The debate is raging about how the 1 million drones sold this Christmas will fit into our lives and our society.  Rules and laws are being crafted left and right.  People are reacting, people are nervous, people are terribly uninformed. The consumer drones available today span a huge spectrum of different weights, capabilities, and potential issues.  

There was no easy way for people to  make informed decisions. Is a Syma X5C the same as a DJI Phantom 2?  Is it okay to fly a Hubsan X4 H107L in the park?  Can my nephew fly an Estes Proto Nano in the house?  Should I be worried about the video capabilities of my neighbor's JJRC H8C?

We have developed a system that helps to clarify the differences. We break consumer class RTF - Ready to Fly multi-rotors in to 4 safety classes.

• Class 1: Beginner are safe for everyone and great to learn on.
• Class 2: Novice are more advanced and require more careful piloting, but they are generally safe for everyone.
• Class 3: Semi-Pro are serious hobby level drones and require careful and responsible piloting.
• Class 4: Pro Grade are for the big boys and serious ladies.

You can use our Safety Rating Estimator to calculate the rating yourself or you can visit our shop and see our ratings.

For an in depth explanation of how we define these Classes visit us at 

http://drone-pilot-zone.com/dpz-safety-rating-estimator/

or check out our safety rated drones in our shop.

http://drone-pilot-zone.com/UAV-products/dpz-safety-rated/

Photo Credit to Darren French - TBS Discovery shot taken at 25m high at 80km/h. 

I wrote an OpEd piece today for my website Drone-Pilot-Zone.com titled Is Your Neighborhood Drone-Pilot a Spy?

Please come visit and have a read of the entire article.  Here is a short excerpt from the article. 

I fly because I love the feeling of flying. I have several multi-rotors with cameras and what they bring back to me is a vision reserved only for the hawks and eagles, crows and bats. I get to see a side of the world I’ve seen in the movies, but never in real life. I can strap on my goggles and soar above the tree tops. My mind lost in the weightlessness of futuristic flight. I am small but agile, all vectors are available. I can zoom in any direction, and head to any height.

Drone-Pilots are a special breed of people. We are explorers, in both the earthly realm, the technological realm, and the metaphysical. We are pushing the limits, making things smaller, faster, lighter, sleaker, sexier, and more bad ass! We are never satisfied with out abilities, we always order more. We tinker, and search, trading ideas, fixing problems. We are a community of creators, of idealists, and of dreamers.

To read the entire article please visit us here 

http://drone-pilot-zone.com/is-your-neighborhood-drone-pilot-a-spy/

It’s always been a dream to be able to fly in the stars and my Hubsan H107L has made those dreams come true. It was the quad that started this love affair, and she will always hold my heart as the one that made me into a Flying Man.

As a kid we dreamed of getting into remote aircraft, but it was always a hobby that was just to expensive and complicated to get into.  As kids our budgets weren’t much more than enough to buy candy and none of our parents had thousands of dollars to fulfill our fantasies.  As I got older, the dream never faded, but the technology took a while for the cost to entry to meet the fun funds necessary to join in.

It was the Fall of 2013 that I first laid eyes on her.  Amazon had her on sale for $40, a sleek and stylish black Hubsan H107L.  I ordered it prime and within a day or two I was staring at my first RC Multi-Rotor.

I carefully took her out of the box and gently laid her on my bed.  Ready for my first try I was definitely a bit nervous.  My hands trembled as I held her and gently inserted her battery.  She lit up and I knew my flying dreams were close.  I placed her level and grabbed the controls.  That first time we successfully binded together I knew I was in love.

Click Here to Read the rest of the story and see the Video

Be sure to visit us at Drone-Pilot-Zone.com

Source: Screen Grab from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR3q4hlmoEo

Visit Drone-Pilot-Zone.com for our list of recommended parts

Everybody wants to know how to build a quad that can match that speed.  The secret is in the 22.2 volts of raw 6s power that it can handle.  We've compiled a list of parts that should get a similar job done. 

Quadmovr ordered their parts from several places on the internet, sadly we don’t think they ordered any through us yet, and we can’t offer exactly the same parts, but we do have a list of similarly rated parts that will get you flying at break neck speeds if that’s what you’re after.

Quadmovr used T-Motor MN2206 2000KV motors with Kiss 30a ESCs on a 6s 1500mah 35c battery, with 5×4 HQ Carbon Fiber Props, and you’ll have to head over to Hobby King to get a MultiWii NanoWii FC, though many other flight controllers will work just fine. Be sure to check out his blog at RCGroups.  He’s got all sorts of shots of his crazy builds.

Drone-Pilot-Zone.com is a site devoted to Multi-Rotor Pilots.  We aim to entertain, inform, and make the shopping process a bit easier.  We are currently working as Amazon Affiliates to help organize their products in a much more Drone-Pilot friendly manner.  In the future we plan to work with any Multi-Rotor producers out there to get their gear into the right skilled and responsible hands.  We spend the meager proceeds of our website on buying flying machines ourselves. We are true Multi-Rotor Addicts.

Cheers,

Mitch Valentine

P.S. We have absolutely no idea who Quadmovr is, but we like his work.  

Drone-Pilot-Zone.com is having a Micro Drone Story Telling Contest.

The winner will receive a (1) set of "Dark Edition" Motors from Micro Motor Warehouse.

Be sure to submit your videos. We are looking for great stories told using your Micro Drone.

So you admit you have a problem. These are the signs you might have a Multi-Rotor Addiction.

1. You have so many rotors that Multi should be Megamulti.
2. At least 1 box is delivered to your door every day with "parts" in it.
3. Even the remote in your living room has a throttle.
4. You know the difference between 3s and 4s, 10c and 70c.
5. You got rid of your dog because he didn't get along with your Multi-Rotor.
6. You never take off your FatSharks.
7. You have carbon fiber embedded in your flesh.
8. You can adjust your PIDs without even touching your multi-rotor.
9. You put LEDs on everything.
10. You've experienced more Fly-Aways than Malaysian Airlines.

Originally posted on Drone-Pilot-Zone.com by Mitch Valentine

Be sure to join us at Multi-Rotor Anonymous on Facebook

Visit us at Drone-Pilot-Zone.com

Come check out our UAV Ace Challenges.  We have different categories for all different types of flyers.  In the near future we will be hosting our first competition with an RTF Quadcopter for a prize.  We will be looking for "Trick Landing" videos, so get started filming them today.

Our site is committed to creating a great space for UAV pilots all over the world to compete for the honor of Top Drone Ace. Be sure to send us all of your awesome FPV, Pro Class, Semi-Pro Class, Micro Class, and Nano Class videos today.

We also have a great drone shop that features all of the best quads we can find available on Amazon.  All of the proceeds of the site go to supporting the hobby of Drone Piloting.  So come have a look at our drone shop too.

We are always browsing the web for great drone news and we also keep up a great Drone Report for all your UAV news needs.We always welcome your feedback on how to make Drone-Pilot-Zone.com a great site for everyone in the UAV community to enjoy. 

~Mitchell Valentine, General of the Drone Pilot Zone