Dronie Sunday – 14 July 2019

Fargo, North Dakota.

It’s been a rocky start to getting the drone I purchased to automatically update its airspace database information, but after returning it to the manufacturer, they replaced the unit and this one is working properly. Now I am learning more about camera operations having learned to be comfortable flying the airborne camera. I got into drone flying because of Civil Air Patrol. They are ramping up mission training for using drones in several important operations, not the least of which is search and rescue. At some point I expect our ground teams will be able to deploy a drone to search areas where their vehicles or even walking the area is either uncomfortable or hazardous.

Dronie Sunday – 30 June 2019

Fargo, North Dakota.

Those accustomed to seeing “Cellpic Sunday” on its usual day may note the name change. No, I haven’t abandoned Cellpic Sunday. In the interest of variety, I decided to mix it up a bit and use the term Drone Sunday when the shot featured is captured from a flying camera platform. Please excuse me while I inflict upon you the results of my learning experiences as I get familiar with the characteristics of drone photography. Cellpic Sunday will be featured whenever the photo was generated from a cellphone, tablet, or other mobile device.

Cellpic Sunday – 9 June 2019

Fargo, North Dakota.

OK, so this isn’t technically a Cellpic. It is, however, captured from a truly mobile device. First, the backstory… One of the newest missions of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) involves the use of small unmanned aerial systems, in CAP parlance, sUAS Missions. In the common vernacular, drones. The sUAS class of device weighs between .5 (266 g) and 55 lbs (25 kg). In a word, “small”. In the last couple of years, I’ve gone through the steps needed to become a Commercial sUAS Pilot. The FAA calls this class of license a Part 107 and CAP requires that all of our members who wish to pilot one of these devices hold a Part 107 UAS license.