Looking for a new topic to kick around and thought this would be fun. I have been using drones in my business for about a year. The work I do is on large areas of wooded and open land (many miles square). I use to rent planes and fly some areas when more detailed information was needed. Drones have saved me a lot of time an money. If I were still working on buildings I can see many uses for them there. Roof inspection, chimneys, and ground work. Looking for animal runs, etc.
Anyone out there doing this and if so how is it working for you? If not Why not?
First off don't tell me they are not legal, they are. You cannot offer a drone service, but if you use them as a tool then its fine. You would not charge for a ladder to get on a roof so this is the same thing (kind of). There needs to be some thought before using them in a neighborhood and there are restrictions on CONTROLLED AIR SPACE (with in 5 miles of a tower controlled airport) No one owns the air space over property not even 1 foot. I am a commercialy certified pilot so I am aware of air space regulations. I also use an aircraft radio so I am in contact with an aircraft and towers if needed. So lets see what this shakes out of the woods.
Don LaFountain

So if you are flying regulation free. Are you not also flying unprotected from people interfering with your drone? Planes and helicopters are FAA protected Correct?
Kurt

Don, what a great idea. Maybe our grandson will let us use the one we gave him for Christmas.

Kirk
We are not flying regulation free. We are using the FAA model aircraft SUGGESTED rules. They went into effect in 1983. There are no hard regs. yet. Can someone mess with your copter? Sure and its still private property. If you were to shot mine down over your land, I could go after you for costs. No one has ownership of the airspace over their property. Some thing they do but legal says otherwise. Down side to this, PETA fly's a drone over your hunting area, you shoot it down (even if its your land) you are wrong. Here is Mass. we could go after them with the Hunter Harassment Law. The rules say we should not fly over groups of people. Like your kids sporting event. But for someone to fly them over the woods where you are hunting, nothing wrong with that. Some states are looking into laws that will stop you from hunting for 24 hours after you flew one. You can;t fly over an area in a plane and then go hunt there in most states and this thinking will apply to UAVs also. UAV (unmanned flying vehicle).
Paul
Just for the record mine cost around $1800.00 and uses a live video feed of what the camera is seeing back to me. If your grandson has that....He's spoiled. LOL
You could do a full roof area and chimney inspection with High Def (Gopro) camera and get as good and in some cases better information without the risk of ladder work.
Many roofing companies are using these with thermal image cameras to inspect flat rubber roofs looking for hot spots that show a leak. (heat out = water in).
So get a kid to move you to the next level. LOL
Keep this going thanks guys
Don LaFountain

Great idea, every time we have a possible dead skunk under a low deck, or in a crawl space my son keeps trying to get me to let him use this set up to identify where it is at. Go Pro Hero 3 that also has a live feed, and spot lights on the truck, with low light capabilities on his camera. After seeing this post I may just let him try it next time.

The privacy issue has come up on the local FB page, I'm in a rural farming area and people are not looking forward to have them flying overhead. We already have helicopters at night pissing people off. Had one over this property for an hour looking at a cover crop thinking it was weed last summer.
But the city would seem more at risk, flying peeping toms, video on youtube at 11!
I think here in the country there will be court time, people have as much said it. These old Appalachian farmers hate Goverment snoops, can't believe they would feel kindly toward private ones.
Kurt

Don found the story about airspace

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_p...do_you_own.html

Hey Kirk
I am in Northampton and that was my town that voted for that. That vote to stop wars too. Has that worked? As for guy who got arrested. I think he will be let off. There was a case in 2012 that had this happen and it got tossed for lack of regulations, there still are none. There is a portion of laws for aircraft to be responsible for damage to live stock and have to pay for that, that is going to make good court fodder. I have to fly well over horses because they are very skittish. They spook so easy and can get hurt. As for now UAVs don't have ID numbers to track them. The new regulations will address that. As for locals trying to control airspace, I don't see it. Every year I have to attend FAA required safety courses and them and the NTSB don't want to see it. So as people take matters into their own hands it will play out in the courts. According to the hobby suggestions from years ago. Remote control aircraft were suppose to stay below 400' The new regs. raise that to 500'nothing about lowest level.
Great debate here. Very cool
Don LaFountain

Kinda like flying remote controlled airplanes and for that matter , flying kites...must be kept under 500'...at least this is what I thought.

rules are in place for unit over 55 pounds....

i have one built on locally on a YJ or someting frame?????

