I know I'm probably going to get some heat for posting this, but some of you may enjoy a little collage of a "day in the life of a BlackSheep" nonetheless
If it helps, all approvals necessary were obtained, an army of ground helpers were available, as well as constant communication with the heliport tower to stay in the loop about incoming traffic.
Comments
I think most of us are happy with the more professional direction that TBS seems to be taking with their material and their presentation. Some people also didn't read the entire thread indicating the safety procedures involved in the stunts before commenting and this has been kinda a source of problems in the discussion. A few people believe that no matter what you should never fly directly over people who have not consented to being flown over. This view, I believe, comes from the gas RC plane crowd who hold the flight line as sacred for very valid reasons. There is also a good deal of worry that TBS videos will lead to increased regulation on drones and FPV in the US. Also, you combine that with a lot of confusion expressed on the forum about what people view as "common sense law" and what is the actual state of RC law. The two are not even close to congruent. Both side have points and neither side is really going to budge.
If the answer to both questions is yes, then any exemption or blind eye turning as a result of FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 91-57 is gone and a Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental Category is needed. From the FAA website: "Due to regulatory requirements, this approval precludes carrying persons or property for compensation or hire, but does allow operations for research and development, market survey, and crew training."
Great flight and demonstration of appropriate and thoughtful safety precautions but as a community we should consider if we support this type of flight and remain consistent within the current regulatory environment and potential impacts on current rule-making.
@David, yep, and Trappy was flying in accordance with the permission of the property owner and we've got people flaming him?
I've never seen a fix wing aircraft that is able to come to a complete stop, and drop vertically on anyone, I agree with Robert, being directly under Trappy's aircraft or behind it is the safest place to be.
Safety isn't about not doing something that could injure, its about taking precautions to reduce either the likelihood or consequence of harm.
I consider Trappy flight safe, and fantastic to watch!
Keep up the good flying Trappy.
@Hai your operating a multi rotor device in accordance with the permission of the property owner, and your not flying over people. This is called an RC airshow.....
@David, actually that was me not Paul. I have the stock exhaust on my bikes and am a strong advocate for staying quiet.
@Hai, your post brings up a relevant point about risk management of the different aircraft types. I'm not sure if this needs to be said because I thought it was self evident, but perhaps Paul needs reminding.
When helis or quads fail in flight, they have a strong tendency to fall straight down. That makes flying directly over people more risky. When airplanes fail in flight, they are very unlikely to fall straight down. In fact, I'd wager you're safer directly under an airplane than you are alongside of it. That was largely what caused me to state that I don't think flying fields are much safer than that campus.
I experienced this, was responsible for it, myself. Long time ago, 18 years ago, when I first got into the hobby, I attended an RC airshow at a field nearby. I had attained my "wings", but was still a novice. I had a chance to fly my trainer at the show. Just as I took off, a just hit the plane from the side and I momentarily lost control, and the plane went zooming directly over the heads of the spectators behind the safety fence.
That's why I say that this idea that you're "safe" at an airfield because you are standing 50 feet from the runway is not accurate.
@Paul
I mean no offense. It's all in good fun. As long as you don't mess with your exhaust to make it noisy I couldn't care less if you ride a motorbike.
I think a lot Paul's concern is that he remembers a lot of earlier RC groups drama, wherein the FPV guys operated with a great deal less concern for public safely than they appear to in this video. I personally find the "stated" safety measures taken in this video were appropriate to the task. That's just me. I personally don't fly over people other than myself if I can help it, but I also am a terrible pilot.
Like Trappy, I have been invited to fly on campus. I did a risk assessment and in accordance with the organisation risk management standards I identified that there was a risk that the hexaxopter could hit someone. I will be taking some risk reduction activities such as cordoning off some area and not flying DIRECTLY overhead any person, however cars and building are fair game. Under te risk managemr standards of the University they consider this to be a moderate risk but with my risk reduction and my skills they consider the risk to be low an approved the activity. I dare say that the University's Heath and Safety department who approved this would be considered more credible that Paul Mather opinion.
If we accept your perception of risk that there is a risk that someone could be hurt by trappys flight overhead and this the only option is risk avoidance, then we should also ban general aviation and commercial airlines from doing the same as planes have crashed and the consequence is death the risk would be extreme. As a real pilot I know that general aviation aircraft are services every 50hrs I reduce the risk, but real planes still crash.
Paul, like many people you pretend to understand risk management, but risk management is my day job, I am know that risk avoidance is only one way of dealin with risk. Another way is risk acceptance, in other words the campus that trappy was given permission to fly at accepted the risk and in the event of harm thy actually would have public liability and insurance to cover it.
Another risk management option is risk reduction, so that is was safety really means, it's about reducing the likelihood or consequence of harm. So what trappy has done is deploy spotters and plan his flight and used an aircraft that will cause less harm. That ladies is what safety is about its not about just not doing something because it is dangerous.
The only time I recommend risk avoidance to my clients is where the benefits are not there and risk exists, because risk management is not about eliminating risk its about striking a balance between risk and reward.
David, I saved two strangers life, while riding a motorcycle, am I an asshole?
Wow, has this descended far.
I vote that we move the discussion to banning people that ride motorcycles. I hate those guys. What they do is technically legal, but they are a bunch of assholes.
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