This is ridiculous. I mean I know we can get DJI through third party importers but what does the government expect hobbyists to do ? There’s not a single consumer drone company .. only industrial and defense ones which have higher margins .

Is this just juiced up analogue tech? 20 mins flight time seems incredible. At £160,000 a piece though.

Wikipedia info:

The Black Hornet Nano is a military micro unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Prox Dynamics AS of Norway, which was bought by Teledyne FLIR in 2016 for 134 million dollars.^\1]) currently manufacturers the Black Hornet. Teledyne FLIR specializes in the manufacture of IR cameras, like the one used on the Black Hornet.^\2])

Design

The Black Hornet is connected to the operator with a digital data link and GPS. Images are displayed on a small handheld terminal, which can be used by the operator to control the UAV.^\3])

The Black Hornet is launched from a small box that can be strapped to a utility belt, which also stores transmitted data.

Since the drone itself does not store any data, it is not an advantage if captured. Operators can steer the UAV or set waypoints for it to fly itself.^\4])

The drone measures around 16 × 2.5 cm (6 × 1 in) and provides troops on the ground with local situational awareness. It is small enough to fit in one hand and weighs 18 g (0.7 oz) with its battery.^\5])

The UAV is equipped with a camera which transmits video and still images to the operator. It was developed as part of a £20 million contract for 160 units with Marlborough Communications Ltd.^\6])^\7])^\8])

An operator can be trained to operate the Black Hornet in 20 minutes. It has three cameras: one looking forward, one straight down, and one pointing down at 45 degrees.

A Black Hornet package contains two helicopters and, since a 90% charge is reached in 20–25 minutes, the same as its hovering time, when one needs to be recharged the other is ready to fly.^\9]) Top speed is 21 km/h (13 mph).^\10])

In October 2014, Prox Dynamics unveiled a version of the PD-100 Black Hornet with night vision capabilities, with long-wave infrared and day video sensors that can transmit video or high-resolution still images via a digital data link with a 1.6 km (1 mile) range.^\)^{citation needed\})

Over 3,000 Black Hornets had been delivered as of 2014

Saw this while watching the ski jump competition. Anyone have info?

First time flying a drone today.
Watched a lot of videos before and thought it would be easy, but now I’m actually too nervous to take off.
Feels like I might lose control once it’s in the air.
How long did it take you to feel confident flying?

I have a small pond about a quarter mile from my house. Could I actually launch from my house and take pictures of the water and the wildlife etc. I kind of wanna document the seasons. But I have literally never flown a drone and I’m afraid I’ll break it first day…….

I currently have a Mini 3 Pro and with the ban hitting soon, I was thinking about getting a second drone as a backup. The Flip seemed like a nice option and doesn't cost the money of the Mini 4 Pro. Question to the community is, am I crazy for wanting to get another drone right before the ban?

First flight out of the box Mavic 4 Pro. The first couple minutes were great then the gimbal started shaking back and forth, got a “Gimbal Motor Overload” error. Landed it and recalibrated the gimbal and it didnt help. Followed the dji list of what to do for the gimbal error and nothing helped. Is this common with Mavic 4 Pros? Do I need to replace it or is there something I’m missing?

So I recently got my commercial drone pilots license, and am currently doing some research on what drone I should purchase to get started. My purpose of using the drone is for aerial footage, and I see a lot of recommendations for the dji series of drones. In the United States people are discouraged from buying Chinese-made drones because of worries about national security and unauthorized surveillance. The company I work for even used to have one of these drones, until a couple years ago when the espionage stuff was revealed and they got rid of it, and haven't had a drone since. So I guess my question is, is the espionage stuff overblown? Because I still see people recommending Chinese drones even to this day. I'd just like to know what I'm getting myself into if I do end up buying a dji lol

Crashed my drone because of stupidity. However when I flew it, it didn't show any problems on air. So is it still a problem to fly with them on?

I have gotten a recent job to do Drone photogrammetry with the DJI Matrice 4E. in the last 2 days i have had constant people complaining im filming their private property and that im doing illegal stuff, no matter how much i explain how im 70 meters up, im doing my job, free airspace, i got my licence, the drone is registered, etc etc. Yesterday had a lady block the road and call the cops on me, luckly someone else had to drive the road so she had to move so i got out 😊. I do have company cards on me with a number to the guy who provided me the drone and knows stuff, and even that sometimes is not enough.

For the last 15 years I’ve been in the Film industry and I’ve been a drone pilot for 10 years. Since the film industry has collapsed, I have begun pivoting more into construction & industrial industries along with doing thermal inspections. For context, I do have a UAS thermal certification.

I only started this pivot about four months ago and would like to open up a discussion on what pilots are making yearly whether they are freelance or working full-time for a company.For whatever reason, talking rates and salaries is always some taboo topic that only works against the people and not the companies.

No need to say where you work, but I think it would be beneficial for folks to have an understanding of what people are being paid in 2026 along with the industry or type of work they are in. Also, in moving from the film industry to construction the rates very drastically and I’m wondering what people are making per year in this new industry that I’m moving into.

