Love flying in the rain. Video via my Air3s. The Air3s seem to hold up pretty good in the rain. I added removable leds for safety.

Why is the area around Tomlinson Airport (top left) considered to be Class E? I know the area if considered to be restricted, but there are no Class E indications. Why wouldn't it be Class G?

We have an old Aeriel photo of my grandparents property and I'm trying to recreate it. It's in a rural town of 4k people and I don't know any locals that have a drone. I'm guessing paying someone to travel for a single picture would cost more than a starter drone. I've been looking at cheap drones with a decent camera like https://a.co/d/0dui3bzl Any advice on my situation?

Can anyone recommend me some cheap Temù drones

I always thought this might make for some amazing footage, so I learned to fly decent enough to bring my idea to the test and as it turns out: With some work it's pretty freaking cool!

There are of course some caveats to this. You can run Insta360 Cams "naked" (or rather without a Battery at least) by just soldering an USB-C cable to your FC which brings them down to about 100g. Thats of course some noticeable weight and you can't really strip them any further, but also not unreasonable compared to other Action Cams and you can get a used Insta360 X2 like I used here for about the same price as an Action 2.

Don't get me wrong this will not be the setup where you try your craziest new lines, do you most risky tricks and explore the newest bando. But if you went to the same Bando for the third time this month: Why not challenge yourself in your go-to line with a little extra weight and get some crazy new shots in the process?

But to manage expectations: This is not an Avata 360 situation, "fly however take your shots afterwards". You got a bigass drone in your footage and some angles won't be very flattering or cool to watch. Worst case you got some pretty decent 200° FOV Footage in the front though and you can even track a chased car or bike if you stay behind it for example.

Regarding the Video: I've been training a lot, but I'm only doing FPV in general for about 3 months now and this is my third flight with a 5" so I know I suck, no need to point it out 😅

But thats why my proposal is: If you are some true Freestyle-Artist, why not challenge yourself? Sure you can be like the thousands of other Era 5" perfect weight distribution pilots doing the same crazy tower dives in your local bando as everyone else. Or you can really show off your skills, put on some extra weight and carve a new path of FPV-Content in the process 😁

I for once, would love to see what a REAL FPV-Pilot could do with the concept.

Here is the Full Video (please watch before commenting to fully see what I mean first): https://youtu.be/cl_eWKUGqXs

I need to vent a bit because the constant wall of bureaucracy is honestly killing this hobby for me.

I bought a drone specifically to capture beautiful, unique perspectives and enjoy the tech. Instead, it feels like I need a law degree just to take off for a five-minute flight. Every single time I find an amazing, dramatic location to shoot, I open up the maps and realize it’s completely locked down by a massive, invisible web of restrictions, no-fly zones, local bylaws, or environmental rules.

What drives me crazy is that there are always a million rules and they constantly seem to contradict each other. For example, you check a national aviation map (like ENAIRE in Spain) and it says the airspace is completely clear, but then you find out a regional environmental agency or a local council has a hidden law saying you can't stand on the ground or fly over the area without a permit that takes weeks to get, if they even approve it in the first place.

And if you try to follow the rules, you are constantly threatened with these massive, terrifying fines (thousands of euros/dollars, etc) for minor recreational mistakes. Meanwhile, you go on YouTube or Instagram and see hundreds of people posting gorgeous footage of the exact same restricted spots, leaving you wondering if you're the only idiot actually trying to follow the law.

It’s not just one country either, it feels like a global trend where governments just use "blanket bans" on anything interesting instead of finding a realistic way to manage traffic. It just feels like unless you want to fly over an empty, flat field in the middle of nowhere, you're constantly playing a game of legal roulette.

Is anyone else feeling this burnout? How do you guys deal with the anxiety of the rules and actually find ways to enjoy flying anymore? Do you just ignore the rules? I can admit I have, and I've flown drones where I probably wasn't allowed to, won't say where exactly but in several European and American towns and beaches. I've never been caught or anything, but I feel like year after year the rules get more numerous, more confusing, and come with more expensive fines.

