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Drone footage from 04/30/2019

Mark Blue

Mark Blue

Former owner (RIP)
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By now I’m sure a lot of chasers have seen the drone footage from yesterday (see YT video below).


A few years ago we loosely discussed the rules regarding drones in this thread. At the time it seemed like chasers were up against it if they wanted to use a drone - to the point that it was prohibitive. Have the rules changed to allow for what will probably become an increasing trend in the chaser community?
 
I'd be very curious to learn who shot this footage and what technology they used to do it, because the motion of the drone was impressively smooth, and it had to be somewhat heavy-duty to have gotten as close to the tornado as it did (sometimes seeming to have light debris floating past it) without seeming to have its path impacted. Also, it traveled a long distance!
 
Mark Blue said:
...At the time it seemed like chasers were up against it if they wanted to use a drone - to the point that it was prohibitive. Have the rules changed to allow for what will probably become an increasing trend in the chaser community?
Click to expand...

I'm a licensed commercial (Part 107) sUAV (small drone) pilot, so I had to study the regs for that. I see nothing in the regs that would prohibit taking tornado footage. However, there are a few rules that one has to keep in mind:
  • You must be able to see the drone at all times
  • You cannot fly over people - the video above might have broken that rule when it flew over the highway
  • You cannot fly higher than 400 feet above the ground
  • You must obey airspace rules, which are complex. Beware if you are within 5 miles of an airport that has a control tower.
  • You cannot operate the drone from a moving vehicle except over a sparsely populated area
  • If you are making money from the flight, you must have the Part 107 license
  • You cannot fly at night
  • and more...
Also, some or most of these rules will apply to non-commercial flight once the FAA updates them. Non-commercial flight of RC aircraft (drones, RC model aircraft) were exempt under Part 336, but that part of the law is gone.

See the law here.

See a summary here.

The license is quite easy and inexpensive to get if you are a *current* licensed aircraft pilot. If you are not, you have to take an online test at a testing center, at a cost of $150. Since I was no longer a current pilot, I had to go that route. I considered the test to be a bit hard - basically, lots of small details and trick answers that could easily get you. There are lots of places selling online courses of study, and you can also find a lot of information for free online. I took a course offered to our Civil Air Patrol ground team for free, by a couple of our members. Then I focused on memorizing the rules, learning the airspace classifications that have changed since I last flew a small plane, and re-acquainting myself with the details of aviation "sectional charts." I also had to relearn how to decode the METAR's and TAF's in their 1930's teletype formats because we all know (okay, the FAA believes) that nobody will have anything but that old, cryptic format to tell them the weather or the forecasts (sigh).
 
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Jeff Duda said:
I'd be very curious to learn who shot this footage and what technology they used to do it, because the motion of the drone was impressively smooth, and it had to be somewhat heavy-duty to have gotten as close to the tornado as it did (sometimes seeming to have light debris floating past it) without seeming to have its path impacted. Also, it traveled a long distance!
Click to expand...

I just saw it on ABC News again and it said Brandon Clement / LSM on the video. I foresee him making some serious coinage from that video. I noticed he stated it was in 4K, so he might have had a GoPro mounted on the drone to save weight, but I’m assuming that part of it.
 
I think the video is great! I’ve tried to fly a drone into a tornado the last two years and haven’t even come close to showing I can get it through an RFD. It’s hard enough to get a drone up quick enough and in position to get that video, let alone fly one into a tornado. If someone can do it, I have a standing steak dinner offer to whoever does it at the place of their choosing!
 
Pretty epic. I don't see any obvious rules violations that would get the operator into trouble with this. Roads look clear of traffic. Line of sight might be difficult, but with good LED lights it might be possible. This looks like a best-case scenario for close drone intercept - a relatively weak, small vortex like that probably doesn't have very intense wind fields around it. I'd be tempted to fly right into it at the end!
 
Indeed I have flown a Mavic 2 in intense winds and it handles winds almost up to its max forward speed of 45MPH with great stability as long as you have battery to get home or land. Stabilization of the gimbal and camera is improved over anything else out there except for industrial/cinema drones, and combined with the vehicle stability is incredibly solid.

I saw no rule violations at all except maybe line of sight, which is a tough call. Below 400, not over people, etc. Brandon is said to be one of the best stringers out there and makes his living doing this from what I hear. He does fly part 107 commercial flights, has the right training, and I've heard might also possess a special use waiver that are very hard to get.

