Drone Dude Podcast

Tom Frey is the creator and host of Tom’s Tech Time, a popular YouTube show with episodes covering a variety of tips and tricks for the DJI Phantom 2 and Phantom 3 drones. In this interview, Tom gives us lots of great tips for the DJI Phantom models including how to turn on IOC, how to use home lock and course lock, how to fly in challenging weather, plus many more tips!

I attended NAB this year and for the first time in the show’s history, they had Pavilion dedicated to just drones. I ran into Lisa Ellman by the pavilion, who is aCounsel in the Washington, DC office of McKenna Long Aldridge LLP and serves as co-chair of the firm’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Practice Group. She was also a policymaker for the Obama Administration. We spoke about Section 333, the FAA NPRM, what’s good, what’s bad and what can be improved. It was a great interview.

Gretchen West, Vice President of Business Development and Regulatory Affairs at DroneDeploy talks to us about the FAA NPRM for commercial drones, gives us some guidance on Section 333 exemptions, talks about current drone technology, gives us an overview of DroneDeploy, plus much more!

Sarah Nilsson is not only a lawyer, but also a pilot. In this episode, she shares with us her vast knowledge of both aviation and the law along with how the FAA works, walks us through Section 333 as it pertains to drones and shares with us her thoughts on the proposed regulations for commercial drones (NPRM) just released by the FAA.

In this episode, PJ from Perceptiv Labs talks to us about aerial cinematography, filmmaking and of course a little bit about their product, SHIFT, which allows filmmakers to focus on the shot instead from the air. He shares lots of tips and tricks to get that great aerial shot during your flight and in post production.

Bill English is the investigator in charge for the National Transportation Safety Board as well as THE main resource for Unmanned Aircraft Investigations. In this episode we talk about the current role the NTSB plays when investigating drone accidents and what the future holds for drone operators and pilots if the FAA NPRM (part 107) passes as is.

Nicholas Damron wrote Read Before Flight, a complete eBook that outlines for companies how to create a safety and training program for their drones and operators. His experience includes being a UAV operator for the US Military, a logistician and analyst for UAV systems, and a UAV trainer. We talk safety, training, how to log your hours, how to maintain your airframe, plus much more!

If you are a programmer or developer interested in programming a drone, this episode is for you. Learn all about drone APIs and SDKs, what technologies you should know, how to integrate drones into your company and how IT departments in the future will be affected by drones.

Tim Trott wrote The Droner’s Guide: From Beginner To Professional, an e-book that covers various topics anyone flying drones today should be aware of. In this interview, we talk about drone safety, training and regulations.

Bruno Lespinasse talks to us about drone recovery systems, including his company’s parachute system. We also talk about the state of the drone industry in various countries including US, Finland and France and how legislation in these countries will affect the future of commercial droning.

In this interview, Drone Girl talks to us about how drones can and are being used as a story telling tool in journalism. She also explains how drones can be used as a competitive advantage in journalism and the importance of flying your drone safely and ethically. We also touch upon other topics including women and drones, editing workflows with footage shot with the GoPro Hero camera, plus much more!

In this episode, I interview Yariv Bash, from FlyTrex, a company that creates a black box which you attach and connect to your personal or commercial drone to track and publish to the web your telemetry data as you fly. We also cover other topics including what telemetry data is, flying your drone safely, FAA regulations, plus much more!