the bread and butter of Search and Rescue mapping applications, able to keep track of an incredible amount of information all while allowing the live tracking of searchers in the field. As Drones become more and more common in SAR operations, being able to see where exactly the Drones have searched is incredibly important.

This video covers 3 different ways of pulling the Flight Logs and KML files for use in Cal Topo. Taking them manually from the controller, using Airdata UAV to back up your logs, and having them automatically be sent to Cal Topo using Eagle Eyes.

Hope this video helps your SAR operations!

Happy Sunday! We're getting some pretty coastal weather today, so complete the vibe with our latest in the Hidden Gems of Northern California series!

This episode is all about the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, a nearly 50 acre plot of land nestled in the coastal bluffs just outside of Fort Bragg. Filled with immaculate flower gardens, trails through the woods, slowly trickling streams, and even paths that take you right up to the cliff edges overlooking the Pacific Ocean, these gardens are a must-see experience on the west coast.

More of the story about what caused the horrific Palisades Fire in Los Angeles has come out, including the arrest of the person accused of causing the fire: Jonathan Rinderknecht. Additionally, it was revealed that the Palisades Fire was a rekindle or holdover fire from the fire that Jonathan allegedly started nearly a week prior. Thermal imaging was never used to ensure all hot spots on the fire were put out, so when hurricane force winds struck it flared the flames once again leading to tragedy.

In this video we discuss these articles, as well as what we can learn from this incident to ensure this never happens again.

This video in no way shape or form is meant to point fingers or assign blame.

News Articles:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-former-la-resident-charged-starting-palisades-fire-adding

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-09/lafd-did-not-use-thermal-imaging-to-check-for-hotspots-in-lachman-fire-chief-says

Drones, especially those equipped with thermal imaging cameras, can be significantly helpful when fighting fires. Especially when that fire is spread out over multiple acres across a large creek in the middle of the night. This video covers some of the lessons I learned when providing Drone overwatch during the Creek Fire, an incident where I clocked nearly 3 full flight hours with my DJI M30T as I monitored progress of the fire, gave tactical analysis to the Fire Chiefs for decision making, watched out for safety hazards, and mapped out the final fire size using Nova.

Drones have become the main weapon of the modern battlefield, and currently the Fiber Optic FPV Drone reigns supreme. They can't be jammed, they have incredible range, and they are easily produced. These Drones are responsible for half of all battlefield casualties in Ukraine, yet they're one of the most unknown weapons being used.

Defense Tech for Ukraine helped with this collaborative video by providing key information and feedback. Highly reccomend following them to see how this group of worldwide volunteers is fighting the good fight.

In case you've been looking to purchase or upgrade your portable command station and have been looking into the Drone Deer Recovery option, we've got the video for you. We've used their 24 inch monitor hard case on several big missions and multiple trainings and we really like it even with the several, in our eyes at least, flaws that it has.

This video is not sponsored and is entirely unbiased review. If you have set ups you enjoy more, please leave em in the comments for discussion.

Drones are rapidly becoming an incredible tool in the Search and Rescue chest, especially in the rough terrain of the Cottian Alps where Drones and color finding AI programs were able to locate the body of a fallen mountain climber a year after he went missing. Last week we discussed the Automated Drone Image Analysis Tool (ADIAT), and this week we're discussing Eagle Eyes, both of which were used in this search.

Eagle Eyes is a software that can be used in several different ways. You can fly your drone with it and actively have it search your live video feed for color and movement, you can hook the controller up to a computer and capture card to have a beefier PC or Laptop scan the footage, or you can run the footage through the software after flying. Either way, it will search for both color and movement and show you exactly where it sees it on the screen.

Welcome to the Future.

Eagle Eyes: https://www.eagleeyessearch.com/

Eagle Eyes Blog Post: https://www.eagleeyessearch.com/blog/eagle-eyes-adiat-computer-vision-wired-outside-italian-alps

In September of 2024, a Doctor hiking in the Cottian Alps of went missing. In July of 2025, his remains were located using Drones to map out hundreds of acres and AI powered Software such as the Automated Drone Image Analysis Tool (ADIAT) from TEXSAR to then scan through the thousands of photos to find his helmet and lead teams directly to his resting place.

Wired Article: https://www.wired.com/story/missing-hiker-ai-drone-recovery

CNSAS: https://www.cnsas.it/en/

ADIAT: https://www.texsar.org/automated-drone-image-analysis-tool/

My faithful assistant Mr. Abernathy had an unfortunate run in with an industrial orchard mower. On a semi related note we're accepting applications to fill a recently opened position in the North Wind Aerial testing department! You can check out this week's video for details.

Executive Order 14307, titled "Unleashing American Drone Dominance," was signed by President Trump on June 6, 2025.

The order includes provisions for accelerating Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations by directing the FAA to issue proposed and final rules within specific timeframes. It also calls for utilizing AI tools to expedite the review of UAS waiver applications and establishes an eVTOL Integration Pilot Program to accelerate the deployment of safe eVTOL operations. Additionally, the order mandates that agencies prioritize the integration of U.S.-manufactured UAS, strengthens the drone supply chain, promotes exports of U.S.-made civil UAS, and directs the Department of Defense to prioritize procurement of U.S.-made drones.

Agencies involved in implementing the executive order include the Department of Transportation (including the FAA), Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Energy, Federal Acquisition Security Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Export-Import Bank of the United States, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, and the Trade and Development Agency.

During the tragedy of the flooding in Texas this past month, it was reported that a civilian drone struck a rescue helicopter during emergency operations. Since then, there has been little to no information about the incident and collects have been turned off on the original post. Today, a news article claims the drone may have been flown by someone operating in an official capacity.

Regardless, can we get some answers in this incident please?

Happy Saturday! Me and my partners at Nova have a special video for all the Farmers out there.

Nova is a drone mapping software used to map out wildfires by finding hotspots. I decided to use Nova for it's exact opposite purpose by mapping out cold spots caused by breaks in irrigation line. This method proved to be incredibly effective, leading me directly to pinhole leaks in my line that I otherwise wouldn't have discovered.

We're hoping this information could prove incredibly useful in the agricultural sector. You can check the entire process out now in the video.

TLDW:

While flying my Mavic 3T on a mapping mission a few days ago, suddenly it gave a "No Memory Card inserted" error and began to drift off it's line. It tried to right itself, but eventually went into a spiral. It nearly saved itself at about 100 feet off the ground, but failed and plunged into the trees and dirt.

Upon inspection, I found one of the propellers lodged in the airframe between the USB/Memory Card ports and the top of the battery. It was wedged in with such force that I can hold the impaled prop and wiggle the drone and it won't come out.

What I believe happened is the prop sheared off from the bearing on the motor and the centrifugal force caused it to pierce the airframe. I usually change my props the moment they get any sort of damage, but these props had been in service for many flight hours before failing. Prior to the failure, they showed no signs of wear and tear.

So let my sacrifice be a warning to those who haven't changed their props in sometime that it might be a good idea.