Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
How This Book Is Organized 3
Part I Getting Started with Drones 3
Part II Before You Fly 3
Part III The Miracle of Flight 4
Part IV Aerial Photos and Videos 4
Part V The Part of Tens 4
Icons Used in This Book 5
IBeyond the Book 5
IWhere to Go from Here 6
Part I Getting Started With Orones 7
Chapter 1 Drones 101 9
What Are Drones? 9
Drones and the Military 12
General Atomics Predator 12
General Atomics Reaper 12
Elbit Systems Hermes 450 14
Northrup Gruman Global Hawk 14
Boeing X-37B 15
Smaller drones 15
Growth in Consumer Drones 17
Planes 18
Helicopters 19
Multi-copters 20
Tiltrotors 21
Popular Uses for Drones 21
Remote sensing 22
Commercial aerial surveillance 22
Commercial and motion picture filmmaking 23
Oil, gas, and mineral exploration 23
Disaster relief 23
Real estate and construction 23
Recreational use 23
High-Flying Drone Companies 24
Google 24
DHL 25
Amazon 25
Facebook 25
GoPro 25
Chapter 2 Picking the Drone That's Right for You 27
Knowing Where to Start 28
How will you use your drone? 28
Drone features 29
Drones with Integrated Cameras 30
Integrated camera features 31
Buying a drone that has an integrated camera 33
Drones with Add-On Camera Support 35
Action cameras 36
Point-and-shoot/compact cameras 37
DSLR cameras 38
Cinema-quality cameras 39
Flight Controls 40
RC Transmitters 41
Mobile Apps 42
Batteries 43
Other Important Features 44
Where to Buy Your Drone 45
Chapter 3 Picking the Best Camera for Your Needs 47
Knowing How You Will Use Your Camera 48
Determining What Your Drone Supports 49
Weight Is Everything 49
Digital Camera Technology 51
Picking a point-and-shoot camera 55
Deciding on a DSLR camera 57
Acquiring an action camera 60
Balancing Features and Price 62
Chapter 4 Finding Support and Resources 63
Finding and Navigating Online Communities 64
Drone discussion forums 65
Understanding forum rules and etiquette 66
Using Social Media to Meet Drone Enthusiasts 67
Drone Meetups 69
Google Groups 72
Getting Drone News with Google Alerts 72
Enabling Google Alerts 73
Deleting Google Alerts 75
Editing Google Alerts 76
Part II Before You Fly 79
Chapter 5 Setting Up Your Drone 81
Unboxing Your Drone 81
Propellers 82
Motor 83
Aircraft Airframe 84
Battery and charger 84
Protective hull and prop guards 85
Camera mount and gimbal 86
Transmitter 87
Instruction manual 88
Assembling Your Drone 88
Charging batteries 89
Checking for software updates 91
Getting Familiar with Your Aerial Camera 93
UsingaGoPro 93
Configuring your GoPro 97
Chapter 6 Staying Safe with Your Drone 101
Avoiding Propeller Injuries 102
Propeller guards and protective hulls 103
Safety indicators 104
Reducing the Risk of Drone Crashes 106
Vortex ring state 106
GPS lock 107
Safely Handling Lithium Polymer Batteries 108
Properly charging a LiPo battery 108
Avoiding dropping or crashing your LiPo battery 109
Safely disposing of LiPo batteries 110
Chapter 7 Knowing the Law 111
Know Before You Fly in the United States 112
No-fly zones 116
State and local laws 116
Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands 120
Knowing the Laws in Other Countries 121
Part III Miracle of Flight 123
Chapter 8 Controlling Your Drone 125
Understanding How Your Drone Is Controlled 126
Radio Frequency 129
Wi-Fi Controls 130
GPS 131
Directional Control 132
Standard Mode 133
Heads Free Mode 133
First Person View 133
Other Flight Modes and Autopilots 134
Chapter 9 Flight Basics 137
Pre-Flight Checklist.137
Environment 139
No-fly zone 139
Equipment spot check 139
First Aid Kit 140
Batteries 141
Inspection 141
Transmitter and ground station 142
Camera gear 142
Flying Your Drone 143
Flying with an RC 145
Calibrating your RC transmitter 146
Flying with smart devices 148
Landing 149
Knowing What to Do in an Emergency 152
Chapter 10 Choosing When and Where To Fly 155
Choosing a Location for New Pilots 156
Flying Indoors 160
Securing the area 160
Knowing your drone 161
Using an indoor hull 161
Avoiding ceilings, floors, and walls 162
Stocking up on spare parts 162
Flying in Sub-Optimal Weather Conditions 163
Rain and snow 163
Windy days 164
Freezing temperatures 164
Night Flying 164
Knowing your drone 165
Understanding advanced piloting controls 166
Attaching tights to your drone 166
Flying in Populated Areas 166
Chapter 11 Maintaining Your Drone 169
Post Flight Maintenance 169
Creating a post-flight checklist 170
Storing your drone 177
DIY Repairs and Maintenance 179
How to find replacement parts for your drone 181
Finding a drone technician 182
Part IV Aerial Photos and Videos 183
Chapter 12 Capturing Beautiful Photos and Video 185
The Importance of Light 185
Light Direction 186
White Balancing Like A Pro! 190
Working in Low Light 190
Choosing a Video Resolution 193
Choosing a Frame Rate 194
Planning Your Shoot 195
Purpose 195
Location 196
Timing 196
Execution 197
Chapter 13 Working with Shaky Footage 199
Using Camera Tricks to Minimize Shake 199
Camera adjustments to sharpen photos 200
Advanced flight modes 201
Stabilizing With a Gimbal 204
How to find a gimbal for your drone 205
Choosing the right gimbal 207
Stabilizing Footage after It Is Shot 208
Turbo Video Stabilizer 208
Adobe After Effects (AE) 208
You Tube 209
Chapter 14 Working with Aerial Images and Footage 213
Importing Images and Video 214
Importing images and video to a Windows machine 216
Importing images and video to a Mac 217
Importing images and video to a Chromebook 218
SD Cards and SD Card Readers 219
Viewing Images and Video 220
Picture Editing Software 221
IPhoto 221
Chromebook and Pixlr 222
Adobe Photoshop 223
Video Editing Software 224
IMovie 224
Adobe Premiere 225
Sharing Pictures and Video Online 226
Part V The Part of Yens 227
Chapter 15 Ten Things You Shouldn't Do with Your Drone 229
Spying On Your Neighbor 230
Walk Your Dog 230
Carry the Ring down the Aisle 231
Fly in Airport Airspace 231
Flying Under the Influence 232
Fly Over the Fences at the White House 232
Checking Extra Batteries on a Flight 233
Shoot Down a Drone 234
Fly Over People 235
Make Money with Your Drone 235
Chapter 16 Ten Commercial Uses for Drones 237
Real Estate 238
Golfing 238
Inspections 239
Agriculture 240
Security 241
Weddings & Special Events 241
Search and Rescue 242
Special Delivery 243
Land Surveying 244
Insurance Claims 245
Chapter 17 Ten FAA Regulatory Implications 247
Commercial versus Personal Use 247
Getting Approval (or Commercial Use 248
Getting Approval For Public Use 249
Gaining Experimental Certification 249
Capturing the News With a Drone 250
Knowing the Proposed Commercial Drone Rules 250
Knowing the Proposed Rules for Commercial Drone Operators 251
Following Drone Privacy Laws 252
Understanding the Proposed Regulations for Micro Drones 252
Helping with FAA Enforcement 253
Appendix A 255
Index 261
