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Posts tagged “safety”
2026-07-17
Belgium's Drone Enforcement Report 2026 — What It Means for Certified Pilots
Belgium's aviation authority has published its 2025 enforcement data — unauthorized light shows, a drone at 500 m, and flights without required authorization. How these three violation types turn into a checkable pre-flight list.
- regulation
- eu
- safety
2026-07-14
Drones on Everest: how DJI's cargo flights rewrote the deadliest climb
A ladder falls from the sky over the Khumbu Icefall, and a small Nepali company's DJI drones are quietly taking the deadliest job in mountaineering out of human hands. The real story behind the eight-minute headline — the people, the physics, the economics, and what it teaches anyone who flies.
- drones
- latvia
- safety
2026-07-11
Drone critical battery warning and forced auto-landing: what it means and how to avoid it
The critical-battery threshold is not a fixed percentage — the controller estimates it from distance home, altitude and wind. We explain how the threshold works, why it catches pilots out, and how to plan a reserve so a forced landing is never a surprise.
- safety
- troubleshooting
- getting-started
2026-07-11
Drone home point not updating: how to set it and why it matters
The home point is not where you are standing — it is where the drone recorded it. If it stays stale or never gets confirmed, RTH will send the aircraft to the wrong place exactly when you need it most. Here is when the home point gets captured, why it goes wrong, and how to confirm it on every takeoff.
- safety
- troubleshooting
- getting-started
2026-07-11
Drone RTH not working: how return-to-home works and why it fails to trigger
RTH did not kick in exactly when it was needed — and that is almost always traceable, not random: a home point that was never recorded, no GPS lock at takeoff, a failsafe set to hover or land instead of return, or the function switched off outright. Here is how RTH actually works and how to check it before it matters.
- safety
- troubleshooting
- getting-started
2026-07-11
Drone Signal Problems in the City: Video Dropouts, Disconnects and Fixes
The video feed stutters, a weak-signal warning appears, then the link drops entirely — this happens far more often in the city than in open countryside. The cause is rarely a broken drone; it is the urban radio environment: crowded frequency bands, reflections and shadowing from buildings. Here is how to match the symptom to the cause and what to do about it.
- safety
- troubleshooting
- getting-started
2026-07-11
Weak or lost GPS signal on a drone: causes, ATTI mode and the fix
A drone shows too few satellites, drifts on its own, or suddenly drops into attitude (ATTI) mode — in most cases the receiver is not broken, the launch site and conditions are the problem. Here is what ATTI mode means for control, why the GPS signal weakens, and how to fix it before your next flight.
- safety
- troubleshooting
- getting-started
2026-07-10
Cinematic drone shots: the core moves and the mistakes that ruin them
Cinematic drone footage comes from a small repertoire of moves — the reveal, the push-in, the orbit, the tracking shot — flown slowly and planned before takeoff. Here is what each move communicates, where beginners ruin it, and where the Open category draws the line.
- photo-video
- filming
- getting-started
2026-07-10
Drone batteries in cold weather: why winter flights are shorter
Cold slows a lithium battery's chemistry, raises internal resistance and makes voltage sag under load — which is why a drone throws critical-battery warnings in winter even at a high indicated charge. Here is what happens in the cells and how to fly safely.
- batteries
- li-po
- safety
2026-07-10
Drone compass and IMU errors: symptoms, causes, and fixes
Most compass warnings come from the environment — rebar, cars, metal roofs — not from a broken drone. How to tell a compass error from an IMU error, when to calibrate, and when calibrating makes things worse.
- troubleshooting
- safety
- equipment
2026-07-10
Drone flew away: what to do in the first minutes and after
Most "flyaways" are not mysteries — they follow a few recognisable causes: a wrong home point, compass interference, wind or signal loss. Here is what to do in the first minutes, how to search using the last telemetry coordinates, and when the event must be reported to the CAA.
- safety
- troubleshooting
- getting-started
2026-07-10
The first mistakes that destroy beginner drones — and how to avoid them
Most first drones die to predictable pilot mistakes, not hardware: RTH set too low, a drained battery, an ATTI-mode drift. Nine mistakes — flying and legal — each with a concrete fix.
- getting-started
- safety
- latvia
2026-07-10
How to learn to fly a drone: from simulator to a confident first flight
You don't learn to fly a drone from cinematic videos — you learn it from a sequence of drills: simulator, empty field, a steady hover, the box pattern, nose-in flight. Here is a practical path from zero to a confident first flight.
