This one I shot in Phoenix at 16th Street and Butler I hope you enjoy and share this with your friends. My Magic Carpet ride!
Showing posts with label Quadcopter Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quadcopter Video. Show all posts
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Tuesday, May 06, 2014
My position on and Use of Camera Drones for Investigation and News Gathering
Phoenix, AZ—Today numerous news organizations have filed a
legal brief in the matter of the FAA vs. Pirker. Pirker was fined for making a video for the
University of Virginia using a small camera drone. A federal judge in Denver struck down the
FAA’s ban and now the matter is under appeal.
There may be a risk to commercial drone use should the FAA win their
appeal.
The news organizations are properly claiming a 1st Amendment right to use the drones for news gathering purposes.
The FAA banned all commercial use of drones by
civilians. They did not however attempt
to ban drones being used by hobbyists.
The FAA says they will issue regulations for the drones later this year.
The Drone Genie is long out of the bottle and now these are
must have toys for every teen aged boy in America. The drones are invisible on radar and the FAA
can’t possibly begin to police every drone in America.
I will concede that the FAA owns the air space around every
airport. The same could be said for the
airspace above 400 feet where conventional aircraft flies. However everything else below 400 feet is mine
along with other drone operators.
There are already strong laws in every state dealing with
privacy invasion, harassment and endangerment.
Anyone breaking those existing laws will well-deserve a date before a
criminal and possibly civil court judge for that kind of misconduct. In case you were wondering you don’t have an
expectation of privacy when you skinny-dip in your back yard pool if it can be
seen by air.
I’m using my drone for newsgathering, investigations as well
as for improving my drone piloting skills and for simple enjoyment of its hobby
aspects. I will take my chances with the FAA especially when they are
unreasonable, arbitrary or tyrannical.
My clients deserve clear video and still images at a fraction of the
cost of hiring conventional aircraft photographers.
The FAA claims to be concerned with safety in the nation’s
air space. If that’s true they need to
remember not a single life has been lost as a result of the use of a drone by
civilians. Conventional aircraft or
large heavy drones may well need FAA attention not the lightweight plastic drones
like mine.
Here are three examples of my drone videos:
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
The Arbitrary and Capricious FAA and its Tyranny Against Newsgathering Efforts. Check out this terrific video!
Mayflower, AK—April 27, 2014, tragedy struck the heartland
in the form of springtime tornados. It
was not really safe to send up a helicopter and crew to survey the damage. Emergency vehicles found roads impassable and
were unable to locate victims needing assistance.
One drone video journalist sent up his camera high above the
scene. The stunning video he captured
was a real public service. First
responders could see areas where help was needed. The local residents lucky enough to have
escaped the wrath of the storms could see if they still had homes and the extent
of damage.
During these emergencies looting becomes a concern and understandably police limit entry to these areas significantly. Using the camera drones homeowners can see just how their precious homes survived or did not without waiting for police escorts that can take days.
The FAA tried to take jurisdiction over these little drones
that use the tiny HD GoPro cameras. They
decreed that any commercial use would bring their investigators and $10,000.00
fines would follow. They went after one newsgathering operator and punitively fined him. A
federal judge in Denver recently struck the FAA’s overreaching regulation reversing the fine. The FAA appealed and the matter is before the Appellate Court waiting for a resolution.
In any event the FAA will try to exercise some authority
over these devices but we must expect and demand some sort of reasonableness. They don’t have any of the manpower needed to
regulate millions of these toys that are being built by hobbyists or sold by
hobby shops. The devices themselves
because of their small size are invisible to radar.
Most importantly when the little drones have mishaps nobody
is injured nor is there any property damage to show when that happens.
When there are earthquakes, wildfires, floods and such the
only way to survey the damage or discover people needing rescue is from the
air. There are not enough helicopters
and flying during threatening weather like the Mayflower is safe as the video shown below demonstrates. The camera drones can provide a huge public service.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Fun With The Quadcopter and GoPro Hero 3+ video Camera in Phoenix, AZ
Taking aerial video with my quadcopter Drone just because I
can! Enjoy these three videos and the music!
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