Any Drone Pilots Out There?

Any drone pilots out there that take your drone camping? I bought my first drone (Skydio S2) recently to capture footage when I go off roading. However, figure it would be cool to capture aerial views of the campground when allowed to fly them. It's cool but a bit nerve wracking to fly...these are expensive toys and the fear of it falling out of the sky due to pilot error is taking time to get used to.

 

I’m a Part 107 FAA licensed commercial pilot, and also teach UAS at a local college.. But, you won’t find me flying the USFS campgrounds we usually camp in. While flying the national forests is mostly legal, our campgrounds are um, in forests! So many aggressive trees that jump in the way of your drone.

BTW, the national parks are *not* legal for flying!

 

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

 

That's funny

 

I knew that the National Parks were off limits and totally understand why but such beauty would be great to capture from the air. I'm hoping to do more national forest camping so I can add some aerial footage. The trees are part of what I love about the S2...the object avoidance on this thing is amazing.

 

You will love the drone...it will be worth the wait.

 

Yep, that but that is squarely targeted at large enterprise customers and it will be crazy expensive. I am guessing 5K or more.

 

LOL. Yea, um not making that kind of dough. Maybe if I get 50K or 100K subscribers. So, share with your friends. LOL

 

Please observe laws in our parks. If drones not allowed, please leave them at home. I, for one, don't appreciate the noise and invasion of privacy. I am sure there are plenty of other places you can film. I prefer the enjoyment of our parks without having to subscribe to anything. Use your imagination and soar like an eagle.

 

I would first see if the wind is too strong just to make sure it won't be harder for the machine to properly work. The landing always scares me!!

 

I've got a lot of mixed feelings here. I think I'd like to have a nice drone. Nice ones are expensive, but not a bill I ultimately couldn't pay. OTOH, my drone lustings are tempered two-fold. I see (seemingly) disproportional laws in place for what these items are. I also see that for some, drone usage, and even discussion of drones seem to stir up an incredible anger in some that I just find difficult to relate to or have empathy for, more less understand.

I attended an offroad event about 6 months ago with a club I'm associated with. It was at a public offroad part, I believe the park advertises over 3000 acres of offroad trails. Probably about 30 vehicles (plus drivers & families) attended. This was a 4x4 event, not a tear drop event. We have one member who is a recently retired Army warrant officer/helicopter pilot. that last part was probably irrelevant to the story.

Anyway, this guy brought a drone, and captured all kinds of great footage. Everyone enjoyed the video's he took, and we watched some of them that night, sitting around the camp fire. A lot of stuff he uploaded to youtube, not continually of course, but we are still watching and discussing those great video's.

All in all, the movies were an all around win, with no negatives that I observed.

There is a context to everything, and any tool can be used for good or evil. It mystifies me as to how drones can seem to generate such anger in a sizeable portion of the population.

Closing disclaimer - I don't have a drone, but I might like to get one, one day, when they aren't such a controversial item for others.

 

I absolutely plan to obey local laws on drone usage. I left it at home at Yellowstone for that very reason. The campground I went to recently allowed it so I did send it up to get some aerial footage of the campground but I put it high so as to respect people's privacy and so they didn't have to hear the noise. It also just gave a better overall shot of the campground.

 

I'm an avid off roader as well. The 2 reasons I bought the drone was because I wanted to capture aerial footage of campgrounds I stay at as part of the reviews I do on my YT channel, but the other reason was to capture footage of my rides. I have ridden dirt bikes for 40+ years and had a SxS for 3 years. I am back on a dirt bike so I hope to capture some great footage in the future. I just got the beacon for my drone last week and got a chance to test the tracking capabilities this past weekend.

 

Yeah, I always check the winds before I fly it. This was too expensive to risk in windy conditions.

 

Jay, that’s impressive. Really great autonomous following. I also noticed there was a nearby tree that may have contributed to the bobble when you were jumping.

I would suggest that you investigate whether showing your drone work on a monetized youtube channel is commercial use. The FAA has taken a fairly broad view of this.

 

Thanks. I know it cleared the tree as the bobble happens as I get airborne and the drone is almost in front of me. I have a question into Skydio now and sending them flight logs.

I did look into that and currently, it does not appear to be considered commercial use. However, I will probably try to get part 107 anyway as it would be cool to say "I'm a licensed pilot". LOL.

 

Down load the FAA App “Before You Fly”, Kitty Hawk is good too. Both give you the flight restrictions by geolocation. Also, learn how to read aviation charts so you can pick safe places to fly. I’ve found the obstacle avoidance to be tricky in trees. Its possible to get locked into a patch of trees and have to land. Blades guards help somewhat around obstacles. Practice, practice, practice and keep the drone in sight. Get a drone license for out of visual site flights.