- getting-started
- safety
- latvia
2026-07-10
What to bring to a drone flight: the kit and bag that don't end the session
Most aborted flights are lost at the car, not in the air — a dead spare battery, a forgotten cable, papers left at home. Here is a practical kit and bag to pack once and reuse every time, legal minimum for Latvia included.
- getting-started
- safety
- latvia
2026-07-08
Drones in Latvia's protected nature areas — the extra rule layer
The airspace map does not show the whole nature-protection permission layer. A practical reading of the extra rules enforced by the Nature Conservation Agency: height floors in Gauja and Ķemeri, a seasonal window at Pape, and when you need a permit.
- latvia
- airspace
- rules
2026-07-05
Drone weather briefing: how to read METAR and TAF and make the go/no-go call
Gusts decide the flight, not the average wind; at 100 m it blows harder than at the surface; the TAF tells you what happens in your window. A five-minute weather briefing with METAR/TAF, the 10 km Cb rule, icing, and a six-question go/no-go call.
- meteorology
- weather
- metar-taf
2026-07-05
Drones over Latgale: how to tell a lawful flight from a violation, and where to report one
From 4 to 12 July, planned military drone flights are running over the Latgale border area, and the Air Force is asking people not to worry. But how does an ordinary resident tell whether a drone overhead is allowed — and what do you do if it looks wrong? A short, practical guide: what makes a flight lawful, which signs are worth watching, and which number to call.
- latvia
- latgale
- airspace
2026-07-02
Drone battery safety: how to store, charge and fly Li-Po packs without wrecking them
The battery is the part of your drone that needs the most careful handling. Store it at ~50–60 %, not full and not flat; let it cool before charging; carry spares in the cabin only; retire swollen packs. And why all of it is on the A1/A3 exam.
- general-knowledge
- batteries
- li-po
2026-07-01
Human performance: are you fit to fly the drone right now?
The one A1/A3 subject that is about you, not the drone — and it is a legal duty on every flight. What UAS.OPEN.060(2)(a) says, why the open category has no alcohol limit, the IMSAFE self-check, and perception traps like empty-field myopia.
- regulations
- open-category
- human-performance
2026-06-27
The 72-hour rule: when you are legally required to report a drone incident
Most pilots don't know they are legally required to file an incident report within 72 hours after a serious event. Article 57 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 sets out when reporting is mandatory, when it is voluntary, and why doing it won't get you in trouble.
- regulations
- incident-reporting
- safety
2026-06-18
Night drone flights — what the EU open category allows
Can you fly at night in the open category? Yes — with an active green flashing light and VLOS maintained. A practical guide for pilots in Latvia.
- open-category
- regulations
- easa
2026-06-08
Latvia Ties Drone Fines to Turnover — 2026 Aviation Law Impact
Amendments to Latvia's Aviation Law in force from 18 February 2026 tie the heaviest legal-entity drone fines to company net turnover — up to 2 % or 7 %. What changed, the exact figures, and what commercial operators should do now.
- regulation
- latvia
- business
2026-06-08
Flying Near Latvia's 50 km Border Belt — How to Stay Legal in Daytime
Latvia enforced a night-time closure across a 50 km eastern border belt in September 2025. The restriction remains in force with changing hours and end-dates. Here is our practical reading of how to check the status, coordinate through BGKIS, and fly legally in daytime.
- airspace
- latvia
- regulations
2026-05-28
Latvia's Yellow and Orange Drone Alerts — What Pilots Need to Do
NBS has been sending cell-broadcast alerts in two tiers since 23 May 2026. Yellow informs about a possible threat; Orange means act immediately. Here is what each level means and our reading of it for drone pilots.
- operations
- safety
- latvia
2026-05-28
Rezekne, May 2026 — What Changed for Civilian Drone Pilots in Latgale
The Latgale operating picture shifted materially in May 2026. Errant military drones, temporary altitude caps, and mobile intercept teams on the ground — here is what changed and what it means for civilian pilots.
- operations
- safety
- latvia
2026-05-14
Drone pre-flight checklist — 12 checks before take-off
A practical pre-flight checklist without pseudo-precision — weather, zones, aircraft condition, documents, and abort logic before take-off.
- checklist
- safety
- operations