Kathmandu, Nepal —Drone video of the tragic earthquake that struck the very top of the world is beyond epic.   As soon as the quake hit television networks and camera drone operators were boarding all available means of transportation.   The drone pilots understood full well the absolute importance of rushing to the scene.   They know that drone images and video helps rescuers and engineers determine the safest ways to extract victims.   At the same time shows the rest of the world just how this desperate the situation is being handled. Drone pilots and first responders everywhere are beginning to understand that in natural disasters, search and rescue along with other emergencies analyzing the material is a genuine lifesaver.   It’s much easier for ground crews to locate survivors, evaluate hazards and determine the need for specialized equipment with the help of the new small drone technology. Helicopters are too large and their prop wash can actu...

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 —Yes! As most of my visitors know I’m pumped up and over the top about camera drones as a photographer and filmmaker.   I already own two of them.   My current flagship is the DJI Phantom 2 , which uses a GoPro camera . Today, worldwide there are more than a million multi-rotor camera drones in civilian hands.   They well outnumber conventional helicopters.   They have a perfect safety record of no reported deaths or remarkable injuries.   To date there are still no known collisions between a camera drone and any conventional aircraft.   Like all of the DJI drones the new Inspire 1 model they unveiled yesterday is relatively easy to fly.   If you have or acquire photography and video editing skills you have the time of your life capturing images.   I find flying these multi-rotor copters incredibly exciting, addicting and empowering! Now there is a new must have camera drone in the skies as I speak.   It’s the DJI ...