just got back from a flight, and looking at the footage im seeing ripples throughout the footage which happen to appear at the same time as im pointing in the general direction of the sun, and i see some flare as confirmation that the sun is hitting the sensor.

And by ripples i mean horizontal scanning, kind of like when you film a poor light source or an old monitor and it flickers because of the non matching refresh rate

anyone else experience this?

Very common - it is the propellers casting a shade on the lens.

A lens hood will help. So will keeping the cam pointed further down. Also, DJI and others are coming out with filters to fit the lens which may also reduce this a little.

Thanks! Figured it was something known but never would have thought of that as the cause.

First encounter with kids and mothers today as well. Went over better than i would have imagined. Mostly everyone was just interested, but one mother asked why it had a camera. I just explained im a videographer and i plan to use it professionally. Kids went nuts over it, told them to keep off to the side but they still ran along the flight path next to it. good way to tire them out!