Does anybody here have a drone?

You must be a blast at parties [grin]
Who, me? [smile]

It's a sore subject for me. I had an offer from a local realtor to be their exclusive videographer for all their listings the same week that the FAA told us we'd be fined if we got caught (average fines were $12,000+). I have a hexacopter sitting, un-built, because it just isn't worth it for me to finish it right now. The airframe alone (with no electronics) costs more than a complete Phantom setup.
 
You're not going to find anyone responsible person who would be willing to do this and I wouldn't trust anyone who would agree to. The FAA restrictions forbid any flight within 5 miles of any airport without prior approval and flying over people or moving vehicles is also prohibited. The only real way to get this done would be from a company who has a waiver to use them for commercial use who would file a flight plan ahead of time.
Do you iron your underwear ?
 
Either way you still run into the commercial use issue. The FAA considers it commercial use when they are used by any organization or person, for anything other than personal use, even if no money changes hands. Trust me, I've been in the hobby for a long time and I was in the process of starting my own aerial videography business right when the FAA screwed us all over. If you want to use any type of RC aircraft to video public events (legally) then you need to have a commercial license with a licensed pilot on staff. They'll soon be permitting commercial operations to have a staff member who holds a remote pilot airman certificate with a small UAS rating, but they haven't started the training courses for that program yet. All the people with little experience who bought Phantoms have caused us a ton of problems by misunderstanding (or just ignoring) the rules we all followed for decades, and that's why things have become so strict over the last 2 years. While the chances of anyone getting in serious trouble are slim, the chances of it getting on the news and causing more BS for the hobby/business are huge.

"…if you are taking video for your own personal use (including YouTube) and you're not going to do anything else with it, and you adhere to model aircraft guidelines, you're okay…"
Les Dorr, FAA Spokesman.

The RC Aircraft rules he refers to are pretty common sense. Yeah, even quadcopter owners read up on what the FUDDS - I mean, RC aircraft dudes - advise for safe use.

There are extended booms to take video from above ground: the simplest approach is nothing but a pole with a GoPro mount on the end. The latest GoPros can be controlled from an app. Barring that, if someone reconnoiters the route (even a map recon) I'm sure you can find an elevated vantage point like an overpass or adjacent hill.
 
Who, me? [smile]

It's a sore subject for me. I had an offer from a local realtor to be their exclusive videographer for all their listings the same week that the FAA told us we'd be fined if we got caught (average fines were $12,000+). I have a hexacopter sitting, un-built, because it just isn't worth it for me to finish it right now. The airframe alone (with no electronics) costs more than a complete Phantom setup.


GOAL is non-profit, non commercial.
 
"…if you are taking video for your own personal use (including YouTube) and you're not going to do anything else with it, and you adhere to model aircraft guidelines, you're okay…"
Les Dorr, FAA Spokesman.
Unless your YouTube page plays ads before the video. Believe it or not, the FAA has already gone after people for "commercial use" for backyard videos that YouTube placed ads in front of.


GOAL is non-profit, non commercial.
It doesn't matter. Trust me when I say that if you aren't a lawyer who specializes in drone laws (they actually exist) then you have no idea what you are talking about. People have been fined huge amounts of money by the FAA for things we would all assume as being non commercial use. The largest fine I've seen so far has been $22,000. Most of these people wound up not having to pay the fines, but not until after paying legal fees and fighting the fine in court.

And the FAA's definition of a commercial operation makes Maura Healey's definitions seem reasonable.
Exactly! Healey's latest BS came right from the FAAs playbook.
 
OMG there are now "Drone FUDDs."

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-has-never-fined-anyone-for-flying-a-drone-commercially

"The FAA Has Never Fined Anyone for Flying a Drone Commercially"

Instead of going after companies that don’t have a 333 exemption, the FAA will fine drone companies (and drone hobbyists) for flying in a “careless or reckless” manner. It uses a manned aircraft regulation called 14 CFR Section 91.13(a) to enforce its fines. The FAA still has not enacted specific unmanned aircraft regulations, leading experts to believe that the FAA isn’t willing or able to prosecute drone companies for not having a license.

“The FAA has yet to go after anyone solely for operating commercially without authorization,” Peter Sachs, a Connecticut-based drone attorney told me. “If you look at the documents, they will sometimes mention [a lack of authorization] it in the ‘allegations’ section, but then when you get to the bottom where they actually cite regulations, it never says anything about operating commercially. If they’re so certain it’s illegal, why have they never once gone after anyone?”

Loretta Alkalay, who was in charge of the FAA’s legal operations for the eastern region for more than 20 years, told me that the documents I showed her suggest the FAA doesn’t think it has legal standing to win a case that doesn’t involve reckless flight.
 
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Yeah. The FAA has pulled pilot certificates from people for holding out even when no money changed hands, just because they gave someone a lift and logged the hours (which they claim is compensation). They're quite broad in their interpretations.

As has been mentioned, there are a number of overpasses on 128 that you could film the group driving under. The first one that comes to mind is the bike path that goes from Bedford to Alewife (I forget the name). It's pedestrian/bike only. I think around Trapello Road there are some elevated areas you could use, the truck cutout in Dedham....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
OMG there are now "Drone FUDDs."

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-faa-has-never-fined-anyone-for-flying-a-drone-commercially

"The FAA Has Never Fined Anyone for Flying a Drone Commercially"

That's because they didn't have the new regs in place until just recently and the article you linked was written before they enacted them. What does it matter how they screw you anyway? In the past they hit you with reckless operation. Now they will hit you with operating without having a licensed pilot on staff because the regulations have been put in effect.

Raphael Pirker was fined $10,000 by them and it took him 4 years of fighting it in court for them to reduce the fine to $1,100.
 
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OMG there are now "Drone FUDDs."

We call them "Plankers". The anti-drone people in the RC world fly nothing but planes and believe that everything that isn't fixed wing is a threat. I still haven't figured out whether or not you're calling me a FUDD, but I'm the furthest thing from it. These new regulations are rediculous and they added a bunch of hurdles and fees to an industry that was about to become huge.
 
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