Using Garuda Plex, you can review if the location you plan to fly is under any national airspace restriction.

Generally, flights close to airports, key installations, private property are prohibited.

Note that drone regulations differ from country to country. Thus, we suggest that you contact local aviation authority to verify if the location you plan to fly is considered as a restricted area.

It is important to have a pre-flight checklist that will prevent you from forgetting to perform a critical action.

A basic pre-flight checklist should include:

1. Checking of the UAV’s physical condition
2. Securing the UAV battery and loose components
3. Ensuring sufficient battery for the transmitter
4. SD card is inserted into your recording device
5. Good GPS coverage
6. No abnormal warnings or indication from the UAV

• You should note where you plan to fly beforehand and follow the plan as close as possible.
• You should have line-of-sight (LOS) throughout the flight especially when flying close to any obstructions. It is also critical to know how high the obstructions are and plan to fly above them.
• You should not plan to fly around and above people. Unforeseen flight hazards can occur at any time and you are ultimately responsible for the safety of yourself and others.
• You should always check the weather forecast in advance. When encountering inclement weather or windy conditions, it’s best to pack up your equipment and wait for calmer skies.

We highly recommend you to recover the UAV immediately rather than trying to remedy the situation while the UAV is still in the air.

It’s always safer and better to analyse the situation before flying again.

It is important to archive a set of flight logs of your piloting experience as well as the usage of your UAV.

The data collected in the logs should have all essential information about your UAV platform, flight time, battery used, location and weather condition.

With the flight logs, you can perform post-flight analysis of the previous flights if it is necessary.

For first time/novice multirotor pilots, we strongly recommend that you learn how to fly in an open space which has no obstructions such as trees and buildings.

There are three important things to take note of before you fly:

1. Mark out a take-off/landing zone. The diameter of the take-off/landing zone is approximately 5-10 times the size of the drone.
2. Decide an appropriate piloting position. Find a position more than 5m away from the edge of the take-off/landing zone which allows you to have a full line-of-sight view of the area of interest.
3. Identify wind direction prior to take-off. You have to input commands to counteract any drift in position caused by the wind.

Generally, it should be flat. Grassy areas are ideal but asphalt or other hard surfaces (non-rocky) are also feasible.

Most multirotors today that are fitted with a flight controller and GPS antennas are capable of returning to ‘home’ by itself.

It is important to ensure that the recorded home point is an open space which is free from obstruction.

Planes can be launched by hand, catapult or take-off run.

We recommend that you launch your plane against the wind in order to reduce take-off distance and ground velocity that it needs to attain before lifting off.

Generally, the ‘runway’ should be flat. Hard surfaces or well trimmed grass surfaces are better for wheel planes whereas grass is preferred for belly landing planes.

In an emergency situation, you should fly your drone back to ‘home’ as soon as possible and plan for an immediate recovery.

Take note of the wind direction and plan your final approach by flying into the wind.

If you think that you are unable to steer the drone back to the runway, you should look for an area that is accessible, clear of people and property in order to perform a force landing in that area.