Drone magazine UK eye in the sky how to get a new perspective with first person flying april 2018

going pro • Flying fpv • DJI X7 • REVIEWS
May 2018 · No 32

on the edge

GOLD Standards

Flight, Camera, Action

Pushing the limits of the law
to get some amazing photos

How a new code of conduct
can shape the future of UAVs

A pro pilot talks about working with
the BBC and the new X7 camera

Eye in the Sky

how to Get a new perspective With first-person flying

ViFly X150
A giant among mini-quads?

dji mavic air
tested to the limit

Bird in Hand

105MPH! How swift is the GepRC MX3 Sparrow?

£5.99

Drone
Show
is
Back!
First info on the new and improved UK showcase

9 772059 287008

32


1-2 DECember 2018

UKDRONESHOW.COM


Ninh Binh, Vietnam
Photo by Damian Sadowski
www.dronestagr.am/author/falconmx


contributors

4

Adam
Juniper

Gemma
Cox

robin
evans

Rob
Clymo

Hooked from the moment he saw
the AR.Drone at CES, Adam has
spent the years since building,
crashing, sinking, losing and
occasionally flying drones. With
a background in photography
publishing and over a decade
writing about video and still
photography in his rear-view
mirror, he was the only choice
for Ilex’s book The Drone Pilot's
Handbook (on sale now!).

Our launch editor for DRONE,
Gemma has worked at the helm of
NEO magazine for over ten years.
Spending over a decade immersed
in Asian pop culture, she recently
branched out into the world of
technology to take on UAVs. She’s
most excited about the future of

FPV racing and the prospect of
drone deliveries! Can drone racing
go prime time? She certainly hopes
so! Follow NEO at @NEO_Magazine.

Robin is an airline captain with
over 7,000 hours logged and when
he’s not ferrying people across the
skies is also a freelance writer and
photographer. It was two years
ago that his father asked him how
much crossover, in theory, there
was between flying drones and
airliners and that set the propellers
turning! Since then he's always on
the lookout for ways to get the best
of both worlds…

Rob has been covering tech
topics for more years than he can
remember, most recently in his
role as editor of Digital FilmMaker
magazine. He loves nothing
more than hitching a ride in light
aircraft or anything autonomous
and has been keeping an eager
eye on all things drone-related
ever since he got his first glimpse
of an early, slightly primitive, DJI
creation a few years ago.

Andrew
Wat ton-Davies

Lee
Schofield

Wayne
Andrews

rowan
bailey

Andrew spends his time
monitoring the globe for drone
news stories, testing to death the
things people send him (mostly
drones), and hoping his cats won’t
moult all over his quadcopters. He's
a graduate of the Freedonia Flying
Academy and has never failed to
walk away from a UAV landing.
You can follow him on Twitter at
@raggedydrones

Known online as Painless360,
Lee has a YouTube channel and
business dedicated to making RC
technology easier to use. An RC pilot
for over eight years and with a 30year background in electronics he

became hooked on quads when he
was bought one in as a present. The
rest, as they say, is history! By now
he can probably strip a quadcopter
and rebuild it blindfolded.

Wayne was drawn into the world
of RC and FPV after chancing on a
tricopter video in 2011. Determined
to understand how to construct
his own flying machine, he’s been
building, flying, crashing and fixing
multirotors and planes ever since.
Known online as CurryKitten, he
runs his own a YouTube channel and
blog focused on helping new pilots
into the air more smoothly.

Rowan is cinematographer and
drone fanatic with a passion for
exploring new places and shooting
them with his Xiro Xplorer. He’s
always looking for new places to
fly and new ways to push his work,
and you’ll often find him along the
Pembrokeshire coastline on most
sunny/non-windy days! You can
follow his most recent shots/trips
on Instagram @RTBaileyMedia.

DRONE MAGAZINE


may 2018 • Issue 32
www.dronemagazine.uk

Uncooked Media Ltd, PO Box 6337,
Bournemouth, BH1 9EH
Telephone: 01202 087627
www.uncookedmedia.com

Editor: Ian Collen

Managing Editor: Gemma Cox
Design: Imran Kelly
Contributors: Wayne Andrews, Rowan Bailey,
Robin Evans, Adam Juniper, Damian Sadowski,
Lee Schofield, Andrew Watton-Davies

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To Issue 32 of Drone Magazine!

