2 questions for the group.

[brad90631]

I have 2 shoots coming up which is completely new to me and looking for any other members who may have had this come up.

first I am flying for Suzuki Team day, with the large crowd of people that will be at the location and the need to NOT fly over top of them I am planning to take off from the roof of the warehouse. stay over our buildings as to not be overtop of the crowd. I am not sure what effect taking off from a metal roof may have. has any one taken off from a metal roof?

my next job is to shoot some aerobatics inside an FAA approved aerobatic box. this box is from ground to 6,000 feet agl. in this box they are able to fly any way they want and they are able to fly as low and fast as they want. In this box I will also be able to operate my inspire all the way to 6,000 feet and as close to other aircraft as we can safely get.

Most of the shots will be fairly low altitude however i plan on operate around 3 to 4,000 feet for a few of the shots, has any one had the opportunity to be so high and know the amount of time it will take to get back to the ground at lets say 4,000 feet. I have always been a responsible pilot and never over 400 feet. I am very excited about this shoot and hope to get some great pictures and video.

 

[Steve@AerialImagesPro]

Taking off from a metal roof will be risky because it will mess with your compass. Not sure if it impacts the calibration or not, but you may have issues and have to go into Atti mode and fly manually. As long as you're ok with that, you should be fine. Also keep in mind a metal roof will be hot (depending on where you are so your equipment sitting on the roof while you're flying (like spare batteries) could bake.

Regarding the altitude, that's a no go unless you have a waiver for max height (400ft) restriction. Who told you it would be ok to fly in an aerobatic box? Those are generally NFZs for drones without a waiver and clearance. Even if the event coordinators told you it was ok, you still need a waiver from FAA. Not sure what you would be capturing flying there anyway. You're not going to be able to see any airplanes given the wide angle nature of the lenses, unless you get to within a hundred feet of one or so and that alone is a risky proposition.

After saying all that, it would take you almost half of you battery to get up that high anyway so even with permission, you'd get up to 3000 ft and have to start coming back down again almost right away. Oh, you'd also need a beyond line of site waiver.

 

[AMGPilot]

my next job is to shoot some aerobatics inside an FAA approved aerobatic box. this box is from ground to 6,000 feet agl. in this box they are able to fly any way they want and they are able to fly as low and fast as they want. In this box I will also be able to operate my inspire all the way to 6,000 feet and as close to other aircraft as we can safely get.

Most of the shots will be fairly low altitude however i plan on operate around 3 to 4,000 feet for a few of the shots, has any one had the opportunity to be so high and know the amount of time it will take to get back to the ground at lets say 4,000 feet. I have always been a responsible pilot and never over 400 feet. I am very excited about this shoot and hope to get some great pictures and video.

Yeah I don't think that Aerobatic gig is gonna happen that way. You still need a waiver to operate above 400ft, another waiver to operate BLOVS and another just to fly in the NFZ of the box.

 

[MrTVR]

Whilst I haven’t taken off from a metal roof I have taken off from the steel decks of ships several times. I also fly regularly from quaysides which have reenforced concrete with steel rods carrying electrical currents to sacrificial electrodes in the water to prevent corrosion. These are really bad news for the compass.

Both of these locations effect the compass stability but the key to safe flight is ...

1. Calibrate your compass well away from these sources of interference and do not recalibrate whilst in the location of these magnetic fields.

2. Raise the drone a few feet above the metal surface for take off using something non magnetic such as a wooden box. This is often enough to clear the compass error prior to takeoff.

3. If you still have compass issues you have two choices, either a) don’t fly or b) be brave, take off, fly quickly up to around 50-80 feet and wait for the compass error to clear. I have done this many times without issue. You will need to be aware that the landing could be problematic (either because you are trying to land on a small box or will experience a return of the compass error) and you should be prepared for a hand catch.

Please see my other post about a new device we are trialing to help hand catch the Inspire 2.

New hand catch hardware option for Inspire 2
New hand catch hardware option for Inspire 2

 

[licensed pilot]

I have 2 shoots coming up which is completely new to me and looking for any other members who may have had this come up.

first I am flying for Suzuki Team day, with the large crowd of people that will be at the location and the need to NOT fly over top of them I am planning to take off from the roof of the warehouse. stay over our buildings as to not be overtop of the crowd. I am not sure what effect taking off from a metal roof may have. has any one taken off from a metal roof?

my next job is to shoot some aerobatics inside an FAA approved aerobatic box. this box is from ground to 6,000 feet agl. in this box they are able to fly any way they want and they are able to fly as low and fast as they want. In this box I will also be able to operate my inspire all the way to 6,000 feet and as close to other aircraft as we can safely get.

Most of the shots will be fairly low altitude however i plan on operate around 3 to 4,000 feet for a few of the shots, has any one had the opportunity to be so high and know the amount of time it will take to get back to the ground at lets say 4,000 feet. I have always been a responsible pilot and never over 400 feet. I am very excited about this shoot and hope to get some great pictures and video.

Did you get a waiver for 107.51? That is the only way you can legally fly above 400 AGL. Mixing a slow flying drone with fast aerobatic aircraft is a dangerous combination. I doubt the local FSDO will approve this. Did they?

 

[Cameradroid]

Raise the drone a few feet above the metal surface for take off using something non magnetic such as a wooden box. This is often enough to clear the compass error prior to takeoff.

I have the same experience taking off from a local wharf with steel in the concrete. First few times took off in atti and waited at 20 feet for about 30” for the compass to stabilise. Then it was fine. Now I take a folding camping table. You only need to be a few feet off the steel.

 

[Steve Reid]

Calibrate a return home point somewhere before you start and then you can take off from anywhere almost. The only risk is if you had to return home and I wouldn't want that to be on metal. I do that all the time.

 

[MrTVR]

Calibrate a return home point somewhere before you start and then you can take off from anywhere almost. The only risk is if you had to return home and I wouldn't want that to be on medal. I do that all the time.

That’s a good idea if you are flying close to the coast line and can leave someone to supervise the RTH point.

Not really an option for me as I often fly several miles off land & don’t have anyone I can leave behind to look after the drone if it does to a RTH.

 

[Dxtrty]

Why not reset the homepoint to your Tx, once your airborn ?

 

[RobH2]

Most of the shots will be fairly low altitude however i plan on operate around 3 to 4,000 feet for a few of the shots, has any one had the opportunity to be so high and know the amount of time it will take to get back to the ground at lets say 4,000 feet. I have always been a responsible pilot and never over 400 feet. I am very excited about this shoot and hope to get some great pictures and video.

I would echo what other users are saying. Don't fly in that box with other aircraft. They move incredibly fast and in comparison, the drone is fairly slow. In the event of a potential collision, you may not be able to get out of the way, especially if you are BLOS and can's see around, above and behind yourself. This is a massive disaster in the making. Please don't fly in it. Fly the edges, under 400 feet and stay well clear of anywhere that another plane might fly.

 

[licensed pilot]

I would echo what other users are saying. Don't fly in that box with other aircraft. They move incredibly fast and in comparison, the drone is fairly slow. In the event of a potential collision, you may not be able to get out of the way, especially if you are BLOS and can's see around, above and behind yourself. This is a massive disaster in the making. Please don't fly in it. Fly the edges, under 400 feet and stay well clear of anywhere that another plane might fly.

I don’t see how anyone can fly a UAS OVER 400 feet w/o a waiver, aerobatic box or not.