A bit about me and my intentions

I run a publishing firm with various divisions and one of them is our V.P.C. Aerial Drone Division. I'm half partner and we're based in California. I'm stationed in Johannesburg, South Africa because our key client is here.. the South African Police. Specifically, the Linden branch which is 2 blocks from where I stay.

I own 4 Inspire 1 v2's.. the 2016 specifications. One of them was shot out the sky by a pellet gun sniper.. one of my asshole neighbours who must have perceived my flights as an invasion of his privacy. He clearly had a loaded pellet gun ready, waiting for me to routinely fly out of my driveway on a Sunday afternoon.. then he aimed at the motor and missed and hit the prop. Same effect. Even 10m and taking off was enough to cause eye watering damage. It will take a while for that unit's airborne again.

This raises a question that the CAA will ask, about redundancy. So I'm thinking about offering the Police here in Johannesburg Matrice 600's with Zenmuse XT thermal setups, but I might need to modify them for range or a base station (control room) setup. I'd love to start a discussion about all that right here. See where it goes, and thank you in advance.

I was thinking about constructing a custom array and mounting it on a mast-pole. Mono-directional antennae can boost linear range, but limit the cone to 10' .. so on paper, a circular array of 36 mono-directional antennas should work the doddle. Maybe someone here can help me draw up the plans.. I have very high hopes. I just need to boost the 3km to 5km without having to stand there like a muppet hoping that I'm pointed in the right direction, because heaven forbid I sneeze and trigger a return to home.. even if I have to set up a net of routing stations, I'm open to suggestions.

I think that over half an hour flight times with moderate payloads such as the Zenmuse XT, gimbal and mountings.. that's tasty. I can work with that. The Matrice 600 seems capable, with the professional controller. It's very exciting.. I'd work closely with the CAA and the Department of Transport in creating guidelines and procedures and ensuring that all of their criteria are met to the letter. I'd like to present this to them as I've already demonstrated live streaming to them with the Inspire 1's.. they're very impressed with the fact that I can SMS the link to any officer on the ground and they can tune in, so to speak. The Matrice 600's with the thermal will just cause them to swoon.. they're really easy to please. They thought that the Inspire 1's were sexy.. if I present it properly, they won't know what hit them!

I have a contract, for a pilot project and it's using Inspire 1's.. I'd just asked them to put that on hold, as I'd like very much to present them with hexcopters instead, in lieu of being shot down yesterday afternoon. I just can't afford to have Zenmuxe XT's plummeting camera first into the ground. It's bad for business as aerial equipment cannot be insured here, or anywhere for that matter.

Anyway, that's me.

 

My apologies. I didn't realize that Freefly was a brand of aircraft. I'm a total noob here on your forum.

 

What are your thoughts on Teflon camouflage for the fuselage?

https://www.inverse.com/article/597...invisible-with-new-teflon-cloaking-technology