Quadcopters anyone?

Hey archerm3: paranoid much?

 

Let's not try to politicize this thread... there are plenty others out there on TW to do that from...

 

Craig - glad the camera is working out on the east coast better than out here... I guess they were right - the Tucson sun and all the brown threw the white balance off making everything look yellow. Looks like you're getting the hang of it!

 

Look into the 5.4mm lens mod for your gopro.. it will help get rid of the fisheye effect in your shots, especially when looking down.

 

Working out pretty good so far Mike.

I've got another pair of batteries coming by the end of this week and as you can see I was able to get an Mini SD card reader to upload the vids.

Maybe this weekend I'll go to the local airport and fly real close to landing planes?

 

lol... well played sir

Let's see here... I've been flying unmanned since 2004... Air Traffic Controller from 99-04... my company employs 46 manned and unmanned pilots for contracts all over the world... we own a flight school... I used to fly for NASA at Wallops Island... Multiple contracts with the DoD...

I must not know what I'm doing...

 

I respect your opinion and I had no intent to offend. I am offering the fact that not all who fly RC aircraft are dangerous and are cognizant of their surroundings. I do not like being stereotyped based off of YouTube videos and the like.

I agree that I could have worded my comment better. I enjoy videoing my family activities with my daughters with my quad copter. I am on patrol quite often and it is a piece of home I get to take with me until I return. I will also comment that I do not know his camera set up but mine looks a lot closer than it actually is.

Lol, I know I would owe you a case of brew if I took that bet. I do have friends who are CG aviators some of which do fly quad copters. I know more than I care to admit on the affects of barometric pressure, wind velocity and altitude on aircraft, not to mention turbulence created from wind hitting an obstacle. They love to talk!!

I do agree on some points and have seen video of people doing some pretty dangerous and for lack of a better term "stupid" things. I do not agree that a license would change that. A vehicle is a prime example of that; there are a lot of people who are licensed to drive a car that are driving under the influence or are incapable of using common sense while driving. I have also seen video of people flying real aircraft making poor choices but I would not condemn you for it or comment that all who fly personal aircraft should lose their license because of it.

Be safe out there.

 

Great, thanks for the tip. I'll look into that.

 

If anyone wants to be blown away by the capability of these things, take 15 minutes and watch this TED talk. I had no idea this stuff was real right now.
https://youtu.be/w2itwFJCgFQ

 

Amazing.....

 

@HomerTaco it should be an SD card or a cable you connect from the MR to your computer???

 

Bleh... I was 3 pages behind with your last post ... I need sleep

 

WOW!!!!!

 

Thanks for the info. I'll have to see what I can do currently with my better half going to school. I might just have to wait it out till she is done and working that way I can start spending all her extra monies coming in.

 

still need LOTS of practice...

https://youtu.be/W-30vIoZJPY

 

The more you talk, the more you're making yourself look foolish. You of all people should know that you don't even need a license to fly an ultralight aircraft. And people are killed all of the time. You may want to read up on FAR 103. These people are far more likely to impede on air traffic. Any aircraft flying under the allotted FAA rule of 1000 feet is way more dangerous than us flying around our house.

 

Ultralight pilots are infinitely more likely to know the rules of Pt 103 than a person purchasing a quadcopter at radioshack or Hobbytown. Something about being a manned aircraft and selfpreservation creates a huge incentive to seek out and know the rules.

Hehe, what FAA allotted 1000' rule are you refering to?

There are many aviation missions flown under 1000 feet. Perhaps you don't know about them? Perhaps thats my point? I disagree that an aircraft performing a normal mission at 800' AGL is more dangerous than flying an RC aircraft 5 foot in front of a child's face. Maybe I'm a fool for thinking that.

Those of you who are in the military and commercial drone community I suppose my comments don't really apply to you, as you are likely certificated, licensed, formally trained, etc. Like I said if someone wants to wear the shoe go ahead.

Maybe you could give everyone your COUNTERARGUMENT for why these things shouldn't require licensing.

http://www.faa.gov/uas/model_aircraft/

Model Aircraft Operations

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Model aircraft operations are for hobby or recreational purposes only.
The FAA has partnered with several industry associations to promote Know Before You Fly, a campaign to educate the public about using unmanned aircraft safely and responsibly. Individuals flying for hobby or recreation are strongly encouraged to follow safety guidelines, which include:

• Fly below 400 feet and remain clear of surrounding obstacles
• Keep the aircraft within visual line of sight at all times
• Remain well clear of and do not interfere with manned aircraft operations
• Don't fly within 5 miles of an airport unless you contact the airport and control tower before flying
• Don't fly near people or stadiums
• Don't fly an aircraft that weighs more than 55 lbs
• Don't be careless or reckless with your unmanned aircraft – you could be fined for endangering people or other aircraft

The statutory parameters of a model aircraft operation are outlined in Section 336 of Public Law 112-95 (the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012) (PDF). Individuals who fly within the scope of these parameters do not require permission to operate their UAS; any flight outside these parameters (including any non-hobby, non-recreational operation) requires FAA authorization. For example, using a UAS to take photos for your personal use is recreational; using the same device to take photographs or videos for compensation or sale to another individual would be considered a non-recreational operation.
More about the Know Before You Fly campaign
Read the FAA's Interpretation of the Special Rule for Model Aircraft (PDF)
Read the Do's and Don'ts of Model Aircraft Operations
View FAA YouTube videos on safe model aircraft operations.
The "Model Aircraft Do's and Don'ts" (PDF)

and from the reform act...
I
N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law
relating to the incorporation of unmanned aircraft systems into
Federal Aviation Administration plans and policies, including this
subtitle, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration
may not promulgate any rule or regulation regarding a model
aircraft, or an aircraft being developed as a model aircraft, if—
(1) the aircraft is flown strictly for hobby or recreational
use;
(2) the aircraft is operated in accordance with a communitybased
set of safety guidelines and within the programming
of a nationwide community-based organization;
(3) the aircraft is limited to not more than 55 pounds
unless otherwise certified through a design, construction,
inspection, flight test, and operational safety program administered
by a community-based organization;
(4) the aircraft is operated in a manner that does not

interfere with and gives way to any manned aircraft; and
(5) when flown within 5 miles of an airport, the operator

of the aircraft provides the airport operator and the airport

air traffic control tower (when an air traffic facility is located
at the airport) with prior notice of the operation (model aircraft
operators flying from a permanent location within 5 miles of
an airport should establish a mutually-agreed upon operating
procedure with the airport operator and the airport air traffic
control tower (when an air traffic facility is located at the
airport)).

Yeah...hardly anyone knows or does any of this. If enough drone operators continue to operate ignorantly these rules are fixing to get way more stringent...and all the pilots I know will be pushing the rules right along the NPRM process (Notice of Proposed RuleMaking). After dodging other aircraft, bad weather, birds (OMG the birds), lasers, spotlights, tinfoil hat guys with lucky potshots, fireworks, the last thing the aviation community is willing to accept is a sudden influx of RC copters operating outside their expected place by people apathetic of sharing airspace safely.

But they are definitely cool machines.

 

Nice video Craig @HomerTaco

I think I'm close to picking up an inspire. I keep seeing 'rev b' do you know what that's about @Delmarva