News Helicopter vs Drone

[Deleted member 29014]

Where are your two ponds?

 

[Youngbill]

"WIthout me this thread would have been boring" You got that right Young Bill.

I enjoyed your thoughtful questions and remarks. I spent a whole bunch of years in TV news Field Opns. Hanging out of Bell Long Rangers in the winter without a Tyler mount and 2 seat belts with the handle releases gaffer taped together. Ha! And I was Manager News Operations at NBC4 in Wash DC and Assit DIrector of Opns in LA where we had not 1 not2 but a 3rd back up manned aircraft. ------

If I'm on a News scene with a DJI Phantom III as one of my tools. I'm going to use it. I am going to cover the story as it happens. I am not going to be "big footed" by some regulation written in Washington DC that says a Corporation owned aircraft because it has a manned crew get's air space priority. I'm going to talk to the manned organization on the phone, I'm going to see if we can achieve air to ground comms I'm going to try to parcel out the airspace in a cooperative manner on the scene. Or work out a Footage sharing agreement with the group. (This is a long standing practice in Los Angeles TV Stations) But what I am not going to do is be denied the use of one of my tools over some petty FAA regulation. Now the Orange Vest crowd loves to shout safety and rules and regulations. But I'm from the "old school". Get the story shot. That's what you're there for. work around the rules, get collaborative efforts. or break the rules to achieve your goal. (with full awareness of the consequences)

Cover the Story. And if you're on the scene of a news event with your Inspire overhead in my eyes you are an "Equal" player on the scene.

Cheers,
Mike Whatley
Charlottesville, Va.

Thanks Mike, I appreciate your point of view. The world needs more "Old School", too much Politically [expletive removed] Correct people these days!

 

[Youngbill]

Where are your two ponds?

Louis, this is the Phantom (Drone) forum.....the fishing forum is over yonder. You ok buddy?

Oh darn, he won't see this, he has me on mute.

 

[snerd]

Louis, this is the Phantom (Drone) forum.....the fishing forum is over yonder. You ok buddy?

Oh darn, he won't see this, he has me on mute.

If someone quotes you he may see it lol! Or maybe not, this is Xenforo software, not sure.

 

[Patrick]

Thanks Mike, I appreciate your point of view. The world needs more "Old School", too much Politically Fu*king Correct people these days!

Honestly , the issue is less being PC and more being concerned with future issues caused by those who fly recklessly.

i used to believe the forums were full of nannies, but within the last month there have been 2 separate occasions of Phantoms crashed at public events here in Albuquerque. One hitting a bystander and one caught in a tree.

now the city is proposing a ban.

this is why folks on the forum are peer pressuring for non-risky flight. i only wished it worked

regarding mikes post , i believe the caveat is COMMS with those in the air

 

[Deleted member 29014]

Honestly , the issue is less being PC and more being concerned with future issues caused by those who fly recklessly.

i used to believe the forums were full of nannies, but within the last month there have been 2 separate occasions of Phantoms crashed at public events here in Albuquerque. One hitting a bystander and one caught in a tree.

now the city is proposing a ban.

this is why folks on the forum are peer pressuring for non-risky flight. i only wished it worked

regarding mikes post , i believe the caveat is COMMS with those in the air

Nothing will improve until we start reporting dangerous flyers.

 

[Patrick]

Ultimately i believe UAVs are going to require licensing and i somewhat believe they should after seeing some of the egregious behavior being uploaded to youtube. hopefully it wont be triggered by a tragedy

 

[Youngbill]

Honestly , the issue is less being PC and more being concerned with future issues caused by those who fly recklessly.

i used to believe the forums were full of nannies, but within the last month there have been 2 separate occasions of Phantoms crashed at public events here in Albuquerque. One hitting a bystander and one caught in a tree.

now the city is proposing a ban.

this is why folks on the forum are peer pressuring for non-risky flight. i only wished it worked

regarding mikes post , i believe the caveat is COMMS with those in the air

Don't kid yourself, they are full of nannies.

Albuquerque should ban bikes, more people get hit by them then drones.

I mentioned comms in one of my posts but the nannies ignored it.

I also mentioned that I do fly safely and this was purely hypothetical.....again, the nannies choose to hear what they want.

Then they mute me[emoji4] and it takes friends like @snerd to quote me to have a little fun [emoji56]

 

[Deleted member 29014]

Ultimately i believe UAVs are going to require licensing and i somewhat believe they should after seeing some of the egregious behavior being uploaded to youtube. hopefully it wont be triggered by a tragedy

Best policing is self policing. Too many laugh off stupid s--t by others rather than taking action.

 

[wormgrunter]

No you're missing my point. If they show up you get out of their way period. If you don't and you and them collide you are liable for the crash and damages. Including the death of the pilot/s and all on board. Your unmanned hobby toy is not in any way going to get the right of way in the eyes of the FAA or anyone for that matter. Please fly responsible. This is serious and I hope you take it that way.

 

[CellaChris]

So why should the guy with the expensive copter get the shot and not me? In the forest fire situation, the manned aircraft were called off. Why should the news copter not be called off? Doesn't seem fair. Why shouldn't the manned aircraft be responsible and safe and leave the area?

