My personal rant . . .

[BigAl07]

This is just a place for me to "gripe and complain".... This is one of my competitors and they continually put me into a pickle because they will do things that I refuse to because safety. Here's a video they just shot yesterday 1/2 mile from an airport, on a college campus, and directly over the crowds.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=669460603208442

 

[Cobs]

Itll only take one disaster for them to be removed, well done on sticking to your principles.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Itll only take one disaster for them to be removed, well done on sticking to your principles.

The good news is that it will likely never happen. The bad news is that it could. I would never do that either. Period. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something bad happened.

 

[tcope]

 

[Nickster]

Allen, totally agree. I did my shoot for the local festival only after I felt safe, checked with law enforcement and FAA for my plan to do a side shot, none over crowds. Then later in the day I actually had someone come up to me when I was working the booth to see if they could fly over the festival low. I was like no, total FAA Part 107 violation there.

Good job sticking to your guns. Just stinks when someone wants to take unnecessary risks.


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[David T]

Maybe it's just me, but link says video unavailable... did they get caught and take it down?

Nickster and Al, for the side shots mentioned, what do you consider a safe distance? With or without spotters?
And let me say up front, I'm all about safety as well, so not trying to pick a fight - just curious if I'm being overly cautious or not cautious enough (not likely, my wife calls me Mr. Safety, but still...).

 

[BigAl07]

View attachment 65618

Well dang. Someone took it down... I'm not saying that's a good thing but... LOL

 

[BigAl07]

Maybe it's just me, but link says video unavailable... did they get caught and take it down?

Nickster and Al, for the side shots mentioned, what do you consider a safe distance? With or without spotters?
And let me say up front, I'm all about safety as well, so not trying to pick a fight - just curious if I'm being overly cautious or not cautious enough (not likely, my wife calls me Mr. Safety, but still...).

I don't fly over people period. When I shoot an "Event" I fly around the event getting everything in a safe manner.

 

[David T]

I don't fly over people period. When I shoot an "Event" I fly around the event getting everything in a safe manner.

Oh, I agree. Over people not part of the flight team is not an option. Ever.
I was more interested in when you're flying around an event, what you consider a safe minimum distance to be.

 

[BigAl07]

Oh, I agree. Over people not part of the flight team is not an option. Ever.
I was more interested in when you're flying around an event, what you consider a safe minimum distance to be.

I don't have a set distance but I stay out far enough to where if I lost a prop/motor/esc that the aircraft most likely would not reach anyone. Fortunately these aircraft don't "glide" very well so when you get a total failure of a component of system it falls fairly straight down. I try to keep a safety margin just in case but I don't have a set figure just what "feels/looks" like a good buffer zone.

 

[BigAl07]

I just checked their FB page and the whole post is GONE!! Not sure why but it's definitely a goner.

I found it posted on another FB page where it might stay available for viewing...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154342399910310

 

[Drestin Black]

This is just a place for me to "gripe and complain".... This is one of my competitors and they continually put me into a pickle because they will do things that I refuse to because safety. Here's a video they just shot yesterday 1/2 mile from an airport, on a college campus, and directly over the crowds.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=669460603208442

I won't argue law, it is what it is until changed. This this bugs me:

So, the alternative is to hire a helicopter and film from that platform.
This was instead of a 1 ft x 1ft 8 lbs craft falling into the crowd we have the chance of a 15 ft x 60 ft 5000 lb craft with 200 gals of AV gas falling into the crowd with at least two lives aboard the craft at high risk.

It's way safer to fly a drone over a crowd than a helicopter.

The video sucked, as an aside lol


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[Nickster]

Maybe it's just me, but link says video unavailable... did they get caught and take it down?

Nickster and Al, for the side shots mentioned, what do you consider a safe distance? With or without spotters?
And let me say up front, I'm all about safety as well, so not trying to pick a fight - just curious if I'm being overly cautious or not cautious enough (not likely, my wife calls me Mr. Safety, but still...).

David,

Since I knew there would be people going into the event, I set up a perimeter around me with cones. I tried to get about 500 feet between me and anyone I thought might get near me. Like Allen, I don't have a set distance either. I think the rule of thumb is if you were to have a crash, can it crash it without being near people or if you have to perform the kill motors op due to it not working right, find a spot where it will not effect anyone.

I also just got asked to do a job for a large soccer event. I talked about it with the association and we found a spot in the corner of the property away from people where I can take it straight up and a spot across the street that I could use and not be above anyone.

Here is a picture of what my cone perimeter looked like from the event and a photo from the event. You can see that being about 800-1000 from the event still gives a great photo.

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[CThruU]

I came across this a few weeks ago. When several people cautioned him about the safety violations, he replied boasting about how he looked up all relevant regulations and followed them to the letter. He even quoted the law regarding not flying less than one hour before event along with the "up to $250K fine" and yet the stadium clock indicates 40 mins to kickoff. I was at the venue in my seats when this was filmed.

I urged him to take it down, but it's still there.

 

[Cobs]

Can see peoples own videos being used as evidence against them ... just wait till theyre hard up for more cash and come looking for easy pickings.

 

[Rothgarr]

I came across this a few weeks ago. When several people cautioned him about the safety violations, he replied boasting about how he looked up all relevant regulations and followed them to the letter. He even quoted the law regarding not flying less than one hour before event along with the "up to $250K fine" and yet the stadium clock indicates 40 mins to kickoff. I was at the venue in my seats when this was filmed.

I urged him to take it down, but it's still there.

So why not report the violation?: Report Aviation Safety Issues