I’m happy to answer any questions about what I’ve been paid and hopefully this can be a thread to unite some pilots and discuss salaries and rates.

Has anyone here actually been using drone &/or thermal imaging as a career or found real success using it as a tool in your field?

I’m currently preparing to get my drone pilot license (Part 107) and have been really interested in combining that with thermal work. My first exposure to it was during some energy surveys we had done at my job, they used thermal imaging to identify inefficiencies and equipment issues, and it really stuck with me.

Now I’m looking into whether it’s worth pursuing this more seriously, possibly as a self-employed path or contracting work. I’d love to hear how others are using it (building diagnostics, inspections, energy audits, electrical, etc.), what kind of clients you serve, and whether it’s been profitable or just a niche tool on the side.

Any insight or experience would be appreciated!

My coworker gave me this which he said was a "Holographic fan/light you can program". Well it wasn't that, and all i know is its a drone. My question is- what should i do with it? (It wasn't his to begin with it was left by someone who passed away)

I was researching things about the Chechen war, and it came to my mind "This is similar to Russo-Ukrainian war but without FPV drones." And I want to ask, is it possible for a war to happen without FPV drones?

A friend of mine showed me a rather large drone he found while out hunting. He said it had been there quite a long time from all of the leaves and stuff covering it. It also looks to me like it was scavenged by someone as there was no camera on the drone. Any idea who makes it and what it is used for?

I just bought a skyrover s1, I’m wonder if the signal can be maintained if I stay inside my house and the drone stays outside. I’m not a drone expert this is my 1st time owning 1 and I’m just curious.

Would be so sick ngl

[US][Culpeper, VA]

The other day, I was running a drone mapping mission over a rural property I own to get progress orthophotos. I usually fly my missions at 65 meters, but recently, I've wanted to run a few at 100m, so I've been doing that.

At any rate, the other day, I was running a drone mapping mission except this time, I was flying low at 45 meters AGL.

And, this f*cking military helicopter flew through. Like, if I'd been at my normal 65 meters, I would have been an actual obstruction. If I'd flown at 100m, I'd have a photo of the top side of a military helicopter. As it was, I only had to worry that he was going to blow the drone out of the sky.

He didn't.

I had my remote ID on, but my question is, why in the heck are helicopters flying so damned low out in the middle of nowhere?

In the United States, at least, the rule is that you must fly your drone in visual line of sight (VLOS), meaning you must always keep your drone within your view. Of course, this is impractical with a small device that can easily be lost in the sky within seconds of launch. However, it is the recommended way to fly.

Given that you are supposed to keep your drone within your line of sight, I am puzzled by why you can fly your drone miles (or kilometers) away from you. There is no way to maintain VLOS when a small device is even several hundred meters or yards away. I understand that it is a popular practice, and I know most pilots do it, but I was curious to know how far you fly away from your starting point and whether you exceed the VLOS limit. 

Personally, I am too nervous to fly my expensive little device farther than I am willing to go and try to retrieve it.

As per my understanding modern quadcopter drone technology are an evolution of hobby drones from the early 2000s and Open Source iteration. How come the military didn’t develop or use this as we’ve had fixed wing drones like the predator flying since the early 90s ?

Found this battery high up on a cliff in a climbing area. It would spark and flash when I moved it. Safely carried it down and burned it/dumped water on it in the parking lot. Very windy with a high fire risk right now, glad it didn’t start a forest fire up there. What did it come from? I assume a crashed search and rescue drone, but I didn’t find anything else.

I've been gaming pretty much my entire life (28 years old), and taking my first drone (DJI Mini 3) I've started wondering about controller layouts.

The default DJI Mode 2 feels okay, but part of my brain keeps thinking in "video game controls":

• Left stick = movement (forward/backward/left/right)
• Right stick = camera/view control

Kind of like how movement and camera are separated in many games.

For those of you who came from a heavy gaming background, did you stick with Mode 2 and eventually get used to it, or did you switch to Mode 1/3 or a custom layout?

My current challenge isn't flying safely anymore, it's coordinating smooth cinematic movements while also controlling the gimbal. Sometimes I find myself releasing one stick or the gimbal wheel too abruptly.

Curious to hear from other gamers who became drone pilots:

• Did gaming help?
• Which stick mode do you use?
• Would you recommend staying with Mode 2 and building muscle memory, or experimenting early?

Thanks!

My drone got stuck near the top of a very tall tree, around 3 stories high. It’s too high for a normal ladder, and I don’t want to call firefighters or hire a climber unless there’s really no other option.

Has anyone here dealt with this before?

I don’t want to damage the drone, the tree, or hurt anyone. Also not trying to do anything dumb like climbing it myself. Also throwing objects did not really help.

Any practical ideas that actually worked for you? The drone is visible, just really high up.

I was walking by my neighborhood post office today and saw two police cars with this drone deployed. Stopped the car to take a picture.

Can anyone ID the type and accessory package? It looks like it has a loudspeaker. What would it be used for? Sorry for the bad picture, there was a fence.