Everything is upgraded,,,,batteries,,,,,,correspondences unit and controller.....

load the gps coordinators in the thingy and it will hover and film for o-??????? Live feed...........

Up to 5 mile line of sight and 1 mile in rough.........Auto return when battery is low or getting out of distance.......

5900.............

Anywone wanting to lean to fly a drone should fist buy a 99 dollar one of a amizon,,..... it has three levels by switch...

Once you make it to level three you can land anything.....

i will see it i can locate the model number

Hi Vinke
The thingy is a data down link and that can be added to any unit with GPS. As for the rules the ones in place are for groups like schools and such. There is a lit of all permits out there. All units will have to be flown by hand and line of site only. I would love to see or hear what unit you have. I use DJI and I am looking at another one for two cameras and heavy lift. It would only have 30 minutes of fly time but that is plenty. What are you flying this for? What live feed transmitter are you using. I use Boscam 5.8ghz. I like this unit for the powerful chips and I like the fan cooling. I have a IOSD unit also.
Can't wait to hear more about your unit
Don LaFountain

Well our Hero4 GoPro was delivered last week. If I have to pay the dentist over 6 grand for two tooth implants, I figure I owe myself

a drone. They aren't as expensive and probably don't hurt nearly as much.

Paul
Here is a link to the company I use from Hong Kong. They ship faster then anyone in the states and stand behind their word. I have been using them since I got screwed by the US companies.
This should be the best price you find also. Call me to talk if are thinking about doing this.
413-586-0890
http://www.helipal.com/dji-phantom-2-gps-drone-rtf.html

Hey I also feel your pain for the teeth thing. I got 6 crowns this year. I am glad I did have to get what you got.
At least they can't call us one tooth wonders.
Don LaFountain

interesting that you started this thread. I started looking at drones a few weeks ago. mostly for doing home inspections to avoid using the ladders so much. I have been looking at some less expensive ones to start with. What drone are you using? Are you using an Ipad or similar device to control and view the live feed?

Good stuff, folks. The new FAA reg's do say a licensed pilot has to be operating, but the article I was reading didn't go into what kind of license is required (my brother has a private license; wonder if he could fly one for me?).
Do the drones give you a clear image of, say, a squirrel hole under a soffet? ..Some shots from the drones would be great!
As to the privacy/ harassment issue, I know from my professional photography experience and discussion with a cop that it's basically legal to photograph anything you can see with your own eyes, e.g. the famous Jackie Onassis sunbathing au naturel. The photographer climbed a tree on an adjacent property to shoot over a privacy fence and got some shots of Mrs. Onassis sunbathing. A-list celebrities keep close secrets of their wedding sites for that reason: It's perfectly legal for paparazzi to fly over and take photos (as long as the flight itself is legal). "The eye cannot commit a trespass" - that's why, if a cop can see illegal items/behavior in plain sight, even thru a window, he can act on that sighting.
Obviously, "seeing" something thru the use of an unmanned vehicle - a drone - is entirely different.
And, as Don said, harassment is a different story. One would probably have to show a definite, plausible reason to do anything that would stampede livestock or the equivalent.

Keith
I have a DJI Phantom 2 with a Gimble and Gopro. I have a FPV(First Person Video)system. It allows me to see what the camera sees. I do not like the Ipad units, because they can be hard to see in bright day lite. I have a 7" monitor mounted on a tripod. It uses 2 antennas one is directional. So it picks up a weal signal but needs to be pointed at the UAV. I also have an IOSD(instement on screen display)pod which puts the systems flight info on my screen. It does not show up on the camera video. It is very easy to control and has return home feature so if the controller signal is lost the unit returns to where it took off from and lands and shuts it self off. I had it at Alan's last fall. The wifi units don't work well outside and can be lost do to weak signal. I started with a fixed wing cheap plane to see if it was a good idea. It was not. The Quadcopter can fly for 25 minutes and that is more then enough for WCO needs. I can fly mine out over 1/2 mile and take HD video and take stills from that. See the link above for a good site and check out all the you tube videos.
Hope this helps.
Don LaFountain

I am mostly using it for survey over beaver ditches/swamps. I would not recommend it for squirrels because you would never be able to look up under a eave or ?