H

aving spent a day in Monte Carlo last issue I had an equally illustrious trip
this month, having been invited to the House of Lords in London for the
announcement of the British Standards Institution’s upcoming Drone
Standards. Admittedly the weather was considerably colder as the ‘Beast from the
East’ gripped the capital, but it was still a hugely intriguing and enjoyable evening.
Firstly, it was great to see so many leading figures brought together, not just from
the drone industry but a variety of related fields as well. These people may get the odd
chance to chat at trade shows, but with everyone packed into the same room it was
almost impossible to avoid being drawn into an interesting discussion at every turn.
I started the evening discussing the merits of drones in harbour management and
ended it on the topic of data control and crypto-currency!
Of course, the main talking point was the introduction of a set of standards
that will help to shape the future of the drone industry. As echoed in the article on
page 26, these are not regulations; instead they are a set of guidelines to establish
minimum safety and quality standards that manufacturers and operators can choose
to adopt. They appear in almost every other industry, so they shouldn’t be surprising
or feared in any way.
Indeed, having these standards come into effect could go a long way to restrict the
potential for more obligatory regulations that could impact on everyone. So rather

than having the government telling us what we have to do, the BSI can tell us what
we should be doing – and it’s up to you whether want to adhere to that and receive
the recognition that comes with it. Either way, having a code of conduct that we can
all aspire to on our terms – and further alienate the small minority not interested in
playing by the rules – can only be a good thing.

Distributed through the UK newstrade by
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2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT
Distributed through the UK/US specialist trade by
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Printed in the UK by MRC Print Ltd, 21 East
Hanningfield Industrial Estate, Old Church Road,
Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8AB

DRONE is published monthly by Uncooked Media
Ltd. All text and layout remains the copyright of
Uncooked Media Ltd. DRONE is a fully independent
publication and its views are not those of any company
mentioned herein. All characters and artwork shown
in this magazine remain the © and trademark or their
respective owners.
No part of this magazine may be reproduced without
the express written permission of the publisher.
DRONE can accept no responsibility for inaccuracies
or complaints arising from editorial or advertising
within this magazine. All letters and emails received
will be considered for publication, but we cannot
provide personal replies. The publishers cannot be held
responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs,

transparencies or artwork. Please do not call, email or
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Another quality cold cut from

EST. 2003

Enjoy the issue!

DRONE © 2018 Uncooked Media Ltd
ISSN 2059-2876

Ian Collen, EDITOR

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WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK

5


10

26

12

It’s safety first for
drone users at a
nuclear power plant…

32

20

contents

6

10 // AIR RESCUE

16 // CLOSE CALLS

20 // UK DRONE SHOW

We hear from the Special Constable who was
able to use a police UAV to find a missing person
on a freezing cold night.

Two contrasting stories; one about a new drone
designed to avoid collisions and one about a
pilot who nearly caused one.

Now under the expanded guise of the UK
Drone and Technology Show Live, it’s back for

business in December.

12 // PLANT HIGHER

17 // HOT TOPICS

26 // NEW STANDARDS

Drone are lending a hand just about everywhere
these days, most recently at a decommissioned
nuclear power plant in Scotland.

Some environmentally unfriendly reports,
with drone deliveries needing to reduce its
carbon footprint and a UAV fire-starter.

We speak to the Chairman of the BSI committee
behind the new code of conduct coming soon to
the drone industry.

14 // VIDEO TO GO

18 // PUBLIC OPINION

32 // TV GUIDE

Parrot has introduced the Flight Director
editing software to its FreeFlight Pro app,
offering up auto-edited videos on the fly.

92% of people think there needs to be some
restrictions on drone use, according to a new
study of both pilots and the public.

A professional drone pilot explains how his flair
for flying really helped his career in television
to take off – and meet Noel Edmunds!

DRONE MAGAZINE


46

40

62

70

Is the GepRC MX3
Sparrow as fast as its
creators say it is?

80
SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR ONLY £14.99!
TURN TO PAGE 90

40 // CITY SLICKER

58 // FLIGHT SCHOOL

70 // GEPRC MX3 SPARROW

How one pilot has played by the rules and still
been able to get some memorable shots over the
skies of London that skirt the law.

Once qualified there aren’t too many other
places to learn new skills but a new drone
academy aims to change that.

The creators are claiming a top speed of more
than 100mph, so is this FPV flyer punching
above its weight?

46 // HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

62 // DJI MAVIC AIR

74 // FORMAT WARS

One of our experts takes you through
everything you need to know in order to take
your first steps into flying FPV.

We’ve teased it; we’ve had some brief test flights
with it; and now it’s time for our full in-depth
review of the drone everyone’s talking about.

It’s not quite VHS vs Betamax or PlayStation vs

Xbox, but choosing the right format for sharing
your videos online can still be crucial.

52 // TAMING ACRO

66 // VIFLY X150

80 // SHARP SHOOTER

Essential advice that will make life a lot easier
for any pilots looking to ease off self-levelling
flights and go fully manual.

When one of our experts says this is his new
number one choice for quads of this size, you
might want to find out why.

