Photographer Searching For Lost Camera UAV In Oregon

Aircraft Lost During Documentary Production

A photographer working on a documentary focusing on Willamette Falls in Oregon has lost a UAV he was using to shoot aerial photos earlier this month, and some residents are taking s dim view of his search for the aircraft.

Brian Dalrymple was operating the Droidworx AD8 Heavy Lift UAS with a Canon EOS 7D camera attached when he lost contact with the aircraft. He says he was able to place the aircraft in "automatic land" mode before it got completely away from him, and it went down near a scenic overlook of the falls.

The 27-year-old photographer told Oregonlive.com that if it survived the landing and the batteries were intact an internal GPS should lead him to the aircraft, but so far he's had no luck finding it. The AD8 has eight "legs" and lifting rotors, making it look a bit like a flying spider. Dalrymple said he had about $16,000 tied up in the aircraft and camera gear.

A West Linn, OR police spokesman said some people who live near the falls have called to complain about the man asking to search their property looking for his UAV. Sgt. Neil Hennelly said that the people who are calling are being assured that Dalrymple is legit, and would just like to find his aircraft.

RC Accident Sparks Federal Probe

Model Plane Impacted National Archives Building In Waltham, MA

A wayward RC model airplane made an unscheduled arrival on the roof of the National Archives building in Waltham, MA, sparking a federal investigation which involved the FBI, TSA and Homeland Security.

The unnamed owner of the three-foot RC aircraft reported it missing to local police Thursday evening, saying it was on the rooftop of the federal facility. In a prepared statement, FBI Special Agent Greg Comcowich said "a combination of federal, state and local agencies, including the Federal Protective Service, determined the plane caused little to no damage to the building and a preliminary examination of the plane indicated it did not carry any harmful material.

“Preliminarily, there appears to be nothing nefarious about the event.”

The Waltham News Tribune reports that local officials said there was no damage to any records housed in the Archives, and the only damage to the building appeared to be to a solar panel on the roof.

Still, Comcowich said the agency will do appropriate follow-up, but at this point, "it's a remote controlled plane enthusiast's plane gone awry."

(Thanks to Magician for the heads up)

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Comments

Gareth Rens December 25, 2011 at 12:36am

How difficult is it to check the last know co-ordinates (via APM planner) and go look there... Perhaps he should of had an Ardupilot...
Martin Szymanski December 25, 2011 at 12:24am

Likely it is lost in a tall tree. In my younger years I modified a .020 cox engine with a .049 on a auto rotate flydown copter. It went up too much and landed down on a tall tree cove.
Jason Wise December 23, 2011 at 12:59am

Not a good one by the looks of it!
brakar December 23, 2011 at 12:14am

John, I think it's the other way around. We are the "only ones" who have lawfull rights to walk (or camp) on other persons land without asking. To others, our ideas about this might look strange.
Developer

John Arne Birkeland December 22, 2011 at 11:49pm

From the lost camera UAV story:

A West Linn, OR police spokesman said some people who live near the falls have called to complain about the man asking to search their property looking for his UAV. Sgt.

I have to ask, is this an American thing? Calling the police because someone asks to look for a missing object at your property? For a Scandinavian, the concept of calling the Police for such a thing is totally and utterly alien. If you do not want him on you property (99,9% here would let you search), just say no.
Gareth Rens December 22, 2011 at 11:18pm

What flight controller do you think he was using?
3D Robotics

Chris Anderson December 22, 2011 at 10:31pm

Not secure enough! ;-)

I'm blaming the kids for that one...
Moderator

Gary Mortimer December 22, 2011 at 10:06pm

So would the FAA I would expect unless the doco was being given away for free he was flying a UAS commercially in the NAS.

Did'nt somebody from here end up behind the fence of a fairly secure place once......
T3

Rory Paul December 22, 2011 at 6:29pm

The Droidworx rig just decided to up and fly away...I would love to know the details of that one.
Kevin Mahler December 22, 2011 at 5:15pm

I just ordered my first Arducopter and plan on using it for AP. I do have some expensive cameras but I'll have to gain a lot of trust in the copter before I hang anything more than a GoPro from it. However, as a Ham operator, I have thought about the idea of putting an RDF transmitter on the bird for just such an event. It's a fairly easy solution to finding a lost copter.