Drone News, Airmap loses LAANC, Brendan Schulman Leaves DJI, Hamilton OH Drone Ban, Industry Event

[@brendanschulman9971]

Thank you for your very nice comments about me and my work. I appreciate it. :)

[@edhiggins100]

Good luck in your new position Brendan!!!

[@PilotInstitute]

I truly meant every word of it. Can't wait to see your work in another industry!

[@FireHorse454]

Good Statement on Ohio.. !!!

[@mikeweirich4661]

Maybe the FAA could use some of the registration money to help fund the the free providers.

[@johnk8825]

Hamilton is in another state but it is still too close to home. I get annoyed with most politicians, can we just ban them?

[@PilotInstitute]

If only!

[@donmassengill9039]

love the updates look forward every week for them greg thanks

[@fireroadphotography]

Great information thanks for all you guys do. One question about the night flight event, have the rules changed for recreational night flying or can recreational pilots still fly at night with the required lights? I had another person tell me the FAA changed things and recreational pilots no longer can fly at night. Looked around online but found nothing that really answered this. Thanks

[@dronebuzz]

Excellent info Greg! Nice job on the "Drone After Dark" episode, for sure! And, NO! You did not look like a deer in the highlights! Keep up the smart work! You are making an essential difference! Most gratefully, Tony :-) PS. Please thank Haye, too!

[@rzu7120]

The FAA needs to give Hamilton Ohio a hefty fine, and set an example for any other town that tries to exceed their authority.

[@chrisalexander2478]

One of our local towns tried the same thing here in NC. Several of us local pilots tried to speak to the town lawyer but he refused to even converse on the issue. However, during the open town board meeting we got to speak and explain to the board how this was both illegal for them to try to do but also not in the towns best interest and luckily it got voted down.

[@paulshampay4468]

I agree, but Airmap shows National Wilderness areas that Aloft doesn't show! That saved me a couple times from flying in prohibited areas.

[@rp9525]

Love your reports Greg! Please keep doing what you love.

[@misterstratocaster]

A couple days ago I was going to fly in an area which requires authorization. I usually use Airmap because I just like the interface; it's fast to get authorization. It looked like LAANC was down so I just went to some Class G airspace since it was jut going to be for recreation. Hmmm...

[@YellowRoseDrones]

Thanks for the update

[@commonsenselogic]

I switched from Airmap to Kitty Hawk Aloft a year ago.

[@badtuna73]

Thanks, Greg.

[@paulshampay4468]

Airmap finally got it LAANC ability back a few days ago. Are you going to talk about it? It took a lot longer than the the estimated 9/30 date. Any idea why?

[@PilotInstitute]

Definitely won't be giving AirMap any additional visibility. They went dark with LAANC for over a month without even a word to their customers, many of who were left stranded thinking they were doing something wrong. At this stage, I am surprised at anyone who will still support AirMap going forward.

[@mikebelanger4165]

Greg, I don't know if it's true or not (possibly not), but I heard (unofficially) that Airmap lost the authorization because they were charging for the LAANC service and it's supposed to be FREE.

[@paulshampay4468]

I usually use AirMap as it properly marks congressional designated wilderness areas which prohibit drone just like national parks. Aloft doesn’t mark them!

[@stanbrown1791]

Excellent segment. One note of interest apropos of nothing is that Hamilton OH is the birthplace of Charles Richter, the namesake of the Richter Scale. You can file that under Useless Information..

[@hybrydsanity5857]

Hi ya ! ,good info this week !

[@jeffellis6544]

On this past Sunday-9/19- I needed to do a flight for a school not too far from O’Hare airport in Chicago area. And I’ve been using air map for my LAANC authorizations past couple of years. I could not get an authorization. It kept telling me “LAANC authorization not available at this time try again later“. But I know the area I wanted to fly was legal for up to 200 feet and there were no TFR’s or any other reason it should fail. Now I know why

[@realestatewithbradley]

Hadn't heard about Skyward charging, when is that supposed to start? As of this morning 9/17/21 I got a laanc approval, no charge.

[@gaberivolta]

Interesting. I was told it would have been fixed earlier this week. Followed up with Airmap and was told the FAA pushed their “evaluation” to September 21st and should have a fix shortly after. Losing hope after seeing they are no longer on the USS list….I guess we’ll see.

[@PilotInstitute]

They say they will be back at the end of the month. But it's a good time to switch to Aloft anyway, much better platform.

[@huddless50]

The LANNC issue is a reminder of never relying on a single point source for anything. Looking at youtube for example.

[@moodberry]

The FAA has to be the driving force to keep airway access free. In general aviation, the only airspace fees come from fixed base operators (FBO), like an airport, that charge landing and/or takeoff fees, and they also make money by selling fuel and providing maintenance services. But the TERRIBLE idea that Airmap proposed wherein a municipality can "tax" drones in their area is a non-starter for several reasons. First, a municipality doesn't have jurisdiction in the airspace above them. The FAA does. Secondly, what service is a municipality providing that could possibly justify taxing takeoffs or landings? But I predict that some places will try, because they think that this would be a new revenue source. But I hope the FAA squashes such attempts immediately.

[@itsthehumidityyall8303]

I like Aloft

[@SparkysVideoProductions]

Aircrap! Never touched the app, never will.

[@lexsteel12]

What is the latest news about Airmap? Are they, or are they not, able to provide authorization?

[@PilotInstitute]

It doesn't matter. They can't be trusted. Use another provider like Aloft who actually cares about pilots and is not trying to make you pay for airspace access in the future.

[@lexsteel12]

@@PilotInstitute Thank you for the information. I will use Aloft.

[@SVT40AK47]

I don’t know about AirMap other than their beginning of trying to get homeowners to “purchase” their airspace, lol. I realized quickly the initial owner was not our friend. Since day one I have had nothing to do with this company.

[@felixruiz2838]

Bad sign for LAANC providers

[@DaveStern2]

business model - either have the commercial operators subsidize the free laanc services or honestly if I had to pay a small amount per year to support the app development & maint. that would not be unreasonable (e.g. $4.99 - $9.99). Not pay per flight but pay flat rate / year to support the development / operations. Or look at any other models, fremium, ad supported (annoying), etc., there aren't too many. Not that it's bad, just can't have free lunch and sustainable business model.

[@PilotInstitute]

I'm a fervent supporter of free airspace access. It's a slippery slope when we have to pay for access. fremium is good, like social media app, and have a paid subscription for those who don't want the ads (like Hulu does).

[@DaveStern2]

@@PilotInstitute thanks for all you do for everyone in the drone space!

[@c3ajeff]

You say it's a shocker, but you've been saying for a long time that airmap was unreliable no?

[@PilotInstitute]

Yeah, they were mostly on the wrong side of the industry, but that's not a fair reason to not be an approved provider. They are just playing a different game in the industry that doesn't favor our side of the industry,

[@windseeker2357]

Hamilton doesn’t own airspace. Can only prevent taking off in city limits.

[@mikehrenak1390]

Don’t ban me bro air2 s army out

[@edhiggins100]

Hmmmm,, trying to make illegal , flying over crime scene in Ohio. Lol

[@tonyrowland9216]

You brought this ban on yourself. Flying over fires, crime spots ect. Grow up and untwist your panties.