Anyone into flying these things ? Saw the TV series with Ed Stafford - Into the Unknown, he goes to mega-remote places and when he gets there he launches a drone and films amazing stuff with it. I thought he would just carry survival stuff, like a 'kin big knife and some saw-dust food, but no he carries a drone to see around him - amazing. How difficult can it be. Straight to the model shop in town and get a basic drone without the camera. Just learn how it works. Hubsan X4 H107L - was £37; a couple of spare rechargeable batteries £5 each; and the blade protector ring £4. Spent a while getting the hang of it in the underground car park (office car park mostly empty at week ends). Been crashed loads, and work mates also crashing it, great fun !
Got me and the boy into these!, Started off with the Hubsan Q4 then the FPV Syma, both are really stable and easy to fly. We fly on our green and the locals love to watch. We play S.A.M nerf wars were he tries to take the quad out of the sky with his nerf gun armoury, its just like top gun! Being so light these can be crashed with little damage(or danger to others). Wanted to get a Phantom but prefer flying rather than filming, also privacy laws start to take effect. Thinking of custom building a racing Quad but the weight and speed make flying a little more dangerous so need a bit of space
I want to take this one outside as well, but did not want to show myself up in front of people by not being able to fly the thing ! The original idea was to maybe get a mounted camera, but not bothered now really - privacy laws and you are right it just good fun to fly - even with kids trying to shoot you down with Surface to Air Nerf guns ! I bet racing drones don't half go, crikey, this little basic one is quite nippy. Jessops have got some really small drones with cameras already mounted, for less that £100. You might get away with flying at a track day as the motorbike engine sounds will drown out the sound of the quadcopter - otherwise they they would hear it buzzing about ! Buy one anyway, great fun.
I used to fly RC Helicopters, but it got a little boring as they became so easy to fly with the advent of 3 way gyros and electronics (hands off hovering and return to base gps), which funny enuogh is why Quads took off, they where to difficult to fly without the gyros and electronic now, now they are a piece of piss to fly I
there are rules to follow too, A man from Cumbria has become the first person in the UK to be successfully prosecuted for the dangerous and illegal flying of an unmanned aircraft. Robert Knowles was found to have flown the device in restricted airspace over a nuclear submarine facility, as well as allowing the device to fly too close to a vehicle bridge. Both offences breached the UK’s Air Navigation Order. Mr Knowles, of Barrow-in-Furness, was found guilty on Tuesday 1 April 2014 and fined £800 at Furness and District Magistrate Court following the prosecution by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who said the case raised important safety issues concerning recreational flying of unmanned aircraft. The CAA was also awarded costs of £3,500. On 25 August 2013, the Court heard, an unmanned aircraft (UAV) was recovered from water near to a submarine testing facility in Barrow-in-Furness, operated by the defence company, BAE Systems. Analysis by the police of video footage taken from a camera fitted to the device subsequently revealed that during its flight it had skimmed over the busy Jubilee Bridge over Walney Chanel, well within the legally permitted 50 metres separation distance required. The UAV had also flown through restricted airspace around the nuclear submarine facility before it inadvertently landed in the water. The UAV was traced to Mr Knowles who admitted to building the device himself and operating it on the day in question. He was charged with: • Flying a small unmanned surveillance aircraft within 50 metres of a structure (Article 167 of the Air Navigation Order 2009). • Flying over a nuclear installation (Regulation 3(2) of the Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying)(Nuclear Installations) Regulations 2007). The CAA said the conviction sent a message to recreational users of UAVs that the devices are subject to aviation safety rules. The conviction of Robert Knowles follows the recent case of a photographer from Lancashire accepting a caution for using a UAV for commercial gain without permission. The photographer had sold footage of a school fire taken from his quadcopter to media organisations, even though he did not have authority from the CAA to operate the device commercially. Anyone using unmanned aircraft for ‘aerial work’ requires a ‘permission’ from the CAA to ensure safety standards are being adhered to and the operator is fully covered by indemnity insurance. Anyone using a UAV recreationally can also seek advice from established model aircraft clubs who will have detailed local knowledge of airspace restrictions. Go to www.bmfa.org for more information. More information on the regulation of UAVs, including a list of operators with permission to fly UAVs for commercial use, is available at www.caa.co.uk/uas For further press information, contact the CAA Press Office on: 0207 453 6030 [email protected] . Follow the CAA on Twitter @UK_CAA Notes to Editors: Operating rules for UAVs: • An unmanned aircraft must never be flown beyond the normal unaided ‘line of sight’ of the person operating it. This is generally measured as 500m horizontally or 400ft vertically. • An unmanned aircraft fitted with a camera must always be flown at least 50m distance away from a person, vehicle, building or structure. • An unmanned aircraft fitted with a camera must not be flown within 150m of a congested area or large group of people, such as a sporting event or concert. The CAA is the UK's specialist aviation regulator. Its activities include: making sure that the aviation industry meets the highest technical and operational safety standards; preventing holidaymakers from being stranded abroad or losing money because of tour operator insolvency; planning and regulating all UK airspace; and regulating airports, air traffic services and airlines and providing advice on aviation polic
Wow, amazing helicopter, I have seen them being flown at the local model aircraft zone. Anyone can go and fly there, I think. As an amateur photographer I have seen the increase in grief that is directed at this harmless hobby - in fact Amateur Photographer Magazine gave out two lists of your rights as a photographer - "Being stopped by private security" and "Being stopped by the Police" with the wording approved by the Home Office. These lists were written on lens clothes that are wrapped up and carried in your kit bag - the yellow one for private Security and the Blue (of course !) for the Police. I can see this going a bit the same way, being hassled by people when you are doing no wrong. Photographers have brought successful prosecutions against people who have messed with them, when they are minding their own business and acting perfectly legally. Handy to know your legal rights, before stepping out in public with one of these things, as some busy-body is bound to come over and start giving you grief !!
My Mate bought a Phamtom 3 for £650 from Singapore when coming back from Indo in Sept. A saving of around £300 the smae spec is in the UK. he let me have a go and I was very impressed Now he's back in Indo working again he's go some cracking pics from the airfields he lands in More info below http://www.bushflyingdiaries.com/ https://instagram.com/p/9aIPPntIAj/ A cracking bit of kit and easy to fly. And even manages to survive a 100ft drop when it hits a tree.
One of my clients has just gone through the licensing process. Stressed him out more than I thought it would. He specialises in industrial photography and spends most of his working life praying for a weather window so he can charter planes and choppers. The drone is going to free up so much time and cost for him. There's a few people on my books that add footage from them into their wedding photography now too. For the time being, at least, that adds a really cool dimension to the proceeds of the day. Unfortunately, I could name three or four people offering it as a service unlicensed. The public liability law suits don't bear thinking about, quite apart from what the CAA would do to them.
I belong to a flying club and and race fpv mini quad I only use mine there now, however I have in the past used them on a beach and down the park but it was real early and no one was about.
