Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta?
- Thread starter Patrick
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Hello, Late to the party..... I thought there was a no fly zone around Balloon Fiesta Park during the festival. I didn't have a drone then and didn't pay much attention to the issue, but i thought i saw a restriction so as not to get in the way of the balloons, helis, and everything else filling the sky?
I am guessing I am about 5 miles from the Park. I would want to move east towards the valley edge as a launching point and hope the wind is from the south 
Meaning what? Once you get outside the NFZ, aren't things business as usual?
I woke up this morning to the charecteristic "sssssssshhhhhh", "sssssshhhhh" sound of a hot air balloon. The balloon was between me and the sun and I wasn't ready to launch so I missed my first chance to shoot a balloon in the air.
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1. I wasn't intending to fly near them
2. I don't think the prop would tear the ripstop fabric
3. a small rip would not down the balloon
I am crewed for these guys and know something about them....just saying..
there wasn't any negative talk when others posted their videos of hot air balloons, or at least not that I saw.
To the best of my knowledge there is nothing illegal or inherently dangerous about flying a distance from the balloons outside the NFZ.
My best friends son-in-law is one of the top balloon pilots in the country. He gets paid to bring his balloons to events. Will have him ask him what he thinks of drones in the area.
I would think if you were out in a field 20 miles away from the festival, happily flying your drone and a hot air balloon came along, you could film it as you were moving a safe distance away.
Like this morning, was just one balloon in my area. I very well could have been out flying and the balloon came by. And what is the difference between the balloon happening to come by vs. me seeing the balloon and flying up to film it? I am new at this so I am trying to learn what is the law, what is tradition, and by seeing other videos, what others are doing, like filming balloons.
The law states that you must yield to any and all manned aircraft.
Flying towards or staying in a hover when a hot air balloon approaches you could be viewed as a violation of that or as reckless endangerment.
that doesn't seem to exclude flying paralel. "staying in a hover" seems to imply that you would be hovering in the balloons path vs. to the "side" so to speak.
I suspect this sort of thing is buried somewhere in their docs and rules and shouldn't be arbitrary. I know it isn't exactly the same thing, but in my teens I did some sailing. We had all the rules of right-a-way and yielding to various craft. Isn't this just a 3d version of that
I was responding to the op's open-ended query. The temptation with a wide angle lens is always to get a bit closer rather than to get further away from the action. Having said that, I don't see any issues outside the NFZ.
woah, a bit of an asssumption. the post was made with the unstated given of operating within the law and all TFRs. as you can see in my photo i'm 5+ miles from the event!
that doesn't seem to exclude flying paralel. "staying in a hover" seems to imply that you would be hovering in the balloons path vs. to the "side" so to speak.
I suspect this sort of thing is buried somewhere in their docs and rules and shouldn't be arbitrary. I know it isn't exactly the same thing, but in my teens I did some sailing. We had all the rules of right-a-way and yielding to various craft. Isn't this just a 3d version of that
I've been flying and seen balloons come my direction many times. if it happens it happens, just keep your distance and don't actively fly toward them, yield to the manned craft and your fine. same rules as for a helicopter coming your way. They're just slower
But now that you mention it what is the safe distance, if you did want to actively follow or film it?
What if you have a phantom 4 with obstacle avoidance following it? is that safe?
No assumption at all - outside the 5 mile zone is useless and inside it is risky. So it's a catch 22 situation.
Hi Patrick, Saw your shot. Not knowing where you shot from, was it when they were launched and still all down by the launch area, so you were photographing subjects 4+ miles away? Have you operated your drone during a time when they happened to drift closer or beyond the NFZ? If I measured right, the 4 mile radius is short of where Corrales Rd hits 528. There are some nice places to launch or view the balloons if they blow to the north. I used to work at a place just north of Corrales Rd and would go out on break and watch the balloons coming up the valley. No always, but when the wind was right. Unfortunately the sun is on the other side so it would be better for an afternoon launch than a morning launch.
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