Ask Drone U

Drone Rules and Regulations - How to Interpret Them and Effectively Communicate with Law Enforcement Officers Today's show is about drone rules and regulations, and how to correctly interpret them. Our caller for today, Donald if in a fix. He wants to be a responsible, law-abiding drone pilot. But like many, he is confused by the airspace regulation language that is open to multiple interpretation...

How to Land Your Dream Contracts and Cash in MASSIVE profits from your Drone Business On today's show, we have Drone U student, Kevin Lederer who shares with us his exact success formula using which he landed his dream drone job with Amazon. Some years back, Kevin was sitting where you are right now - flying drones on the weekend, and doing a full-time job that he did not exactly love. He did not...

How to Prevent Data Loss and Recover Lost Pointcloud Data in Pix4D Today's show is about processing your drone mapping data. Specifically, we talk about recovering pointcloud data in Pix4D. Our caller for today, Martin, is unable to recover pointcloud data in Pix4D, and would like to know the best way forward.  We reveal the exact Pix4D workflow to help Martin out. If you are a drone mapper frustr...

Drone U Instructor, Tom Powers Opens Up His Business Playbook - Tune in to Learn How to Grow and Scale Your Drone Business by Executing Incredibly Lucrative Residential Mapping Projects Today’s show is a special one as we have Drone U Instructor, Tom Powers sharing with us his distilled wisdom on drone mapping, and growing and scaling a drone business. You will learn how demand for drone mapping h...

Drone Mapping Software Recommendations - Pix4D vs. Maps Made Easy Today's show is about different drone mapping software alternatives.  Pix4D is widely considered the gold standard of drone mapping. But, are there any other options that are equally good yet more affordable? Our caller for today, Christian is wondering if there are any affordable alternatives to Pix4D. To help him out, we discuss a...

Getting Started in Drone Mapping, Recommended Mapping Workflows, Pix4D vs. DroneDeploy vs. CaptureReality Today's show is about starting and scaling a drone mapping business even if you are a limited budget.  Our caller for today, Brandon wishes to move to drone mapping - an industry vertical which can be incredibly lucrative for drone pilots possessing the right skillsets. But, Brandon wishes to...

Drone Business Secrets REVEALED - Interview with Drone U Student, Glenn Labay Today's show is a special one as we interview Glenn Labay of Aerial Camera Services LLC who shares with us his distilled wisdom on growing and scaling a drone business. Glenn, a Drone U student owns a thriving aerial photography and videography business. He reflects back on his entrepreneurial journey and reveals some of...

How to Unlock Your DJI Drone, Get Necessary Flight Waivers (Without Hacking or LAANC) Today's show is about getting flight approvals without going through DJI's application system or LAANC. Our caller for today, Jared, would like to custom hack his DJI drone so that he does not have to deal with DJI red zones. On today's show, we reveal various alternatives to help Jared out. Specifically, you wil...

How to Buy the Best Enterprise-Level Drone for Mapping and Inspections Without Overshooting Your Budget Today's show is about purchasing the right drone for your business. Can you find a capable enterprise-level drone even if you are a tight budget? Our caller for today, Cody needs help purchasing a good drone for inspections, thermal imaging, and 3D mapping.  He wants to create exceptional delive...

How to License an Image - Inking Contractual Agreements, and How to Handle Violations Today's show is about licensing rights of videos and images and how owners can ensure rights are not violated. Our caller for today, Kent needs help with photography licensing. Specifically, he is wondering how he can enforce the license, and the steps to take in case of violations. On today's show, you will lear...

Important Pre-Flight Checks for Drone Batteries Today's show is about drone batteries and how pilots can check their drone batteries to ensure a safe flight. Our caller for today, Carcherri would like to know what are some of the most important pre-flight checks for batteries. To help him out, we share important battery configurations and reveal how you accurately assess flight time. Do not miss t...

How to Fly Your Drone In The Rain | Little Known Drone Maintenance Tips to Help You Out Today's show is about flying your drone in the rain. You will also learn some drone maintenance tips to keep your drone safe and in top flying condition. Our caller for today, Rob has come up with a great question that has not been asked on Ask Drone U before.  Rob's question is about flying your drone in the r...

