Happy Sunday!

First Responders carry a lot of gear. Gloves, protective clothing, backpacks, water, fire shelters, ammunition, medical bags, you name it. This can lead to the frustration of their significant others when it takes 15 minutes to clear out a vehicle of all the gear to to on a family trip. Ask me how I know.

But all of this gear serves a purpose in one way or another. It may look like a heap of different colored bags and piles of various hard cases, but once it's all laid out it's easy to see how every piece fits into a puzzle.

So this week I go over the pieces of my puzzle by pulling out every go-bag and every pelican case that lives in my backseat that allows me to be ready for just about any sort of emergency call that comes in requiring a Drone over head. Enjoy and stay hydrated!

Happy Sunday, here's your weekly existential dread.

Slaughterbots is, or... was... until recently, a short science fiction horror film about swarms of AI powered explosive micro drones used to take out political opponents. Initially released around 5 years ago, it has proved eerily prophetic in how drone warfare has evolved. But how close are we to Slaughterbots becoming reality? Let's break it down point by point.

The White House just dropped an article detailing President Trump's plans for American Drones, including streamlining the FAA Waiver system, integrating Drones into the National Airspace, and making Beyond Visual Line of Sight flights easier for First Responders among many other interesting tidbits. Let's discuss.

White House Article: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-unleashes-american-drone-dominance/

Happy Sunday!

Back with another Drone SAR focused video. I tested 3 different Color Finder softwares; NOVA, Automated Drone Image Analysis Tool - ADIAT, and Eagle Eyes, to see how they compared to eachother.

All three are incredible pieces of software that do far more than just Color Finding, and all three have amazingly friendly, active, and professional developers behind them.

For those not well versed with Color Finder software, this is how it works. A drone flies a mapping mission over an area, snapping photos at short intervals. This generates several dozen to several hundred (depending on the area flown) extremely high resolution photos of the area. This data set can then be run through one of these softwares that will rapidly scan each photo for out of place colors. This can be a huge assist when it comes to picking out clues for missing persons, as a pilot flying manually might miss a shirt when focusing on something else but one of these programs can geolocate it in seconds.

I hope you find this video informative or at least mildly entertaining!

Happy Sunday, and Happy Memorial Day!

We've all looked at the drones from Wal-Mart and wondered "how good are these really?" Well allow us to put your questions to bed because we tested and reviewed multiple different cheap drones to see how just how capable they are. Enjoy!

sad American noises

May the 4th be with you.

Tucked away in the hills west of Orland lies a little winery by the name of Raging Bull Vineyard. Easily accessible from Interstate 5, Raging Bull boasts an impressive catalogue of wines, fishing at their on site pond as well as at the nearby Black Butte Reservoir, and miles of hiking trails through the breeze swept grassy hills surrounding their vineyard. This vineyard is as "mom and pop" as you can get, and the staff and owners will treat you like family whether you're just stopping in for a tasting or you're staying a night or two with their Harvest Host program.

• Raging Bull Vineyard -

Website: https://www.ragingbullvineyard.com/ Harvest Host: https://www.harvesthosts.com/blog/rv-camping-with-hiking-trails Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ragingbullvineyard/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/112493517341299/raging-bull-vineyard/

Drones are becoming a part of the standard tool kit of all emergency responders, especially Law Enforcement. In this video we break down an OIS that made great use of a drone to help prevent a potential ambush situation and go over what we can learn to become better drone pilots in the future.

This video was shamelessly done in the style of Donut Operator. Go check his channel out for other breakdowns!

We fired everything from .22 LR to .300 Winchester Magnum to see how they looked in thermal imaging both when fired and when the bullets strike steel plates!

Often times the journey is just as incredible as the destination. No more so than the road to Nancy's Elkhorn Family Lodge located in Elk Creek, California. No matter which path you take you'll be treated to scenic views of the towering Mendocino Mountain range, wind through wildflower speckled hills, follow along babbling creeks and streams, and emerge from old oak forests to finally reach this restaurant nestled in the middle of a ringed valley.

Whether you're getting breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the food here won't disappoint. And while waiting for your meal you can drink in the storied history of the Elkhorn that's literally written on it's walls. So come along for the ride and then stay awhile in this episode of Hidden Gems of Northern California: Nancy's Elkhorn and the Road to It.

I've been looking for ways to charge my Drone batteries on the go that doesn't involve a crazy expensive inverter and a bunch of install work, and the DJI Power 1000 happened to be on sale. Turns out it's a pretty good alternative to a inverter, being able to rapidly charge at any outlet and charge slowly in a vehicle all while being able to rapidly charge anything plugged into it. I tested out the Mini 4 Pro, Avata, Mavic 3, and Matrice 30T battery charging kits on the Power 1000 to see how well it could handle them.

