Windy Day at the Go Cart Track

[roemeister]

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The wind was so strong that the Phantom 4 was unable to hold position in P mode, right from launch. I had no choice but to fly then entire day in S mode just to be able to hold position. Most of the tracking shots had to be with the wind to keep the props from showing up in the frame.

Feedback welcome.

Thanks!

Bobby

I accidentally posted this to the Classifieds forum earlier today.

Fat Daddy said:
Cool video and it looks like you were very safe in filming it. I bet there were as many people watching your UAV as were the carts. Did you have to get permission to film it?​

Thank you for the comments.

I definitely had to get permission from the track manager/owner.

Yes, there were definitely a few people watching closely… some very closely. A few came over to ask questions. As UAS operators, we're all under scrutiny, and need to keep that in mind. Just by having a Phantom, some kid is watching us in the same way a kid in the stands is watching a major league baseball player. We need to follow the rules, even when we don't realize someone is watching. As a private pilot, I'm acutely aware of the potential risk to my certificate if I fly inappropriately.

It was a challenge to follow the guidelines; minimize flying over the active track and no flying over the pits (I know I did overfly the track a few times, but each time I tried to be crossing the track fairly fast and not too low so that if there was a problem the aircraft would fall to the side of the track out of the way). It severely limited the visual opportunities, that's for sure! I'd rather follow the rules and be invited back (and gain the respect and appreciation of everyone there) than violate their rules and cast a negative spell on all of us. The rules are reasonable, after all. The comments from the viewers who've seen the video are all positive, so far, which after all is the goal.

When I go back, I'm hoping to be able to get some time with some of the drivers during pre-race time and be allowed to fly very low and over the track to get some more dramatic imagery.

Thanks again,

Bobby​

 

[Ken73]

Love it, really liked the straight down shot - that's an angle you rarely get to see!

 

[Fat Daddy]

Just a thought. Consider offering the footage to the drivers that were on the track. That would be a neat keepsake for some I bet. Glad they let you film.

 

[daveleeds]

Yes excellent. Well done.

 

[Mark Hubregtse]

Nice subject, nice "drone work"

 

[roemeister]

Love it, really liked the straight down shot - that's an angle you rarely get to see!

Thanks for the comment! It was a fun afternoon of flying and shooting.

 

[roemeister]

Just a thought. Consider offering the footage to the drivers that were on the track. That would be a neat keepsake for some I bet. Glad they let you film.

Exactly. That was part of the agreement to be able to fly (letting the track have some of the "raw" video to share with the drivers). I did insist that only the video that meets my quality standards be shared, which unfortunately the wind limited pretty severely on this particular day. Still… they have quite a bit of video to share around.

 

[roemeister]

Yes excellent. Well done.

Thank you; it was a lot of fun.

 

[roemeister]

Nice subject, nice "drone work"

Thank you… the subject lends itself to a low-level aerial camera very nicely.

 

[jonesg11]

Nicely done, this type of stuff we need to do more of to increase positive interactions with drones. I recently used mine to film the Rolling Thunder event locally, the folks loved it and the local news station used it on the 6 o'clock hour.

 

[SGs]

Very well done mate!

I had this idea as well, trying to consider how to do this tactfully. I'm grew up around motorcycle racing, I've got some really cool ideas for footage, but like you said thought needs to be placed on safety as well.. I'd love to see drones used in interesting ways around race tracks. I have a few ideas, cool to see it in practice to give me some inspiration. How windy was it? I flew a while back on the beach in 20mph sustained it was nearing the limit for me at least in my mind with my P3P. Really great stuff.

 

[roemeister]

Nicely done, this type of stuff we need to do more of to increase positive interactions with drones. I recently used mine to film the Rolling Thunder event locally, the folks loved it and the local news station used it on the 6 o'clock hour.

Thanks for the comment. I just watched your video from the Rolling Thunder event. Nicely done; especially around all of the wires!

 

[roemeister]

Very well done mate!

I had this idea as well, trying to consider how to do this tactfully. I'm grew up around motorcycle racing, I've got some really cool ideas for footage, but like you said thought needs to be placed on safety as well.. I'd love to see drones used in interesting ways around race tracks. I have a few ideas, cool to see it in practice to give me some inspiration. How windy was it? I flew a while back on the beach in 20mph sustained it was nearing the limit for me at least in my mind with my P3P. Really great stuff.

Thanks for the comment. I'm sure you could get some great video of the racing.

I used a Vaavud Sleipnir to check the wind speed before takeoff, and it reported 18-22 knots (20.7 - 25.3 mph) at arm's length (about 7-8' AGL). Healthydrones reported a max gust of 29.3 mph at about 50 ft AGL during one of the early flights (when the wind was actually relatively "calm"). I didn't keep the platform stable long enough during later flights for Healthydrones to report wind speeds, but I'd guess it exceeded 35 mpg; maybe even more than 40 mph, especially at some of the higher altitudes. BTW, the only times I exceeded about 150' AGL were during the initial push-in shot and the final pull-out shot, each of which topped out at 120 meters.

The panning shots at 0:36 - 0:42 and 0:54 - 0:59, the overflight at 1:05 - 1:09, and the pull-up at 1:09 - 1:32 were all "with the wind". Look at the shadows during the pull-up toward the end to get a sense of the wind speed. All of the video is at actual speed.