We chat with Florian Ledoux, winner of the
recent SkyPixel Photo Contest and a man on a
mission to bring the Arctic to your laptop.

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK

7


8

DRONE MAGAZINE

80

discover how a passion
for wildlife and a flair
for flying combined into
an award-winning career

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK

9


Words by: Andrew Watton-Davies

Search
and Rescue
Missing driver found with drone support

L

incolnshire Police has used a drone
to help to find the missing driver
of a crashed vehicle in sub-zero
temperatures. The incident happened on the
A16 near Ludborough in the early hours of 25
February, during a night with temperatures
reported as low -2°C when the weather
was both foggy and snowing. Officers were
responding to a call after a member of the

public reported seeing the car upside down in
a ditch with smoke coming out of it. The driver
had been spotted walking on foot away from
the crash site towards a nearby village.
We spoke directly with the pilot involved
in the search, Special Sergeant Kevin Taylor,
about the incident. He confirmed that the
search of the area had started at 2.24am with
four police officers on the scene, which he
described as a “pitch black night, freezing cold,

10

DRONE MAGAZINE

on an unlit section of A-road with no moon.”
They were further assisted by the local Fire
Brigade who had attended with a hand-held
thermal camera.
Whilst the fire crew was able to check
under the vehicle and in the area close by
to ensure no one was trapped or had been
thrown out of the vehicle, they had not been
able to find the driver. As a result the decision
was made for Kevin, a full-time Subject
Matter Expert for Metis Aerospace with 15
years of experience with fixed wing and rotor
craft, as well as a PfCO holder, to travel from
Lincoln to the site as part of his voluntary role
as a Special Constable.

Special Sgt Kevin arrived at the scene at
3.26am and was airborne and searching by
3.33am. When we asked how this sevenminute deployment time of the Lincolnshire

Police’s DJI Inspire 1 with XT thermal camera
was achieved, he said: “We go through all
the checks but we pre-plan en route as to
what we’re doing, the area we’re going to and
anything that might affect us.”
As for the flight itself, Kevin explained that
“the section of road we were interested in
searching was a kilometre long, and obviously
the interest was in the road, the dykes and the
surrounding fields. Lincolnshire is a very rural
area, so a thermal drone search can be ideal. I
did a flight out from the location of the accident
to the village; there were various heat sources
showing, particularly from the water in the
dyke at the side of the road. I had officers check
out two other heat sources first, which proved
to be water. When you look at the thermal
results back there were a couple of areas that
were a little bit bigger and a little bit warmer,
and they were ruled out.”


Hot Spot

As the drone continued its flight back, Kevin
spotted a third source, about 150 metres

away, emanating from a ditch. “I didn’t
know that it was a person at that stage, until
I guided the officer in. He couldn’t see, even
when he was within twelve feet of where the
chap was. I had to tell him to go forward a bit
and then back a bit and then turn right a bit,
because he still couldn’t see. He was six feet
down into the ditch and you really had to get
down to see him.
“There was that element of talking him in,
going backwards and forwards, interrupted
by other operational radio work at the same
time, so he went back past the location that I
wanted him to check. So I had to ask him to
go back and keep going into the ditch, then he
confirmed back to me (at 3.45am) that it was
the chap in the ditch who was unconscious.”
Kevin confirmed that whilst the other officers

“I didn’t know that it was a person at that stage…
He was six feet down into the ditch and you really
had to get down to see him”
and the Fire Brigade had performed thorough
searches, the missing driver “was so far down
in the ditch they simply wouldn’t have found
him. The only way they could have found him
was to go and walk down into the ditch, but
due to the water in there it was not a possibility.
“As soon the officer was with him I returned
(the drone) home, because I was approaching

the end of my battery life. Being a cold evening,
even with 12 minutes of flight time I didn’t
have a lot of battery left. I didn’t want to
leave the heat source in fear of not finding it
again, so I stayed airborne and by the time
the officers got to him the battery was at 30%.
However, the drone was about 140 metres
from my location with no wind so there was
no complication with the flight back.” Once
the craft had landed, Kevin began assisting the
other officers, with an ambulance arriving on
scene at 3.52am to take the driver to hospital.
Speaking about the incident to the press,
Sgt Mike Templeman commented that without
the drone this search could have taken much

longer and that the deployment possibly saved
the man’s life. He also referred to the response
as “a great team effort”, and, whilst praising
all those officers involved, he made specific
mention of PC Logan-Glover, PC Smith and
drone pilot Special Sgt Taylor.
Lincolnshire Police’s drone project started
in March 2017, with full approvals being
given for operations in October 2017. The

programme was started by Chief Constable
Bill Skelly, who had previous experience
with the technology in the Devon &
Cornwall force, and was supported by Crime

Commissioner Marc Jones. The team currently
consists of four pilots, with a further six
officers currently undergoing training. You
can follow their daily operations on Twitter
via their handle @lincsCOPter.

