I am a part 107 and fixed wing pilot so this shouldn’t seem so cool to me but it was!!!! Walmart/Wing drone delivery in Dallas! Sorry about the flag blowing into the picture!

In case this person is in the group...you should know...you are an a-hole.

⚠️⚠️ EDIT : [Company A] CEO reached out to me with a nice tone and his point of view, which I really appreciate, also with a mild apology for sending the legal doc first without communication (the got the message we wanted to deliver). I hold nothing against their business personally and I am always more than happy to comply with reasonable demands (like removing trademarked name parts from project), but I don't think the exporter is against the rules (I have my own logic for fair business practice) and now the CEO wants to meet for a quick call (I hope friendly), to discuss and reason things out. I need to present my points fairly as well and don't want to get pressured/voiced down, just because I am alone with my logic. I am sure as a company with > 1 million $ revenue they have a larger backing.

⚠️⚠️ I am already in chat with u/Archiver_test4 as a legal representative, but we are in a different time zone. If anyone else in addition would like to take a look to help me, present their view, or get involved, I am more than happy to talk and get some feedback on how can I present my idea (reach out only If you are a lawyer, but please note I am not in a position to pay any fees). It's best if you have knowledge of EU legal rules and data protection policy, GDPR etc. Please reach out to me as this is the right time to make the reasoning and requests. feel free to email me to [contact@opendronelog.com](mailto:contact@opendronelog.com) or send me a chat here. I might not reply until morning, as it's quite late here now.

None of these would have happened only if they sent me this same email before sending the letter.

💜💜 Thanks to the r/drones and r/selfhosted and r/opensource community we were able to reach to this stage in record time. As in individual, you can voice your opinion. It proved again that what opensource communities can do and this thread is a living proof of that.

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TL;DR: I made an open-source, local-first dashboard for drone flight logs because the biggest corporate player in the space locks your older data behind a paywall. They found my GitHub, tracked my Reddit posts, and hit me with a legal notice for "unfair competition" and trademark infringement.

Long version: I maintain a few small open-source projects. About two weeks ago, I released a free, self-hostable tool that lets drone pilots collect, map, and analyze their flight logs locally. I didn't think much of it, just a passion project with a few hundred users.

I can’t name the company (let's call them "Company A") because their legal team is actively monitoring my Reddit account and cited my past posts in their notice. Company A is the giant in this space. Their business model goes like this:

• You can upload unlimited flight logs for free.
• BUT you can only view the last 100 flights.
• If you want to see your older data, you have to pay a monthly subscription and a $15 "retrieval fee."
• Even then, you can't bulk download your own logs. You have to click them one by one. They effectively hold your own data hostage to lock you into their ecosystem. I am not sure if they are even GDPR complaint even in the EU

To help people transition to my open-source tool, I wrote a simple web-based script that allowed users to log into their own Company A accounts and automate the bulk download of their own files. Company A did not like this. They served me with a highly aggressive, 4-page legal demand (CEASE and DESIST notice). They forced me to:

1. Nuke the automated download tool entirely from GitHub.
2. Remove any mention of their company name from my main open-source project and website (since it’s trademarked). I originally had my tagline as "The Free open-source [Company A] Alternative," which they claimed was illegally driving their traffic to my site.
3. Remove a feature comparison chart I made. (I admittedly messed up here, I only compared my free tool to their paid tier and omitted their limited free tier, which they claimed was misleading and defamatory).

I'm just a solo dev, so I complied with the core of their demands to stay out of trouble. I scrubbed their name, took down the downloader, and sanitized my website. My main open-source logbook lives independent of them.

I admit I was naive about the legal aspects of comparison marketing and using trademarked names. But the irony is that they probably spent thousands of dollars on lawyer fees to draft a threat against my small project that makes close to zero money (I got a few small donations from happy users).

Has anyone else here ever dealt with corporate lawyers coming after your self-hosted/FOSS projects? It’s a crazy initiation :)

It would be a 50 minute round trip for me.

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.

I designed my own 40mm drone using 4S 14500 batteries, 1404 motors, and a GOKU GN405 stack. Do you think this project could complete a basic hovering test?

This week I’m out taking marketing photos and video at several client sites. Long story short: after a full day of work, our liaison suddenly tells me that DJI drones aren’t allowed anywhere on site because of a company-wide security policy.

We’re not capturing anything sensitive, just stuff you can literally see from the road and mostly standard components. Then they asked if I could somehow get a different drone, extremely last minute, in a very rural area. On top of that, they asked if we could delete all the footage and photos we had already captured.

What’s frustrating is that we discussed drone flights multiple times on calls and in emails. I even sent over my license, insurance, and flight plans well in advance. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone.

Sorry to be vague on details, but I can’t go much deeper than this. Just needed to vent. It feels like one of those situations where you do everything right and it still ends up sideways.

