Tag: uav

Drone pilots, be mindful

June 15, 2021

Joanna Thompson, writing for Audubon: On the morning of May 13, Peter Knapp stepped onto an ominously quiet California beach. The night before, he’d noted a horde of boisterous Elegant Terns just starting to incubate their eggs in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, 30 miles south of Los Angeles. But the roughly 3,000 birds were…
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Lackawanna County Courthouse, Scranton, PA – January 2017

April 14, 2018

Lackawanna County Courthouse, Scranton, PA – January 2017 This was one of the first photos I took with my current drone (the DJI Phantom 4 Pro) and has already been used by several Scranton-based companies in their materials. I remember being very cold making this photograph. This image is one of the most requested images…
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Down Wyoming, Scranton, PA – April 2017

December 7, 2017

Down Wyoming, Scranton, PA – April 2017
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Clinton, PA – July 2017

September 11, 2017

Clinton, PA – July 2017
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Electric City Building, Scranton, PA – January 2017

June 17, 2017

Electric City Building, Scranton, PA – January 2017
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Penn Avenue Parking Garage, Scranton, PA – January 2017

June 1, 2017

Penn Avenue Parking Garage, Scranton, PA – January 2017
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Aerial photos of a few wineries

May 26, 2017

In late April Eliza and I took a weekend day drive to visit some wineries in the tristate area of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We wanted to visit a few wineries we had never been to before and the beauty of that region alone is worth the drive. We both take tons of…
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Attending the 2017 Pennsylvania sUAS Expo

May 11, 2017

Acronyms are all the rage these days and so it can be tough to keep them all straight. Don’t be ashamed if you have no idea what UAS stands for. I didn’t either. UAS stands for Unmanned Aerial System. Like an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) an UAS involves more than simply a vehicle and usually…
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What the FAA really just said about drone encounters

February 23, 2017

You’ll likely read a headline on your favorite news site today that reads as if the FAA has said drone strikes are up for 2016. And they likely are – as there are a lot, lot more drones in the air this year compared to last. However, what you won’t read is this bit from…
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My drone pre-flight checklist

January 31, 2017

Since I shared my hiking checklist I thought I’d also share my always-a-work-in-progress drone pre-flight checklist. Not every question on this applies to every single situation and some of these rules you may be willing to bend or break depending on the circumstances. But, having a checklist may help to reduce the number of mistakes…
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Observations about flying a DJI Phantom 4 Pro

January 31, 2017

Maria Langer, professional helicopter pilot, blogger and Twitter friend, got her DJI Mavic Pro on nearly the same day as I got my DJI Phantom 4 Pro. She’s taken the time to write down her thoughts on the experience and so I thought I’d quote her post since she and I agree on our first…
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Maria Langer on drone safety

December 24, 2016

Maria Langer, helicopter pilot: As a helicopter pilot, I’ve felt a rather unique threat from the rise of drones (no pun intended). I want to take a moment to explain, mostly because although my general opinion of drones has changed, my views about their threats have not. This is an important post to read if…
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Aerial, Lackawanna State Park – July 2016

November 28, 2016

Aerial, Lackawanna State Park – July 2016
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Aerial – July 2016

November 25, 2016

Aerial – July 2016
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UAV, Lackawanna State Park, PA – October 2016

October 16, 2016

UAV, Lackawanna State Park, PA – October 2016
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Phantom 3, Promised Land State Park – September 2016

October 6, 2016

Phantom 3, Promised Land State Park – September 2016
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Exploring Conservation Island in Promised Land State Park

October 1, 2016

It takes me just over an hour get to Promised Land State Park. (See also, park map.) Because it isn’t too close to home I’ve only been to this park twice. Once two years ago to kayak and again just a few weeks ago with Jonathan Edwards to do a little UAV flying and hiking. We…
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The UAV took a bad tumble

September 24, 2016

Yesterday Jehu II took quite a tumble. I’ve been doing a lot of flying. Nearly every day. And though the Syma X8G would be considered by most to be a "toy" (which is a designation I agree with for sure) it has enabled me to get quite good at flying. So much so that two…
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Hiking the Dunmore Pine Barrens

September 5, 2016

Yesterday fellow UAV pilot Jonathan Edwards and I hiked to the "top of the world" at the Dunmore Pine Barrens to get some exercise, see the sights, and fly a little. I decided to hike this area because of local hiker, writer and blogger Jeff Mitchell’s blog post wherein he details the hike. He provides…
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Tips for new drone owners

August 2, 2016

After a few weeks of trial and error, (lots, and lots of error) video tutorial binging, manual devouring, and literally swimming for and losing my first UAV, I thought it might be good to jot down some tips for new drone owners. So here they are, in no order, but all worth considering: Fly over…
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Add a hobby that forces you to explore

July 26, 2016

I’ve been thinking a lot about a quote Matt Mullenweg wrote about earlier this year. It reads: Find three hobbies you love: one to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative. I’m going to drop in my own personal suggestion that we add a hobby that also forces us to explore. I’ve noticed something in myself,…
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