Drone News Roundup: Wingtra Launches the WingtraRAY for Surveyors, Desert Drifting with the Mavic 4 Pro, and More!
BY Zacc Dukowitz
10 July 2025This week we’re covering the launch of Wingtra’s new surveying drone, the WingtraRAY.
We’re also covering off road drifting with the Mavic 4 Pro, Sky Elements pulling off 25 drone light shows in 24 hours for July 4th, drones hauling trash on Mt. Everest, and DJI’s new security white paper.
Now let’s get to those links!
Wingtra Launches the WingtraRAY Survey Drone
Swiss drone maker Wingtra just released the WingtraRAY, a new fixed-wing professional drone for surveyors. The WingtraRAY’s biggest selling points are speed and simplicity, allowing surveyors to map up to 250 acres in just ten minutes. With a flight time of up to 60 minutes and a range of 6.2 miles (10 km), the WingtraRAY is built for large-area coverage. Its six hot-swappable payloads allow users to collect an array of data, including LiDAR, high-resolution RGB imagery, multispectral data for agriculture and environmental analysis, and thermal imaging for advanced inspection tasks. And its parachute system enables legal flights over people in 98% of the U.S., adding greater usability for those who need to do surveying in urban or suburban areas.
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Off Road Drifting with the Mavic 4 Pro
YouTuber MikeVisuals recently put the DJI Mavic 4 Pro through its paces, capturing high-speed off-road cars drifting in dust-filled, adrenaline-packed footage shot in the desert. (Drifting is when the driver intentionally oversteers, causing the rear wheels to lose traction and “drift.”) The Mavic 4 Pro’s 100MP Hasselblad camera and 4K/120fps slow-motion capabilities shine here, along with its new 360° Infinity Gimbal for buttery-smooth tracking shots—even when capturing super fast, extreme action. The video highlights both day and night drifting, pushing the limits of what’s possible with a consumer drone in rugged terrain.
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Sky Elements Sets 3 Guinness Records with 25 Drone Shows in 24 Hours
- The largest aerial image of a cowboy hat formed by drones
- The most live drone shows performed by different pilots in 24 hours (25 shows)
- The most live drone shows performed by different pilots in one hour (nine shows).
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Drones Haul Over 600 Pounds of Trash in Everest Cleanup Effort
Mount Everest’s reputation as the “world’s highest garbage dump” is getting a much-needed reset, thanks to drones. This climbing season, two DJI FlyCart 30 drones operated by Nepal’s Airlift Technology hauled more than 600 pounds (280 kilograms) of trash from Camp 1 down to base camp—a journey that takes Sherpas four hours on foot, but takes just six minutes by drone. The effort is reducing risk for Sherpas and speeding up the removal of decades-old waste, from oxygen canisters to kitchen scraps.
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DJI Releases Security Whiter Paper Amid Ongoing Import Woes
The DJI Inspire 3
DJI’s 2025 Drone Security White Paper offers a detailed look at the company’s layered approach to security, including features like Local Data Mode and AES-256 encryption designed to keep user data private and under operator control. The company has been releasing a security white paper annually since 2020. This year’s comes out as DJI continues to face significant hurdles in the U.S., including inventory shortages caused by import issues and ongoing security concerns that have led to calls for the company to be banned. Despite independent audits and certifications like ISO 27701, the company remains under pressure from regulators, highlighting the complex intersection of technology, geopolitics, and trust in drone operations.
Right now, DJI faces a potential automatic ban–if it isn’t audited for security by December 23, the company will no longer be allowed to operate in the U.S. Follow the link below for our full guide to the DJI Ban, including what you can do to try and stop it.
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