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK

11


Going
Nuclear
Drones drive safety at
decommissioned power plant
Words by: Andrew Watton-Davies

A

lthough the winter weather hitting
the UK in March wasn’t good
news for most drone pilots, it did
give one aerial team the chance to
demonstrate the positive benefits of UAV use
for inspection work at a decommissioned
nuclear power plant. With only a few flights
the team was able to demonstrate both the
financial savings and the speed and safety
aspects of using drones over traditional onfoot methods.
The drone programme has been initiated

at the Dounreay plant on the north coast of
Caithness in Scotland. It was opened in 1955
and until 1994 was the home to five nuclear

12

DRONE MAGAZINE

reactors. Following the closure of the facility
(and the passing of the site through a number
of government bodies), the maintenance of
the buildings, management of the potential
environmental harm of the radioactive
materials and the safe decommissioning of
the site has fallen to Dounreay Site Restoration
Limited (DSRL).
As part of these works, 50 building
inspections a year were previously carried out
using traditional techniques of putting people
on roofs and up ladders that could be 55 metres
off the ground. Following a project initiated by
senior electrical engineer John Moar, and an
outlay of £6,000 on a drone, the inspections

are now being carried out with a pilot safely on
the ground. As well as estimated manpower
savings of £100,000, the risk of serious injury
or even death from falls has been removed as a
result. The savings made on the very first drone
inspection, which targeted two 20-metre tall

ventilation stacks, are reported to have covered
the cost of the craft.
John told us that his awareness of
drones and reasons for initiating the
drone programme come from a long-time
interest in aerial photography. “I had a
hobby background in self-built RC model
aeroplanes and helicopters, mainly during
the 1990s, and first took aerial views using
a modified auto-wind film-type camera
mounted in a wooden plans-built model
aeroplane. I started flying light aircraft
in 1999 and began taking a lot of aerial
photographs from then onwards. Drones
were a natural progression and I only started
operating these recently for the purpose of
my work as I saw the opportunity emerge.”
Knowing the potential benefits of drone
technology, the next step was convincing
DSRL of the benefits of using such systems.
The nature of his work environment gave
John some assistance as “innovation is key
to our decommissioning programme and, as
an engineer, we are encouraged to constantly
innovate and stay in touch with new
technologies,” he explained.
As for the ground work, John says it was
“a self-driven initiative as a side-line to my

day job. Nuclear safety case considerations,
security, training requirements, cost and
conventional safety were all considerations
rather than obstacles.
“It was a matter of assessing, mitigating and
balancing these risks and other factors. The
balance of risk compared to ‘conventional’
access methods spoke for itself and I did
not need to work too hard to convince the
management of the benefits once I had done
my homework and presented the facts and
implementation plan.”

Power Ranger

Convincing the company of the benefits was
one thing, but getting permission to fly at the
plant was complicated as, due to the nature
of the site, there is a strictly enforced air
exclusion zone. “The area is a flight prohibited
area, as regulated by the CAA, in force
around the site. So the application included
permission to use the airspace with security
controls considered.”
With a PfCO and specific exemption finally
secured, John was able to get to work using a
DJI Inspire 2, operated with the dual TX setup and chosen for the task “because of the
functionality and support.” John explained

that “general surveys are our main focus, such

as asset inspection, condition monitoring
or storm damage surveys. Provided in line
of sight, the drone is able to get very close to
the area being examined, much closer than
a mobile elevated work platform can, for
example. They cannot necessarily perform as
well as a person up close with the benefit of all
senses but the difficulty is in getting the person
up close in the first instance, and so the drone
is a clear winner.”
The success of this early use of the
technology has been made evident by the
amount of work the team have been able
to perform. “We have successfully carried
out around 20 inspections over the winter
period and after the recent strong winds we

managed to conduct two months’ worth of
storm damage surveys over a period of just a
couple of days,” John says. “This would have
previously required the hire of mobile work
platforms costing several thousands of pounds
each week and would have been more resource
intensive. In addition to saving the taxpayer
money, we are increasing the quality and
timeliness of the inspections.”
John says everyone seemed happy with the
results. “The project manager was delighted
at the quality and detail of the images and
how easy and safe it was to get them. It also

gives us 360 degree inspections, which often
isn’t possible when doing the inspection
manually.” With a team from the site’s
maintenance department now involved in
the drone works, John has said the system
“also has the potential to develop applications
in other areas, such as 3D modelling,
thermographic, environmental and land
remediation surveys, and PR footage.”
Further proof of the benefits of drone use can
be found in a number of similar initiatives that
are being undertaken at other nuclear facilities
in the UK and beyond. For more details on the
Dounreay facility and the drone use there,
head over to dounreay.com.

