AtlantikSolar's 26 hour autonomous drone test flight - amazing technology!

Watch this video - very impressive!

The 26-hour solar-powered Search-and-Rescue flight performed by AtlantikSolar AS-3 from July 19th – 20th 2016 demonstrated exactly that, and is therefore the first-ever flight world-wide to combine:

• Perpetual flight: 26-hours of solar-powered day/night- and thus energetically-perpetual flight
• Full aircraft autonomy: No pilot stick moved within 26-hours of flight
• SaR payload: The aircraft carried a 10 Watt 300g payload (1 Color camera, 1 Thermal Camera, 1 ODROID onboard computer with WLAN) and performed victim detection from the air during day and night.
• Environment-aware: The aircraft performed automatic thermal updraft tracking for increased energetic efficiency and to speed up the battery recharge.

Article from SUAS News: Read full article here

I want my Mavic Pro!

Here is a copy of the email I got from DJI today:

Dear DJI Customer,

We owe you an apology for our delays in delivering the new Mavic Pro. We want to thank you for your patience and also advise that we are looking into improving our order process and systems, based largely on your feedback.

When we announced Mavic Pro and began accepting pre-orders, we expected to deliver the first units in mid-October. However, ramping up production to full speed at top quality took longer than planned. Prior to our scheduled shipping target, we encountered an issue integrating a part into the Mavic Pro. We resolved that within a week. On top of that, the excitement for the Mavic Pro beat our expectations. As a result, we are working diligently to ramp up production to meet the higher-than-anticipated demand for the Mavic Pro.

We have been shipping for nearly two weeks, but even with round-the-clock production, we unfortunately cannot give specific delivery estimates for many orders moving through various global sales channels because of this demand. For Mavic Pro orders received before November 3, 2016, we will do our best to clear them all within the next seven to eight weeks.

Some of you waiting for your Mavic Pro also expressed concern about our immediate billing of pre-orders. We've heard you and are examining potential alternatives with our payment provider.

DJI exists to put amazing technology and innovation into your hands, and we're sorry it's taking so long with Mavic Pro. Our internal systems haven't kept up with the enormous demand for our products, and your enthusiasm for our newest offering is spurring us to improve. We appreciate your understanding and are doing everything we can to get Mavic Pro to you as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

DJI

God, I hope I get this thing before Christmas!!
JS