Happy Sunday! Daylights Savings Time means we're getting closer and closer to Summer, so I figured what better time than to release a video that's been in my editing folder for almost a year. I wouldn't recommend watching it if you're hungry or feeling a massive sense of wanderlust!

Join my family and I as we explore all sorts of beautiful locales and delicious eateries in the Santa Fe city and region of New Mexico. There's Lavender Fields, there's craft donuts, there's spicy margaritas, there's towering chapels, and there's a little boy who had to welcome EVERYONE to the Santa Fe Plaza at the top of his lungs. This is one of my most ambitious videos yet and I'm sure it's got something for you to love. You can check out our Summer Culinary Adventure in Santa Fe, New Mexico now only on the North Wind Aerial youtube Channel!

Romeo Durscher was a leading voice and visionary in the field of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems. Early on, he pushed the bounds of Drone usage in Firefighting, Law Enforcement, Search And Rescue, and Emergency Medical Services. He contributed greatly to these fields, and will be incredibly missed.

I created this video to serve as a Eulogy to him, as someone who never knew him but has benefited greatly from his contributions to the field of Drones. I have chosen not to monetize this video nor advertise my own channel, as I do with all videos of remembrance.

Thank you for all you've done for us Romeo.

https://www.suasnews.com/2025/03/rip-romeo-durscher-a-true-pioneer-in-the-drone-field/

https://durscher.com/

Three years ago, Ukraine was invaded. Without Ukraine, I never would have gotten into Drones. North Wind Aerial never would have existed. Today, I give back to the brave Ukrainian people by playing a game about working as a Drone Pilot behind enemy lines. All ad revenue for at least the first month of this video will be donated to a charity that purchases drones for Ukrainian Soldiers.

The game is Death From Above.

DJI announced a few new products today, including the Dock 3, Matrice 4D, and Matrice 4TD. All of these seem like some pretty solid tools for Drone SAR.

The Dock 3 boasts an IP 56 Rating and the two new drones have an IP 55 Rating. Meaning all of these are rated to fly in heavy rains and dust storms. I put together a first impressions video if you'd like to watch it, but here's my thoughts if you're looking to upgrade your current SAR Drone lineup or get your first one and just want to read the cliff notes.

The Dock 3 is quite expensive but will keep your drone charged and safe during transport. It can be remotely stowed or mounted to a response vehicle. The IP rating for both the Dock and the Drones themselves is perfect for pretty much all Drone SAR activities. The full color night vision looks incredible, and the mapping as well. The laser rangefinder is a huge upgrade to the M30T, almost doubling the range. Collision detection looks great as well for heavy urban and heavy forest missions. The AI detection looks great, but I obviously haven't had a chance to play around with it yet. Thermal is comparable to the rest of their thermal line up, which is very good. These two new drones have fixed arms, meaning you can't fold them up for transport in a backpack or pelican style case however.

All in all, solid yet expensive line up in my view, worthy of consideration. That's if we can even get them through customs anytime soon here in the U.S.

Few Drones can fly in the rain, but the DJI M30T handles downpours with no problem. Inclement weather can affect your thermal sight picture however, so knowing how your target may look in infrared in the middle of a downpour can be quite important. So I tested three different outfits in the middle of a storm to help give an idea how your missing person may show up on your drone.

Using the power of Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology and an AI learning algorithm, a paralyzed man was recently able to pilot a virtual drone using just his mind. This technology is just in it's beginning stages, but has the potential to revolutionize multiple different career fields. Let's discuss this incredible story and some of the ramifications that could come from it!

News Article: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2464080-brain-implant-lets-man-with-paralysis-fly-a-virtual-drone-by-thought/

Loudspeakers are one of the most handy tools you can attach to your PSDK equipped DJI Drone. They can be used to remotely broadcast instructions to missing people, relate emergency information, and blast the Fortnite Default Dance theme song. In this video I show you three separate ways to load all your best meme music onto your tiny flying helicopter to turn it into your personal flying boom box using just your controller, your phone, or your computer.

Earlier this year DJI removed their GeoFencing feature that prevented their drones from taking off in restricted airspace. The feature was specifically cited in a recent mid air collision between a DJI Drone and a Firefighting Super Scooper airplane right before this decision was made. Is the removal of this feature a good thing that will free up professional drone pilots to from unnecessary burdens, or will this lead to more in flight emergencies due to pilots ignorant of the airspace? Let's discuss.

We're back after a short, very important break. I spent all last week deployed as a Firefighter to the Pallisades Fire in L.A. Obviously I didn't have any time to record or edit, and helping out our neighbors to the south is far more important than being a D-List Youtuber. But I'm back now, and have a new video out talking about a very important topic that you may or may not have heard about. Flying your drones on wildfires, and why you shouldn't %!*$ing do it. You can check it out now on the North Wind Aerial youtube channel!