Flying indoors within a cathedral - Possible?

Mactab · Jan 14, 2015

I have yet to purchase an Inspire. I'm about to, though I'm literally just holding off for maybe another month having been burnt by the initial release of the phantom Vision back in Nov 13. I shall be completing the required qualifications to use it commercially here in the UK once I eventually make the purchase.
Im after advice:
I have been asked by a friend down in the south of England if this machine is capable of flying indoors safely as he is in charge of the maintanance of a cathedral and would be interested in using a UAV to photograph a number of stained glass windows. These windows are pretty high up but there is lots of space around them. There will be no members of the public in the cathedral whilst the operation is taking place and insurances will be in place.
Obviously GPS will not be available but will the Inspire positioning system work at such a high level? (I'm thinking not) it's probably going to be working at heights between 80 and 120 ft.
Comments and suggestions please.

Quadpilot · Jan 14, 2015

Mactab said:
I have yet to purchase an Inspire. I'm about to, though I'm literally just holding off for maybe another month having been burnt by the initial release of the phantom Vision back in Nov 13. I shall be completing the required qualifications to use it commercially here in the UK once I eventually make the purchase.
Im after advice:
I have been asked by a friend down in the south of England if this machine is capable of flying indoors safely as he is in charge of the maintanance of a cathedral and would be interested in using a UAV to photograph a number of stained glass windows. These windows are pretty high up but there is lots of space around them. There will be no members of the public in the cathedral whilst the operation is taking place and insurances will be in place.
Obviously GPS will not be available but will the Inspire positioning system work at such a high level? (I'm thinking not) it's probably going to be working at heights between 80 and 120 ft.
Comments and suggestions please.

The Inspire specs say that the operating range of the VPS is 0.02 to 2.5 m and effective only in brightly lit (> 15 lux) and patterned surfaces. OTOH, the Inspire has a very effective GPS system, and I have had it in GPS lock while indoors. Neither is totally dependable though. What you do have going for you is that there should be no wind indoors, and that would make it easier to control even if P-GPS degrades to P-Atti.

BTW, how much insurance is there to cover stained glass windows in a cathedral?

Mactab · Jan 15, 2015

Thanks for the reply - yes I thought it would be an P-Atti mode situation There is no air movement with the cathedral which is a plus and certainly insurance has been discussed. There is no way I'm going to take this one on without them having their own insurances in place over and beyond what I have already.
They are pretty big windows so I don't envisage going any closer then 30ft away however I'm starting to think that maybe it will be one to walk away from. I have time to make the decision and for further discussions to take place.
Can anyone point me to a dng file for the inspire that I can download or indeed send me one?
Cheers

Meta4 · Jan 16, 2015

Oops ...sorry about the rose window

JeffreyRC · May 26, 2015

This happened yesterday in a church with the Inspire

The Editor · May 27, 2015

Mactab said:
Thanks for the reply - yes I thought it would be an P-Atti mode situation There is no air movement with the cathedral which is a plus and certainly insurance has been discussed. There is no way I'm going to take this one on without them having their own insurances in place over and beyond what I have already.
They are pretty big windows so I don't envisage going any closer then 30ft away however I'm starting to think that maybe it will be one to walk away from. I have time to make the decision and for further discussions to take place.
Can anyone point me to a dng file for the inspire that I can download or indeed send me one?
Cheers

How do you have any insurance in place to cover you commercially without having PFAW granted by the CAA?
If you are relying on the Church/Diocese liability cover there will probably be an exclusion for the use of aircraft so I would be very careful with proceeding with this one as if anything did go wrong it could be very painful for you wallet!

JeffreyRC · May 27, 2015

All good points. I do not fly commercially, only as a hobbyist. The liability insurance I rely on is provided as a member benefit of the AMA. If I ever fly indoors again, reviewing the coverage language is a good idea.

The Editor said:
How do you have any insurance in place to cover you commercially without having PFAW granted by the CAA?
If you are relying on the Church/Diocese liability cover there will probably be an exclusion for the use of aircraft so I would be very careful with proceeding with this one as if anything did go wrong it could be very painful for you wallet!

Outta Control · May 27, 2015

JeffreyRC said:
This happened yesterday in a church with the Inspire

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