So I'm in the television business I'm a cameraman I have a camera Crane in a couple other cool toys as well as a drone. As everyone is aware of drone can be dangerous flying over top of people most of my clients want to be able to do this. Therefore come to the conclusion a blimp is the best solution. I've done some research actually quite a bit of research there's a few people out there doing something along those lines. They're trying to mark it it to a lot of the sports franchises. I want to be able to integrate the DJI software and Camera and basically all of its guts into a flight system for a blimp does anybody have any ideas about this
Building a blimp with DJI parts
- Thread starter Mothershiprog
- Start date
I know blimps have been used. To me a blimp is a drone in a less stable package. They still can crash. Also there is still the process of getting permission and unlocking the nfz. If it is a domed arena, how well will the DJI parts work. No gps. How about flight time?
A blimp is an EXCELLENT camera platform in certain situations. They don't handle wind well at all but in the right circumstances they are amazing camera platforms.
GPS isn't a big deal as the blimp is slow and designed to be stable (they are VERY stable).
Flight Time: HUGE because the motors only re-position and maybe slightly stabilize the aircraft for drafts etc.. The lift is done by the HELIUM in the blimp so the motors would only need to be low RPM and low power consumption. This is why R/C airplanes can fly for many more minutes than rotorcraft because the aircraft is being "lifted" by something other than the motors. I've got an R/C plane with a 6' wingspan that flies for 45min on a battery 1/10th what my P3 uses.
With all this being said... you could build one very cheaply in terms of the R/C aspects from off the shelf parts and not waste your time with scraping a DJI aircraft. It's WAY over kill for what you're wanting to do.
GPS isn't a big deal as the blimp is slow and designed to be stable (they are VERY stable).
Flight Time: HUGE because the motors only re-position and maybe slightly stabilize the aircraft for drafts etc.. The lift is done by the HELIUM in the blimp so the motors would only need to be low RPM and low power consumption. This is why R/C airplanes can fly for many more minutes than rotorcraft because the aircraft is being "lifted" by something other than the motors. I've got an R/C plane with a 6' wingspan that flies for 45min on a battery 1/10th what my P3 uses.
With all this being said... you could build one very cheaply in terms of the R/C aspects from off the shelf parts and not waste your time with scraping a DJI aircraft. It's WAY over kill for what you're wanting to do.
Certainly been done, I've seen/rented sponsor blimps for Basketball, Soccer games all the time these days.
The blimps i;ve seen at Raptor games, are strictly showing sponsor signage. How do they get permission to fly over the audiences at these events?
Quick blimp story- We were involved in the grand opening of a new cancer wing at a local hospital & once they saw blimp footage, with signage scrolling down the sides of blimp, they bought in.
The blimp company set it up or filled it up, in our rehersal room at head office, programmed the hospital logo/signage into the side displays & then led the blimp out to loading docks right into the rental truck for the ride to the hospital site, no set up on site, great idea!
Plan was -as soon as the Mayor finished his speech, on cue, pilot would fly the blimp right out of the truck & circle the crowd for max. effect!!
On site, I did ask the question- Isn't it a bit to windy for a 18' blimp to handle? no issues, the blimp crew assured me.
On cue the truck door rolled up , out flew the blimp, hospital signage scrolling down its sleek sides, many Owww,s & ahhh;s from the crowd, what a sight!
Soon as it got some altitude, about 10 meters, that blimp turned North & disappeared at speed over the construction site, being chased by the crew, the pilot wrenching at the RC controls, motors screaming, all in about15 seconds, never to be seen again, that day.
The blimps i;ve seen at Raptor games, are strictly showing sponsor signage. How do they get permission to fly over the audiences at these events?
Quick blimp story- We were involved in the grand opening of a new cancer wing at a local hospital & once they saw blimp footage, with signage scrolling down the sides of blimp, they bought in.
The blimp company set it up or filled it up, in our rehersal room at head office, programmed the hospital logo/signage into the side displays & then led the blimp out to loading docks right into the rental truck for the ride to the hospital site, no set up on site, great idea!
Plan was -as soon as the Mayor finished his speech, on cue, pilot would fly the blimp right out of the truck & circle the crowd for max. effect!!
On site, I did ask the question- Isn't it a bit to windy for a 18' blimp to handle? no issues, the blimp crew assured me.
