Meet Curious Pavel! A videographer from Bulgaria who makes super fun videos about travel. His wife told him NOT to buy a drone. He bought the Mavic Air 2 anyway only to realize she bought him the Mavic Mini 1 as a gift.
Having two drones ended up being a good thing because after his wedding in Mallorca, he flew his drone somewhere that the DJI FlySafe database says is uncontrolled airspace, but the sign in the parking lot said “no drones allowed”.
(This is helpful if you’ve actually parked in the parking lot and saw the sign, but if you didn’t, it’s easy to miss)
5 years prior he had owned a cheap drone in the past and learned that cheap drones are exactly that: cheap drones
They’re difficult to control and hard to fly. In his excitement his first flight with the Mavic Air 2 was INDOORS.
This is generally not recommended because it’s often difficult for a drone to find it’s GPS location when inside and it can “float” causing your drone to fly in directions you’re not telling it to (and can hit a wall or object).
If you want more info on why cheap drones are a waste of money, I talk honestly about it in this blog post.
Key Learnings
- The propellors are NOT all the same (on the Mavic Air, Pro and FPV drones). Make sure you have the propellors on correctly before taking off, especially if you’re hand launching. Otherwise get ready for an awkward launch and a bloody hand!
- Even though you might be in clear uncontrolled airspace (when checking on drone maps), keep an eye out for posted signs for no drones (like at the castle where Pavel had his Mavic Mini 1 taken away by the Spanish authorities)
- It’s easy to tell if someone is new to flying and editing their footage if their horizon is tilted. In other words, a drone is a flying gimbal and when flying in windy conditions it will tilt to try to keep the camera as steady as possible. This means the footage that often comes out needs to have the horizon adjusted because it’s often slightly tilted
- Understanding how to use your maps is important if you accidentally fly your drone out of sight. Knowing that your drone is indicated by a blue arrow that can you “point” and then fly back to you (using a combination of the map and what your drone is looking at to get it back safely).
- Any time you are hand launching your drone, it’s MUCH safer to “automatically launch” the drone (with the launch button) vs. manually launching the drone (by bringing the sticks down and together). With less steps, it ensures a safe take off (Pavel does it right!)
- Using a Pro micro SD card that can accept 4K is a must. If the SD is slow, it might not capture the footage (you think you’re capturing)
Free drone resources
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Connect with Curious Pavel
Some of my favorite content from him…
- Where he captured the sunrise (while freezing in shorts) in Madeira Portugal
- Why people say “bless you”
- I didn’t know much about medieval toilets until now
- This video edit makes me laugh
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Drones are FUN and everyone is invited to join The Drone Party!
A weekly video show by Christine Lozada interviewing drone pilots about HELPFUL drone tips and their BEST and WORST drone flights.