Decided to get a Quadcopter

[JR1]

DJI Phantom 2 with Lightbridge and upgrades

I think this will be most important in the area of self employment, photographic work

The CAA Approved training courses and qualifications add another £1,500 to the initial cost though

Some (Hah!) home soldering is required

[davidedric]

Looks an interesting project. Can you share any plans of how you mean to put it to work?

Dave

[JR1]

Looks an interesting project. Can you share any plans of how you mean to put it to work?

Dave

As a business I will not go into great detail as I am sure there are people who will be looking to do the same, and this has cost £2,800, plus £1,500 for the CAA course.

However, it will be used at, of course, see my site, power boat events, jet ski, Hotels, Tourist Info and much more.

Remember it is illegal to fly and earn in any way without CAA accreditation.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...one-conviction

And serve him damn well right



The CAA guidelines are they would like to you stay below 400ft and within a range of 1500ft. This is simply to keep other airspace users safe. If you are flying they also state that you need to be 150m away from property and vessels and 50m away from people (UP DOWN LEFT AND RIGHT) but this has nothing to do with privacy but to do with safety.

Upon contacting the data protection people they have no issues what so ever about people flying with cameras and recording for non commercial use or posting on YouTube.

If you are flying anything over 7kg OR for commercial gain you need CAA certification and you need to follow the guidance around the use of other peoples image.

If you are flying FPV you need a spotter to make sure you are capable of taking avoiding action should something else enter the airspace.

[NorthernFocus]

A few weeks ago I saw a guy using one of these with a GoPro camera mounted on a gimbal. It was pretty impressive. It will be interesting to see how you use it in a business context.

[JR1]

A few weeks ago I saw a guy using one of these with a GoPro camera mounted on a gimbal. It was pretty impressive. It will be interesting to see how you use it in a business context.

I think things will soon come to a head with these as more and more people will want one, with Christmas etc, people are getting them off ebay, amazon etc and NO ONE is looking into the "law" first.

One chap was done for videoing his local sports events and selling the video,

1. Flying OVER people
2. NO CAA accreditaion
3. No insurance (not available without CAA etc)

[JR1]

This is where people need to look.

http://www.eurousc.com/united-kingdom.html

Then here

http://www.eurousc.com/assets/FTCUK-Issue3.1.pdf

[jcuknz]

As a quad owner I wish you luck as there is more to it than getting CAA approval .... you might like to check out Matt Laur who is into it seriously with an impressive six rotor machine.
I am sure it is a gimmic which will last a few years and then be ho-hum. I suppose somebody in the business has to see if they can do it.
I have not bothered to mount my camera on the quad.

[JR1]

As a quad owner I wish you luck as there is more to it than getting CAA approval .... you might like to check out Matt Laur who is into it seriously with an impressive six rotor machine.
I am sure it is a gimmic which will last a few years and then be ho-hum. I suppose somebody in the business has to see if they can do it.
I have not bothered to mount my camera on the quad.

1. I have been into photography for 45+ years and as you can see from my sites I am a serious business
2. I do not go into anything lightly
3. I could easily have spent £15-20k on an octocopter as I have just spent £22k last month on new gear alone, but there is a special market that I am going for that an octocopter is no good for and this is well suited.
4. It ISN'T CAA approval, it is CAA acredited training and qualifications, it is the legal qualifications needed to fly LEGALLY.
5. You're right this will probably be a "gimmic" just like cameras on phones and the new fangled digital cameras that will never replace film

http://www.eurousc.com/assets/luass-...-issue-3.0.pdf

[TheBigE]

Well, first off congratulations on the purchase and the venture into Quad Copters. DJI is a great brand with a long standing history in Quads.

As a long long time (read 30+ years) in RC Airplanes, Helicopters and now Quad Copters I am very happy to see you working with the CAA accreditation. I will forgoe the long winded ¨back in the day¨ stories about how we had to pay a big price in terms of time and money to fly an RC Aircraft. Today, it is different story. Now airplanes, helicopters and such come pre assembled. However, Quads take a step further and are pre-assembled but also extremely stable and very easy to fly. Many people who fly quads do not fully understand the complexity and safety that is required. The US is still trying to decided how best to handle these Quads in terms of regulation.

Unfortunately how this will be handled is starting to fall over into the entire RC industry and other flying craft (Planes, Helicopters) are being lumped in with Quads. For me, this can impact my long standing hobby. In the end I am not sure what the final verdict will be, but there are some serious discussion with the FAA and the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) on how it will be handled. It appears that the CAA has already layed down some policy on the issue.

As a RC Hobbyist I applaud and thank your for making the effort to approach this with the correct mindset and ensuring you understand the rules, the complexity, required insurance and need for safety with a Quad Copter. I look forward to seeing the results of your efforts...best of luck!!

[JR1]

Well, first off congratulations on the purchase and the venture into Quad Copters. DJI is a great brand with a long standing history in Quads.

As a long long time (read 30+ years) in RC Airplanes, Helicopters and now Quad Copters I am very happy to see you working with the CAA accreditation. I will forgoe the long winded ¨back in the day¨ stories about how we had to pay a big price in terms of time and money to fly an RC Aircraft. Today, it is different story. Now airplanes, helicopters and such come pre assembled. However, Quads take a step further and are pre-assembled but also extremely stable and very easy to fly. Many people who fly quads do not fully understand the complexity and safety that is required. The US is still trying to decided how best to handle these Quads in terms of regulation.

Unfortunately how this will be handled is starting to fall over into the entire RC industry and other flying craft (Planes, Helicopters) are being lumped in with Quads. For me, this can impact my long standing hobby. In the end I am not sure what the final verdict will be, but there are some serious discussion with the FAA and the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) on how it will be handled. It appears that the CAA has already layed down some policy on the issue.

As a RC Hobbyist I applaud and thank your for making the effort to approach this with the correct mindset and ensuring you understand the rules, the complexity, required insurance and need for safety with a Quad Copter. I look forward to seeing the results of your efforts...best of luck!!

Thanks

I would never even consider this unless I looked into it completely.

I think my major concern for people like youu (and I hope me) are the morons who buy kits and go at it bull in a ......... with no thought for safety and rules. This impacts on the many.

I used to shoot at Bisley, I was one of many many thousands a member of a long established gun club, but for one moron, all suffered by the abolition of guns in this country, yet knives have not been banned !

I would hate to see the same idiots with Christmas presents from Ebay and Amazon getting copters, risking peoples lives and killing it for the rest of us.

[xpatUSA]

I used to shoot at Bisley . . . .

OT, but that brings back a memory from the 50's for me. As a CCF cadet, I went on detachment there to run the targets up and down so as to patch the bullet holes with bits of paper and a pot of paste.

[JR1]

OT, but that brings back a memory from the 50's for me. As a CCF cadet, I went on detachment there to run the targets up and down so as to patch the bullet holes with bits of paper and a pot of paste.

Hopefully when they stopped shooting

[skilsaw]

Story in the local media this week that a quadcopter (or similar) was used by marine biologists to photograph Orcas (killer whales) in Johnstone Strait between Vancouver Island and Canada's mainland.

[JR1]

Story in the local media this week that a quadcopter (or similar) was used by marine biologists to photograph Orcas (killer whales) in Johnstone Strait between Vancouver Island and Canada's mainland.

They are using them all over as they are a superb alternative to helicopters etc