Daniel J. Harris on safe flying with a UAV/Drone…
The recent surge in the popularity for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or drones has seen every man and their dog take to the skies with their own ‘bird’. However, without a reasonable level of knowledge these ‘out of the box’ aerial solutions can be dangerous. At FOCUS SHIFT FILMS we have recently purchased a DJI Inspire and wanted to test it in the wind!
A UAV or drone is now an affordable solution for the indie filmmaker looking to add aerial photography and a different perspective to their films. You can order your ‘bird’ for less than you would pay for a second-hand Ford Fiesta. All you need to do is hit a few buttons, grab your controller and the sky is the limit. Literally.
However, it’s not quite that simple. Your average person has no idea about how to fly in cross winds. Or… what affect flying over a cold lake on a warm morning has on the UAV. Did you know the home button on the first batches of DJI UAVs when pressed tried to take them back to China? Does anyone know how to check for sun spots? Or… why you should? No, neither do I really. However, I know a man who knows these things – Steve Parsons of AeroPerspective. Steve’s knowledge and experience comes from 23 years as an engineer and pilot in the RAF and his word on aviation is gospel. When it comes to flying – I only trust professionals!
In order to fly commercially in the UK UAV pilots need to gain certain qualifications. The UK is industry leading in being the world’s first country to have a specific civil UAS pilot qualification recognised by it’s national authority – the CAA. For commercial work using a small unmanned aircraft under 20kg UAV pilots must gain a BNUC-S, which is designed to ‘address the necessary aviation knowledge and understanding required to operate a UAV safely in a commercial aviation environment’ ,according to the UAVS.
However, in order to get the necessary practice and experience pilots can fly for non-commercial use, and affectively take a UAV out of the box and put it into the air without understanding the aircraft, the legislation surrounding it or aviation basics. The news is littered with stories of UAV or drones crashing into things, falling out of the sky or flying where they shouldn’t be. One pilot in the US even flew their UAV over the fence at the White House! And in the UK also one was flown pretty close to the main runway at Heathrow.
Through the time I’ve worked with Steve it’s clear his knowledge on aviation is endless and thinks about things that your average person wouldn’t. He insists that flying a UAV should be no different than flying a full size aircraft in order to stay safe. However, the vast majority of people buying a UAV or drone don’t have any aviation experience at all and there are concerns in aviation circles that it’s only a matter of time before some causes a major accident and the entire industry is clamped down.
Does you average UAV pilot know how to maintain, repair or modify their ‘bird’ to ensure that it’s functioning as best it could be? Again, probably not. So, what happens if a motor is having problems or water ingress has affected the internal electronics? Well… it could fall out of the sky. And if the pilot doesn’t have public liability insurance and it crashes into something or someone – they will be in deep doo doo.
Our Inspire has been modified by Steve and now performs slightly better than an out of the box solution. The gimbal has been tightened up and to avoid camera wobble during take off Steve has added rubber washer to alleviate any vibrations from the UAV into the gimbal. Steve has also added a tracker to the bird for orientation during flight and he’s adjusted the centre of gravity. A few small tweaks to an already stable platform and it’s not just performing very well, but will cope with more adverse conditions.
Steve has recently taken our modified DJI Inspire down to a nearby reservoir in strong winds to test it’s performance and capabilities. Not something we would recommend to an inexperienced pilot, but we learnt plenty from the trip. The DJI Inspire is a fairly reliable and steady ‘bird’ that performed well enough in gusting winds – or so Steve informs me.
With cross winds trying to blow it one way the Inspire leans into the wind to stay steady, as expected. Although not a problem as such for flying, if you were wanting to film in that direction you would see your props and arms due to the ‘bird’ being banked over.
Steve has years of experience flying all manner of full size aircraft all over the world and in a variety of scenarios. He knows his stuff! However, not everyone does. Some friends of ours who recently purchased the same ‘bird’ had a little accident. Something went wrong when the Inspire was on the ground and it shot across the road, into a tree and is now back in Germany being repaired.
The moral of the story – leave flying to the professionals. However, if you insist on taking to the skies do everyone a favour and do your research, practice in a safe environment and know how to bring the ‘bird’ down safely in an emergency. It could avoid a major accident and save your backside!
To see Steve Parson’s thoughts on the DJI Inspire and to find out how he’s modified it, plus see what footage it’s captured head over to the FOCUS SHIFT FILMS YouTube channel and check out the video.
You can follow Daniel J. Harris and FOCUS SHIFT FILMS by heading to the FSF Facebook page or by following the blog on the website.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pnc360pUDRI&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
