Insane flying

[Darrell1]

I find this disgusting. Not only is this guy flying just a few feet from tons of little kids, look at the distraction he is causing! Could you imagine being in the parade and this thing buzzing right next to you?? What do you think people watched more, the parade or the Phantom?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB8RQpfUEbw[/youtube]

http://youtu.be/hB8RQpfUEbw

 

[Sac D]

Dangerous flying... and then it ends with the following:



For profit? Hmmmm... this guy is pushing/exceeding all limits. Yes I'm sure he figures its all fine. Until a motor connection comes loose or some other calamity sends his craft into the crowd.

 

[FrankB]

This absolutely would not be allowed in Canada- the governing authority, Transport Canada, makes it very clear that no UAV can be flown above spectators; an obviously sensible rule, given the fact that a motor can fail at any time, or the operator can make an error.

 

[editor71]

How many people/kids especially, are going to say "i can do that" or "i want one"!?

Then you'll have a bunch flying around a parade or busy park or splash pad. Irresponsible on this guys part as anyone will think it okay and a bad accident will happen!

It's in Michigan, about 40 min North of me. Never heard of him, but I'm sure he'll be at the Woodward Dream Cruise in August.

 

[Darrell1]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2336357 ... 893958846/

 

[GeneL]

How many people/kids especially, are going to say "i can do that" or "i want one"!?

Judging by the camera work/flying, I'd say a kid was flying it.

I had get it out.

 

[Darrell1]

Judging by the camera work/flying, I'd say a kid was flying it.

I had get it out.

I did not want to say it.

I wonder how many of the clips & aerial images on his website were actually taken by him.

I am a video professional. I make my living capturing images and telling stories, but I see the Phantom as just another tool. It is too cheap to design a business around it. The prices are just going to keep dropping and soon, everyone is going to have one of these. I'm trying to rely on skills, and some occasional aerial clips to complement a video. A nice bonus is the fact that it's a wonderful toy that happens to also serve as a business write off.

 

[freelanceshots]

I honesty don't see the high danger, insane flying element here. I didn't read to much into it either. With all things, something could always happen that's not planned. One of those motorcycles could get a stuck throttle and head off into the crowd as well. I think its perfectly safe to fly like this as long as you have the permission from the city or the event promoters. I'd also say the pilot looked to be in control even though he tried some unwarranted forward and backwards movements. Maybe he wanted to try these moves to see if it made for good video. He's for sure got a nice gimbal setup which smooths things out. I also didn't see the distraction taking anything away from the parade or the fun. I think some people are being a little critical here. Is there a risk of crashing yes. Is there a risk of crashing and sending someone to the hospital, most likely not. My dog took a spooled up plastic prop to her snout and it did nothing to slow her down. Now if people were shewing the multi-rotor away and the pilot didn't abide then that could be a problem. If your city or state has laws against this then of course its not cool but I don't think people where endangered here or bothered.

 

[TickTock]

Pretty soon a net gun is going to be standard issue to the police at all public functions. I love to fly my quad, but would get really annoyed if someone brought one to an event I was trying to enjoy.

 

[Meluk]

I honesty don't see the high danger, insane flying element here. I didn't read to much into it either. With all things, something could always happen that's not planned. One of those motorcycles could get a stuck throttle and head off into the crowd as well. I think its perfectly safe to fly like this as long as you have the permission from the city or the event promoters. I'd also say the pilot looked to be in control even though he tried some unwarranted forward and backwards movements. Maybe he wanted to try these moves to see if it made for good video. He's for sure got a nice gimbal setup which smooths things out. I also didn't see the distraction taking anything away from the parade or the fun. I think some people are being a little critical here. Is there a risk of crashing yes. Is there a risk of crashing and sending someone to the hospital, most likely not. My dog took a spooled up plastic prop to her snout and it did nothing to slow her down. Now if people were shewing the multi-rotor away and the pilot didn't abide then that could be a problem. If your city or state has laws against this then of course its not cool but I don't think people where endangered here or bothered.

I agree. He mainly kept it in the centre of the road and not over the viewing crowds.

