In this episode we take our custom-built prototype quadcopter down the strip, meet some interesting - and less interesting - people and generally have a great time. Here's the video:
For those of you unaware, there is an airport right next to the strip. There is also a lot of RF emissions. This is why we played it safe and did not fly the Zephyrs down the strip - too many unknown variables.
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Comments
Holy crap, I'm getting all emotional!
U coming to the 'patch?
Rory Paul, thanks for the criticism. I'll definitely consider it!
Tim Brown, assumption is the mother of ... ? You should further take notice of the first paragraph in AC 91 57. There's a word in there that is very important. it starts with a "V". Why you even bring the AMA into the discussion is beyond me. I am not a member, and I'm fairly sure I did not fly on an AMA sanctioned field.
As for the personal attack, I would like to refer you to urban-dictionary.com, a website that lists definitions of colloquial terms commonly used on the internet. It provides "safety police" as a synonym for "safety nazi" and in no way, shape or form relates the term to any kind of racist or even violent activity:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=safety+nazi
I really do enjoy discussions for the sake of discussion, but lets keep the answers based on facts and not on 2nd or 3rd hand reviews of facts. The AC 91 57 does not list any kind of rules against flying in built-up areas. Heck, it doesn't even require mandatory compliance.
Rory Paul, as you may have missed it, I'd like to remind you that this forum does not tolerate personal personal attacks. Even if it did, this may not be the best place to voice them, the topic is the Vegas Video. To discuss my relevance I suggest you open a new blog post to keep the two discussions separate.
Ok, guys, if you want to discuss regulations do so, but please stop with the personal attacks. It does not advance anyone's arguments.
Rory Paul, glad you liked the video. thank you :)
Tim, I think the term "nazi" is a modern metaphor for fascism. Let's not blow it out of proportion, and turn this into an unfriendly discussion.
As for FAA flight rules for models, they are very simple located here:
So, specifically the rule about flying in populated areas seems to be to avoid noise interference:
So, to me the LV strip does not fall under 'noise sensitive', and Trappy said that he has confirmed that the quat was flight worth, and statisfies this rule:
Rule b) does not mean that the model cannot be operated in the presence of spectators, just that the craft should be airworthy.
Tim, I am assuming the term "safety-nazi" has nothing to do with holocaust but with people being incredibly anal about safety (the sentence prior does not relate to your rear end. just pointing that out). I don't see how there is a bigger problem of flying in vegas than flying next to a highway or over an indian holy ground - all of which have been shown here without complaint. I am suggesting that your perception is incredibly flawed by the fact that your imagination as to what could go wrong and the probability of these events being based on hear-say or irrational fear.
To further drive home the point how invalid your arguments are, I welcome you to show me the regulation that forbids me flying in built up areas - as you claim they are in fact illegal. My time is limited, I am pretty much tired of answering everybody's "concerns" and "hardships" regarding these flights. I'd just like to point out that, no matter how hard you look, how much you say to yourself "this has to be illegal - this has to be illegal - how come this is not illegal", you will not find a single LAW that prevents anyone from doing these flights. Believe me, the FAA has looked into an increasing number of these flights - thanks to people like you that are reporting them as something "irresponsible" and "dangerous" - and all the investigations end with the same few sentences. "Thanks for your information and cooperation, we will notify you of the results". The FAA has pretty much acknowledged that UAVs are safe, they do not pose a threat to people and they are going to phase them into the national airspace progressively. Everything you say is completely opposite to what is happening, yet you just come in here and go on spewing stuff that just isn't true as if it were fact. We're not giving people ammunition to ban our hobby, you are :)
Take a close look at that video. There are people waving to the camera, children standing right next to where we are launching and landing. Don't you think that if anyone felt threatend by the UAV, someone would have said or done something about it? And don't try to brush this off as wide-spread ignorance over the dangers, that just makes you come off very arrogant. People are very aware of the technolgoy and dangers of these toys, and they raise very valid questions, but calling us irresponsible or the flights illegal just never comes up.
Adam, not at this point. We're getting the design finalized right now, learned a lot over the past 6 months and got a design ready that will blow people away :)
Trappy,
Any info on your webpage about your quad set-up you can share?
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