The future belongs to drones, that much is clear. The market for these machines is growing exponentially, and Alex and his colleagues at DronPro have gone all in. If you're wondering anything about drones, they've got you covered. If you want to learn how to operate a drone, need advice on choosing one, or your drone needs servicing, they're here for you. What's it actually like to fly and what does the future hold for drones? Check out our interview with Alex from DronPro.
Photo from FB DronPro
| Alex, if you had to sum it up. What are the basic rules for flying a drone? Three things are essential: - Be safety conscious (i.e., don't cause injury or property damage to anyone) - Being considerate of others (just put yourself in their shoes, you probably wouldn't like someone filming you at home on camera either) - And most importantly, don't be a big shot. If I don't know or am not sure, I ask the CAA or other pilots. |
For specific rules on what altitudes you can fly, pilot groups and drones, see our article https://dronpro.cz/pravidla-pro-letani-s-drony/
Other then that, the other crucial thing is that I always put each drone with the camera away from me on takeoff, because if it was the other way around, I put the knipl forward, its forward at that point. And you don't want that. But those are details that everyone picks up quickly.
Photo from FB DronPro
Do you perceive any risks associated with drones and their development?
The biggest risk is still the human factor (unless there is at least a basic understanding of how to fly safely and in general - where people can fly). Poor assessment of environmental conditions and pilot inexperience are the main causes of accidents.
It is common practice that people buy even a pretty expensive drone in an eshop and know absolutely nothing about it, they don't know how to fly it. The basic mistake is that when you buy a drone you then need to adjust it (to make the sensors work, altitude for safe return etc), people don't do that. Then that's also the cause of most mid-air collisions. If you leave the default safe return altitude set to say 30 meters, the drone loses signal, flies up to 30 meters, flies over obstacles and starts landing at the takeoff point. Imagine, however, if that column was 40 metres high and you didn't have the obstacle detection sensors properly activated (which don't always work 100% reliably either) ...
And then we have hundreds of drones to service over the summer. That's an alarming number. It shows that there is a real need for education. That's why we do courses to prepare pilots for the test.
Is getting a drone licence difficult? What all does an applicant have to master?
As you can see, it's not easy, of course, otherwise everyone would have it. But under the guidance of a pro, it's not unattainable either. In our flight school, certified pilots will teach you how to fly and will perfectly prepare you for the CAA pilot test and complete all the necessary formalities. And there are.
What do you think is the future of drones, say in the next 5-10 years?
This video of ours (from about 2:40) answers this question perfectly:
What have you done lately that has made you very happy?
With the new website that we will launch later this year (and that we have been working on for over a year), which will become a mecca for all drone enthusiasts from reviews, blogs by authorities in the field to individual drone services and finally including a proper e-shop, last but not least larger and long term projects in the field of agriculture and infrastructure, because these projects are about exact science in the sense of working with very sophisticated drones.
I read somewhere that your dream is to be on the cover of Forbes. Have you heard from them yet?
(laughs) We are still giving them time, now we see it more as the icing on the cake.
Alex has prepared some cool experiences for everyone who wants to try flying a drone or rent one for a vacation.
