My Yucaipa: Rotary Club Christmas Parade 2023, Yucaipa, California

170 Hours Flight Time, 700 Flights, Insured to 500k, Part 107 Certified by the FAA. Specialized in Landscape and Promotional Videos. This was a Volunteer CERT Project that allowed me to practice my skills in preparation for deployment if needed in the future

My name is Gerald Peplow. I am a FAA Part 107 certified UAV pilot. This video is from my series, "My Yucaipa". I currently fly a registered DJI Mini 2 and Mini 3. This mission I flew my Mavic 3, "Da Niao." Rebecca Peplow is my Visual Observer.

This Video is the My Yucaipa: Rotary Club Christmas Parade 2023, Yucaipa, California. Yucaipa means Green Valley or Boggy Valley depending on the translator. I grew up in Yucaipa and, after Retiring as a Master Sergeant in the USAF, came home to live in this perfect Green Valley. I am creating videos to share Yucaipa with the world. When the parade start it did not come back. I did check ALOFT Air Control and there were no TFRs for the area. I was also at the limit of my Zoom due to the distance I had to stay away from the Parade. It was cool to see our small town putting on a local parade with 82 groups participating.

There are very strict rules when flying over crowds... you can't! Unless you have a DJI Mini 2 with Prop Guards and a Japanese battery due to weight and laceration risks. I flew, above the people but not over them. My flights were very controlled and we never lost Line of Site. It was my first time flying near a big Open Air Assembly. However I knew I could fly Cong Ming Niao safely. Of course I was ready for any inflight problems. Luckily Yucaipa welcomes professional UAV Aviators. There were not be any sustained flights over people.