A lot of work went into building this plane, adding redundancies and safeties, as well as fitting 3 cameras, and the result was well worth it. Big thanks to the ardupilot team, nightghost for his OSD firmware, and all the other folks who wrote some of the software the 5 computer/microcontrollers that were in the plane (not counting those on the camera or VTX):
Day Video (4K): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-8X1Y_1fW0
Night Video (2.7K): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E94CXMC3gm8
Details on the plane and more still pictures:
http://marc.merlins.org/perso/rc/post_2016-08-29_RC-Flights-over-Burning-Man_-2016-edition.html
http://marc.merlins.org/perso/rc/post_2016-08-05_120kph-Capable-HK-Sky-Eye-FPV-build-with-Pixhawk-Ardupilot-3_5.html
Comments
Ok, Mark. I do agree the the videos are fun to watch and may have benifitted from some type stabilizing of gimbal on the fixed wing aircraft.
Robert, if you follow Marc's link you will see he discusses the BM guidelines in the "Questions and Answers" section.
(Moderation note)
You've made your point clearly, so let's drop this particular part of the discussion.
(end Moderation note)
http://burningman.org/event/black-rock-city-guide/drones/
I am enjoying how the 2 of you seem to think this is ok and legal.
Yes, there always is one of you. It is generally a complete waste of time trying to engage you.
Marc -- always enjoyed your contributions.
I dont think its is as bad as I made it out to sound but you knowingly broke the law and posted the evidence. This is just more ammunition for the Anti Drone folks. You are obviously smart but the rules obviously dont apply to you and you feel the need to show everybody that you are so smart that you are above the law! Thanks for the one of you comment also, you are the "1" here sir and you have shared the evidence.
Dear Robert Pigeon, of course there had to be one of you, there usually is on every such thread. I could spend a long time explaining to you why I (the builder) spent months testing the equipment, safeties, and adding redundancies, why a foam plane with pusher prop was used as opposed to a more dangerous drone, or what steps the pilots took to make the flights as safe as possible (including flying at higher altitude to give time for recovery, or gliding to a safe place), or tell you about the spotters involved, but I've learned that it's usually a waste of time for me to do so.
If you decide it was bad and unsafe no matter what, no one can change your mind, so I won't waste your time or mine. However there are still plenty of videos on youtube (some actually unsafe), that could use your feedback if you are so inclined.
Sooo about flying over all the people. Your video was more important to you than other Burners safety and you cant read the FAA guidelines. Nice videos but poor judgement.
I really like the emphasis on safety, and the pilot tips at the end of both articles. And of course the stunning imagery!
Great job!
Excellent post, I really enjoyed watching the post, the build and the videos.