Knowing Yourself

Not only does your drone have to be in good condition to fly, make sure you are physically and mentally ready to safely operate your drone. Sickness, stress, and medications can affect your ability to safely fly and respond to unplanned situations. Stress, fatigue and dehydration can all affect your flying abilities. Drugs and alcohol, including some over the counter medications, can have a detrimental effect on decision-making and hand-eye co-ordination needed to safely fly your drone. To that end, drone pilots cannot consume alcohol 12 hours before flying their drone or be under the influence of alcohol or any drug that impairs the pilot’s faculties while flying their drone.

I’M SAFE is a checklist acronym used by pilots everywhere and is a quick check you can use to make sure you’re in top shape to fly your drone. If you answer yes to any of them then you are likely unfit to fly your drone and should think about flying another day.