On cue the truck door rolled up , out flew the blimp, hospital signage scrolling down its sleek sides, many Owww,s & ahhh;s from the crowd, what a sight!
Soon as it got some altitude, about 10 meters, that blimp turned North & disappeared at speed over the construction site, being chased by the crew, the pilot wrenching at the RC controls, motors screaming, all in about15 seconds, never to be seen again, that day.
Rootman: "To me a blimp is a drone in a less stable package."
Gotta insert a chuckle here! If the props/motors on your drone stop turning, the gliding angle of your drone is about the same angle of incidence as a brick. A blimp, being essentially a lighter-than-air vehicle, might well crash, but certainly not fall out of the sky like the drone would - assuming motor failure - and not to mention gyrations generated from a single prop/motor failure.
Amazingly, it's cheaper to produce hydrogen than it is to produce helium. The helium, however, is far safer (Google Hindenburg!).
Yes, the blimp at the US Open a week or so back *did* crash, but lightly enough that the pilot was rescued. He did suffer some serious burns. Had he been the pilot in something like a drone....
If the Vision Plus system in the last couple of versions of DJI stuff is that good - they can fly the thing around in a garage or a big room. I would imagine a domed stadium wouldn't present many problems (other than the physicality - might be something like trying to fit a blue whale into your backyard swimming pool - LOL.
We could have a really good (humorous) time with this. Someone at the FAA gets an appropriate request and their reaction is "...who the devil is asking permission to fly inside a domed arena?"
Surprised you didn't send me an email yet!
Just having fun with ya. I don't think I'd want to be in a drone or a blimp either one if the motors fail!
Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL
N017RW
Premium Pilot
Art, It's not practical to manufacture Helium.
Impossible?, No but the cost to produce any useable amounts is way beyond consideration.
Impossible?, No but the cost to produce any useable amounts is way beyond consideration.
Yes, exactly - that's what I wrote above - "...it's cheaper to produce hydrogen than to produce helium..."
In fact, as you echoed, it's much cheaper to produce hydrogen. Helium is - strictly speaking - outrageously expensive. But it still gets manufactured (and in surprising quantities - for things as simple as helium-filled balloons to the Met Life blimp.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Helium is present, but in such sparse quantities that the only way to get any decent quantity is to manufacture it - regardless of the expense.
Maybe instead of panning for gold we should be looking for a way to manufacture helium - the sky's the limit (pun intended!).
As an aside, I used to play golf near an airport in Kissimmee, FL. Opposite the 5th hole there is a Warbird Museum. There's a number of prop planes (like P51 Mustangs) still surviving after WW2. At one time, that same area was "home" (during the winter months) for about 15 blimps. Several times over the years there's been some serious theft of helium that was there for the blimps. Frankly, it seems like the helium would be about as hard to steal and transport as a huge cache of gold!
Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL
Great story. Also lends credence to an old saw about plans - "...all plans tend to disintegrate after first contact." Mike Tyson put it more succinctly, bless his peak-pickin' heart. Just prior to his championship fight with Michael Spinx, Tyson and Spinx were being interviewed by Jim Lampley of HBO. Lampley said, "...the Spinx camp say they have a plan to fight Mike Tyson." Mike gave the briefest hint of a smile and replied, "Everybody got a plan till I him 'em."
To finish the advertising blimp story- A man called 911 to report a ultralight aircraft had crashed into his house, but, there was no sign of the pilot. The blimp had come down & wrapped itself around his porch, ripping to shreds in the wind, I suppose it did look like the remains of a small ultralite.
N017RW
Premium Pilot
Ok. Semantics... I guess??
Helium is captured from mining and other sources such as natural gas extraction. It is NOT manufactured.
Helium is captured from mining and other sources such as natural gas extraction. It is NOT manufactured.
I stand corrected. Did some more research. Despite the fact that the quantity of helium in our universe is exceeded only by hydrogen, the helium is very rare on earth. We can travel to the nearest star and perhaps gather a huge batch of helium (we'll probably have to go at night!).
Saw one article where a Nobel-prize-winning scientist claims we're being frivolous by using helium in balloons. Guess there are conspiracy theorists everywhere you look. But then again, maybe he's right. I'm certainly not a scientist!
Thanks for waking me up. Happy droning!
Art - N4PJ
Leesburg, FL