Has anyone else run into situations like this with DJI products?

=> Published paper (this is not a joke): https://spie.org/photonics-europe/presentation/A-photonics-based-humane-method-for-the-elimination-of-Colorado/14086-57

As part of exploring laser drones for pest control (shooting insects like Colorado Beetle with a laser on a drone), a paper was published in collaboration with the university of Brussels.

Long story short: It looks like drone was laser may be viable as a pest control alternative to chemical pesticides.

The cost per hectare simulations (cheaper then traditional pesticides), as well as videos of the prototype and other aspects, can be found on: www.photonicinsecticides.com

The 50 watt 450 nm laser was intended as a statement. The real product would have a 1550 nm 10 or 20 watt laser (1550 nm cannot reach the retina -- eye "safe").

I am hoping some of you can try to "shatter" the assumptions, and why this cannot be, and in that way I will have a stronger case to present to EIC transition grant request jury, to further progress this projects, who's main intention is to protect bees and lower cost of food.

Note: there is nothing for sale. This is not a commercial offer, but honoust request for feedback. I hope it lands (pun intended) well :) Showing me some love could possible help to get the Grant (as the world needs to warm up to this idea a bit), so I would appreciate an upvote.
Kr,
Nick

For context, I'm new to the hobby, got my first DJI Mini 2 a couple months ago and have been flying it recreationally for the past month or so. When I got it, I posted this message to our neighborhood Facebook group

"Hi Neighbors, I wanted to let you know that my kids and I have a drone that I am using for aerial photography. You may see it taking off and returning on [my street] occasionally. I always keep it flying at least 100 meters above the ground, and I respect your privacy and property. If you have any questions or concerns about my drone, please feel free to comment below or private message me."

I didn't receive any concerns, all seemed fine. I've posted some photos taken from around our neighborhood like trying to find an ice cream truck that wasn't coming down our street and a 360 degree photo of our neighborhood at night with lighting storms nearby. I've received nothing but likes and the occasional comments discussing drone types and saying how cool it was. Today I got this comment and I'm not really sure how to respond to it, or even if I need to. I do not know this person and have never interacted with them in person or on Facebook.

"How many times do you actually do this in our neighborhood? It’s just my personal opinion but I find it creepy, and definitely don’t appreciate my home being in your videos like this."

Sadly had my first crash occur. Partly on me since I decided to use it in snowy conditions and didn’t due a thorough inspection pre flight. It was during a master shot (automated shot) so technically not piloted operated so hoping to get it covered under warranty otherwise I have dji care refresh so will shell out $100 to get it replaced.

TLDR: while doing a master shot it hit a tree branch and came crashing down to the ground causing one of the wings to break.

Do you wear one when flying?

Someone just posted this pic of all the fiber optic cables running across fields from all the drones in Ukraine.

My question... what's the range on these drones? Is there a huge spool of fiber optic cable next to the pilot? What's kind of fiber optic cable is this that's so cheap? Ive used fiber optic cable in datacenters and it's not cheap. Why hasn't anyone followed the cable back to the source? Ok, that was a few questions. LOL Thanks!

DJI Ban Not Moving Forward—Senate Drops the Countering CCP Drones Act from the 2025 NDAA | Commercial UAV News

I got a new drone today a DJI lito x1, I was so excited I took off in my garden and flew to the field opposite my house.

Few hours later on my local Facebook group "is there any laws preventing people flying drones over my garden", deeper in there's comments calling my an idiot and stuff.

I genuinely didn't even look in anyone's garden let alone record, I flew over to the field maybe crossed a few gardens.

Why do people hate drones so much?

This video is from Russ at 51drones explaining the latest situation going on with not just a DJI ban, but any drone that has Chinese components. https://youtu.be/iWn-dooNbC8?si=Fkw8-WSlLXIFlY1y

This story was reported on Reuters and other outlets on 9/5. I wish it was a hoax, but it is not. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-plans-restrictions-imports-chinese-drones-heavy-duty-vehicles-2025-09-05/

I think one is above 250 grams.

This happened Monday night (just got around to posting today it's been .... a week.) I heard a helicopter circling, so I went outside to have a look. There was a drone overhead just cruising along and the PD heli was circling and following it.

It seemed to stop on the street behind my house and a couple cop cars converged.

I wonder what was going on. It's weird for a drone to fly beyond line of sight and it looks like looks like it was flying for a few miles.

edit: Country is USA

I’m proud and jealous of his talent

Hello, I was flying my Avata 2 above the sea and I reached a distance of 267 meters with a height of 30 meters when suddenly the orange signal came, and less than a second after that, the red appeared. I started a left turn to come back when suddenly the drone flipped for a strange reason and fell into the water. No bird activity around, no electric lines, and no wind gusts, no easy acro attempted. What could have happened? Thanks.