Assaulted Drone Pilot, SkyeBrowse Update, PSA on Flying Near Wildfires, and DJI Mountain Bike

We have three stories for you this week: an assaulted drone pilot wins in court, Skydio releases a new update, and our yearly PSA about drone flying near wildfires. Let’s get to it!

Drone Pilot Wins Court Case After Assault

A drone pilot won a court case after being assaulted during a property shoot in Tucson, Arizona. Zach Zywiak, a real estate photographer, was attacked by a neighbor while operating his drone. The court ruled in his favor, dismissing the neighbor’s claim and focusing on the physical assault from the neighbor.

The person who attacked him claimed that Zywiak harassed him first. I actually read Zywiak’s Facebook post detailing the whole thing, but the judge had a hard time believing that someone who was hired to film a million-dollar listing would actually go out of their way to assault a neighbor.

Following the incident, Zywiak said that he implemented new safety measures, including wearing a drone operator’s vest and using a 360-degree camera. He actually took the neighbor to small claims court, which I have to say, the neighbor has to think that he’s lucky. This could have been a much larger settlement for the drone pilot if it had gone to a higher court.

It’s unfortunate that these things happen, but we’re seeing more of these reports. Make sure that you do what Zywiak did, which is to have a 360-degree camera recording when you’re flying, just so you have proof in case something happens.

SkyeBrowse Announces Major Updates to 3D Modeling Platform

SkyeBrowse has announced major updates to its 3D modeling platform, significantly enhancing the speed and quality of the models. The update includes a 40% boost in loading speeds and improved interior mapping capabilities. With SkyeBrowse, you can quickly process complex interior spaces from very short videos rather than having to upload hundreds of photos to the website.

The platform now supports 8K, 4K, and 2K textures depending on the subscription tier you’re using. If you’re not familiar, SkyeBrowse is used by multiple verticals in this industry, including law enforcement, real estate, and emergency services. By making 3D models more efficient and accessible than using a lot of different photos.

Yearly PSA: Don’t Fly Drones Near Wildfires

Now it’s time for our yearly PSA regarding flying drones near wildfires. The shortest way to say this is: don’t be that guy. More seriously, if you fly your drone near Wildfire operations, they will stop their operation, potentially leading to more acres burned, houses burning down, and even lives lost.

Illegal drones disrupted firefighting efforts last week in two different places. One was a brush fire in Del Mar Heights, California, on June 25th. These operators forced a delay of three water drops, potentially worsening the fire. Authorities identified one individual launching the drone during the operation. It’s not clear at this stage if any charges were filed, but the fire burned 23 acres, enforced evacuation, and was only 50% contained by the next morning.

Another similar story was reported out of Oregon in the Upper Applegate fire in Jackson County, three days before that. So again, don’t be that guy.

Closing Thoughts

Yes, I know DJI released an e-bike. I love mountain biking, but this is not really something that we’re going to be covering on this channel. What would you like to see DJI make next? An electric fryer? Laundry basket? Speedboat? Let me know in the comments.

That’s it! I hope you had a good 4th of July. No live on the community today, but have a great weekend, and we’ll see you on Monday for the live.