Flying in Fireworks - Who's been hit?

[xfreedommasterx]

I did a video of my towns fireworks, with the permission of the fire department of course, and got really close to some of the exploding shells and was wondering if you guys might have known of an incident where a quadcopter may have been hit by a firework shell.
The fireworks are about 1/3 of the way into the video.

 

[BlackOpsTeamster]

I did a video of my towns fireworks, with the permission of the fire department of course, and got really close to some of the exploding shells and was wondering if you guys might have known of an incident where a quadcopter may have been hit by a firework shell.
The fireworks are about 1/3 of the way into the video.

Wow! That's insane! I LOVE it!
Don't think I'd have the kahunas to get that close but glad that others do..
BOT

 

[mad in nc]

one of the best vid's I've seen of this years events.. Thanks

 

[xfreedommasterx]

I'm glad you guys liked it! There was another phantom at the fireworks show (a phantom 3) but they kept their distance. The fire department guys had a poll on whether my copter was gonna get hit so it was entertaining for everyone watch to see if it would lol.

 

[Airborne]

nice job...

I filmed a very small show with just a few friends and flew fairly close also...

still working on my video...

 

[RoyVa]

Nice job and good flying. Any closer and we would have seen some really big fireworks.

 

[sdtag]

I did a fireworks flight also but I didn't fly into them.
I was close but not as close as you!

 

[JKaddouri]

Great video!

 

[Larry L]

WOW! Very Nice video. a little closer & you would of been hit from a helmet thrown by one of the dirt bag in the red shirt. Lol

 

[xfreedommasterx]

WOW! Very Nice video. a little closer & you would of been hit from a helmet thrown by one of the dirt bag in the red shirt. Lol

Yeah, not everyone is friendly towards remotely controlled helicopters. I try to keep my distance for the most part so as to keep temptation for dirt bag behavior low.

 

[MapMaker53]

Personally, I wouldn't risk my $1299 bird for something like that. You must have a lot more money to burn than I do. Those particles (I believe they are some sort of Magnesium) are so hot that they would easily melt the plastic if your Phantom ever came in contact with one.

 

[xfreedommasterx]

I definitely can't afford to buy another but I haven't ever heard of one being hit by a firework, part of the reason I started this thread. I know there are people that have gotten closer than me. Whether is was smart or not is another story lol. I won't be doing it again, I pushed my luck enough. I do know that the video I got is better than any I've gotten before so it was worth the one time risk for me. It's not often I get permission to be so close to fireworks either so I saw it as an opportunity to try something new that could be really cool.

 

[Larry L]

I definitely can't afford to buy another but I haven't ever heard of one being hit by a firework, part of the reason I started this thread. I know there are people that have gotten closer than me. Whether is was smart or not is another story lol. I won't be doing it again, I pushed my luck enough. I do know that the video I got is better than any I've gotten before so it was worth the one time risk for me. It's not often I get permission to be so close to fireworks either so I saw it as an opportunity to try something new that could be really cool.

Pretty cool you got permission. I have been asked from my town & a neighboring town to video there firework show. A third town asked about it but I was not able to. Good thing as the pyro guy that put me in with the towns showed me a video from his phone of a plane that kept circling & they had to shut it down for over 30 minutes to try to get in contact with pilot to have him leave the area.

 

[xfreedommasterx]

Pretty cool you got permission. I have been asked from my town & a neighboring town to video there firework show. A third town asked about it but I was not able to. Good thing as the pyro guy that put me in with the towns showed me a video from his phone of a plane that kept circling & they had to shut it down for over 30 minutes to try to get in contact with pilot to have him leave the area.

My getting permission did have a lot to do with my father in law being chief of the fire department lol I live in a small community so it doesn't take much to get permission. Most people are pretty relaxed about things so long as its not causing trouble.

 

[johan]

Personally, I wouldn't risk my $1299 bird for something like that. You must have a lot more money to burn than I do. Those particles (I believe they are some sort of Magnesium) are so hot that they would easily melt the plastic if your Phantom ever came in contact with one.

A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for
-William GT Shedd

I got my start in amateur photography doing kite aerial photography which is basically hanging a camera and RC rig from a kite string and sending it skyward. More than once I've been at a photogenic location and had hobbyist photographers come over to see what I was doing only to comment about how I was way more brave (i.e. crazy) than they'd ever be to put my camera equipment up in the air suspended by a kite string like that. And to their credit, I've got a drawer with several junk cameras in it that met their fate at the hands of gravity. What I also have is photographs of those same photogenic locations adorning the walls of my home that they'll never ever be able to duplicate. You can't make good omelets without breaking a few eggs.

Now my comments for OP. Excellent video! Probably the best fireworks footage I've ever seen. Back in my pilot days I circled over fireworks displays a few times. The results were always disappointing. Probably because I circled high enough and far enough away so as not to cause the show to be delayed. Having seen them both from a plane and on the ground, they're always more spectacular when viewed from the ground than from a circling airplane IMO.

But your shots? Those show what everyone who ever gets the idea to fly over fireworks in a plane THINKS they're going to look like. Those are what everyone who ever gets the idea to fly over fireworks in a plane really wants to see but never does. Great job!

Now here comes my criticism for you, the one thing you did wrong. As you've read above, people can and do fly airplanes over fireworks and sometimes end up shutting them down as a result. Even when they fly over fireworks without shutting them down as I've done, they end up being in the view of the intended audience. The people on the ground are there to see fireworks. And what else do they see? The lights of an airplane circling constantly overhead. Its a distraction which is not part of the show. And if you're like me, you get a little older and you regret doing it because of that.

Your drone with its downward facing LED's were no different in that respect. The people on the ground whom that show was intended for didn't come out to see some red and green LED's flying around their fireworks display. Your shots are great and I'm glad you got them. But as I've gotten older I've developed a thing about subjecting other people to putting up with my indulgences when they never signed up for that sort of thing. So if you or anyone else is tempted to do this again in the future, put some tape over the LED's so no one on the ground knows you're up there. Your drone flying should not interfere in any way with their entertainment. My opinion only. Plus your shots will look better because of it.

 

[Triakis]

What camera settings do you use?
I will try to do this later this year on the 4th.
Private exhibition so no worries.
We will also be recording the audio near the launch site with either ADAT or firewire sound recorder at 24/192 in 5.1. This will be synchronized to the salute reports (aerial shells) so the video gives the feel of being there!

Providing there's no crash.

 

[xfreedommasterx]

What camera settings do you use?
I will try to do this later this year on the 4th.
Private exhibition so no worries.
We will also be recording the audio near the launch site with either ADAT or firewire sound recorder at 24/192 in 5.1. This will be synchronized to the salute reports (aerial shells) so the video gives the feel of being there!

Providing there's no crash.

Well with the Phantom 2 Vision Plus, your camera settings are a bit limited. If I remember right though, I kept the ISO at 100 so that the sensor didn't blow out too bad from the really bright flashes. I had the exposure up a little at 0.7 and the white balance set to florescent. Good luck with your shoot though. Hopefully you don't lose your phantom in the process. I probably wouldn't try it again lol I think I got lucky to not have gotten hit.