Washington, D.C .—We have a full-blown crisis!   We are being told that government must suddenly regulate and register the well over two million drones used by hobbyists, photographers, filmmakers and other ordinary civilians. For over two years now we’ve heard the media tell us how these little pesky devices will bring down airliners, invade privacy and destroy our way of life.   Pulling the puppet strings of the media has been the FAA and DOT .   Chicago’s Mayor, Rahm Emanuel said it best back when he was Obama’s Chief of Staff, “ Never let a good crisis go to waste! ”   This drone crisis is nothing more that a manufactured one. The FAA has showered the media with their “facts” in that they claim there are well over 700 cases of near misses with airliners and other conventional aircraft. Missing from these statistics are a single fatality, serious injury or even a report of notable property damage.   Because drones have driven news stories like w...

Van Nuys, CA —I’ve been hooked on camera drones for a while now and I very recently picked up a new addition to my five drone, air force.  My drone dealer of choice is Pirofliprc.com , which is also a brick and motor store located very close to the Apollo IX Model Aircraft Field  between Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks. This time it was the coveted DJI Inspire 1 with its dedicated 4K camera.  The Inspire I’s camera is distortion free unlike the GoPro cameras.  With the GoPro you can fix the distortion in postproduction but it’s a pain in the butt, at least for me. The Inspire 1 camera will also shoot 12 megapixel stills.  Previously I simply grabbed a frame from the Go Pro camera.  I can control the camera from the controller so this is literally just a snap now.  A12 megapixel photograph is a lot richer than any video grab.  This is a great drone for two.  You simply use two controllers with two monitors.  The pilot operates...

San Francisco, CA —The camera drone industry is growing at breakneck speed.  Engineers especially in China are competing to make most reliable, safest, and easiest to operate drones. DJI is the undisputed leader of the pack.  They put out the wildly successful Phantom and Phantom 2 consumer models multi-rotor drones. They either use the great little GoPro Cameras or their own built in offering.  DJI should stick to drone making and there is now evidence that they are partnering up with Panasonic and at least one other company to make photography history. I’m beyond delighted with my Phantom 2 and GoPro unit.  I learned how to fly it through the generosity and kindness of an American Airlines pilot pal along with my drone hobby shop proprietor Sergio of PiroflipRC in Van Nuys, CA.  There is a learning curve and the drone engineers are not writers but still must write the instruction manuals nonetheless.  When you add in a Chinese to English t...

Abbe Lyle, photographer, conventional aircraft and drone pilot. Los Angeles, CA —As we speak I’m producing a documentary about multi-rotor camera drones and their pilots. There is so much ignorance, fear and loathing out there clouding the truth.   Every day various conventional aircraft pilots are reporting drone sightings.  Are these things somehow a public threat? This trend is very reminiscent of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s when Hollywood films about flying saucers and little green men were very popular.  Suddenly t here were imaginative but somewhat credible sounding UFO and alien sightings by various airline pilots reported in the news almost nightly. Now it's the multi-rotor drones some of which have been reported being seen by some pilots at 30,000 feet and traveling at Mach 1.   If you own or operate these little devices you know the claims are quite ridicules. As a licensed private investigator and drone pilot I can say they ar...

Los Angeles, CA –Nearly everywhere there are some frightened members of Congress, various state legislatures and city councils that are considering ways to ban or severely regulate the little multi-rotor camera drones.   Must we always adopt the Chicken Little fear that the sky is falling ? The FAA would like to expand their budget and manpower by at least tenfold or more to regulate every 12 year-old boy with a camera drone in America.   Can the FAA be trusted to not create or engage hysteria when they have so much to gain?   We all know the answer to that! Pilots everywhere, especially those flying helicopters see the very clear handwriting on the wall.   Inexpensive and substantially safer drones will soon replace half of them. Careers are at stake here .   Should we be surprised those pilots are making the most noise condemning camera drone?    Fighting camera and delivery drones through propaganda scare tactics is already i...