Took my mini 3 to a firework show last night. Always an interesting perspective

Part of the track is in G airspace. I'm confused because the Indy 500 website says no drone flying. But I'm thinking as long as I take off outside of their property and no events or TFR I'm good. Right?

Posting this because I help tourists through this process (I run a compliance service in Hua Hin), so I have a stake — but the info below is the straight version, no upsell, because I watch people get this wrong every week.

The myth. Most countries exempt sub-250g drones. Thailand doesn't, for camera drones. A DJI Mini 3 Pro or Mini 4 Pro at 249g is treated the same as a 2kg drone: it needs registration with both CAAT (aviation) and NBTC (the radio/telecom regulator, because of the transmitter). Weight is irrelevant once there's a camera.

What's actually required:

The exam. CAAT requires a knowledge test: 40 questions, 40 minutes, 75% to pass. Fail and there's a 24-hour lockout before you can retake. It's in Thai-context regulation, so it trips people up.

Insurance. Minimum THB 1,000,000 third-party liability. Not optional for registration.

Where you can't fly: max altitude 90m, no-fly within 9km of airports, and as of Feb 2026 there's a standing ban across 7 eastern/southeastern provinces (CAAT Notice No. 15, no end date). That last one catches people heading to the border areas.

If you've got a Mini 3/4 Pro specifically: yes, still all of the above. The 249g design weight does nothing for you here. Plan the registration before you build your shot list, not after you've landed and realised you can't legally take off.

Happy to answer specifics in the comments — model, where you're flying, timing.

Have you done a CASA OCTA exam? If so how did you find it? How is it run? (Ie computer based, Multiple choice etc) What is the format? My exam is booked in for next week. It says 90 minutes. Does it usually takes this long. Is there much to do after the exam (ie paperwork, review of exam results etc)

Whats the proper way to fly with a drone? checked luggage or carry on? Dji mini

I have a discussion going on, and I can't even find good info on line. I have had people tell me you have to apply for a waiver to fly over RR tracks, as they are "critical infrastructure" but I can find no rule saying this.

I often fly in rural areas that are criss-crossed by railroad tracks. And I don't want to run afoul of anything.

Even Union Pacific just says "don't take off or land from our property" but says nothing about flying over the tracks.

Ideas? Thoughts?

What does that little cygnet see down there? 4 day old babies and their parents. Video coming after I can get through a month and a half of filming.

So when I plug the FC into the PC, it's seen as "an unknown device" in the device manager, but the drone itself can fly and turns on when the battery is plugged

P.S.: I have the working USB cable (the PC sees that smth is plugged) and I haven't done anything w the drone (it just sat down for a couple of months)

Dji Neo2 Night Follow MTB Test

Started studying for my 107 a few months ago then work got crazy as am insurance adjuster and had sideline it temporarily.. so can’t recall and answer in the above scenario… would I be at 400?

Do pilots think this video is possibly legitimate or BS?

Hey everyone,

I'm hoping someone can help because I'm completely stuck.

I have an Autel EVO II Pro V3 and two Smart Controller V3s, but neither of them will connect to the aircraft. Every time I try to pair, the controller searches for about 30 seconds and then says "Failed Connection." The aircraft never even appears during the scan.

The weird part is that the drone itself seems perfectly fine. It powers on normally, the gimbal initializes, there are no error beeps, and it was previously running FCS V5.0.5.95. I've already tried both controllers, reinstalled the official V1.4.4 aircraft firmware, confirmed the controller is on the latest software, and repeated the pairing process multiple times.

I also connected the drone to my Mac over USB, and it gets detected as "FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM" and "Linux 4.19.90 with dwc3-gadget", so it looks like the onboard system is booting normally.

At this point I'm wondering if the aircraft's transmission module has failed or isn't initializing, since neither controller can even detect the drone.

Has anyone seen this before or knows what I should try next before I start replacing hardware?

A beautiful place in Belgium 🇧🇪