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
Tim you are wasting your breath. Trappy is obviously an attention addict the more people disagree with him or point out issues with what he does the more he revels in rubbing your face in it. The truth is his videos are becoming stale and this is why he needs contiguously push the envelope and there will come a point when he screws up and someone is injured and he scuttles back to Austria.
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.
Last I checked DIYdrones was supposed to be a community board where people could have friendly discussions about things UAV related. I'd think the wisdom of flying a UAV in the middle of Vegas is a topic where people might have differing but valid opinions. Calling anyone who respectfully disagrees with you a Nazi is not very friendly. The Nazi's executed 4 million innocent people, I just suggested that flying your copter in a highly populated densely built up area might not be such a good idea given the tenuous nature of UAV legality and the fact that FAA regs explicitly forbid flying in built-up areas.
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?
it's impossible to get permission for something that is not regulated. and it's impossible - with the technology that TBS is at right now - to fly a Zephyr at the strip. Too much interference. We set out to do it, but after about 2 hours of testing (ground testing and measurements) we concluded it would not be possible and switched to flying the quad.
Trappy, maybe next time you can try and get permission to fly the Zephyr down the strip. It would be a great video.
Here's a picture I took from the Eiffel Tower observation, last time I was in LV:
Oh, while at it, what about Hoover Dam?
Ellison, obviously you can't do anything dangerous on the strip. It's filled with cops, once you got their attention you can pretty much pack up and leave (at best). As you can see, everyone at the fountain was cool with it, they all waved and a lot of them subscribed to our channel and have been following all episodes so far.
Glad at least some liked it. I can see not all is lost in the R/C world, but the safety nazis do seem to be very present :)
I love the view of the strip from a quad pov, especially the water jet shots. I saw nothing dangerous here. Mostly above water.
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