Anyone recognize this Fine Upstanding Quad Pilot?

[SilentAV8R]

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/faa-inv ... pte/nkYk7/

Not flying a Phantom at least. Serious lack of judgement and really poor flying skills.

Edited: Seems I was wrong, he was doing nothing wrong and I am the one in the wrong for sharing his exploits. My bad.

 

[Spudboy]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

Dumb ****, I hope they nail him.

 

[Electric Warrior]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

It might not be a Phantom, but to all the paranoid twats out there, a drone is a drone, and they will use any excuse to villify our hobby, that the greatest percentage of participants are responsible operators. In that video, I know the operator was flying irresponsibly by flying above the 400' limit, but it was pretty obviuous to me that the news camerman was determined to make a big issue out of the incident, maybe more so than was neccessary, concentrating more on the drone and operator, than the actual news items that he was supposed to be reporting on - the fire. Even when the drone had reduced height and then landed.

Some of the comments in that article beggar belief, with one calling that particular model a toy. Worse still is one saying that drones (hate that word) should not be allowed in private ownership!

I don't consider my phantom to be a toy. It is camera carrying system which happens to fly, and I would not be spending the amount of hard won money that I have already done, on a toy!

OK the guy was out of order, but is seems that when he realised he was being stupid, he took action to avoid further problems. A stiff warning or maybe a nominal fine should be enough to teach him a lesson. The great gods of helicopter and light aircraft pilots are making a drama out of a crisis.

 

[steveeds]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

Oh Dear, yup that covered it.

 

[4wd]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

You can't help thinking the helicopter buzzing extra low for an extended period to chase him was far more risky than the quad flying up to look at the fire.

When the helicopter arrived he dropped it down remarkably quickly out of the way.
Yet the tone of the piece suggests it was flown up deliberately to interfere with the helicopter.

 

[IflyinWY]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

The descent seemed to be very rapid.

Anyone see signs of VRS?

 

[Spiritskeeper]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

This guy was an idiot.

First dumb thing he was flying in controlled air space above 400'. This is a very serious offense. He can't fly whenever and wherever the hell he wants. Just because he can doesn't mean he should. My car has 160 mph on the speedo but the max speed in my area is 70. My car is capable of doing way more than the speed limit, but anyone would call me an idiot if I was driving 145 and caused a wreck.

Second, he didn't realize he was flying reckless. He had no clue he was so close to the helicopters. We have no idea how long he was up there, most likely he came down because his battery was low.

Third, the helicopter pilot is required by law to report any irregularities to the tower. Even his own. Like it or not pilots have been told long before the general public if you see something say something.

Fourth, that pilot did not descend from his pattern to follow anyone. Those cameras in this helicopters are telescopes. It's obvious if you watch the video the pilot was not chasing anyone. If he had been the idiot "drone" pilot would have looked up at the helicopter more than one glance.

And lastly this pilot and cameraman had lost one helicopter and two coworkers, and friends, about a year before this. That helicopter crashed during takeoff, takeoff and landing are the two most dangerous times during a flight. Sure if the quad had hit the rotors then an experienced pilot may have been able to autorotate to the ground sustaining mild to severe injuries to those on board and those on the ground. That is like saying you can cut my brake lines because I have an airbag and a seatbelt so I may not sustain major injury.

If you own one of these you have to be responsible. You also have to pay the bill when/if it comes due.

 

[Noël]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

The guy does have skills as he did know how to come down very fast without going into a VRS.

 

[n6vmo]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

The great gods of helicopter and light aircraft pilots are making a drama out of a crisis.

...more like a crisis out of this drama.

People with privacy issues should be more concerned about the capabilities of that news helicopter's camera. That was some great zoom.

 

[SteveMann]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/faa-investigating-drone-flying-near-news-helicopte/nkYk7/

Not flying a Phantom at least. Serious lack of judgement and really poor flying skills.

There you go again.
Knee-jerk responses like yours does harm to the personal drone community by highlighting the general fear and ignorance of drones.

When we first see the drone in the video it is at least two hundred feet from the news helicopter and descending - which is exactly what a drone operator should do when a low-flying aircraft approaches. The 400 ft altitude is advisory only and not a legal altitude limit (FAA AC 91-57). So, what about this flight makes the operator an A-Hole?

