So as we all know, it is impossible for man to soar through the heavens as a bird does. Any attempt will lead one to be struck down from the skies for their hubris. It can’t be done, Boeing is proof of this. So what if I wanted to do the next best thing?
I’ve heard the words “Learn to hack, learn to drone” echoed around these parts a few times. I’ve tried learning programming again and again, but it seems I’m just not that Type of trans woman. Instead I got really into CAD and 3d printing and remote control vehicles, so the “learn to drone” part really appeals to me. Problem is, I don’t know where to start. Do I just buy a $300 DJI drone before they get banned? Do I learn how simulators work and practice a bunch first? Do fpv and bigger camera drones share a skillset? How do I not fuck up when I’m living in a big city? If I already have a transmitter, is that a cost I can save or do drones generally come with their own?
I’m also interested in reading about the ways people use drones for revolutionary purposes, for lack of a better term. I know local orgs have a need for good protest footage, but flying a drone downtown is probably super duper illegal and the new Remote ID rules would make me copbait if I were to say, sit in the bed of a leading truck and follow a march from above. Drones are super cool, but less so if a cop just shoots it down with his scifi radio gun and then tracks me down and arrests me.
By the way, has anyone ever built a drone? I already have a 3d printer and a transmitter I use for robot combat. And I’m pretty familiar with drone parts - motors made to spin propellers can also spin blades, and tiny receivers and batteries made for weight-limited flying vehicles are great for weight-limited fighting vehicles. I just don’t understand flight controllers or cameras or propellers or how to pick parts or anything. It would also (with dubious legality) avoid the Remote ID issue and my homebrew drones wouldn’t be banned for being Chinese spies.
So hey sickos, how do I learn to drone?
Do you want a camera drone (something that can hover and take good video) or an fpv drone (the cool goggles and tricks)? If you want to film protests and the like, a camera drone is really what you want. There’s really nothing that compares to dji. They sell refurb units cheaper, and are the way to go in my opinion. I think the mini 3 is a fantastic drone and you really can’t go wrong with it (assuming you don’t want an fpv drone).
camera drones like the mini 3 don’t really have a skillset tbh. You obviously need to remember what the two sticks do, but they are very stable in flight. If you go slow its easy. I let children fly my drone with no issue. If you can snag a mini 3 pro instead, they have built in obstacle avoidance in the front and back. So if you’re flying forward, you really can’t hit anything (watch out for wires though!).
If you build your own fpv drone you might be able to reuse it, even a lot of kits have a bring your own controller option. Anything dji should come with a controller however.
It depends on where you live, I know some big cities that you can fly over. The faa controls where you can fly a drone over, there’s a map somewhere with the no fly zones. Cities can’t control where you fly, but can control where you pilot from (and the faa requires a line of sight). Even if it is illegal
I’d probably stay separate from the protest and you’ll probably be fine. Most cops are actually pretty okay with drones, just be prepared to bring it back down. You’re a hobbyist who just likes drones and didn’t know the cities laws. If you really want to be in a lead vehicle, you might want to consider getting a go pro and some kind of really long pole, I’ve seen people take great video that way and you give pigs a lot less ammo.
But definitely be careful about crowds, you really aren’t supposed to fly over them and I imagine they’d be a lot more upset if you were. There’s always other stuff to fly over though.
Remote ID only applies if the drone weighs over 249 grams. The mini 3 (with the smaller, default batteries) is under this limit, as will a lot of ciniwoop fpv drones if you go that route.
I haven’t built a drone before, but it is pretty standard for fpv drones and not an issue. There’s videos on youtube, it does not look hard.