I would not recommend spending a couple thousand until you lean to fly one also....(made that mistake with a phantom 1)

What does the insurance cost for when you scare a horse that breaks it's leg?

Hey Phil
First off you don't fly near horses. Now my Commercial Ins. for my balloon is about $1200.00 per year. a If a horse gets hurt and I was below the 500 foot level I am responsible. I have no idea about drones. We do not charge for drone services, so there is no ins.
If I am far above the 400 ft level in my balloon my ins. company works it out. I only know of one instance. The pilot didn't pay anything because he was well in national air spcae.
Good question. I will have to assume the once full regulations are in place, that will be addressed. As of now nothing about ins. has been suggested. For the record, Ins. is not required for balloon operations. Its just smart to have.
Don LaFountain

The new Inspire by DJI will look up, but its $3000.00 Nothing works for everything.
I fly mine over flood control dams,Rail Road right of ways and power line ROWs for beaver. I shoot HD video and take my stills from that. I also think eves a are not hard to see anyway. Its the idea of being on the roof. The Phantom was the first one I looked at. I use the Phantom 2 with the new controller. I love the control and stable flight. Not fond of the software up grading. I am getting about 3000 feet. What are you getting?
Still I think this is a must tool for any WCO as their business grows.
Don LaFountain

Great topic, have thought of doing the same thing for beaver too, in tough to get to swamps that take a lot of time scouting and locating colonies either on foot or in a canoe. Wondering how far they can range, how long they stay up etc., price ranges?

Hey Jim
There are a lot of different types. Mine is DJI Phantom 2 with a Zimuse Gimbal. That controls for camera and takes out vibration. I also have an updated controller for better distance. I have FPV (first person video) so I can see what the camera is looking at. It will fly for 20 minutes easy but you need to keep it at line of site. You will loos controller signal if it dips behind a trees and out of site. I can get out about 3500' away from me and it has saved me a lot of time and walking. Cost is a bit high. These are considered low level professional drones or real high end toys. The easiest start up would be one that came with a camera but it uses wifi and has more flying limits then the one I use.
Cost of one like mine is about $1800.00 with the Gopro.
Don LaFountain

Wondering, can there be any trees in line of sight?

Hey Jim
Yeah there can be but not very think. The idea is ti fly high above the area and get a bid picture. If I want better detail I will take clip from the video,make a photo from that and then blow it up to a bigger size. If you drop down out of view you run the chance of loosing control. It will return but there are some details about that more then I care to go into here.
Long answer. Short one yes but not thick
Don LaFountain

I was at a park the other day and saw a man flying a helicopter and watched him do all sorts of tricks. When he quit flying I went and spoke with him. He told me that the thing came with a flight simulator that he learned to fly on his computer and did all of crashing there. This is a great topic.
I couldn't do it but you guys that use these things probably know how to post a video here and Don may have already posted a link to this.

Wow, that's amazing. Much better idea crashing in the living room on the computer, less costly for sure. A lot of us would be helped greatly by practice without worry, which makes the prospect of going that route more acceptable. Would be a lot of tears with a $2,000 crash on the first outing. Just trying to visualize how high the craft would have to be to get a sight line with trees surrounding one particular swamp. Thoughts of drone rentals or finding someone to provide a drone service someday? Hey Don, you ever get over this way?

I wish I knew how to post videos anywhere. I can trap. build them tweak them fly balloons and drones but post a video is so out of my knowledge base its sick. Somethings just have to be subbed out I guess. Sorry

If you can see a squirrel on the screen can you push a button and give him a blast of birdshot?