Can drone pilots legally fly over people under Part 107 without a waiver and what does Category 3 approval actually change?

In this episode of Your Drone Questions. Answered, host Chris Breedlove welcomes back Benton Szejk from Wingtra to break down the current state of operations over people in 2025. They cover what’s allowed under Part 107 today, how Category 3 works, and why Wingtra’s fully integrated parachute system is a major milestone for professional drone operations.

The conversation also dives into Wingtra’s latest payload announcements, including ultra-high-resolution inspection capabilities, real-world use cases like airport runway inspections, pavement crack detection, and how AI-ready data is transforming surveying and infrastructure workflows.

Topics covered include:

• What Category 3 operations over people really mean
• How Wingtra achieved waiver-free approval under Part 107
• Practical use cases in urban, infrastructure, and public-asset mapping
• New Wingtra payloads and inspection workflows
• Where drone regulations may be heading next

Learn how these advancements impact mapping, surveying, and inspection professionals working in complex, populated environments.

https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/operations_over_people

https://uasdoc.faa.gov/listDocs?docType=oop

https://wingtra.com/

Have a drone question for a future episode? Submit it at ydqa.io.

In this week’s episode of Your Drone Questions. Answered, host Chris Breedlove sits down with Stefan Hrabar of Emesent to unpack one of the most important emerging technologies in the drone world: SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping).

What exactly is SLAM?
How does SLAM LiDAR differ from traditional LiDAR systems?
Can SLAM work without GPS?
And—most importantly—how can drone pilots, mapping professionals, and service providers actually use SLAM-based payloads in real-life missions?

Stefan talks about:

• His robotics and autonomy background—from early USC drone research to global deployments
• How SLAM evolved inside Australia’s CSIRO labs
• The origins of Emesent and the development of the Hovermap system
• The difference between visual SLAM, LiDAR SLAM, and mixed-sensor approaches
• Why SLAM is becoming essential for GPS-denied environments
• Real-world use cases: underground mining, bridge inspections, cell towers, indoor scans, stockpiles, and more
• How modern SLAM payloads integrate with platforms like the Freefly Astro and DJI enterprise drones
• New capabilities such as autonomous exploration, waypoint-based scanning, and constrained SLAM with RTK or control points

🔗 Learn more about Emesent:
https://emesent.com

Search #Hovermap on LinkedIn to see real-world missions & customer workflows.

Have a question you'd like answered on a future episode?
Visit YDQA.io or email chris@dronelaunchacademy.com
.

In this episode of Your Drone Questions. Answered, we’re diving into one of the most in-demand (and misunderstood) drone inspection niches out there: cell tower inspections.

Today’s question is this:

👉 What are the real keys to success for drone pilots who want to work in the telecom inspection world?

To tackle this topic, we are joined by Hunter Ardrey, a drone industry veteran who has spent years flying structural, utility, renewable energy, and telecom missions across the southeast.

Together, we break down:

🔹 The scale of the telecom inspection industry
🔹 What rads (antenna arrays) are and why they matter
🔹 How digital twins are captured and delivered
🔹 What equipment is (and isn’t) used in real-world tower work
🔹 Manual vs automated tower-capture workflows
🔹 Accuracy requirements and image-quality standards
🔹 How tower work compares to inspecting other infrastructure
🔹 Whether new pilots can still break into this niche today

Hunter also shares an honest look at the current state of the telecom market, including pricing pressure, big-player consolidation, and practical paths for new pilots who want to build skills and get experience.

If you’ve ever wondered how cell tower inspections actually work — or whether this niche makes sense for your drone business — this episode lays it all out.

Have a question you want answered on the show?
📩 Submit anytime at YDQA.io or email chris@dronelaunchacademy.com

In this week’s episode of Your Drone Questions Answered, brought to you by Drone Launch Academy, host Chris Breedlove sits down with Kayla McCoy of Wilkes County Soil & Water Conservation District in North Carolina to explore unexpected and innovative ways thermal drones are transforming conservation work.

From monitoring rotational grazing systems and improving soil health policies to detecting hotspots in poultry composters and even locating hidden streams through dense foliage, Kayla shares real-world examples of how drones are revolutionizing agriculture and environmental management.