 

[editor71]

We had a person flying it over our display at the Dream Cruise last year. Hundreds of people. We had to chase him off. It was a liability! If it came down on someone, that person could have sued Chrysler which in turn, we would lose our client. We couldn't chance losing a client like Chrysler.

 

[TickTock]

I honesty don't see the high danger, insane flying element here. <snip>

I agree. He mainly kept it in the centre of the road and not over the viewing crowds.

And this, my friends, is exactly the problem. It's perfectly safe... until it isn't.

 

[Darrell1]

I honesty don't see the high danger, insane flying element here. I didn't read to much into it either. With all things, something could always happen that's not planned. One of those motorcycles could get a stuck throttle and head off into the crowd as well.

I mostly agree. In our society, we are always trying to be safe and sometimes forget that having fun does involve risks (take swimming for example). I however was shocked how closely he was flying to the "action" and causing a distraction with his "hey, look at me! I have a cool toy!"

 

[DeweyAXD]

I have to say I too think it is a 'little' harsh to call this insane. BUT... with that said, for me I don't think I can really judge without knowing more about the pilot, his setup routine and what permission (if any) he had from the organisers.

In the UK even if you have a CAA UAV license (which you have to have if you want to make money from flying) you would only be allowed to do this if you had consent from the organisers AND the CAA themselves (who i would imagine would frown on being 10 feet from people).
Specific restriction: No to fly "over or within 150 metres of an organised open-air assembly of more than 1,000 persons;" and/or "over or within 150 metres of any congested area;".

Personally I think it is a case of mitigating risk and, as has been mentioned, sadly things can and do go wrong in anything mechanical device (many of which can hurt a lot more than a blade to the face). The reaction from the crowd says a lot too... no one seems to be cowering in fear from it, all are smiling, all are fascinated. You get the same reaction at an organised airshow... until a Jet crashes into the crowd.

All in all I think it is easy to over react to videos like this but the fact that we are all in hear talking about it is key... a clear indication that we would all like a sensible medium rather than a "f*cuk it, they are loud enough, they should duck" attitude :lol:

Sadly there will be Phantom (and other quad) owners with such an attitude but they will never read these threads (probably as they are out pulling wheelies on their Ducatti or doing hand brake turns in a busy car park!) :roll:

 

[ogmios]

While obviously it is "illegal" to shoot for commercial purpose, let's not rush to judge. He could have obtained permission or was commissioned by the organizers. I actually think that this kind of event filming is great if done properly (Permissions and experienced/safe flyer). Probably not much more dangerous than the guys on motorbikes if they they were to lose control, etc.

 

[TickTock]

If they got permission, was a skilled pilot, and was flying a octa or other more reliable UAV (i.e NOT a Phantom) then OK. But the Phantom can cause a lot of damage to someone, has no redundancy, and is prone to flying out of control even when all motors are running properly. NOT the right tool for buzzing pedestrians who had no idea someone was going to be operating a flying lawnmower over their heads. I, too, think this country [USA] has gone WAY too far with the zero tolerance thing, but it's another thing entirely when you are actually putting other people in harms way. Had it been an ARdrone or similar, that would have been a different matter since it's lighter and props spin more slowly (i.e. won't send anyone to the hospital for stitches if it freaks out)..

 

[DeweyAXD]

I see your point TicTock especially regards an octa on the redundancy factor when dealing with motor failure but no flight controller or gps at a civillian level is 100% guaranteed not to glitch out due to interference, component failure or user error (wasp stings hand, hand thrust forward, person in shot has hair cut etc).
I'm not defending the decisions this guy made but i could see how peoples fascination and excitement over what he was doing lead to the close up shots.... Wrapped up in the moment most likely and very happy with his results, blissfully unaware that flyaways and odd behaviours sometimes do happen. Lets face it if people didn't read forums and see youtube vids of flyaways/failures many users who have never had an issue would feel confident in taking such shots safely.

 

[Sac D]

Lets face it if people didn't read forums and see youtube vids of flyaways/failures many users who have never had an issue would feel confident in taking such shots safely.

True dat!