Our DJI Mavic drone is a lovely little thing.  It flits about at 60kph taking pictures and video.  I can setup a computerised track for the multirotor beauty to follow,  or fly it manually.  It has sensors,  flashing lights (green on the right, red on the left, like a proper aeroplane) and its dark grey exterior belies its sensitivity.

To water.

The LiPo or Lithium Polymer battery hates the stuff.  If there’s too much mist or the humidity is above 100% the battery gives notice by swelling like a puffer fish.  Not that I’ve seen that yet as I’m keeping it well away from H2O,  but that’s the warning on its operators manual.   Yet drones have been used heavily in very wet areas,  such as Houston for example, and if protected, can provide an incredibly important service.

In East Africa,  drones are now carting lightweight emergency medicines across miles of wilderness.  The Mavic I fly can operate up to 1500m away from the base station,  although the law says you have to have visual line of sight or VLOS at all times to the vehicle.  The radio signal from the remote handset won’t allow for that distance anyway.   In Houston,   there are a couple of thousand drone operators.   There aren’t that many in the whole of South Africa,  although licences are being scooped up at record speed.

Humanitarian missions around Houston after Hurricane Harvey have seen drones used to spot people on rooftops,  to carry small medical kits,  and to assess areas for water damage.   Boats are heavy and cumbersome,  and with water receding, drones have come into their own as people return to their dwellings.   The FAA reports that there are now dozens of special licenses for those operators who’re helping the rescue and recovery efforts,  where helicopters can be very expensive,  drones can be very cheap.  Flying at 400 feet above ground level (AGL) or lower it means these devices are also not endangering aviation as long as you follow the rules.   So police helicopters continue to fly overhead while in the intermediate area,  or drone zone,  services are being rendered.

But they don’t like water,  as I said.  I have tested the frayintermedia Mavic over the ocean and I became very nervous as the craft drifted away in the wind,  fearing that the device may be lost if there was a technical hitch.  The other fear was about seabirds who really didn’t like the device at all.  And by the way,  the Mavic was in far more danger of being attacked by a large bird than vice versa.   The Mavic is the size of your hand,  a seagull would easily smack it into the Indian Ocean.

So I respect these American drone operators taking their hugely expensive drones to Houston in order to save lives.  They’re not being paid to do this,  most are operating as volunteers and from all accounts,  have been involved in numerous incidents where people were trapped and saved.   There is, however, a dark side to droneism.

Apparently insurance companies are hiring these drone operators as the water recedes – turning them into assessors as they scan mile after mile of housing destroyed by one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever strike the US mainland.  So first they’re free,  then they’re paid.  I guess you have to make a living.   One of those insurance companies is second biggest in Texas, Allstate, and its just a matter of days before the biggest company,  State Farm,  orders a fleet into the air as well.

Speaking of insurance,  I discovered while registering drones that you need insurance coverage to the tune of R500 000 per drone.   That is the same as a small plane or a glider.  Which is madness,  but that’s bureaucracy for you. And speaking of gliders,  I am now the proud member of the Aero Club of South Africa and begin my glider training this week.     More follows gentle folks.  But later as right now I have to pack up the drone to go shoot a video.