You’ll learn:
🚜 How thermal imaging supports sustainable farming and water quality initiatives
🌾 The data-driven discoveries that helped change state policy
🐔 How drones improve biosecurity and efficiency in poultry operations
💧 Why thermal sensors outperform standard cameras for detecting water flow

If you’re curious about new frontiers in drone mapping and thermal imaging, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss!

https://www.wilkesswcd.org/

Welcome to Your Drone Questions. Answered from Drone Launch Academy. Host Chris Breedlove sits down with Tom Searing (Seiler GeoDrones) to tackle a hot late-2025 question: Can U.S. operators finally run a truly American-made, NDAA-friendly, end-to-end LiDAR stack—from airframe to sensor to workflow?

What you’ll learn:

• What “end-to-end” LiDAR actually looks like for U.S. teams (airframe → payload → planning → processing → export)
• A quick tour of Flux payload options (H1 / O1 / L1) and when each makes sense
• How the Flow app simplifies setup, status checks, processing, and exporting in the field
• Mission-planning notes (calibrations, overlaps, orthogonal passes) and why dual-antenna GNSS matters
• Cost model highlights: Flow is included with the sensor (no annual software fee), plus an optional Verizon Hyper Precise RTK subscription if you want always-on RTK; PPK remains viable
• Field-friendly data handling: scan, verify a quick point-cloud render on the tablet, export LAZ/LAS, and go
• Availability & demand outlook as we head toward early 2026 ramp-up

Connect with Tom and check out Freefly Flux:
https://freeflysystems.com/flux

https://freefly.gitbook.io/astro-public/other-user-manuals/freefly-payloads/flux-lidar-payload

tsearing@seilerinst.com

https://www.seilergeodrones.com/

Have a question for a future episode?
Send it in and we’ll tackle it on the show: chris@dronelaunchacademy.com
or visit ydqa.io.

In this episode of Your Drone Questions Answered, Drone Launch Academy founder David Young steps in to explore how drones are reshaping high school education across the U.S.

David breaks down what Career and Technical Education (CTE) means, how industry-recognized credentials work, and why more states are adding the Part 107 drone license to their official CTE credential lists. You’ll learn:

• Which states are already funding drone programs for students
• How schools are building full drone technology pathways (like North Carolina and Florida)
• What kind of real jobs high school grads can get with a Part 107 license
• And how drone classes are helping students stay engaged and even graduate

Whether you’re an educator, parent, or drone enthusiast, this episode will open your eyes to how drones are preparing the next generation for tech-driven careers.

Check out our Drone Launch Learning website to see how you can incorporate drones in your high school: https://dronelaunchlearning.com/

In this week’s episode of Your Drone Questions. Answered, host Chris Breedlove sits down with Will Dawson, attorney and founder of the Agricultural Drone Initiative (ADI), to explore how new federal policies could shape the future of agricultural drone use in the U.S.

Will shares his journey from growing up on a seven-generation farm in Virginia to leading national advocacy for smarter drone regulations. Together, they unpack the ongoing DJI policy debate, the misconceptions around drone bans, and what these changes could mean for farmers, manufacturers, and policymakers alike.

You’ll learn:

• Why ADI was created to bridge the gap between farmers and lawmakers
• The real number of agricultural drone operators in the U.S.
• How the 2025 NDAA and DJI restrictions could affect drone availability
• What buyback programs and American-made alternatives like Hylio might look like
• How smarter drone policy can protect both innovation and national security

👉 Learn more about the Agricultural Drone Initiative at https://agdroneinitiative.org/

👉 Submit your questions for future episodes at ydqa.io or email chris@dronelaunchacademy.com

Welcome back to Your Drone Questions. Answered, brought to you by Drone Launch Academy!

This week, we’re diving into a listener-suggested topic: GNSS post-processing services. If you’re flying mapping missions and need to establish accurate base station coordinates for your PPK (post-processed kinematic) workflow, services like OPUS and Trimble CenterPoint RTX can be game-changers.

In this episode, I break down:

• What GNSS post-processing services are and why they matter for drone pilots
• A comparison between OPUS (NGS/NOAA, U.S.) and Trimble CenterPoint RTX
• Logging best practices (intervals, duration, and timing of uploads)
• Key limitations, including constellation support and receiver compatibility
• Practical advice on when and how to use these services in your workflow

We’ll also touch on how these tools compare to other correction methods like RTK networks, and why understanding what’s happening “behind the scenes” is valuable when evaluating cloud-based processing platforms.

🎧 For more background on RTK vs. PPK workflows, check out Episode 101 of the show.

🔗 Resources mentioned in this episode:
https://geodesy.noaa.gov/OPUS/

https://trimblertx.com/Home.aspx