Regarding the theme about, is or is not, "Waypoint" flight path programing to be included.

And the convenience of setting out pre-arranged routes for the machine to auto-navigate.

And probably flying round particular targets or awkward to get to targets.

In essence the military buzzword "Fire and Forget" or in this case fly and forget.

Thing is, this great technological convenience could land you in major trouble.

Here in the UK, if you can't see the machine at any point on its path you are breaking the law.

The CAA is quite specific " unaided visual contact at all times".

I would imagine this requirement exist in most countries.

And if you keep within the law, a good portion of the fly and forget scenario is redundant.

Which leads me onto a more worrying trend.

We seem to hear about more and more idiots flying quadcopters without the permission.

Or in restricted airspace.

From reading most of the posts on this page I think we have all invested a serious quantity of passion and money into this art form.

All it will take is one of those idiots to seriously damage, hurt or kill someone.

And 99% of us might as well kiss it all goodbye.

Any clever ideas how we can stop the trend?

Education is key to it all. Speaking from the point of view who is currently going through the process of getting my license from the CAA for ariel work it is really worrying to see how some people fly, and intend to fly, their crafts.

The amount of people who read the recent article about someone flying within Heathrow airspace (I was inundated with FB messages) shows that the media is going to be keeping an eye on it, and to a certain point, so they should! If anything, hopefully they can highlight the potential dangers with UAV's and inform people of the regulations. However, I fear that they will only try and scare people about the dangers..

Waypoints can be used for other purposes other than flying the craft away from your line of sight, it can be handy to track round an object, especially if you want to do it multiple times so your camera operator can get a series of alternative shots. Its not a deal breaker for me personally as I enjoy flying so much!

Of course there are going to be people who do stupid stuff, and unfortunately it probably is only a matter of time before someone does something really stupid but I suppose we, as responsible pilots, should be trying to inform people of what they should and should not be doing and politely tell someone if they are doing something wrong/illegal.

I don't think Waypoint functionality has anything to do with flying the machine beyond line of sight. Its a very useful function to have. It would enable a one man operator to much more easily capture images/video whilst the craft tracks along a programmed route.

I would be very disappointed if DJI choose not to implement it.
The idiot that flew the drone near Heathrow was more than likely flying within line of sight, as were other stupid flights around football stadiums reported recently. The fact is, its the ease of use that has put this technology into the hands of the uneducated (in terms of modelling rules/regs).

I don't understand the Phantom 2 vision has ground station, and DJI also sells ground Station for the iPad, so I think it would be foolish not to include ground station for the inspire 1.I don't know why DJI needs to worry about laws in different countries, it should be up to the owner to be responsible enough to know what he can and cannot do in his own country or state. After all this is not the most dangerous toys  or hobby out there.
I believe that the media is made the word drone a dangerous word, in fact when you tell someone that you have a drone the first thing they ask is do you need a license for that? Is that legal to fly?  As if it was some sort of flying death machine.

I've seen YouTube videos showing ground station on the inspire 1 are you saying it's been removed?

I to am going through the process of getting CAA permissions for aerial work in the Uk. This is obviously quite an investment in both time and money. What I really can't understand with the CAA rules for drone flying in the UK is why if you want to use them commercially you have gain the permissions, get adequate training, pass theory and practical tests, supply an operations manual, register your equipment, adhere to strict rules, have third party insurance in force and have accountability for your actions etc etc. If your not using them commercially you can basically fly around in exactly the same airspace, posing exactly the same risks but with none of the above!!! I think the time will come when every drone pilot will have to have some form of training and permission as there are not many other vehicles available that you can use in public that don't require a license and insurance. I can't  really see why UAV's should be any different. I would have thought it much less likely that operators will fly irresponsibly or recklessly if their UAV's are at least registered so they could be traced in the event of an incident.

In many countries like mine, the drone does NOT need to be in a direct LOS
And I assume that that is why DJI made Inspire have a control range of over a mile, which is beyond LOS
I would love it if the Inspire has the waypoint system so I can send the drone away to autonomously fligh and i just focus on the camera.
I believe that by not placing waypoint feature in Inspire, DJI has fallen back from the standards of drones, standards that DJI itself has raised to become so high.


Furthermore, about the idiot who flew over Heathrow , he had obviously not used waypoint system because drones, or at least the ones made by the most known drone sellers, can't fly within a few miles from Heathrow with GPS lock. So I don't see how the idiot is relevant to the waypoint system.
I hope that DJI will reconsider its decision and place waypoints in the Inspire.

leesutterby@hot Posted at 2014-12-15 04:57
I to am going through the process of getting CAA permissions for aerial work in the Uk. This is obvi ...

I think you are correct leesutterby.
At the very least a formal registration of the machine may be the best option.
This would make it possible for every operator to be traced.
I'm thinking along the lines of a car logbook so the info is there even when a machine is sold or moved on.
Also in answer to some points raised by others.
I didn't intend to imply that the use of "waypoint" was a must have for the "worrying trend" observation.
Further on regarding inclusion or lack of this feature.
From what I can make out aspects of waypoint seem to be incorporated within the Inspire app.
I believe course lock is still included and "Dynamic Home lock" which if I have understand correctly.
Allows you to keep changing its position on the app display.
Not right on the button, but lets call it a compromise.
In this age of constant litigation I would imagine DJI have to be very careful as to what is included.
So often you hear about a person doing something really stupid cos they didn't think.
Turning round and blaming someone else because they hadn't been stopped from pulling out the safety pin.

powerhs Posted at 2014-12-15 04:38
I don't understand the Phantom 2 vision has ground station, and DJI also sells ground Station for th ...

I agree, DJI should honour their initial statement about including waypoints in a future release. It seems odd that you can get more functionality out of the next model down in the range.