“After the recent strong winds we managed to conduct two months’ worth of
storm damage surveys over a period of just a couple of days”

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK

13


Words by Andrew Watton-Davies

parrot show
create your bebop videos on the fly

P

arrot, the developer of the Bebop drone
series, has announced the addition of
Flight Director to its FreeFlight Pro
companion app. The program, powered by
algorithms developed by Singapore-based
video editing software company Muvee,
identifies the “optimum sequences” in a user’s
captured drone footage and then presents them
with a ready-to-share montage of between 15
seconds and 3 minutes.
The software’s algorithm automatically
identifies the best moments of the operator’s
footage by analysing the drone’s flight
telemetry and then synchronises them to the
beats of the selected music track. Users can
choose tunes from the app’s library or from
their own playlists. In addition, three editing
styles are available to select from.
Talking to Parrot about these pre-set
selections, a spokesperson explained that
Story “follows the chronological order of the
shots” and is “great for following a journey or
storytelling.” Trailer is a “fast-paced editing
style which uses fast motion and quick cuts
to the most exciting moments to crank up
the impact and drama.” And finally there’s
Cinematic which “automatically finds the
most awesome sweeping smooth shots,” with
the intention of being “great for making epic

landscape aerial movies.”
Videos can be further customised with a
choice of seven ‘Themes’, which are overlays
that add flight telemetric information to the
video. The software then uses your smart
device’s built-in share systems to post the
videos to any and all compatible platforms,
including Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram.

14

DRONE MAGAZINE

When asked what the design goal was for
this latest addition to the growing library
of software for the Bebop series, a Parrot
representative commented that Flight Director
is “part of our efforts to create a user-friendly
ecosystem around FreeFlight Pro.
“Our goal is to provide our users with an
exceptional, multi-purpose tool to accompany
them during their journey with our drones.
Flight Director was specifically designed to
offer the opportunity to quickly edit drone
footage and create amazing content with
minimal efforts and editing skills thanks to its
intuitive interface and automated processes.”
Whilst Flight Director is usable with all
three craft in the Bebop range, when asked if
the software will be made available for users of

the Disco fixed wing craft, we were told that it
is currently “designed to work on quadcopter
drones only.”

Flight Director is available now and requires
the FreeFlight Pro application from version 5.2
onwards and either iOS 9.0 or Android 4.2 or
higher. The Premium version, available on a
15-day free trial, is listed at £19.99 in the App
Store and £14.99 on Google Play. A free version
is also available, enabling operators to use the
‘Best Of’ feature which will select videos from
your drone to create a 15-second compilation of
the “best moments shot by your drone.”
Android users should note that Parrot has
confirmed that the software is only compatible
with devices with the rm64-v8a and armeabiv7a binary interfaces. This means that a small
number of older devices will not be able to
use the app, and will therefore not be able to
purchase the software from the store. More
information on Flight Director, FreeFlight Pro
and the company’s range of aerial solutions can
be found at Parrot.com.


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Words by Andrew Watton-Davies

Near Miss

Glider and drone in close call
Photo by Frank Schwichtenberg / CreativeCommons

Follow the Leader
High-end automation targets
the prosumer market

S

kydio, a drone development start-up based in Redwood City,
California, has announced the launch of its 4K R1 autonomous
drone after four years of development and boasting some
impressive obstacle avoidance tech. The drone’s key feature, the
Skydio Autonomy Engine, has been demonstrated in a series of launch
videos showing the craft following runners, skiers, bikers and skaters
through a variety of densely forested areas. The technology has also
been demonstrated ‘in the wild’ by a number of vloggers, including
Casey Neistat who considered the autonomy “a quantum leap” when

compared to DJI’s technologies.
Talking about the launch of the R1, Adam Bry, CEO and cofounder of Skydio, stated: “The promise of the self-flying camera has
captured people’s imaginations, but today’s drones still need to be
flown manually for them to be useful. We’ve spent the last four years
solving the hard problems in robotics and AI necessary to make fully
autonomous flight possible. We’re incredibly excited about the creative
possibilities with R1, and we also believe that this technology will
enable many of the most valuable drone applications for consumers and
businesses over the coming years.”
The craft is 13 x 16 x 1.5 inches, weighs in at 2.2lbs, has a top-flight
speed of 25mph and a flight time of 16 minutes. The camera allows for
4K at 30fps (or 1080p at 30 and 60fps) with live streaming also available
at 720p at 15fps. It has a maximum range of 300ft (depending on your
smart device) and twelve navigational cameras, with five tracking
modes available.
This isn’t a cheap piece of fun, though, as the R1 Frontier Edition
is currently available for the not insignificant sum of $2,499 (plus
shipping). More information can be found at skydio.com.

