Firstly, a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has visited the TasView website!
I hope you’ve found it helpful in some way. I really should write updates more often as I’m sure you find my insights riveting, but life, fun and flying get in the way 🙂
To celebrate 80,000 page visits I’ve thrown some funds to WordPress mainly to get rid of the ever increasing intrusive advertising!
In June this year I “purchased” a DJI Mavic Air, added a page for it under the Aircraft section as well as posting a few short videos and photos. I’ve now done 51 flights with almost 11 hours flight time and not a single issue – apart from a signal drop out while filming these falls but after a few skipped heart beats it came back without incident. Average flight time is 15 minutes, with a maximum for me of 17 minutes. I’ve gained confidence and trust in this craft resulting in more “risky”( but not illegal or unsafe) flights like the image taken above. I’m also finding it easier and safer in many instances to carefully hand catch (avoiding the sensors) rather than land, mainly due to the terrain I fly in. I’m still experimenting with camera settings, getting the best exposure with the filters and video editing, of which I’ve done little of late as I’m working toward a bigger project!
For more information on this pocket platform including my Pre-flight checklist and full settings, visit the Mavic Air Page.
A firmware upgrade .500 was released recently for the Air. It showed up in the app when I went to go for a quick flight yesterday, even though I’d only updated everything about a week ago after the launch of the Mavic2 series. I dismissed it and flew with no problems, but on getting home (to my WiFi), the update message failed to show in the DJI Go4 app again after reconnecting several times, so I updated today through the DJI Assistant 2 on my PC. The assistant will also let you roll back to v.400.
It’s raining and windy today so I haven’t yet tested but other pilots on the MavicPilots.com forum report no issues. One thing of note, upgrading reset’s most of the crafts settings so make a note of yours beforehand or you can use mine as a guide.
On another note:
Proposed Part 101 Drones Manual of Standards
CASA are seeking public feedback on new draft rules for commercial or professional drone operations. Visit the Consultation Hub to provide your feedback by 18 November 2018.
It’s mostly about streamlining and setting consistent standards for RePL training, controlling RPA below 400 ft in controlled airspace, new extended visual line of sight (EVLOS) operations and record keeping and notification requirements.
I’ve read through the Draft Part 101 Manual of Standards (MOS) and if you ‘fly for fun’, or in the sub 2kg class, all the essential/fundamental drone rules remain the same. A small section of the proposed new rules – clarifying the requirements to operate in controlled and non-controlled airspace – may affect some recreational users.
As always, safe and happy flying!
TasView 