Line of sight is just that- no obstacles between you and the drone on a line. The rule does state you should have unaided visual contact with the craft, but also includes language about first person view and observers in visual range as an alternate. In practical use, for these small drones they can disappear after about just 200-300 yards in some lighting conditions. External nav lights can help really increase that and should be used if available. Practically speaking I don't think it is a blatant safety concern if your drone is momentarily too small and far to see as long as you know exactly where it is and have a clear line to that position, but the letter of the rule is a bit more strict and should be adhered to. For example you know it is over that large tree over there even if it is a speck hard to see or momentarily impossible to see. No aircraft should be below 500 feet away from airports except in emergency or rescue operations, and you would easily be able to force land the drone if you see one in the vicinity of the flight. I think the primary intent of the rule is that you know where not to fly as far as obstacles, people and other restrictions, won't lose control, etc.- hence the alternate allowance of first person view (goggles) with an additional observer doing visual tracking. The strict letter of the rule does indeed say you have to see the drone so even trees or small things in your way are technically not allowed, but it would be interesting to hear enforcement clarification.

Anyway incredible footage, very well flown. Well deserved revenue if he gets it. I've heard he is out there all the time working hard (all grapevine hearsay to me).
 
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I saw the footage, like everyone else - and I'm of the opinion that it's stunning! Some of the best tornado footage I've seen for a while - partly because it's rather different to the glut of shaky, close-range stuff which gets shared a lot these days.

As an aside, I do wonder how drones might be used in the future as a way of getting 'ground truth' of warnings - for example, drones could be housed around an area and then remotely sent out to look at the storm. Of course, there are a whole host of issues this could/would raise, but it's an interesting thought - to me, at least!
 
It gives a great perspective that is not commonly seen.

I have my own concerns with drone usage while chasing. I imagine now that this has been achieved and with such great quality, it will likely begin to increase in user activity. like that of "close range" upticks. Grant it, not everyone can afford or wants to take a risk ruining a drone in weather like this. But, will we begin to see more drones in the air? Image 5 or more drone pilots were on the same storm using the same airspace. In conditions like this, it has to be difficult to see other drones in the air while watching the storm. I'm concerned we may see some issues with air collisions or interference. Flying RC and now drones, just flying takes a lot of concentration and attention. I can't imagine how hard it is to give your full attention to flying as well as being aware of your surroundings.
 
Drones are so small in the grand scheme of a supercell circulation that I can't envision it being an issue, especially if you are watching your drone while flying.

Ones expensive enough to give good video like that also have radar sensing of objects nearby so they would alert you to an incoming drone prior to contact.
 
Dan Robinson said:
Pretty epic. I don't see any obvious rules violations that would get the operator into trouble with this. Roads look clear of traffic. Line of sight might be difficult, but with good LED lights it might be possible. This looks like a best-case scenario for close drone intercept - a relatively weak, small vortex like that probably doesn't have very intense wind fields around it. I'd be tempted to fly right into it at the end!
Click to expand...

I see a major violation! It is amazing footage, but there is one major problem, under Part 107, you have to maintain 2,000 feet horizontally from the clouds.
14 CFR § 107.51 - Operating limitations for small unmanned aircraft.

(d) The minimum distance of the small unmanned aircraft from clouds must be no less than:

(1) 500 feet below the cloud; and

(2) 2,000 feet horizontally from the cloud.

Knowing that the FAA Airmen Certification Branch is located in Oklahoma City, I would bet that the person who shot the footage is already on an examiners radar for shooting this footage for violating part 107.51 sub section Part 2 for getting that close to a "Funnel Cloud" or tornado. This could go two ways, the FAA could say meh, don't care or if an examiner wants to, they could pull the license. Hard to say but always best not to test the FAA.

Also, for those that are thinking about flying without a license to shoot video, you can, but you can not do anything with it except give it away without your name. CFR Part 107.3 ..."Compensation (money or otherwise) makes the operation commercial in nature.

I know it is kind of a pain for those that think, it's just a drone, but think of it from the commercial helicopter pilots point of view. They spent tons of time and money to become a IFR Commercial Pilot so the FAA is going to make the drone pilot pretty much legal on nice sunny days.
 
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