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DRONE MAGAZINE

T

he UK Airprox Board (UKAB) has confirmed that on 01 January
2018, a glider on its landing approach to Dunstable Downs Airfield
in Bedfordshire was involved in a near-miss incident with a drone.
The drone was reported to have been “20-50m in front of the nose of the
glider and a few metres below” the Schleicher ASK 21, as it was at 550ft

and making its final turn for approach. With both the weather and the
UAV being described as grey, it is reported as having been difficult for
the pilot to see it “against a backdrop of Dunstable town.”
The report states that with the drone passing rapidly by the glider,
there had been no time for the glider pilot to take avoiding action. The
report concluded that “had the drone been on a collision course, it was
unlikely that the glider would have responded to control inputs rapidly
enough to allow avoiding action to be effective,” and thus the Risk of
Collision was given as “High”. It added that it was “a situation where
providence had played a major part in the incident” and that a definite
risk of collision had existed.
The incident was the highest risk of the seven drone-related reports
reviewed at the January meeting of the UKAB. The other incidents
included reports of UAVs being flown beyond practical visual line of
sight, in the vicinity of airfields, above cloud cover, and on approach
paths for landing planes. More details on the incidents can be found at
the website airproxboard.org.uk.


Words by: Andrew Watton-Davies

Fire Starter

Crashed drone sparks blaze

Aerial Footprints T
Environmental impact of
UAV deliveries assessed

A

research team from the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory in California has concluded that the additional
warehousing needed for drone deliveries, and the longer
travel distances being planned by developers, reduces the previously
championed environmental benefits of the technology when compared
to traditional ground-based vehicle delivery.
In the paper, ‘Energy Use and Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions
of Drones for Commercial Package Delivery’, the team found
that the drones themselves potentially consume less energy per
package-kilometre than delivery trucks, provided that the craft are
flown at an energy-efficient speed and distance. However, savings
are undermined when the electricity and natural gas needed for
maintaining additional storage facilities are factored in. The paper
concluded that to realise the environmental benefits of drone
deliveries, regulators and firms should focus on minimising extra
warehousing and limiting the size of drones.
Co-author Joshuah Stolaroff (and team leader along with
Constantine Samaras) told us: “Finding ways to use existing retail
space to store and stage goods is one way they might limit the need
for extra warehousing. For regulators, placing limits on package
weight and drone weight seems straightforward. Both parties should
assess the full life cycle impacts of their proposed system before
implementing it.”
As for the potential dangers of not taking such action, he said: “In
the worst case, widespread drone use would moderately increase
emissions in the transportation sector at a time when we need to
make dramatic reductions for climate reasons. We are not aware that
any developers or drone users have systematically considered the
drones’ environmental impacts before. Our paper is an important

first step.” The full study can be found and analysed at the website
nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02411-5.

he US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has reported
that a fire on 06 March in the Kendrick Park area of Coconino
National Forest, Arizona, was caused by a drone battery igniting
after a crash landing and setting fire to dry grasses. The fire is said
to have burned more than 300 acres of forest land and required the
efforts of around 30 firefighters and a water tender truck to get under
control, driving smoke across the nearby Highway 180.
The craft is reported to have been 16 x 16-inch hobby drone, with
the pilot having been identified and charged with starting a wildfire.
The exact reason for the battery starting the fire has not yet been
established (though a hot battery and dry grass is a bad mix), but
if found guilty the drone operator can face anything from a fine or
community service to jail time.
The flying of drones in the National Forest is permitted, provided the
pilot follows FAA rules, does not take off or land in a wilderness area
and that there are no wildfires in the vicinity. The Forest Service itself
provides maps and supporting information for those wishing to fly
in the area. The incident is believed to have been the first time that a
wildfire has been caused by a drone.

WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK

17


Words by Andrew Watton-Davies

Public order
New survey backs drone restrictions

N

ominet UK, the .uk domain name
registry since 1996, has released
research into public opinion on drones
and their use as part of its Digital Futures
Index. Aimed at “identifying consumer
sentiment around drone ownership, while also
exploring trends among drone owners,” the
results show that 92% of respondents believe
there should be restrictions on who can use
drone craft, 90% want drones registered with a
central body and 72% support “the equivalent
of a driving licence for drone operators.”
The results were based on a representative
sample of 2,002 UK adults and 500 drone
owners, who were surveyed over a ten-day
period in January 2018 by Opinium. Other
data released included the findings that 83%
of respondents believe that drones pose a risk
to the public when out of controller range and
79% having concerns about the safety of flight
paths, roads and properties.
The public were also concerned about illegal
use of the craft, with 71% of respondents
thinking drones could be used for criminal
activities and 58% saying that UAVs pose a

danger to their privacy, with 49% considering
camera drones “a major privacy risk.” How
the public believe registration should be
handled is not as clear an issue, though, with
42% supporting the creation of a new central