Because they're paying a ton of money for gas and you are just flying for fun.

 

[wormgrunter]

Please don't take my comment as rude or trying to pick a fight. I am seriously not. The "I was there first" attitude is exactly why there will be some high restrictions on the use of hobby drones in my opinion. Yes they are all flying above your house but do you have a way to communicate to them that you are at a certain spot and altitude like they do each other? No. They would be guessing where you are and would likely run into your drone. Human life will always take precedence over a machine. This will never change and therefore they will always have the right to the airspace before you do even if you were there first. I'm not saying you are not a safe flyer but your question posed the insinuation that you feel you should have the right to the airspace and if you do or did that is a serious safety issue and I would rather speak up than to let something happen. I hope you understand what I am talking about.

Thank You Utah Drone Imaging!
I'm very new to the forum, It's very frightening to hear so many being so staunchly rooted in the thought of "I was here first..." with a drone. I couldn't live with myself if I caused a "manned" aircraft to come down, let alone any aircraft that could endanger human lives. I wonder what Youngbill would say and feel if it was HIS aircraft that he was flying as a manned pilot and I demanded my drone space at the cost of a strike to his engine or any other part of his aircraft.

 

[notelpats]

No you're missing my point. If they show up you get out of their way period. If you don't and you and them collide you are liable for the crash and damages. Including the death of the pilot/s and all on board. Your unmanned hobby toy is not in any way going to get the right of way in the eyes of the FAA or anyone for that matter. Please fly responsible. This is serious and I hope you take it that way.

The guy in kentucky got charged for shooting down an aircraft! When a drone appeared in his back yard.and he took it out. Drones will be considered air crafts until the laws change.

 

[Stuart]

The "Manned" aircraft has right of way because it is manned and yours is not. they have a lot more to lose should an accident happen. Namely their lives. So yes the current and common sense rule is you must yield to a manned aircraft at all times.

We seem to be missing a point that the pilot of the chopper more than likely had spoken to air traffic control and given permission to be in that area thus making it THEIR air space???? Just a thought

 

[IFlySkyhawks]

This really has to stop - this attitude of "I own the airspace because I was there first." As others have pointed out, the helicopter pilot isn't expecting to be sharing airspace with a UAV/drone. The pilot will be trying to cover the situation and will have a high workload trying to avoid things he is looking for like radio towers, tall trees and other obstructions. Obstructions, by the way, that aren't moving around like your drone. You can quickly see how a helicopter pilot on the scene that sees a drone now has to focus on avoiding the drone - constantly - and not on all the other hazards around him.

We are the "new guys" to the airspace and as such we need to respect the FAA's very clear guidance that we will yield to and "see and avoid" manned aircraft. Period.

If you don't do this, you risk being yet another news item. I can assure you that the news media will and general public will judge you as the party at fault. When the media makes a circus of your flight you'll be another story that makes the general public believe that drone operators are a menace and risk. This then hurts ALL OF US since the resulting legislation doesn't just target you, it hurts all drone operators.

Please...the moment you hear an aircraft approaching, start to descend and ultimately land your aircraft if it is coming to the same location you're photographing (versus just passing through).

 

[Youngbill]

Because they're paying a ton of money for gas and you are just flying for fun.

[Moderator edit: combative and inappropriate comment removed]

 

[Youngbill]

We seem to be missing a point that the pilot of the chopper more than likely had spoken to air traffic control and given permission to be in that area thus making it THEIR air space???? Just a thought

I know is a fairly long post....come on, try and keep up.......several posts back I think we agreed that the drone could stay at tree top hight and still get the shot without interfering with the helicopter. Some people are saying to land and not fly at all.....I don't agree with that. The drone pilot has every right to capture a news story as the copter pilot.

 

[Utah Drone Imaging]

I know is a fairly long post....come on, try and keep up.......several posts back I think we agreed that the drone could stay at tree top hight and still get the shot without interfering with the helicopter. Some people are saying to land and not fly at all.....I don't agree with that. The drone pilot has every right to capture a news story as the copter pilot.

So you're saying that because you can see the helo it's safe to fly even though you have NO way of communicating with the helo pilot? Do you have a pilots license? can you tell me what the minimum altitude a helo is required to fly? Also do you know if the helo pilot can see your UAV and can he maneuver fast enough to get out of your way should something happen?

 

[Utah Drone Imaging]

I know is a fairly long post....come on, try and keep up.......several posts back I think we agreed that the drone could stay at tree top hight and still get the shot without interfering with the helicopter. Some people are saying to land and not fly at all.....I don't agree with that. The drone pilot has every right to capture a news story as the copter pilot.

OMG if you are below the trees how the hell are you going to see whats going on unless you are right above the story? Anything above the treeline is the airspace that the helo would be using so this is pointless and without thought.

 

[Youngbill]

This really has to stop - this attitude of "I own the airspace because I was there first." As others have pointed out, the helicopter pilot isn't expecting to be sharing airspace with a UAV/drone.

Exactly! The copter jockeys need to change their attitude. They should now be expecting to share the airspace. Technology is like a steamroller, hop on or.............................................