I am so confused. I’m not sure if I can or if I can’t and I don’t want to risk taking a chance.

That first line may be confusing you, so let me give you some insight into my confusion.

Back in January I broke my drone. It was a careless mistake on my part … and a pretty sad day for me. I wrote about it here. 

For the last six months, I have not had a drone to fly.

However, for my birthday, I got a new drone. It has some better features than my previous drone, and one special feature I was looking forward to.

My new drone is below the weight classification that requires a drone license. That in itself is not a big deal because I already have a drone pilot license. But with this new drone I have less restrictions on where I can fly … or at least that is what I believed to be true. 

All the advertising videos I had seen had pumped me up about being able to fly right off the back deck of our house – legally!

Because we live within five kilometres of an airport, I could not fly my old drone in our neighbourhood. 

With my new drone, I no longer have to drive fifteen minutes to find a spot where I’m allowed to put my drone in the air.

Or do I?

This is where I got confused … 

You see, I was excited to take my drone out as soon as I got it. So once everything was charged, I popped over to the high school field a block away. I was going to fly my drone for the first time.

But when I went to fly it, I received a warning through the controller and my drone remained in a locked mode. 

To unlock the drone, I had to submit my telephone number. Ya, that’s right. “Big brother” is watching – watching where I fly my drone.

The penalty for flying a drone in a restricted zone is a minimum of $1000! 

I certainly was not going to give anyone an open invitation to fine me so I packed up and went home.

I was very disappointed to have the same restrictions as I did before. Not only was I disappointed, I was confused because I had thought I could fly it. 

What was the point of getting an under-weighted drone if I still face the same restrictions as someone with a larger drone? 

Then to confuse me even more, I got the NAV Canada Drone app. 

This app shows you a map of where you are and highlights any restricted zones in the area. 

When I plugged my drone info in the app, it showed that I was approved to fly. 

So do I believe the app or the drone controller? The drone app says I can, but my drone indicates that I can’t. 

I just don’t know. Do I want to take the risk?

Here’s the thing: There is a verse in the Bible that talks about the sin that easily entangles. Not all sins would be described this way, but you probably know which sins are easily entangling for you. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to lay them aside. In other words, consider staying clear of those sins; stay far from them. You don’t really want to take the risk of being entangled by them. The cost might be really high.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What unnecessary risks are you taking? Leave your comments and questions below.

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