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DRONE MAGAZINE

body, 37% in favour of registration with the
government, 30% with the aviation authorities
and 25% wanting drones to be registered with
the police (we’d assume it was a multiple choice
section before you question the maths!).
Of the 500 drone users surveyed, 66% said
that their drones are fitted with a camera but
the same percentage claimed there is “a lack
of clarity over filming permissions.” 62% of
users said that they had filmed persons or
places without permission and 9% said they
didn’t think filming permissions are ever
needed. On the issues of safety, 53% admitted
to having crashed a craft under their control,
37% admitted to having lost drones under their
control and 26% said they didn’t know the
range of their devices, “despite knowing the
potential dangers.”
Commenting on the study, Russell Haworth,
CEO of Nominet, said: “At the moment drones

are largely extravagant toys, but the reality is
that they have the potential to revolutionise
many aspects of our lives… What’s needed is a
centralised database and flight path mapping
tools that allows these drones to communicate
with each other. That way, accidents are less
likely to happen, as collision avoidance systems
would take over in the event of an emergency.
City infrastructure would also need updating
to accommodate drones, including things like

landing locations for drone deliveries. No doubt
as cities become smarter, drones will play a
wider role.”
When asked how much the views of drone
operators differed from the general public, a
spokesperson added: “On the whole, drone
owners and consumers were aligned on their
thoughts when it came to regulation and
restrictions or who should be able to purchase
a drone. One area where they did differ is about
the potential of drone use in the future for
deliveries. Drone owners were much more open
to receiving deliveries via drone, with a quarter
saying they think it is the future of deliveries,
compared with just 10% of consumers.”
More details on Nominet’s research, covering
a range of technological issues, can be found at
nominet.uk/DigitalFuturesIndex – although
we were told that there are no current plans for

the full results of this study to be released.



The Show Goes On!
The UK Drone Show returns in 2018 with a new and expanded format – and big
plans for the future. Ian Collen spoke to the organisers to find out more…

H

aving launched in 2015, the UK Drone
Show enjoyed two great annual shows
before taking a break in 2017. Now it’s
ready to return under the expanded
guise of the UK Drone and Technology Show
Live 2018, being held over the weekend of 01-02
December back at the NEC in Birmingham.
Although the change in name suggests a
shift in focus, the core is still very much on
the ‘drone’ side of things. But with an evergrowing range of crossover industries such as
photography, virtual and augmented reality, RC
cars, gaming, robotics and smart technologies
it makes sense to open those doors a little wider
and embrace a potentially larger audience.
The event is being organised by DTECH
Show Limited, a joint venture
between the UK Drone Show
founder, Oliver O’Brien (who’ll
be project manager on the 2018
show); the former CEO of the MCM

ComicCon events in the UK and
current owner of Malo Events, Bryan
Cooney; and the managing director
of Activate Communications, Luke
Galliana, who’ll be heading up the
Brand Partnerships.
In terms of the show itself, you
can expect the same wealth of
major exhibitors, display stands and
presentation areas that we saw in
2016, but with a plenty of intriguing
newcomers and much more packed
into an NEC hall space that the team

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DRONE MAGAZINE

expects to be slightly bigger and certainly more
compact than those previous shows, and with
even more on to get your hands on.
The headline features include the returning
iSeries FPV race event, boasting a whopping
£10,000 prize pool – and the team hopes to
entice some major international pilots to the
UK to take on the best of British over two
intense days of frenetic racing.
There’s also a £4,000 prize pot up for
grabs in the ‘Perfect Capture’ photography
competition, with two categories on offer:

Aerial Photography for the drone owners out
there, and Nature Photography which is open
to more traditional hand-held photographers.

As well as seeing many familiar faces from
the drone world on the show floor, plus some
other potential big hitters from the worlds
of photography, gaming, technology and
beyond, there’ll also be the very nicely timed
‘Christmas Gadget Fair’.
Oliver explained that this will include
“presentations of all the latest gadgets” and
that they were “looking at getting some wellknown hosts involved.” We can certainly
imagine it providing a very handy shopping
centre for many a festive gift this year!


