Dan Robinson
EF5
I finally joined the ranks of drone ownership last fall, and plan to try using it this upcoming season. The drone world has really changed dramatically since I first started looking at the first-generation Flame Wheel kits back in 2010. A fully gimbaled and realtime-video capable drone setup back then cost more than $3,000 (the reason I never gave in to the impulse buy then). Now, the cost for equivalent capability at even greater resolutions is well below $1000. I paid $650 for my Phantom 3 SE.
The downside to the low costs and higher capabilities of drones right now is offset by them being regulated and restricted more than ever before. I thought this might be a useful thread for anyone thinking of using drones for storm chasing purposes. Feel free to add your thoughts.
- All drones must be registered with the FAA if they are between 0.55 lbs. and up to 55 lbs. See: https://faadronezone.faa.gov/
- Commercial use of drones is now allowed by the FAA, but you must pass the Part 107 sUAS remote pilot certification exam. The exam is more difficult than you'd expect, and requires a thorough knowledge of the material. See: https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/part_107/remote_pilot_cert/
- Without a waiver (and in some cases ATC clearance), drones cannot be flown:
* at night
* above 400 feet AGL (or over 400 feet above a structure)
* directly over people or cars
* in clouds
* out of visual line-of-sight
* faster than 100mph
* within 5 miles of an airport
* within FAA flight restricted areas
* within local flight restricted areas (like NYC and National Parks)
- The FAA is aggressively enforcing these regulations. Arrests and fines have happened to operators.
See: https://jrupprechtlaw.com/drone-ope...eational-commercial-drone-operators-need-know
- Currently, there are not many landmarks left where you can legally fly without prior FAA and site authorization. The no-fly-zone list keeps getting bigger and bigger. For example, New York City has banned all drone flights except for at a few designated parks. The National Park Service also has a blanket ban on drone flights at all NPS-managed sites (they are aggressively enforcing this too).
See:
http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/5521/drones
https://www.nps.gov/articles/unmanned-aircraft-in-the-national-parks.htm
- If you plan to sell any photos or videos from your drone (or even post a monetized Youtube video), you need to get the Part 107 certification.
- The first known collision of a drone with manned aircraft occurred last September in New York involving a Black Hawk helicopter:
https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20170922X54600&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=IA
As for chasing, some possible uses I can envision include things like getting a look at a distant storm in an area with no open views, and of course aerials of storm damage and tornado paths. I'm not expecting to use mine during chases all that often, but will keep it as another gadget in the toolbox.
Bottom line, these look like a promising tool for image acquisition, but you really need to know and abide by the FAA rules.
The downside to the low costs and higher capabilities of drones right now is offset by them being regulated and restricted more than ever before. I thought this might be a useful thread for anyone thinking of using drones for storm chasing purposes. Feel free to add your thoughts.
- All drones must be registered with the FAA if they are between 0.55 lbs. and up to 55 lbs. See: https://faadronezone.faa.gov/
- Commercial use of drones is now allowed by the FAA, but you must pass the Part 107 sUAS remote pilot certification exam. The exam is more difficult than you'd expect, and requires a thorough knowledge of the material. See: https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/part_107/remote_pilot_cert/
- Without a waiver (and in some cases ATC clearance), drones cannot be flown:
* at night
* above 400 feet AGL (or over 400 feet above a structure)
* directly over people or cars
* in clouds
* out of visual line-of-sight
* faster than 100mph
* within 5 miles of an airport
* within FAA flight restricted areas
* within local flight restricted areas (like NYC and National Parks)
- The FAA is aggressively enforcing these regulations. Arrests and fines have happened to operators.
See: https://jrupprechtlaw.com/drone-ope...eational-commercial-drone-operators-need-know
- Currently, there are not many landmarks left where you can legally fly without prior FAA and site authorization. The no-fly-zone list keeps getting bigger and bigger. For example, New York City has banned all drone flights except for at a few designated parks. The National Park Service also has a blanket ban on drone flights at all NPS-managed sites (they are aggressively enforcing this too).
See:
http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/5521/drones
https://www.nps.gov/articles/unmanned-aircraft-in-the-national-parks.htm
- If you plan to sell any photos or videos from your drone (or even post a monetized Youtube video), you need to get the Part 107 certification.
- The first known collision of a drone with manned aircraft occurred last September in New York involving a Black Hawk helicopter:
https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20170922X54600&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=IA
As for chasing, some possible uses I can envision include things like getting a look at a distant storm in an area with no open views, and of course aerials of storm damage and tornado paths. I'm not expecting to use mine during chases all that often, but will keep it as another gadget in the toolbox.
Bottom line, these look like a promising tool for image acquisition, but you really need to know and abide by the FAA rules.
Last edited: