Opening Season Update: Early Recoveries, FAA Enforcement & Heavy Lift Case | The DroneOn Show Ep 65

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I'm excited to hop on again today and talk about some things because I feel like, well, we were on not even two weeks ago, I think, but so many things have changed. Not change, but happened since then. We're now into drone deep recovery season. I don't believe we were into that yet. It's been an insane season already with doing recoveries, but I think a lot of that has to do with the weather. The weather. The Ohio here has just been money. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Yep. [00:00:28] Speaker A: For deer hunting. How many recoveries have you done? [00:00:30] Speaker B: I've just done the two with you. [00:00:32] Speaker A: Okay. [00:00:32] Speaker B: I had. I had three other calls that I was gonna go do, but then they ended up. I think the one one found it then and the other one didn't call me back. So. Did. [00:00:41] Speaker A: Did he shop you on the drone de recovery pilot locator map? [00:00:44] Speaker B: No. No, he just called me. Was 20 minutes from the house and his nephew had shot one. He was just looking. He was basically. He was lining somebody up for later that night. [00:00:52] Speaker A: Okay. [00:00:53] Speaker B: And then he was gonna go in with his nephew and see if he can shoot it. So I don't know. I'm. [00:00:56] Speaker A: There's a guy that called me the other night, actually. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Never asked about price. Close. [00:01:00] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's good. Close to Beach City. I was going to have you see if you wanted to do it, but he had somebody else do it. Kevin, there's a lot been happening on your side, building AI bots to keep this business expanding. Has it been working out for you? [00:01:15] Speaker C: It's been right. It's been really good. Yeah. Our team, I feel like we've added two kind of AI teammates to the team this week. [00:01:22] Speaker A: Have you started giving them names? Because I seen it in Slack. It's like this. Frankie. I'm like, bro. Who's Frankie? [00:01:28] Speaker B: Just hired him yesterday. Just made him yesterday. [00:01:31] Speaker C: He already is performing pretty well. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Like, does he have, like, is he white? Is he. [00:01:36] Speaker C: It doesn't really have a personality. Doesn't really have. He just has a job. He just works a workaholic. It's like, that's. That's what we like. [00:01:46] Speaker A: If you were to guess how many other people in the spray drone thermal drone business are utilizing AI agents because using AI like ChatGPT to, you know, make a flyer or something like that, that's. That's one thing. [00:01:59] Speaker C: But yeah, I think agents only have. I think only a month is like when they've kind of hit and not even mainstream. Like, you used to have open claw and all of these. Like, you had to buy a machine and always have it on and it was like, it was hard. [00:02:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:15] Speaker C: And now like in the last month there's agents that are easy. Like, like Facebook has one. [00:02:20] Speaker A: Is that, what's that little puffy looking thing? [00:02:23] Speaker C: Muse. [00:02:24] Speaker B: One of them. [00:02:24] Speaker C: Grock is another. And instinct is a third. And they're all easy to do now. It's so easy. [00:02:30] Speaker A: Let me correct something. I don't think it's called AI anymore. Isn't it? Si. [00:02:34] Speaker C: It's, it's so dumb. I, I, I know that's not the point of this podcast, but how Dumb is like SpaceX or, or Xai now you have to rename like it's just so dumb. [00:02:45] Speaker A: I, oh, so it's now xsi like [00:02:48] Speaker C: Elon said he's going to change the name of it. Yeah. SpaceX. Si. What are we doing? [00:02:53] Speaker A: Okay, you're not into. [00:02:54] Speaker C: It's just pointless. [00:02:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it's pointless. It's not like the product changes that much the same thing, but yeah, just [00:03:00] Speaker A: a different but it's super. It's super intelligence. It's not artificial anymore. It's super. We posted our FAA inspection video. People, not everybody, but some people in there called the inspection fake. Did you, did you guys not a [00:03:18] Speaker C: month ago or whatever? [00:03:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:03:20] Speaker C: There, there were a couple people said this, this is not real. [00:03:23] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, you, you guys own part of this company. You went through an FAA inspection that people call fake. What, what do you have to say to that? [00:03:32] Speaker C: Like, yeah, I, I'm assuming those people did not watch the whole video. I mean I don't know how you can think it's fake. [00:03:37] Speaker A: Well, they're saying that they didn't have like FAA government suits on. [00:03:42] Speaker C: One of them had a different, like slightly different logo on his shirt. [00:03:46] Speaker B: Oh my goodness, these people. [00:03:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:49] Speaker A: Well I thought you're gonna come back with something like we could show them the letter that they sent us after the fact like that, that we were throwing a friggin curveball. Like we thought you and inspectors are probably watching this but bro, we could at least talked about, hey, this is the procedure. You're going to get a certified letter saying these are things you need to change. None of that. Just 30 days later we get this letter that's an official letter that here are the things you need to do better and Yep. [00:04:21] Speaker C: Yeah, that was really surprising. Very surprising. And again it's good because we're learning like for our first ever like FAA inspection. So we're learning and now it's like we know how to help other People like expect. But we learned all not even enforcement, just like recommendations or coming under, you know, your 44807. They never talk about that in person is what we were told. [00:04:43] Speaker A: Right. Yep. [00:04:44] Speaker C: It's only via an enforcement. [00:04:46] Speaker B: It's like, it's like they have to prove to the government or their bosses that they actually did something. [00:04:52] Speaker A: Yes. You know, by paper. Yeah. [00:04:55] Speaker B: The way. [00:04:55] Speaker A: So they can track it better. Yeah, we did go out there and talk to them. Well, is it on paper if it's not on paper? No, you didn't. [00:05:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:01] Speaker A: So. [00:05:01] Speaker C: And that also starts a 30 day compliance timeline that we have to then go do those things. [00:05:06] Speaker B: Yep. Yep. [00:05:07] Speaker A: So do you remember the conversation we were having with those guys about heavy lift? Heavy lift referring to picking things up with a drone, moving it to a different location. And both of those guys thought that you should be able to do it, but they don't quite know how to be able to do it. [00:05:28] Speaker C: And they both had slightly different ways that they would try to get. [00:05:31] Speaker A: They. They both have that. Well, I would take this angle to try to get it. We had one of them send us, hey, maybe this is a way you can do it. But the other helicopter pilot, he thought we could do it under a 133. I never got anything from him. It's so typical. [00:05:49] Speaker B: It probably as soon as he. [00:05:51] Speaker A: Yeah, you just park it. That's. That's what we figured out. The FA doesn't know how to do something. The best solution to that, you know, situation is just park it. [00:06:01] Speaker B: Don't. [00:06:02] Speaker A: Don't work on it or anything. I'm just going to pick on him a little bit because by now people have probably watched the, you know, that video we put out yesterday and I knew we were going to get called out for clickbait and that those. That's the whole point is. Hey, I know we haven't been sharing about the potential faa. What is that called? Not a citation. [00:06:25] Speaker C: Enforcement. [00:06:26] Speaker A: Enforcement. The. The enforcement action that has been in the works here at New and Drone derecovery for almost three years. Right. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Has it been that long? [00:06:34] Speaker A: I think it's going on. I think it's for sure to. For sure. Two going on three years and we've never like we talked about it. We've hinted about it on the podcast. I may have mentioned it a couple times in a video, but the video that went out on New AG yesterday, you know, had myself in handcuffs. Say what you want about the thumbnail. It worked. You clicked on it. But it's like it's bringing out a little bit of what we have been dealing with and what the outcome might be, which is at this point, the FAA wants to take my remote pilot's license. And that's. That's in. That's because we negotiated the pilot's license or the remote pilot's license because originally they were wanting to take my private pilot's license. [00:07:20] Speaker C: Make it make sense. [00:07:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, you know, make that I use to fly airplanes. [00:07:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:25] Speaker B: Nothing to do with. [00:07:25] Speaker C: Because of something you did while you were flying a drone, which is unsafely lifting a piece of wood. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Yep, Yep. [00:07:32] Speaker C: So let's take away your private pilot's license, but let you continue to have your drone license and. Yeah. Okay. [00:07:40] Speaker A: So most people that are listening to this podcast probably watch that video and some people that are listening to this podcast did not watch that video and don't know what we're talking about. But basically it's, you know, the faa, there was a report filed. Like, the FAA doesn't normally go out with binoculars and look for heavy lift drones, you know, flying over rural America on private lands looking for those people that are picking up irrigation tires or generators or deer flying from the woods to their back, you know, truck. They're not doing that. But what they do have to do is when somebody reports it because it was posted on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook is. The FAA has a duty to do an investigation and then determine what rules or violations you. We knew when we posted that stuff that this is possibly scrutiny. But we also knew that the FAA doesn't know what we have to do in order for it to be legal. Because remember the conversation I was having with you guys is they called me and they're like, you can't do this. Then I asked the question, well, why can't I? And they said, well, we don't know, but we just know you can't. But then I also asked for permission, like, who can I talk to in order to be able to do this? They're like, we don't know. We just know you can't do it. Is that typical in the government, you think? [00:09:07] Speaker C: It's so sad. [00:09:08] Speaker B: I don't know. Yeah, it probably is. If it's not in their little box here. I mean, we just don't know how to do it. [00:09:13] Speaker C: And their little box is so full, like it takes six months to do the thing that they know how to do that do every time before. For 807, part 137 and numbers, that process takes six months. So you got something that comes out outside of that box how. I mean, the amount of time it takes to dig in and write the rules and whatever. It's just like, well, we have a huge stack of papers on the stuff we do know how to do. It's not an excuse for it, but I understand how they can. It's easy just to park it. Just park it. Yeah, but the FAA was supposed to originally be the agency that helped commerce. [00:09:48] Speaker B: Happened. [00:09:49] Speaker A: Commerce. [00:09:50] Speaker C: It was not their primary mandate. Was not safety. It was, it was helping commerce. [00:09:56] Speaker A: Yeah. So I, I brought that up to her attorney and she said, yes, that is, that is a fact. But there was a airliner crash back in the 70s, I believe. The 70s. And that mentality of the FAA position is to do commerce. Yeah, switched and is more about safety. You know, safety don't kill people. Yeah, but she said that the FA's stance is they do in this drone space. They do have to still do the, the commerce thing like that. That's what. But the problem is, is they're, they're h. They have the safety all the way up here and they're scared to move the. The commerce up. Makes sense with all drones. That being said, Amazon is just ripping with these drone deliveries. Why do you think it. It's making mainstream news right now that all these deliveries in Texas. Did you see that? [00:10:58] Speaker B: Well, I just seen something the other day that how many, like 25 states are suing Amazon or something like that? [00:11:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:04] Speaker B: Because of drone. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't know why. [00:11:07] Speaker A: That's what I'm trying to get at is like, why try to make this a national thing right now about drones being used to deliver your, you know, $5Amazon box or something? There's a reason behind it. Is it to try to slow down this industry that is now starting to gain steam? Because it doesn't quite make sense to me. [00:11:28] Speaker C: I think it, I mean, maybe, I don't know. One perspective would be it just. It's something that's going to get clicks. Like if you're a news outlet, people are scared of drones. [00:11:36] Speaker B: But it is true, though, that there are states suing them. Why are they suing them? I don't, I don't know. [00:11:42] Speaker C: And there's. Well, yeah, and there's like, I was reading about townships and cities that are trying to prohibit flight above. I mean, we talked about this. [00:11:51] Speaker A: Oh yeah. Iowa. Iowa. [00:11:53] Speaker C: But outside of Iowa, even like municipalities. [00:11:55] Speaker B: Okay. [00:11:56] Speaker C: Like, trying to adopt the same thing and how it's worded is extremely. I mean, they have to be very careful how they word it, because they don't have jurisdiction and yet they do have jurisdiction for, for like spying and stuff like that. [00:12:08] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:12:09] Speaker C: So they can, they can dictate not if it's used or not, but how, how it's used. And so it's like nobody knows. And I think everybody's just grappling with the reality that there are going to be thousands of drones. [00:12:20] Speaker A: There are going to be thousands of drones flying around. [00:12:23] Speaker C: And, and I think also probably if the FAA like they look at all of these things and they say, well, part 108 is this huge lift that we're trying to get across the finish line. Yeah, this will solve everything. Let's not waste time on all this. You know, these things that get solved with 108. So we're probably not going to have anything until 108 actually comes out for heavy lift or like other things that we want to do. What do you think? [00:12:48] Speaker A: But, but as soon as, as soon as that flips, it's going to be like one day you can't do these things like take down a tree with a drone or fly a deer out. But then the next day, literally the next day, then you can. [00:13:00] Speaker C: Is that, I mean, is that actually how you think it's going to be? I think. [00:13:03] Speaker A: Well, they laid it out that a drone that lifts or maximum takeoff weight is under a certain poundage, then it can be. And according to the attorney that we've been having a conversation with believes that that's how it's going to be. Now it's going to take a while for the FAA to really have their ducks in a row or the roadmap. [00:13:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:26] Speaker A: To extra certificates or you know, added things that you have to put onto your 107 or is it just another certificate for one? I don't know all those details, but I do believe it will be a big change. It will be just like before 107. There used to not be a 107 where you could fly this M4T and get paid for it. There was some other exemption. You had to get an exemption to fly this and get paid. But then one day 107 came around and now there was a roadmap to how you could fly these drones and get. [00:13:59] Speaker C: And it's been a long time since I looked at the 108 stuff that was, that was proposed. But isn't there going to be like add ons to your like additional certifications you as a pilot need to get and then you're drone. [00:14:09] Speaker A: We were suggesting those things. [00:14:11] Speaker C: Okay. So not, not in the proposed language. [00:14:14] Speaker A: No. Remember, it had to do with different categories of how many humans are within that space of where the drone is flying. And then that category can shift immediately. If a school bus or something goes down the road, then you're already client. [00:14:31] Speaker C: Right then. [00:14:32] Speaker A: Yep. So that's why we were like, okay, we understand that you're trying to do this in categories, but instead of doing it in categories, do it in. We were saying higher levels of certificates that you hold. Like, I can fly a single engine airplane, but that doesn't allow me to fly a sea plane like that lands on water. I have to go get that rating. Or if I want to get a multi engine rating, I have to go get those things. I can't just hop in there and fly them around. So that's why I was saying that we, you know, Pilot Institute brought it up is let's just make it like you have your pilot's license, you add ratings to it. So, yeah, I'm not here to break down one away. What I'm saying is I do believe that it will get to a point where all these things that we're dealing with right now with the faa, the next day, it could be gone. [00:15:22] Speaker B: Yeah. It could be an issue. [00:15:23] Speaker A: Yep. [00:15:23] Speaker B: It no longer will be the exact same thing. We did not get in trouble. [00:15:26] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. Yeah. But because the FA says that there is no rule saying that you can do it, that means you automatically can't. Is. Is that how America was built? I'm just asking, right. I'm only 35 years old. I've not been around this country as long as some people that are 70. But is that how it's been? If we haven't told you how to do something, then automatically you can't do it. Take that with anything. If we haven't told you how you can paint a, a truck in this environment with this fan, with this, then, then, then that means you can't paint a truck. So just don't paint it until we tell you. You need a building with this many fans, you need to use this type of paint. Surely not. [00:16:12] Speaker B: No, I don't, I don't know. [00:16:13] Speaker C: Well, like, okay, some things like kitchen inspections, like commercial kitchens, there's a way to do it and you got to do it this way to like, like, I know I have a friend who's starting a commercial kitchen and just to get the thing above the code, like it's $100,000 for a blower that correctly takes the air out and isn't a fire Risk. And, like, you need that for commercial kitchen. [00:16:34] Speaker B: Okay, okay. Okay. [00:16:35] Speaker C: For houses in the building code, you need, like, doors and egress windows and all that stuff. And probably, like, there was a point where you just build a house. [00:16:44] Speaker A: I mean, that's what. That's. That's my point. That you build a house. That's my point. So. But with the faa, with what we're experiencing. That is not the case. [00:16:53] Speaker B: What we're experiencing. They don't know what we should do to be able to do those things. [00:16:58] Speaker C: Yeah, they don't want to just let us do it. Right on. Yeah. [00:17:01] Speaker B: Right. Yeah, that's what they do. [00:17:02] Speaker C: Okay, so do it. [00:17:03] Speaker B: Until we figure out this is how you. [00:17:05] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. [00:17:06] Speaker C: Think of, like. Like in the medical world, like HEPA or whatever. Like, there's these really strict things on how to share your medical history, and if you're a medical provider, there's all this additional scrutiny and, like, you have to really safeguard. And I'm guessing that before that it was pretty loose at some point. It was pretty loose. There was probably a big, like, you know, stealing millions of. Then they probably made rules that made it. So now I would imagine, like when we were speaking to the attorney the other day, attorneys can't just use AI and plug it in. They can't do it because of how that stuff goes to the server, and it's just not. [00:17:42] Speaker A: Yeah, you're actually sharing private information. [00:17:45] Speaker C: And so they have to. Somebody has to figure out how to create a private, you know, so it's compliant with the laws. [00:17:52] Speaker A: Yes. [00:17:52] Speaker C: So I think for attorneys, you can't do it until something gets approved. [00:17:56] Speaker A: Like, okay, so you're saying all civilians. If you're trying to fly something above the blade of grass, because the FAA says that they own the airspace above the blade of grass to space, then you can't innovate because that's also dumb. Without their permission. Meaning, like, if they haven't granted you permission to fly this heavy lift drone and pick up a water bucket, then you can't do it. It just seems it's. [00:18:24] Speaker C: I would not. Yeah. I do not disagree at all. I think the. The FAA would see it as though we have a program for that. It's called experimental or whatever. And. And you can get these, like, licenses to do testing. And we haven't been able to get one of those, but, like, a college or university has one of those, and that's where they want it to happen. So we're doing it outside of how they scoped it out. [00:18:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:45] Speaker A: Yep. [00:18:46] Speaker C: We don't have a college professor or whatever who's. [00:18:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And again, you know, like I said when I first started bringing this up, as we knew that it's going to ruffle some feathers and the truth is we're not the only people that are doing it, but we are the only people that are willing to openly share what we are doing. [00:19:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:03] Speaker A: Because I've talked to many heavy lift drone operators that do use their drone in practical ways to make things easier, but they're just not posting it on Instagram. And those people are going to be fine. It's the haters. It's the people that don't like when you are successful in business that are like, I don't like that Mike, you know, is doing good in business. Let's see if we can get the FA to slow them down. So that's, that's how I feel about it. Because, you know, there was one comment and I appreciate, appreciate the guy. He really, truly did write a small article on, in the comment section, but he's like, you know, this is good. You can't just go out and do whatever you want because you have 35000 subscribers or 36, 000 subscribers. That wasn't the point. It's not. The point isn't because we're this certain size that we can just go do these things. The point is that we're going to show it and we're going to try to make a roadway to get to the point where you guys can do these things. So that it's like, don't try to say we're reckless op when we're on private land. Everybody that was involved with that operation knew what was happening. To try to say, say this, it's, you know, you're being dangerous is so dumb. [00:20:20] Speaker B: It's absolute BS There, there was nobody else around. Yeah, like, it was not a danger to anyone. [00:20:26] Speaker A: No, no, it was not a danger to anyone. And I will say everything we did with a, with a drone has already been done with a helicopter. Removing a tree, hauling wildlife to the back of your truck, skiing, you know, with a drone. Those have all been done with helicopters. So to try to say that it's more dangerous or that we're being dangerous is just. You are being manipulated to think that if you fly this drone and it is not dispensing poisons, chemicals, poisons from the air, then you're being dangerous. What is more dangerous than dispensing poisons from the air that could, you know, blow around? I don't know, it's just. Can you tell I'm a little bit annoyed about it. [00:21:11] Speaker C: Yep. And it's really different to think of like. Like operating technically outside of the exemption is a different profile than operating dangerously. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:19] Speaker C: So it's. It's probably fair to say you're operating outside of your exemption. Like that would be a fair. [00:21:24] Speaker A: No, no, no, that's fair. [00:21:26] Speaker C: But to say it's dangerous, it's not one in the same. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. [00:21:30] Speaker C: You talked a little bit about helicopters. I don't know if we've talked about before, but it was probably a month or two ago. You remember there was a hiker that was killed in the Rocky Mountains. [00:21:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:21:40] Speaker C: And. [00:21:41] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Let's talk about that because we can talk about it when it was happening. We weren't allowed to talk about it. [00:21:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:47] Speaker A: A heavy lift operation. Go ahead. [00:21:48] Speaker C: Heavy lift operation. So really tragic, but a hiker died on the mountains and because of where the body was found. With a drone. The body was found with a drone. Yep. Then, like, to remove the body was very complicated, and to do it without endangering other people was almost impossible. And I don't know exactly the details, but you couldn't use a typical helicopter in the normal way that you would do it because the downwash from the blades for that heavy aircraft would have made it unstable or unsafe below. [00:22:20] Speaker A: Yep, yep. And so the normal procedure of using a helicopter to hoist something, which is usually they lower a human on a cable and then they get them and then bring them back up, that could. It couldn't be done safely. And so they wanted to use a drone because it made more sense and it could be done safer. [00:22:41] Speaker C: And the top, like, drone pilot in that space, like in the public safety search and rescue, the top one, Very connected to law enforcement and very connected to the faa. To the faa. Yeah. So connected to him. So. So DJI reached out to me and said, hey, we have this use case. They. An FC100A Flight 100 is what they need for the job. They don't have one. How do you feel about, like, giving them one of yours for the mission? And we're all about it. [00:23:09] Speaker A: Yeah. We were all hands on deck because it had to happen in a specific time. [00:23:14] Speaker C: It was like this impossible thing. But we were going to even charter a private plane, fly out there, take it to them. [00:23:22] Speaker B: It was on Labor Day. [00:23:23] Speaker C: It was on Labor Day. [00:23:24] Speaker B: It was on Labor Day weekend, like Friday night or something. [00:23:26] Speaker C: You can't do it any other way. But. But to see these Drones actually used in a real world case. Let's not talk about like the government expense fraction of the cost versus putting a helicopter up there and everything. [00:23:39] Speaker A: Yep. [00:23:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Oh, it would have been, it would have been way more cost effective. [00:23:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:43] Speaker A: So I'll lay it out a little bit more. This guy that's very well known in the search and rescue space, he already flies heavy lift drones. He flies a fly cart 30. [00:23:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:53] Speaker A: But the fly cart 30 was not, did not have the lifting capacity that was needed. And so the fly cart 100 would have been the perfect machine. Perfect machine to do this, this job. They had the connections with the faa, they had the connections with the local authority. The park was shut down. There was nobody else around. The FAA would not, would not grant them the authority to recover that body off of that mountain with a drone. Is an absolute shame. It is in any way you look at it from a safety standpoint to a cost standpoint, you, you just don't give a rip what anything costs because they did, they did end up rescuing or, or recovering that body with a helicopter. A huge helicopter with a, it's a different form that they normally use is like a very stiff cable to the point where it doesn't like blow almost like a rod to, to be exactly where the body was to get him off. So they did get him off the mountain. But can you imagine what that cost? [00:24:54] Speaker B: Hundreds of thousands probably. [00:24:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:56] Speaker C: Like just from a safety perspective, you have multiple people in the helicopter. It's less safe. [00:25:01] Speaker A: Yeah, but the, but, but you know, you know what I thought about, I wonder if the FAA found out that drone de recovery or New Way AG was involved with this potential situation and was like, gosh, if we, if we grant this for this rescue, then they have us in a corner on why can't we use it to pick up a tree and move it over here? So I, I wonder if that was a little bit to do with it. [00:25:25] Speaker C: It seems like you should even be able to do like an emergency, like random emergency authority. [00:25:31] Speaker B: Yeah, like that is so stupid. [00:25:32] Speaker C: It, it, it's really frustrating and it makes me question whether, you know, even for 108, how dumb would it be if in 108 the only heavy lift viable drones are blue list. Like, we don't know if that's going to be the case or not, but that's what we're hearing for heavy lift is if it's not a blue drone, it's not going to work. [00:25:50] Speaker A: So that blue list, just putting it on that blue list, it still freaks me out because those drones don't have the research and the flight hours that dji. [00:26:01] Speaker B: Did you guys see the stuff that they did? The Department of Homeland Security? [00:26:05] Speaker A: Yeah. They didn't want that coming out. [00:26:06] Speaker C: And they, they had it back then and they really. [00:26:09] Speaker A: Let's get context. Because if the people haven't seen it, [00:26:12] Speaker C: what is it, Jay? [00:26:13] Speaker B: So the Department of Homeland Security did an audit on all or not all drones, but a lot of drones. [00:26:18] Speaker A: Definitely this one DJI, Matrice 4T DJI [00:26:21] Speaker B: Matrice 30T, a Skydio and a parrot. [00:26:24] Speaker C: And the timeline is 2025, right? I think it's quarter four. 2025. [00:26:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:29] Speaker C: They're first doing the analysis of like leading up to DJI being safe or unsafe. It's in that context that this audit is done. [00:26:37] Speaker B: And they did it in New York at the Hudson Yards, which there's a lot of RF signal, like a lot of interference. And Matrice 4T, out of everything, it got a 4.6 rating out of five. Out of five. And the. The Skydio got a 3.6. [00:26:53] Speaker A: I thought it was two. [00:26:54] Speaker B: The Parrot got a 2.4. [00:26:56] Speaker A: Okay, so when we talk about the [00:26:58] Speaker B: cost difference this drone. So here's something stupid too. The government paid $12,800 or $12,900 for the matrice for. [00:27:05] Speaker C: You could buy it for. On Joan recovery.com for 7, 100. [00:27:09] Speaker B: Yeah, but that's just the government. They. Somebody's pat in their pocket. [00:27:12] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like 51 drones. He's like, I don't know, maybe they just like spending more money. [00:27:16] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's. [00:27:16] Speaker B: And then the next. The Skydio drone was 28 grand. [00:27:19] Speaker A: So it's almost. [00:27:20] Speaker B: It's not quite three times, but it's. It's between two and three times more expensive for a less capable. [00:27:25] Speaker C: And if you knew where to shop, it'd be four times. [00:27:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Yep. [00:27:27] Speaker A: But. But this just proves our point that we've been talking on our videos and on the podcast about how much better this technology from China is compared to the stuff in the States. That's coming from the gov. A government agency saying, hey, this is almost twice as good as what we have access to. So it's not coming from, you know, JJ. From New Ag or drone deer Recovery. That's coming directly from Department of Homeland Security. [00:27:58] Speaker C: And it was withheld from public information and it had no right to be with held. [00:28:02] Speaker B: They did not report that they even tested the dji. They said they tested other drones, but they never said they tested those drones [00:28:10] Speaker A: until hats off to the dude that got that leaked information. If you're listening to this podcast, highly unlikely. But if you are, reach out to me. I'd love to have you on the podcast. Because a dude like that could spew information that's just. [00:28:22] Speaker B: Yeah. It's mind blowing. [00:28:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:25] Speaker C: Okay. [00:28:25] Speaker A: All the time that we've been saying that this technology is that much better than what you know is being built right now. Don't just cut the supply off. Yes. Cut the new innovative stuff that's in China. Don't let that come. And then keep. [00:28:40] Speaker C: Let this stuff continue. [00:28:42] Speaker A: Yes. Let it fade out. [00:28:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:28:44] Speaker A: Let's getdo. Keep working for the next three years. Make it better. [00:28:47] Speaker C: We sold out of our M30TS Triste 30t beast of a drone and for two years, best drone money could buy in the thermal space. And now it's, it's, it's end of life. So, like, you know, this is better. The Matrice 5, nearly released in China, never will come here. Don't get your hopes up, but it makes me think the government for this drone, like, I saw that test, we should put it on the screen. Some of where that was docked, like points were docked. Was time to like, you know, time to deploy. You got to like open these arms. [00:29:21] Speaker B: They should have done the Matrice for td the weather. [00:29:25] Speaker C: So this thing, everything like a perfect score. The Matrice 4 TD would have gotten a perfect. [00:29:30] Speaker A: Perfect score. Yeah. [00:29:31] Speaker C: And where this shine the most against the other competitor drones were like, like camera quality, transmission. [00:29:38] Speaker B: It got a 4.9 for the regular camera, thermal camera, and the command and [00:29:43] Speaker C: control Link, and it's 4.9. Just because you don't want to give a perfect score. Let's be honest. [00:29:47] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:29:47] Speaker A: Like, well, it couldn't fly in rain, [00:29:51] Speaker B: but yeah, four TD could. [00:29:53] Speaker A: I know, I know, I know. I'm just saying that maybe if they would have used the 4 TD, then it would have got a perfect score. [00:29:58] Speaker B: It probably would. [00:29:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:59] Speaker C: But each of those components are being ranked. So like, yeah, you give the camera, it's a 4.9 instead of a 5 is just because I don't know why. [00:30:09] Speaker A: This is just a little shameless plug. If somebody's ever been thinking about buying a thermal drone for this price point, it clearly shows coming from the US government agency that did this study, you are nuts not to buy one of these things. [00:30:23] Speaker C: And it makes me like, from a business perspective or for any of our like thermal pilots out there, it makes you wonder, okay, the government is not doing what's best for the industry. Obviously. Right. [00:30:34] Speaker B: They're just doing what's best for the manufacturing industry in the United States. So that's it. Go Trump. It might not even be the best for them because they're going to be pushed to put out products. Oh, no, no, might not. [00:30:46] Speaker A: Yeah, well, yeah, we have already said that in the past. These, these companies are being put in a position that they're going to have to roll out, you know, products that they don't even want to because, yeah, the demand is forcing it. [00:31:00] Speaker B: It's definitely not good for the consumer. Yeah, like, yeah, the consumer is the one getting screwed. [00:31:05] Speaker A: FCC still hasn't responded. [00:31:07] Speaker B: Nope. [00:31:08] Speaker A: Has it? It's been 30 days since it closed second. So, yeah, we should look how rare that is that the FCC hasn't responded within 30 days. If they put out a public comment. I don't know if that's a, a thing that they do a lot where they put out to public comment. We want to ban this item, whatever it is, and then not respond in 30 days. [00:31:30] Speaker C: From the research that I did, to have 3, 800 comments come in, not uncommon for them to reply within 30 days would have been actually uncommon. Like that would have been. They're using some AI agents and they are cooking. Okay, well, that's probably not happening. [00:31:44] Speaker A: Okay. [00:31:44] Speaker C: And so I think. [00:31:46] Speaker A: So Kevin's opinion is if we don't [00:31:48] Speaker C: have it in the Next, like in 90 days after the comment period closed, then it's very unusual and something different is happening. That is not just. This is the routine of what it takes to go through stuff. [00:32:00] Speaker B: Okay, so sometime in the next two months. [00:32:02] Speaker C: Yeah, next season. [00:32:03] Speaker A: So. So let's say December 2nd or you're thinking later than that. [00:32:07] Speaker C: No. So that would be December 2nd. [00:32:09] Speaker A: Yeah, that's not that far. No, we'll be at November 2nd here soon for sure. [00:32:16] Speaker C: With 60 days. Is that 60 days all October 11th? Yeah, that's 60 days. [00:32:21] Speaker A: So it'll be January. January 2nd. [00:32:24] Speaker B: September 2nd was 30 days. [00:32:26] Speaker C: No, that was the start. [00:32:27] Speaker B: October 2nd. [00:32:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:28] Speaker B: Second. December 2nd. [00:32:29] Speaker A: Yeah, it'd be close. [00:32:35] Speaker B: We're not quite that dumb yet, but yeah, that. [00:32:39] Speaker C: That will be like the biggest filing. And then I think all this other stuff of DJI suing and all this other stuff, it's just, it's. [00:32:48] Speaker B: They're waiting until that comes out. [00:32:49] Speaker C: And I think there's nothing like. I feel there's probably no stopping this train. All that we can hope for is that there's a period of time that doesn't kneecap the industry. It's all that you can hope for at this. [00:33:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:03] Speaker A: There's no doubt that most people, 98% of people that have flown drones, drones in general, little baby camera drones to thermal drones, to spray drones. If they've operated a DJI system, they know how reliable it is and how well it works. They're buying more units to put in their fleet so their business can thrive for many years. I'm saying, you know, three, five, seven years. Who knows? We don't know because. Yeah. People ask me, how long does the spray drone last? I don't know because I've just upgraded to the next one. To the next one. But I do know that there's still T30 spray drones flying that drone. Is. Is that drone six years old already? [00:33:51] Speaker B: I think it's at least six, yeah. [00:33:53] Speaker A: So when they asked me that personal question, Mike, how long has the drone lasted for you? I. I'm not the guy to ask because I upgrade to the next new [00:34:01] Speaker B: thing, but I would say the ones that are out now are better, better built, better quality than anything that's ever been before. [00:34:09] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Like, we have to hype on that. Okay, so a guy in South Dakota, I believe, and I'm going to. I'm. I'm going to have him on the podcast. The dude in his first year spraying has. Is on the way to spray 40,000 acres with T100 by himself, that is. And two T1 hundreds now. He's never flown any other drone prior to this. You and I started with T40s. There were always just little quirky, dumb things. Like there's times when it would lose connection and it's sitting right in front of us within 800ft and it's lost connection. Or you have solenoids going out, or it would leak out of the atomizers because they had this stupid pressure thing that you had to do. This dude is ripping. He sprayed 15,000 acres with his T100 with not having any major issues. And he said something like, yeah, I had to replace the motor or something like that. It's like, dude, you sprayed a lot of acres. This stuff is going to wear out 100%. [00:35:13] Speaker B: It's like your car. You got to change the oil in that sucker every 5, 10,000 miles. [00:35:17] Speaker A: But what I'm saying is, is we now have such reliable machines that you just start using it and you get a lot of work done. And then all of a sudden, something small. [00:35:28] Speaker B: I seen a guy complaining about the T100. He had almost 10,000 acres on the drone, and he had to Replace a couple of the bottom motors. [00:35:36] Speaker A: That is insane. [00:35:37] Speaker B: I'm like, dude, you okay, let's say you made $12 an acre, which is [00:35:41] Speaker A: on the low end. No, that's 120,000. [00:35:43] Speaker B: You've made $120,000 with a $35,000 drone, and now you have to replace a $400 part and you're complaining. Holy smokes. [00:35:52] Speaker A: Yeah. That's ridiculous. That's what I'm trying to say is they have become so reliable. They are truly so cheap compared to anything else. [00:36:02] Speaker B: And like, the maintenance on them, it is peanuts. [00:36:05] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:05] Speaker B: Compared to what they make, like the profit they generate, it's. Yeah, peanuts. [00:36:09] Speaker A: It is insane. But then we go and we look at the. The products that are rolling up. [00:36:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:16] Speaker A: To try to take the place. [00:36:18] Speaker C: That's what I think about. [00:36:19] Speaker A: That's where I get so freaked out. [00:36:22] Speaker C: People are going to have issues. [00:36:25] Speaker B: Well, the issues and the cost. [00:36:27] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:27] Speaker B: So you're going to have way more issues, probably because the drones haven't been around long enough. And then the cost is twice as expensive. Yeah. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Well, let's just be honest. They're going to have issues because we've had issues with DJI drones and they have 5,000 engineers. It still has small, quirky things. [00:36:44] Speaker C: And that platform has done hundreds of thousands of acres. [00:36:47] Speaker A: Millions of acres. [00:36:49] Speaker B: Millions. [00:36:50] Speaker A: With the data available to us just in the United States, the T100 in the 2026 spray season has sprayed over 10 million acres. Your brain can't comprehend. [00:37:05] Speaker C: No. [00:37:06] Speaker A: How many acres they're actually spraying. [00:37:07] Speaker B: When you tell somebody like, oh, yeah, it has a 26 gallon tank and you can do roughly about 13 acres. If you're doing 2 gallon acre, you know, you're like 10 million acres. How many times you have to refill that thing? You know, people don't understand how actually efficient it is because you think, oh, my gosh, you have to refill that thing every five minutes. Yeah, yeah, you do. But, man, you can get a bunch done. [00:37:27] Speaker A: Yes. It's going fast. [00:37:29] Speaker B: It's going. [00:37:29] Speaker A: It's usually if you have nice running. Right. We don't like to explain like this. If, if. Because it's not blue skies and rainbows out there when you're spraying. But the truth is, if you have nice running, you might be loading that drone every four to five minutes if everything's going well. So, yeah, you can get a lot done. I had to be careful with how. How I say that it's. With the data available, there might be data that is not available, that it's more than that. [00:37:58] Speaker B: So that's at a minimum. [00:37:59] Speaker C: At a minimum. [00:37:59] Speaker A: At a minimum in the United States. Let me clarify. United States. [00:38:04] Speaker B: Yep. [00:38:05] Speaker A: This is not all over the world. [00:38:07] Speaker B: It's probably got a hundred million over the world. [00:38:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So that's impressive. You know, it just, it truly is impressive. [00:38:15] Speaker B: It is. [00:38:15] Speaker A: It's gonna be a shame for everybody. And you know what? We're not gonna hype on that because we've already, you know, talked on that, that it could be bad. But it's just another reason the equipment is available right now. You're crazy. [00:38:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:28] Speaker A: Not to buy it. [00:38:29] Speaker C: How are you liking the platinum trailer? Have you used more? Have you used it? [00:38:32] Speaker A: I haven't used it enough. It, it came out at the tail end of our spray season and. But it's, it's dynamite. I mean of course I'm going to say that because it's, it's our product, but it is well, I mean you design well jaded. But being inside the extra safety. Right. I didn't feel unsafe with the pilot protection wall on the standard new way trailer. But now being inside, away from where something could hit you, it just feels, it feels good. [00:39:01] Speaker B: You're inside away from any, any potential drift. [00:39:04] Speaker A: Number one, no wind. Yep. [00:39:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:07] Speaker A: The drone, the noise. [00:39:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:10] Speaker C: I was randomly thinking and I'm curious what your take on this is, but do you think in let's say fast forward one or two or three years it seems like you might have bigger drones? You know, I don't know if the T100 is going to be the kind of. But you have 40 gallon drones now. You have bigger drones. Do you think that there's going to be. Is it going to be more normal that for every custom applicator you have a screen in the pilot protection area that has. That's just reading remote IDs from all the airway around and that it's going to be more and more and more common that you as a pilot just want to have eyes on other aircraft that enter like within a one or two miles. [00:39:49] Speaker A: Yes. I think that you will become more of a control tower like they do airplanes right now than you actually are physically looking at that drone and flying it. It will do it all autonomously if we get good enough with you know, Starlink or Internet connections or something like that. With the remote id, it's broadcasting a signal. Absolutely. You'll know where these drones are at all times. And you're manipulating, manipulating them through a software system, not through a radio transmission. [00:40:24] Speaker C: It's even like Alerting you if another drone comes in within your operating parameter. [00:40:28] Speaker A: Yes. [00:40:29] Speaker C: Like I've, you know, when we're flying, when you're flying somewhere, the plane that we fly around, it's always like you have eyes on what's the traffic around you, and it feels like that might be almost just an essential part in two years from now with if every year there's more and more and more and more drones. [00:40:45] Speaker A: Yeah, there's definitely going to be more and more drones, no doubt about it. I just don't know how long it's going to take to get there. But we'll see. The manufacturing that's going to have to take place, though, to keep up with the demand. It's just going to take a while just to build the machines and then to build the buildings, I think. Right. But we'll see it'll be a couple [00:41:09] Speaker B: years before it's ramped up to where it needs to be. [00:41:11] Speaker A: Yeah. We're doing a grand opening event In Wichita, Kansas, November 7th. Like none other. We're doing a full spread of demos. So spray drones, T100, T50, T6X, I think T25P. We're doing everything. Thermal drones, M4T, M4TD. So if somebody is in the area or they want to fly in for the coolest grand opening. [00:41:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:40] Speaker A: That they, they should definitely check it out. [00:41:42] Speaker C: You know that, that store in Kansas, it's like it's becoming kind of a drone superstore. [00:41:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:47] Speaker C: Like it has. If you want the dock, if you want thermal, if you want, like whatever you want, it's there. And that's going to be a big event. It's going to be a lot of good food. Not just snacks, but like good food. And there's going to be giveaways. And we're having the platinum trailer there. [00:42:01] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah. The platinum trailer is there. The gooseneck version of the new way trailer. Everything is there. It's going to be a central hub of come out, check it out, see, you know, do you want to get in this business, add it to your farm fleet, whatever it might be? You're going to be able to see it fly and check out the systems. [00:42:20] Speaker C: From what I'm like, I think we expect a couple hundred people there. [00:42:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:24] Speaker C: Could be what we're aiming for. So it's going to be, it's going to be big. [00:42:27] Speaker A: Yeah. I'll be there myself, along with Jason. So if, if you guys want to come out, talk thermal drones, we'll. We'll chat it up. But yeah, I'm excited to see how it goes. Kevin, what is. [00:42:39] Speaker B: What's Kansas known for when it comes to food? [00:42:41] Speaker A: Tell me about the menu. Is it barbecue? [00:42:44] Speaker C: Man, I would probably say barbecue. [00:42:45] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:42:46] Speaker C: But I feel like that's not even it. I just feel like, I think of, like, down south. I think maybe cornbread. I don't know. Okay. [00:42:54] Speaker A: All right. So you're just winging it. [00:42:55] Speaker C: I have. Yeah. [00:42:56] Speaker B: So that's probably more accurate. Cornbread. [00:42:59] Speaker C: I don't know, cuz. Cuz my experience in Kansas is around, like the Amish community. [00:43:05] Speaker B: Okay. [00:43:05] Speaker C: Or Amish Mennonite community. And then, like, food is the same as it is here. [00:43:09] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:43:09] Speaker C: You got home cooking. You got potatoes, fried chicken. [00:43:13] Speaker B: Okay. [00:43:13] Speaker A: How has the drone deer recovery pilot locator map been working for pilots listed on the map? Do you have any data? [00:43:20] Speaker C: I don't have any data. I can find it or we can talk about it next time. [00:43:23] Speaker A: I, I know that there's. There's definitely people getting hired. I went out on a recovery the other night with a pilot that's on the map. That dude's been hired over 25 times through the map. And it's only his second season. Like, he's going into his second season. That's impressive. [00:43:42] Speaker B: That's good. That's cool. [00:43:43] Speaker A: Now he is in a really hot market, meaning where he's located. There's not a bunch of other thermal drone pies there. So the options are kind of limited on who the hunter is getting if he wants somebody super close. But hats off to that. [00:43:58] Speaker B: That's cool. [00:43:58] Speaker C: That is cool. Yep. I know that. [00:44:01] Speaker A: 500 bucks for him. [00:44:02] Speaker B: It played itself off probably good. [00:44:04] Speaker C: Roi. [00:44:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's pretty good. [00:44:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:05] Speaker C: When it comes to, you know, like, figuring out how to, how to do advertising, like, we want more hunters to, to know about this map. [00:44:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:13] Speaker C: Um, and I gotta say, if in any state, I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, but in any state, if you look up like drone deer recovery, thermal pilot near me, anything like that, we're like two of the top three. [00:44:25] Speaker A: And I, I, you know, I did something the other night. I just wanted to see how it works. There's this company that is listed on the drone deer recovery pilot locator map. Their company name. I googled their company name and their map listing showed up because of their company name, because it's on our website. Because the website gets. Is such a high traffic website that when you searched their company name, then it showed up. So if there's a guy out there that wants to get his name out there quickly. But of course, people have to Google that specific name. Then it could help with SEO ranking. I was pretty impressed with that. [00:45:08] Speaker B: That's cool. [00:45:09] Speaker A: I do believe that I haven't given dronedeer recovery.com enough appreciation for what it's built for us. Us three. We sometimes just take for granted what that domain has done for us. It has literally changed our lives. Drone DearRecovery.com is such a broad. It's. It's like a Kleenex. It is a Kleenex. And to see people talk about like, you know, you see it on the back of somebody's truck. They offer drone deer recovery. Well, drone deer recovery is. Is as a brand, but they offer drone deer recovery. And then hearing people talk, like, the other night I sent you guys the video of Seek one huge buck. Hats off to them for putting in the work. But I text Lee and I was like, hey, man, I just really do appreciate that you put this into your video because there's guys with your type of reach that you have that aren't sharing that. I used a drone deer recovery service to recover my buck because there's this whole. I think it's called stigma. [00:46:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:21] Speaker A: Around this technology that it's into hunting and you can't track your deer. No. Steve or Lee put this out. Is like, hey, there's a drone deer. Every service guy in my area, and I had him come out and I found my buck. [00:46:35] Speaker B: And the first time they found that the deer was not dead. [00:46:38] Speaker A: That is correct. And he jumped it already one time prior to that. [00:46:41] Speaker B: So it just goes to show, like, how. [00:46:43] Speaker A: Yeah. So it doesn't matter if you're a Higgins or not. And you don't like it. Like, come on, bro. You're just being ridiculous. That's all you're. You're being. Is. [00:46:51] Speaker B: Yeah. I would say. Yeah. People definitely have their own opinion and whatever. If you don't want to use it, don't use it, but don't go after the people that are wanting to use it. [00:46:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:58] Speaker B: Like, come on. [00:46:59] Speaker A: Yep. So this started off by saying our. Our. Our domain just generates clicks. [00:47:07] Speaker C: It's a great domain. [00:47:08] Speaker B: And. [00:47:08] Speaker C: And I remember when we bought that domain. You remember when we bought that domain, [00:47:11] Speaker A: how much was it? [00:47:12] Speaker C: 7.7.99 maybe. That was. [00:47:15] Speaker A: Let's go. I'll take it as a win. [00:47:17] Speaker C: Okay. But inflation. It's now 12, 1299 a year, so it's almost double. But we're going to keep it. We're not going to let that thing expire but for people that don't. [00:47:27] Speaker A: What if somebody wants to buy it from you? [00:47:28] Speaker C: Oh, no, it's not. We're not selling it. It's not for. [00:47:30] Speaker A: But what if it's like 100 million? You would never sell. [00:47:33] Speaker C: No, no, no, it's not. It's not going to work. And the crazy thing about like. Okay, so the sequence video. I watched some of that video and I appreciate how. Yeah. He talked about in order to. To like, it's better for the animal also to not be bumping them and everything and just to like, let him expire before you're going to get him. That's amazing. I also appreciate that he prayed like. Like you just get to know who he is as a person. And it reminds me like the story of drone deer recovery is. We were. I was at a coffee shop in a bad spot in life. Had closed down a business that week that, like, I had no savings. I had gone through my emergency fund. And I met Mike. He was on the way to cut down a tree. And at the end of. He asked me, how's it going? Whatever. I said, not great. Whatever. At the end of that conversation, at [00:48:18] Speaker A: least you were honest. You know, I wish more people just be honest because if there's. Be more honesty of. If I asked Lana, how's it going? And he'd be like, you know, he just wrecked his truck or whatever, and he'd say, well, not that good. I actually wrecked my truck last night. It. Like, people can pray for you. [00:48:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:34] Speaker A: And. And you were honest. Yeah. And. [00:48:36] Speaker C: And. And it was like. I mean, it was a hard spot in life, man. And. But at the end of that conversation, you slid your credit card across the table to me and you told me about your idea of drone derecovery.com and I. And we looked it up. Right then it was available. [00:48:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:49] Speaker C: And it wasn't a thing. It was like. It was not even a thing. Y. Drone Deer recovery dot com. We bought it that day. I built you a website and we've been cooking ever since. [00:48:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:59] Speaker A: You know, we. We tried trademarking drone Deer Recovery, and when we first did, because it got notoriety so quickly. Drone Deer Recovery that you couldn't. You couldn't trademark that. Thinking about this, I'm. I'm glad that we actually didn't. Because it really wouldn't matter because everybody has. They advertise. I'm a. I do Drone Deer Recovery. Like that's what they're advertising. Yes. In the beginning, when we first started, it was a problem because what was Happening is people were watching drone deer recovery and then there'd be a drone deer recovery Tennessee or a drone deer recovery Oklahoma or whatever. Whatever it was. People were getting confused, a little confused about, well, is this Mike from drone deer recovery or who is this drone deer recovery? But now we have established that when somebody says it's drone deer recovery, they're referring to it's a service that they do, but they're not the drone de recovery. [00:49:57] Speaker C: And that is much more clear now than it was two years ago. [00:50:00] Speaker A: And we, we were approached by a, an attorney that, no, you have to, you have to build. What. How did he say? [00:50:07] Speaker C: Yeah, what I remember is market confusion. [00:50:09] Speaker A: That's what it was called. [00:50:10] Speaker B: That's what we were dealing with back then. [00:50:12] Speaker A: Yeah, market confusion. [00:50:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:50:13] Speaker A: But we did push through that. There's not market confusion about if he does contact that drone deer recovery Tennessee. He, that person knows that it's not drone deer recovery. [00:50:24] Speaker C: Do you remember getting cease and desist letters from like the state of New York and stuff like. Yeah, you know, that, that's something else that we haven't really even talked about some of these states that. Because let's go talk about stigma or, you know, seek one. It's different now than it was two years ago. Like, I cannot tell you how different it is two years ago. The, the conversations that we were having is this season. Who is our attorney and retainer? How are we going to handle the Ohio, you know, wildlife people that come approach us and what's our plan? And, and that was the conversation. [00:50:53] Speaker A: Yes. [00:50:53] Speaker C: And then in general, people were very interested in it, very skeptical of it, and there was a lot of name calling going on. In the good old days. [00:51:01] Speaker A: Yes. [00:51:02] Speaker C: Now it's different except for there's a couple of states where we're not quite up with the times yet. Do you have anything to say about some of those states or what is your perspective now? [00:51:11] Speaker A: Well, we're just going to go do deer recoveries in those states. It's just that simple because they have written bills and they've tried to push those bills through, but they just died. The bill, the bill just doesn't have enough interest to get enough people, legislators behind the bill to keep pushing it. There's many other things that are on their plate that, you know, using a drone to recover a carcass is not one of their priorities. [00:51:34] Speaker C: Imagine that. [00:51:35] Speaker A: But in those states, it is a hundred percent a gray area if you can or can't do it. But like, let's pick on Illinois for right now. You know, there is a operator out there that use an attorney that was pushing. No, you're outside of your box of what you know, using a drone. [00:51:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:51:55] Speaker A: To recover a carcass is. And so that's, that's an, that's a state that I'll, I'll use as an example. We're going to go do deer recoveries in those state. Be in that state. [00:52:04] Speaker C: Yeah. Like, this gets me so fired up because this is what we've like heavy lift. It's the same approach. It's the same approach for deer recovery. And what you got to understand, whether you're a fan or a hater, is if you're early to an industry, you have to push it forward. And Illinois is a state where there actually is no legislation that backs up what your hunting guidelines that's published says. It says you can't use a drone to recover a deer. That is actually false in the state of, of Illinois. It actually has been thrown out. [00:52:33] Speaker A: Yes. Now there's going to be guys that are going to look at the hunting regulations. [00:52:38] Speaker C: Yeah, that's what I mean. [00:52:39] Speaker A: Which is the hunter's die chest in there. It's going to say do's and don'ts. And it's, you know, it might say, don't use a thermal drone to cover a carcass. That does not mean that it's a law. [00:52:49] Speaker B: Doesn't mean it is. [00:52:51] Speaker C: It's actually bullcrap that it says that because there's no statute. Like that's what they, that's what the, the Wildlife and Game Commission wants you to do. There's no statute that makes it illegal. [00:53:02] Speaker A: Yes. [00:53:02] Speaker C: And if you know what you're doing and you know how to not participate in an active hunt as defined by law. [00:53:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Defined. [00:53:09] Speaker C: Then you're fine. [00:53:11] Speaker A: Yes. [00:53:11] Speaker C: And what pisses me off is when, you know, the Wildlife Commission or whatever, they try to enforce something that, that they have no right to do so. [00:53:20] Speaker A: But the reason they can is they have funds. And the, the deer recovery guy that doesn't have 10, 15, 25, $50,000 in his bank just to fight this thing is going to bow down to the overlords with money. [00:53:36] Speaker C: So wrong. [00:53:37] Speaker A: It is wrong. But then guys like ourselves that now have established and do have money to fight these things step up and say, I'm going to fight you. [00:53:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:53:45] Speaker A: And it just sucks that that's how it is. Money does have power. There is no doubt about it. So we're, you know, I'm over here saying, Illinois, I don't care what you say, I'm coming to your state and I'm doing deer recoveries, and I'll let you know where I'm at so you can come write me a ticket. Because I'm going to fight you. Right. Because I. I can't do that now because I have dollars. That is what is. It starts not feeling good because I started with one drone and a Ford Focus, and all I wanted to do is pay off the dog on drone because I paid 20. [00:54:14] Speaker C: Man. I remember those days. [00:54:16] Speaker A: Now we were over here sitting, and we're like, we're gonna come fight you because we got 10,000 bucks in our back pocket. [00:54:22] Speaker C: And it's not right what they're doing. It's not right. [00:54:24] Speaker A: I agree. But what I'm saying is it also sucks that you have to have dollars. [00:54:30] Speaker C: Yeah. And I agree. It's like the guy who fought in Illinois, hats off to him. [00:54:34] Speaker A: Yes. [00:54:35] Speaker C: He bought another thermal drone because they freaking held his thermal drone. That is for, I think, around a year. [00:54:41] Speaker A: Yes. [00:54:41] Speaker C: And that is so dumb. [00:54:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:44] Speaker C: And that. That'll put a normal guy out of business. [00:54:46] Speaker A: But you can find Jeremy on the drone locator. [00:54:49] Speaker C: Awesome. [00:54:49] Speaker A: In Illinois. [00:54:50] Speaker C: And. And let's get this. The Game Commission in. In the court and how it was thrown up. Okay. [00:54:56] Speaker A: They actually feel like we just tuned up this podcast. If they stuck around to the end of this podcast to where it is right now, this is what they should have stuck around. [00:55:04] Speaker B: What he came for. [00:55:05] Speaker C: It's not right. It's. What they're doing is not right. [00:55:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:08] Speaker C: And they did a. Like, they set him up with a fake everything, and they. [00:55:12] Speaker A: Not him. No, no, no, not him. That was Pa. That was a pa. That was pa. [00:55:16] Speaker C: I'm getting confused. [00:55:17] Speaker A: Oh, you're getting worked up. It's starting to. [00:55:19] Speaker C: It's bubbling up. I need to go with you to Illinois. I just. [00:55:22] Speaker A: I. I just realized, hey, we're going to Illinois. It'll be. Myself, Jason and Kevin will be on the pilot locator map if you guys need it. Are you not going? [00:55:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, let's go. [00:55:32] Speaker A: I'll be there with my. Without my Part 107 license as well. Like, I'll have to be there. [00:55:36] Speaker B: So you can fly. [00:55:37] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:55:39] Speaker B: I guess you got your 107. [00:55:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:41] Speaker B: Yep. [00:55:42] Speaker A: And. [00:55:42] Speaker C: But we have to do it because it's not right. And we also. The other thing is, is we have to do a better job of. For the state of Illinois, specifically. We have to provide documentation and publishing and guides and resources for people in that state to Help them. Like, because if you're doing it in Illinois, you had better walk a pretty tight line. [00:56:04] Speaker B: Yes. [00:56:04] Speaker C: And we need to do a better job of communicating for this season what that line is. [00:56:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:09] Speaker C: And what is legal, like what is the danger zone and how to operate legally. [00:56:13] Speaker A: And it's a tight line, but I think the line can be walked fairly easily. Cuz there, there's three things that need to take place in order for you to be hunting. And if those three things are not taking place, you're not hunting. That is correct. Then you're not hunting. It's, it's because that, I mean, it's good that there is law and there's very specific rules of what puts you in the definition of hunting. Because if, if, if it wasn't that, then I am hunting as we're doing this podcast. [00:56:40] Speaker C: Right. I think we're hunting right now. [00:56:42] Speaker A: Yeah. That's what I'm saying is so there, there is a definition of what is considered okay. [00:56:47] Speaker C: And then if you go from there, you go to the next step, which is if you're not hunting, then you should, you cannot be using a drone in the aid of hunting then. Like if we're flying a drone from right here, right now and we're not hunting, then we're not aiding in the hunt. [00:57:00] Speaker A: That is correct. [00:57:01] Speaker C: As long as we're not scouting out for future. Okay, so, so talk to us. What are those three things? [00:57:05] Speaker A: The three things, according to what the attorney said, three things you have to have in order to be hunting is one, you have to have a weapon. Whatever is considered a weapon. A knife, a gun, bow and arrow. Bow and arrow, whatever is a weapon. You need to have a dog, Right. You, you might have a tracking dog with you. Then you could be considered hunting or a bird of prey, like a hawk. You've trained a hawk to go. Or a falcon to go catch a bunny. Then you're hunting. But if you don't have those things, how can you, you can't be hunting. Yeah. How can you clearly be hunting now? You better go through your truck or van. You might want to set up a camera. This is my thing. Right. Because you know, the Illinois wardens are listening to us. Some of the wardens. I know some of you wardens, you want us there. You truly do care about wildlife habitat. You don't want deer to go to waste. But some of you that have an authority inside of you, you just want to throw that thing around. You're going to find every little thing to try to get you on that ticket. So why I'm saying this is. Guys, if you're going to do this, you're going to have to set up cameras. You're going to have to have cameras on yourself. So they can't plant you with a gun or they can't plant you with a knife or something. That's why I don't like going down this road, is you can do all these things, dot all these eyes, but if you've ever done something wrong with the. The warden or the game commissioner or something, and they want to stick it [00:58:33] Speaker B: to you, they might. [00:58:34] Speaker A: They might still stick it to you. [00:58:36] Speaker C: Yep. And even if it's not something that'll stick, it'll still. [00:58:39] Speaker B: Cause you cost you tens of thousands of dollars. [00:58:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:58:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:41] Speaker C: And that's just. That's just the. There's a lot of good things about our country, and that's just kind of one of the not so good things. But it is what it is, and it'll never change. [00:58:50] Speaker A: Yeah, that is true. So I was saying, you know, you can go through your car. Let's say you're going to use a Ford Focus. It's a good car to use to start out. Just clean everything out. Like take a leaf blower to make sure there's nothing in that, set up some cameras, and then go do your. Do your deer recovery. [00:59:08] Speaker C: You want to. You want to be recording your. Your drone as well. [00:59:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:10] Speaker C: You want to make sure that the audio recording is also live. [00:59:13] Speaker A: So. [00:59:13] Speaker B: And if you're using a Matrice 4T, it's so easy to screen record everything. Yeah. You just always. Since that thing fires up screen first [00:59:19] Speaker C: time you do it, you got to make sure it's recording audio. True or false? [00:59:22] Speaker B: False. It does it automatically. [00:59:23] Speaker A: Does it automatically? [00:59:24] Speaker C: Love it. [00:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:24] Speaker C: Okay, so it's a little like camera mounted or a FPV camera. [00:59:28] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:59:29] Speaker C: It's like, you're done. You're good. [00:59:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:31] Speaker B: You are ready to ride yourself one little Insta 360. [00:59:34] Speaker A: Insta 360. The fives are not that expensive anymore. [00:59:36] Speaker C: Okay. Something that will happen, though, is when the game warden comes, they're going to take away your camera. [00:59:42] Speaker A: Yeah. But I think that if they destroy the footage that is on the card, they have destroyed evidence and. Yeah. [00:59:51] Speaker C: I don't know, man. From what that story in Illinois. There was some pretty shady crap with, like, calls and recorded and stuff like that where, I mean, this is not going into a rabbit hole. Go watch that video if you want to see how. If you want to get pissed off. Just go watch that video. This gentleman, Jeremy in Illinois had called and gotten permission. And then that call, that recording, the agency did everything they could to not provide it to. [01:00:16] Speaker A: Okay, Jeremy did call. You're still getting some of the PA one mixed up. So Josh called the Cain Commission. That's the PA and they never brought that to court. And that's actually what threw that case out. But Jeremy did call the. The warden and was granted permission. You're kind of getting his attorney. He was going around and calling other wardens and getting their opinions on if you can do this. And some said yes, some said no. Then. Then they figured out that, oh, this dude's calling us to figure out about this case. And then they just shut up completely. [01:00:48] Speaker B: So. [01:00:48] Speaker C: So just go watch that video. [01:00:49] Speaker A: Yeah, Y. Okay. We're going to Illinois to do de recovery. I think we should go out there about probably November 12, like in that area. This is going to be hammering out there. [01:01:02] Speaker C: Let's do it. [01:01:02] Speaker A: And we'll just find big bucks. [01:01:03] Speaker C: Let's do it. [01:01:04] Speaker A: Recover them and throwing them back to trucks. [01:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:06] Speaker C: During the day. We'll just. [01:01:08] Speaker B: Maybe we can fly them out. [01:01:11] Speaker A: Maybe you can blow them out. [01:01:14] Speaker B: I'm gonna need my part 107. [01:01:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:01:16] Speaker B: Yep. [01:01:17] Speaker A: Well, you. Here's the thing. You don't need a Part 107 to fly heavy lift. The truth is, if. If I would have never had a. If I would have never had a pilot's license, it would have cost me less just to pay the civil penalty. [01:01:29] Speaker B: Yeah, that is true. [01:01:30] Speaker A: So never tried. If you're going to do heavy lift. This is not a recommendation. Do not do this. But if you ever have. As long as you don't have a real Part 61 pilot's license, then you're going to get a civil penalty. [01:01:45] Speaker B: Yeah, that is true. That is so dumb. [01:01:46] Speaker A: Yes. [01:01:46] Speaker B: They didn't say anything about taking my 107. [01:01:48] Speaker A: No. [01:01:49] Speaker B: Just to find. [01:01:50] Speaker A: I begged them with more dollars. I said, I'll pay double, triple of the civil penalty. But they know that it'll hurt me more taking my certificates than it would just to pay dollars. Just saying. [01:02:01] Speaker C: So just to summarize, we will not be flying deer out of the. Out of Illinois this season. [01:02:08] Speaker A: We do not intend. [01:02:11] Speaker C: It is not our plan. [01:02:13] Speaker A: Sometimes I just am myself. I intend to not do this. Gosh, the motors are gone. Just go get the deer. [01:02:23] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [01:02:24] Speaker A: No, it was a good one. I feel like there's more we could chat about, but we should. We should do another one. [01:02:30] Speaker C: Oh, I have. I Have some leads here. I have some data on leads. So last seven days, our pilot locator map for our 500 something pilots, around 490. 500 pilots, 312 leads generated in the last seven days. Of those leads, 59 of them are from Ohio. Guess what the second and third, Wisconsin. Nope. [01:02:51] Speaker A: Georgia? [01:02:52] Speaker C: Nope. Indiana, we got Pennsylvania and Virginia with 31. And 21 [01:02:58] Speaker A: deer recoveries are happening in the states that say you can't do it. It looks like we did one. We did one npa. [01:03:05] Speaker C: Yeah, it looks. It looks like. Yeah. But that's in the last seven days. [01:03:08] Speaker B: That's impressive. [01:03:09] Speaker C: Actually. [01:03:09] Speaker A: That is impressive. 314 of those states and we haven't even cranked up the meta ads. [01:03:13] Speaker C: Yeah, well, but. And again, it's like it ranks so well. Yeah, yeah, that. But we'll be doing a lot of meta ads and stuff. [01:03:21] Speaker A: No, it is insanely impressive. So I was talking to the company that I went with on the deer recovery the other night and opening day, they were already getting leads on the pilot locator map. They did. They did 12 already this season. 12. [01:03:36] Speaker B: Holy smokes. [01:03:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. [01:03:38] Speaker C: Yeah. We have this internal conversation around, like we. If you haven't felt this yet or get it yet, we don't just want to sell crap. We are excited about selling you things. [01:03:47] Speaker A: Yes. [01:03:47] Speaker C: But we will never sell you something that we're not excited about using ourselves. So the pilot locator map, amongst all the drones that we sell, I mean, how much like I get? There's a lot of push out there to like sell other drones or it's like, if it's not a good drone, we're not going to sell it. [01:04:02] Speaker A: Nope. So not until we're forced to. [01:04:04] Speaker C: We'll sell the best drone. [01:04:06] Speaker B: That's the best drone. [01:04:06] Speaker A: That's right. [01:04:07] Speaker C: And it might be a less best drone than what is currently the best drone at some point, but. So this locator map we're trying to figure out, is it good value? Like, do we feel good about pushing this? You know, how does it work once you have, you know, not 500, you have a thousand. 5,000. And that's why we're really looking at the leads that we generate. Because I think you, I mean, I can't guarantee anything. And you might turn down leads or it might be. Leads are not good. But there's not fake leads. And to do a lead you have to put an SMS in. Like you have to have a phone number. [01:04:36] Speaker A: There's a couple fake leads in there. A dude got a hold of me because he crashed his drone the other night and he wanted to talk to me. So don't do that. [01:04:42] Speaker C: Like, don't do that. [01:04:43] Speaker A: Don't go to a pilot locator map looking for my number. [01:04:45] Speaker C: September 7th to October 7th. [01:04:46] Speaker B: That's impressive how guys do that, though, [01:04:48] Speaker A: out of all those pins. That's what I. That's what. Oh, no. Can you search by name on that thing? [01:04:53] Speaker C: No, I'm pretty sure you could search for Mikey Odor junkie recovery, and it would probably pop up. Oh, yeah, Our SEO is out of control, so that's good. [01:05:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:01] Speaker C: But last 30 days, 1034 leads. Last 30 days, Kevin, that's impressive. [01:05:07] Speaker A: How can we fact check that? No, no, that sounds out of control. Kevin. Kevin, we have not even gotten into the busy season. [01:05:13] Speaker C: Get this. If I look at the last 30 days, then Ohio is number one, 142. And then Georgia and Wisconsin are the next two states. [01:05:22] Speaker A: What is with Georgia? [01:05:24] Speaker C: But I feel like in the last seven days, like maybe they peaked early or like in the last seven days, they don't rank in the, you know, number two and three. But in the last 30 days, 97 from Georgia and 92 from Wisconsin. [01:05:36] Speaker A: Holy smokes. Georgia's gotta be a difficult state to do deer recoveries with the. Yeah, all the pines and the foliage, like, and in certain parts of that state, you're going to have the Spanish moss. You remember the Spanish moss? [01:05:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:50] Speaker A: When we went to Alabama, Louisiana, it was down. Down in that. That neck of the woods. But, dude, if you're. If you're a thermal drone pilot down in that area, I'd love to have you on, like, let us know how it's going. [01:06:04] Speaker B: Ohio is about the best place to be in thermal drone season. [01:06:08] Speaker A: Like in. [01:06:08] Speaker B: In deer season for a thermal drone pilot. [01:06:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:11] Speaker B: It's always gloomy and cloudy and. Yeah, weather just sucks for anything else other than thermal. [01:06:18] Speaker C: Really thankful for that. [01:06:20] Speaker B: Well, it is great for thermal. [01:06:22] Speaker A: Yeah. No, that's true. Although, dude, since Saturday, the weather here in Ohio has been unbelievable. [01:06:29] Speaker B: It's been really nice. [01:06:30] Speaker A: I don't remember it being this nice. It's like 40 in the morning, gets up to maybe mid 65. Blue skies. We just have this. I don't know, is it called a high pressure system looming over us right now? [01:06:43] Speaker B: That moon coming this weekend, I think a moon. Some kind of. Some kind of moon. I mean, there's a moon coming every day, I guess. But something. Something to do with the deer. Yeah, they're gonna be moving this weekend is what I was. [01:06:55] Speaker A: But the deer were moving last weekend. The deer were moving on opening weekend. It was. It's just been, it has been absolute [01:07:01] Speaker B: better season than it has been probably in the last three. [01:07:03] Speaker A: I, I, I would dare to bet there were more bucks that hit the ground in the first two to three weeks of opening Ohio season than probably [01:07:13] Speaker B: in a long time. [01:07:14] Speaker A: In a long time. [01:07:14] Speaker B: It's usually hot. [01:07:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Or raining. [01:07:17] Speaker B: Or raining. [01:07:17] Speaker A: Raining. [01:07:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:18] Speaker C: The last interesting data point here is that for the pilot locator, every lead contacts, on average, in the last 30 days, 1.25 pilots. [01:07:28] Speaker A: Oh, so they actually don't go shop around. [01:07:30] Speaker C: Most pilots or most hunters are contacting one and a quarter. So, yeah, most people do one, a few people doing two. [01:07:37] Speaker A: Doing two, maybe doing two. [01:07:38] Speaker C: But that, that just tells you that what people want is somebody that picks up right now. [01:07:43] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I lost a couple. I was not picking up my phone and they literally called somebody else within 10 minutes. [01:07:49] Speaker C: And that's going to happen because now there's so many. Like, just take your pick. [01:07:52] Speaker A: There's options. It's like uber options. It'll just keep searching until you got one. That's interesting, Dana. Well, I don't have anything else to add to that one. That was a good one. It's a good podcast. It's not a downer. Talking about, know the American built stuff that we've seen. So we'll just, we'll end it there. Thanks so much for tuning in. Catch you guys on the next one.