Did it ever occur to anyone that the drone was there first and when he saw the news helicopters approaching he descended?

The FAA executive in charge of integrating unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS) says that if and when a small UAS (sUAS) and a manned aircraft collide, the manned aircraft isn't likely to suffer serious damage. Jim Williams was speaking to a nervous audience of helicopter operators at HAI Heli-Expo in Orlando last week (March 2015) and said that while there's never been a reported contact between an sUAS and a civilian aircraft, the military has some experience in that regard. In all cases the aircraft was virtually unscathed while the UAS was "smashed to pieces."

 

[SteveMann]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

Third, the helicopter pilot is required by law to report any irregularities to the tower. Even his own.

Really? What law?

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

So after watching the video two things were clear... A) the heli pilots are biased against UAV's as seen by his comments "we've been droned" and "where is that little bastard". B) the guy was nowheres near the heli's like the 50' claimed in the story and he brought it down quickly. So where was the issue other than the heli guys didn't like it? Yes he was flying higher than the 'guidlines' call for but there is no existing law that prevents him from flying at any height he wants.
So in conclusion, yes the UAV pilot was taking unnecessary risks and the full scale heli pilots were acting like fools also. They were spying on the public, exactly what the public says UAV's do. We all know most UAV cameras are wide angle without zoom, it appears the full scale heli could read a book in your hands from 1500' easily. Maybe we should ban all full scale heli cams?

And if you think about it, the news crew could of sent up a UAV and got better footage for a lot less money and man hours than a full scale heli.

PS - all aircraft have been asked to voluntarily report anything they see up in the sky with them including UAV's.

 

[SilentAV8R]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/faa-investigating-drone-flying-near-news-helicopte/nkYk7/

Not flying a Phantom at least. Serious lack of judgement and really poor flying skills.

There you go again.
Knee-jerk responses like yours does harm to the personal drone community by highlighting the general fear and ignorance of drones.

Right, thanks for clearing that up for me. I point out on a DRONE website and article that is already out on a mass media website, and an incident the FAA is already investigating, and yet I am the one spreading fear and loathing?? Personally I think the unwavering support of people who fly with poor little regard for anyone besides themselves does more harm to us than anything else.

But take the manned aircraft out of the picture and he was still operating with poor judgment. I looked at a map. The fire was over 1,500 feet from the park, BLOS for most mortals. He was reported at around 1,500 feet AGL, again, BLOS. He was flying over unprotected homes, roads, vehicles. When he decided to bug out he did not make a bee line for his position, instead he was flying erratically back and forth of the houses.

But OK, I'm the problem. Got it.

 

[tcope]

Re: Anyone recognize this A-Hole??

I've flown my drone all around a helicopter before. Right over it, next to it. No issues.

 

[Spiritskeeper]

Steve I believe you may be right. This is not covered exactly by Part 830.5.

The helicopter crew is definitely biased against UAV operators operating in their claimed airspace. TJ I believe you have hit on why the pilots have a vendetta against the operators. The helicopter news crews can see their obsolescence and being replaced by low flying sUAVs.

The news camera camera can read newsprint at over 1500'. These cameras are telescope quality.

http://petapixel.com/2013/04/26/news-he ... n-the-air/

 

[SilentAV8R]

The helicopter crew is definitely biased against UAV operators operating in their claimed airspace.

"Claimed airspace"?? Huh?? The manned aircraft were legally operating in airspace defined by the FAA for such use. Perhaps "legally designated airspace" would be a better description. Plus, I am always amused by this idea that "we", meaning RC aircraft operators, have any airspace that is "ours."

 

[Spiritskeeper]

tcope was that at Berry Field?

 

[Monte55]

Is it a law or just a suggestion that we fly line of sight.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Is it a law or just a suggestion that we fly line of sight.

There are no laws yet (aside from government installations, power plants, etc that apply to everything, not just UAV''s in particular) but a set of guidelines that are commonly referred to as laws by the media (the 400' rule is in there). There will be laws on the books very soon. See the AMA link here discussing the proposed laws and send in a comment - http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36652

 

[tcope]

tcope was that at Berry Field?

No. It's outside of where I work. Owner flies his helicopter into work often.