UKC

Just wondering how something like this would be viewed in the UK :

A young French guy ( 18 yrs old ) filmed his home-city of Nancy with a drone, here's the link on Youtube - youtube.com/watch?v=Or_UBTvL5Rw&

As a result, the local 'procureur' is taking action against him in the 'correctionel' court, following demands made by the Direction General Aviation Civil, citing a danger to the public and privacy infringements.

Personally I think it's a fine effort and at no moment is anyones' privacy at risk.However, I can appreciate the problems that would be caused if thousands started doing the same.

For those that read French, here's a link to the news-story:

http://actu.orange.fr/france/nancy-un-homme-convoque-au-tribunal-pour-avoir...

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Hadn't seen that, but after seeing this I wanted to get one to film here (in France).

http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2014/01/14/happens-take-drone-gopro-banzai...

Another guy did some stuff in New York - and I don't think the FAA came down on him, and considering the potential for terrorist use (or the knee-jerk government reaction along those lines) that is to be applauded.

http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2013/08/15/check-this-slick-short-flick-of...

In reply to yorkshireman:

Thanks for posting those links- truly awesome !

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Good views!

Interestingly, I believe the BBC used one of these to get a bit of footage of a flooded railway line. They kind of flew it down to the water, followed the line under a bridge, and then went up high again.

Can't really see a problem with it, unless the camera is aimed at people's windows!

In reply to yorkshireman:

Hmmm, I like the surf one. Out of interest, do surfers always go from right to left?

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

A good effort but I could see how it would spoil your day if something went wrong and it came down of someone's head from the top of the cathedral.

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

These things are getting really smart now, and the biggest ones are capable of serious payloads.

There has long been rules in the UK about what requires full licensing as an aircraft and what doesn't. at the moment none of the drones that carry go pro or the like are remotely near this limit, however I suspect teh bigger drones capable of carrying image stabalized film quality cameras are getting close.

Recently saw someone who's trying to get a new Gopro drone to market that will effctively follow you (well your mobile phone) at a set distance which will be fantastic for action sports filming it's called personal drone or something like that on the kickstarter site

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

I think the two things you'd potentially have issues with in the UK would be overflying a crowd and flying out of line of sight, both of which are IIRC presently banned. I can't say for sure given the pilot is not obviously visible in the Nancy video but some of it in close to the church spires for example must have been FPV, whether he's nearby or not is impossible to know. They're not really the sort of thing you'd want around a busy urban area, the props are potentially deadly if the tips are exposed (as they usually are).

It's a nice video though.

jk

In reply to balmybaldwin:


If your phone got stolen, could you set the drone on the thief?

In reply to jkarran:


They're not recommended to be used out of line of sight, and most of them come back to the start position if they lost contact with the receiver.

You could imagine the security services getting a bit twitchy though if somebody flew one over Downing Street or Buckingham Palace though.

In reply to climbwhenready:

I guess so, but it hasn't got a megadeath-ray, and would most likely result in both your phone and drone being nicked

In reply to yorkshireman:

I think any restricted airspace would get you in trouble!

In reply to balmybaldwin:


Yet.

In reply to yorkshireman:

Like this ?

youtube.com/watch?v=ghDXBIy_BSM&

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Thanks, brings back memories of the 18 months I stayed there, some different views of well known places

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

I would love to have a drone. That is a fantastic film.

this is the future though
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8586358/Bird-siz...

is it a bird? is it a drone? or even a bug? A small helecopter type thing is easy to spot but a bird? Sure at present it looks fake but given time

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

That's superb. The guy should be given the freedom of the city or something rather than being prosecuted. Beautiful looking city too, it would definitely make me go there if I was anywhere remotely nearby.

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

You've probably seen it making the 8:00 news tonight.

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Any idea why I get a content restricted message when trying to watch?

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

The footage of Nancy is remarkable in quality, makes the place look stunning and if they had contracted it from an advertising agency I think the town would be well chuffed.

However, I can also see the range of rules and laws that (s)he and the blacksheep mob are breaking and I'm not surprised the DGAC are prosecuting.

I'm quite torn, the footage is incredible, the possibilities exciting but the consequences are chilling and really quite frightening.

In reply to Daysleeper:

I think one has to be objective about the real dangers. In the right hands, there is probably no more risk than a jet airliner crashing into a densely populated urban area. This is where the authorities' case weakens, as there is no testing of practical skills, only the requirement to pass a theoretical examination ( the same as powered micro-flights).


I forgot to mention the good choice of music accompanying the film. It was

"Oceano" by Roberto Cacciapaglia, album "Quarto Tempo".

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Ah I hope I wasn't misunderstood... my thoughts were more at the loss of privacy and whether our world will be better or worse when there are no walls. The blacksheep stuff from London, as an example, has the aircraft flying round the houses of parliament. It's a security nightmare. As a weapon delivery system or a weapon in itself they will become a problem.

In terms of the safety of the them well a risk is really a probability multiplied by a consequence.

So for a large airliner the probability is vanishingly small, but the consequence is huge so we take lots of mitigating steps to reduce the risk to acceptable levels.

I'd say the chances of a drone crash is quite high, but the consequence is harder to quantify. At 0.5 kilos falling out the sky onto your foot, sore but meh. Going through the window and hitting the driver of a London bus in the head... nasty.

In reply to jkarran:

Think they have relaxed the rules regarding out of line of sight.
And people tend to ignore the rules regarding the transmitters used for the video link. and most will use setups with much higher power than what is allowed.

I use my Gopro on both a quadcopter and on a fixed wing electric glider.
Would love a FPV setup to make it easier to get the things i want in the frame.
And you are right about the props they will cut you up big time, i have managed to cut myself on them, without them even spinning

In reply to yorkshireman:


The CAA used to forbid it whether or not there was a homing autopilot onboard, the rules were a little convoluted but basically you could fly an FPV vehicle so long as it was continually within sight of a spotter who could take control at any instant. Basically fro practical purposes you couldn't without a spotter and a co-pilot on a buddy-lead. Pretty much everyone was violating that rule of course. I believe (though do check before anyone takes this as authoritative) that the rule has been relaxed so the spotter is still required but no longer needs to be able to take control. Still pretty restrictive and of course for now France will have different rules.

jk

In reply to Mikkel:


They were generally ignored and basically unenforceable.


I have some very lucky scars (all around but thankfully not through the arteries) on my forearms that are the result of a 150-200g helicopter with a malfunctioning radio. That's a fraction of the power of a small quad and unlike those has blunt rotors.

Interesting toys* but it's an area where the law and the market have yet to meet in the middle

*or tools or weapons but mostly toys.

jk