Bigger and Better

The joint venture seems to be a nice piece of
timing all-round, with Bryan Cooney selling
his stake in the UK MCM ComicCon in October
last year, and Luke, who’d previously worked
with Bryan on those MCM events, told us
they’ve been keen to get involved with the
Drone Show for a while. And when Bryan
was free from the responsibilities of the many
ComicCon shows held across the UK each year,
Luke says it “gave us the perfect opportunity
to get the ball rolling with Oliver and try to put

some plans in place to get the show going and
get the partnership going.”
On announcing the event, Luke added: “It’s
going to be the largest showcase for drones
and technology in Europe. We’re looking to
have as many interactive areas as possible over
the course of the two days. There’ll be lots of
exciting competitions, lots of new product
launches and lots of new technology.” This was
echoed by Oliver who says it will be “the most
unique consumer technology show in the UK.”

Oliver also explained how expanding
his original premise into the UK Drone and
Technology Show Live made sense. “With
things like photography, it crosses over into a
whole new world, as with eSports and so on. So
it’s a natural progression for the show to grow…
but it’s still the Drone Show and we’ll still have
all of the right drone elements.”
To this extent you can still expect to see large
sections of the show floor given over to the likes
of drone training, development, insurance
and all things CAA-related. Plus we’ll see the
return of the popular Tiny Whoop area and
the RC cars will once again be tearing it up on
their own track – and with talk of underwater
UAV technology joining the fun, we’re also
dreaming about the possibility of a giant fish
tank as well!

With the likes of flight simulators, VR and
eSports amongst many other things, the 2018
show certainly does have the potential to be a
hugely hands-on and interactive experience. “I
think that’s key as well,” says Luke. “Obviously
coming from the ComicCon experiences, for us,

it’s all about having as many areas as possible
that are interactive and that’s what helps to
make the experience, as we’ve found in the past
putting on these kinds of large-scale events.”

A New Beginning

What’s perhaps most exciting about this
new venture is that the 2018 show is only
the beginning. The team already has a fiveyear plan in place to expand and develop the
concept. One potential avenue of growth
could see the show follow in Bryan’s previous
MCM footsteps, where ComicCons are held
in many different cities across the country
throughout the year – and the UK Drone and
Technology Show Live could also effectively
be taken ‘on tour’, albeit on a slightly smaller
scale to begin with.
“Obviously we’re used to having multiple
events all around the country,” Luke explains.
“So we see this event happening in major cities
across the UK and worldwide as well. So it’s
not just about the NEC, it’s about multiple cities

and we’re already working on that research
WWW.DRONEMAGAZINE.UK

21


and those conversations have already started to
take place.”
In the short term, though, the team is focused
mainly on getting the 2018 show in place to act
as a foundation for those more ambitious plans
into 2019 and beyond, and Oliver says they’ve
already received an enthusiastic response to
the new event. “Obviously we’ve got our core
people there, the main exhibitors, and we’ve
been talking to them before the launch. So
you’ll have all the players there you’d expect but
obviously we’ll be bringing in manufacturers
from the photography side and things like that
and we’re certainly getting a lot of interest.”
With some 10,000 people likely to attend, the
expansion into the ‘and Technology’ side of the
name could also help to drive new customers,
including those who might not necessarily
attend a drone show but might be enticed by
the likes of virtual reality, eSports or the latest
Apple gadget. “That’s the thinking behind it,”
Luke says, “and that’s obviously one reason
why we’re looking at having these categories
out there; it gives us the opportunity to market

those individually, as well as the crossover for
the drone sectors.
“It’s one of those things where we know
that the market is there for us to enhance
it with the crossover of technologies. We’re
playing it down a little bit, in terms of what
can be achieved this year. I think if we base the
footprint on something just a little bit larger
than what the UK Drone Show was, then we’ve
got the scope to increase that as the uptake
comes in from the partners.”
We’ll certainly be at the NEC in December
and we’d encourage anyone else who’s tempted
to come along and join us. We’ll keep you
updated with any major developments and
new announcements for the show during the
year. In the meantime you can find out more
information about what you can expect to
see over the weekend and book your tickets –
priced at £9 for children aged 11-16 and £13.40
for adults (including admin fees, though a
further delivery charge may apply) – via the
website www.techshowlive.com.
22

DRONE MAGAZINE


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A Reader’s View

St. Leonards-on-Sea,
East Sussex
Photo by Phil Ovenden


Given the wintry weather in the UK last month, reader Phil Ovenden
was right on cue with this overhead shot of a beach in East Sussex he
calls ‘Two Tides’ that had us dreaming of sunnier times. Phil tells us it
was taken with a Phantom 4 Pro and at a height of around 20m. If it
didn’t make the issue, he joked that the photo “makes a good screen
saver” but we’re more than happy to include it in the magazine – and
on our desktop!
If you’d like to get one of your own photos into the magazine – and by
submitting a shot for us to use, you are acknowledging that it is your own
work and property – then email us at , along with
the image (the highest resolution where possible) and ideally with a little
information about what’s in the shot and how you got it. Perhaps your
favourite photo could make it into our next issue!