Can You Run a Large Drone Business With a Beginner DJI Drone Like the Mavic Air 2? Today's show is about the Mavic Air 2. Can you run a large drone business using a beginner DJI drone like the Mavic Air 2? Our caller for today, Gary from NY flies a Mavic Air 2. But he is planning on upgrading to a larger, more expensive drone since he cannot take on many of the lucrative jobs out there. On today's...

Drone Props - Everything You Need to Know Today's show is about drone props. What are some of the telltale signs which help you determine that it's time to change your propellers? Our caller for today, Kit has come up with a question that has not been asked on ADU before. Kit is wondering whether the newly-designed drone props are superior and have a longer life span compared to their predecessors...

FAA Sued for Illegal Remote ID | Lawsuit Outcome to Impact UAS Policy, UTM, and UAS Integration Today's show is about RaceDayQuads, a hobby shop with a large financial stake in the sUAS do-it-yourself world, filing a lawsuit against FAA over Remote ID. They argue that Remote ID violates Constitutional guarantees. RaceDayQuads sued the FAA in April early 2021 and filed the above arguments on August...

Listen To This Before Updating Your Drone Firmware Today's show is about drone firmware updates. Our caller for today, Sanford is an avid ADU listener and is aware of Paul's reluctance to update the firmware on his drone. Since we have not discussed this topic for quite some time now, Sanford is wondering whether or not Paul has changed his stance on this topic. We get straight to the point by sha...

The Future of Drone Technology and How Innovations Can Fuel Explosive Growth Today's show is about the future of drone technology and how innovations can fuel explosive growth. Our caller for today, Ahmad is pursuing his Masters in Innovation and is keen on being a part of the nascent drone industry by taking the start-up route.  Today's show is an engaging one as Rob and Paul bounce ideas and spe...

Tackling Criticism, Building a Strong Mindset, Taking Failure in Your Stride and much, much more... Today's show is about tackling criticism as a drone business owner.  Entrepreneurship is lonely. And so, handling failure and criticism can be exponentially more difficult for drone service providers running small businesses. And our caller for today, Tom has come up with a very relevant question th...

AUVSI XPONENTIAL 2021, DragonFish - Autel's New Drone, DJI Geofencing Issues, Lemur S by BRINC, DJI News, Drone News In the seventh edition of Drone Life News, Paul and Miriam McNabb of DroneLife and JobforDrones discuss some of the latest and most exciting news from the world of drones. Our biggest story this week is about the AUVSI Xponential 2021 conference in Atlanta. This was Miriam's first a...

Drone Insurance Recommendations - Listen Now to Mitigate Risk, and Protect Yourself Against Liabilities Today's show is about drone insurance.  Buying the right insurance is important for mitigating risk and protecting yourself against personal liabilities. On today's show, we have Nolan and Chris who need help with purchasing the right insurance for their drone business. Some of the topics that w...

Expert Tips for Flying Drone Over Water Today's show is all capturing videos while flying over water that casts a spell on your audience and the settings required to fly your drone safely over water. Our caller for today, Derek would love to know all about flying over water so that he can pursue wakeboard surfing videography. And with his years of experience in filming water sports, who better tha...

How to Plan out a Linear Drone Mapping Project Today's show is all linear drone mapping projects. What is the best and most efficient workflow for such complex projects? Our caller for today, Gabe is working on a linear drone mapping project that involves mapping a long stretch of 30 kilometers. Gabe would like to know how he can execute this project while complying with all regulatory requirement...

AIRT-Droneresponder 2021 Survey Results, DJIs Dominance in Public Safety, Infrastructure bills Support US-Made Drones, Amazon Drone Delivery In the sixth edition of Drone Life News, Paul and Miriam McNabb of DroneLife and JobforDrones discuss some of the latest and most exciting news from the world of drones. Our biggest story this week is about the 2021 AIRT-DroneResponder survey. AIRT, a leading...

Best Practices for Drone Mapping and Using Pix4D Today's show is about drone mapping and Pix4D.  Our caller for today, Trav wants to know how he can overcome some of the challenges that he facing while using Pix4D. To help Trav out, we first re-explain the basics. You will learn how to choose the right acquisition strategy so that you can build more accurate 3D models.  Next, you will learn about...

What Does the Future Hold for the Drone Service Provider and Small Enterprise? Today's show is about what the future holds for the small drone service provider. Considering the challenges and risks involved, is it really worthwhile to consider drone flying as a full-time career? Our caller for today, Scott is skeptical about the future prospects of the small drone service provider. With large corp...