Quadcopter for track day?

You may be confusing big balls with lack of brains...

 

Cinedrones http://www.cinedrones.net/book-us/ is the contractor flying for the production company for CBS Sports. They were in contact with race control at all times, was well coordinated, and was flown safely and conservatively.
They flew a bit at COTA too.

 

From the looks of it, I would guess it is under 255 Lbs, so it probably qualifies as an ultralight. No paperwork required for their purpose. Looks pretty cool to me, if you like meat grinders.

 

He's not in the US, but Germany.
More info http://www.e-volo.com/

 

I have a friend who flies the copter below. Gps enabled stabilized shooting platform for the camera, auto recall in case of signal loss, can fly on only a few of the motors, it's pretty damn impressive. I would have no problem with him having it at a track. He is way better at his job than most. One of the cool thing he can do is turn the controller off and the copter will return to exactly where it took off. Their new copter has twelve blades and is even more advanced.

 

More advanced isn't always more reliable.
My experience is that ready to fly stuff is often more reliable than units that are built by the owner. Yes - 6 or more prop motors can theoretically land if there is a motor failure, but in reality it is more more difficult and sometimes will crash anyway especially with a heavy load depending on the flight envelope at the time of motor or esc failure. 12 motors and esc's have 3 times the failure rate of 4 motors and esc's. I've flown quadcopters for a handful of years and the current crop of DJI ready to fly quadcopters are rock solid reliable. I've had a couple of hundred hours on a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ with zero failures.
Plus an off the shelf quadcopter is easier to permit thru the FAA process for commercial use.
GPS stabilization, return to home, autoland, etc is pretty standard now on any quadcopter at the $1k price level and up.

Cinedrones was using a DJI Inspire 1 at Road Atlanta, which is a $3.5k ready to fly quadcopter. Cinedrones has an FAA Section 333 exemption waiver so they can legally fly for commercial use. Currently the Section 333 exemption waiver requires the pilot to possess a current pilots license.
The proposed draft legislation (not yet passed) would reduce this requirement to having just passed the FAA written exam. I have a pilots license, but I would support the requirement to having just passed the FAA written. There isn't a large benefit to learning to fly a C-172 in order to fly a remotely piloted quadcopter IMO, but thorough knowledge of airspace and familiarity with how to call a control tower, read a sectional map, etc is absolutely necessary.

 

Watching the live SX coverage from NJ and they mentioned that for their 2016 coverage they are contemplating using drone cam footage. Would be funny if one dropped from the air onto the track

 

10/10ths let someone use one to film at the NCM event a week or so ago. Video is pretty cool. They let him take it all the way over the track during a session.

 

I don't get all the talk about using one of these for an event, if not mistaken, the DJI is the better option out there right now, what's the flight time on a fully charged battery, 15min?

How can you realistically get any footage worth using with such a short interval short of having an army of them grabbing footage?

 

15-20 minutes depending upo payload and battery packs. If you had two of them you could fly one while the other is swapping battery packs. the newer ones have two controllers, one for the quad and one for the video camera mount. makes it easier for one person to focus on controlling the quad and going in the correct direction, the other paning and tilting the camera to get the action.

I've flown the little ones and some of the little helicopters for a few years. I personally wouldn't have any issues with them being around the track if the operators were known and could show they have a good idea of what the are doing...

for MX I can't really see it being an issue. with all the stuff flying around the track (dirt clods, bikes, etc) I don't see it being an issue even if it did crash to the ground during a race. just don't expect it to come back in one piece.

 

This is a question that some of you can answer since you're involved with drones already. Within the past day or so an incident at Love field in Dallas prompts my idea that the Feds might start taking drone flights even more seriously in the future. A Southwest Air flight encountered a drone with lights at something like 1200 to 1300 feet flying just above the plane as the plane was on final approach.

Are any of these craft serial numbered? I have a feeling that in order to control them in a more efficient manner the Fed might start registering ownership so that in the event of a plane/drone strike, where the wreckage can be obtained, the owner can be tracked down to suffer the ramifications of his/her errant flying habits.

What thinks the beeb?

 

I think like most things a few idiots will ruin it for the rest of us. You can buy them new and you can build them from parts, there's no way of tracking them by serial number.

 

It was cool to see the quad flying at the MotoAmerica races. They appeared very professional.

I did see a few things I would have not done flying around while videoing the races. I witnessed them flying directly over the track, flying in line of site of the riders, and hanging over the ambulance while they were attending to a rider that crashed in turn 5. I wanted to tell them what I thought but they never stayed still long enough for me to get over to speak to them...

I'm sure they wouldn't care because I'm just a lowly private quad pilot they don't know from Adam's dog...

 

Those flying the quad at the turn 5 crash were talked to by race officials I believe. I am not sure of any outcome though.

 

Thought of this thread when I saw this.

http://www.people.com/article/enrique-iglesias-drone-injury-concert?xid=rss-topheadlines


Ride safe,
AAron

 

Maybe it is just me and my ADD but there was one out at the track the last time I rode and to me they are distracting as hell. Shit moving in the peripheral where there should not be anything moving messed me up pretty. I am not a fan.

 

Wait, so he went to LA after being injured in Mexico? Sure says a lot about their healthcare system.

 

Or that he can afford the best care available. He finished the concert, probably wasn't all that bad.

 

Don't fly too close to those birds of prey...
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/12/9145495/drone-eagle-attack

 

So yeah I may have changed my mind...maybe drones on the racetrack is maybe a safety hazard...

http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2015/...tm_tags =srm[sport - oly,brand – olympictalk]