Drones At Bonneville

[Peter Jack]

How about a 15 or 20 foot selfie stick. Way cheaper to build and easier to learn!  

Pete

[SPARKY]

LOL

[hotrod]

A monopod fully extended and a short step ladder are a lot cheaper than a drone.

I use that setup of occasion with a full size camera and it works out well after a bit of experimentation to get everything figured out.

This is what I use.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FAYL1YU/ref=s9_top_hd_bw_b25tS_g421_i3

[gkabbt]

Grantham, I declare that word a foul.  You are fined with a loss of two points and a head of hair.  Magnation COULD be considered a bastard child of the root "magnate" -- but I think it's a stretch too far and therefore must disallow it.

Sorry, Glendanna.  Wanna try again?

Happy Easter.  April Fools Day is less than a week away.  I thought you all might like the reminder so you can get your shopping done early.

Jon, Jon, Jon.....Magnation is a word and refers to magnetic water treatment (do a Google) so it IS allowed!
I got my 2 points back but hey, where's my head of hair?      

C'Ya,
Ole What's His Name

[Eddieschopshop]

I recently got to take a well deserved vacation.  Once every eight years is about all I get except for my racing.  The amount of drone activity as well as the amount of people with their selfie sticks drove me insane.  Go through all the expense and trouble of traveling just to listen to a drone or have a damn drone or someone elses selfie stick in my face the whole time. 

I am all for having great photos and video to remember things with, but when did this stuff become more important than actually being part of an event and actually being in the moment?  People spend more time trying to take a picture and show it to others than just enjoying the experience they are actually at.   

The drone over the drivers meeting a couple of years ago was loud enough that I couldn't hear what was being said at times and very distracting.  I though it was incredibly rude to all attending regardless of permission or intent.  The photographers have gotten to where they think we are there simply for them to take pictures of. 

 

[Glen]

Eddie I agree.

[DRW]

Eddie, I also agree !
Thats exactly what I brought this up for, I would love to see my run from a Drone.
But, I would Hate To hear a Drone buzzing at the Riders meeting...
I would like to thank all that threw in there two cents,From the funny as hell ., And Usual .
To the Dead on Fact, Getting hit with a Drone at speed is like an Artillery Round .
Bottom lines Here , Drones just arent trust worthy enough yet, Or Quiet or Safe enough !
And, One more thing, You Gentlemen make for some Darn Good Reading !! (Hope That Gentleman thing didnt insult anyone) 
Cant wait for Summer, Hope were all back on the salt....
DRW     

[Dakin Engineering]

Some folks who come to Bonneville are not competent enough to operate a vehicle.
Flying or otherwise.
Intended or not.

I favor the knuckle sandwich regulation for offenders.

That said, I video shot by a drone at WoS 14. The drone was operated reponsibly and with due diligence.

Sam

[donpearsall]

There are sure a lot of scared y cats afraid that a drone will fall on them. How come you are not terrified that a bird will fall on your head, smack your windshield or helmet? We all live by the laws of chance and there are a hell of a lot more birds up there falling to the earth than drones.
I was serious when I said the benefit of getting a good video outweigh the chance that a drone will fall on you. Just keep the drone outside the fall area.

Hasn't anyone seen a recent movie? Most movies now have 100's of hours of drone footage. How many news reports of drone injuries have there been? That's right you haven't heard of any.
Don

[stay`tee]

unfortunatly we live in a "Cotton Wool Society"  ,,

there are drones wandering around the pits that pose more of a threat to those in the air 

[RichFox]

Don; I trust the drones. It's the people flying them I worry about.

[Bob Drury]

  Don, let Me put this to You in a different way. 
   Most of Us Racers are on a limited budget.  In My case the last trip to Bonneville cost over $3,000 Bucks for travel, entry fee, rooms and feeding My Crew.  That doesn't include one dime spent on the Race Car including Fuel.
  My front tires cost $600 apiece and the rears  over $800 apiece.   They are special order items which even their dealers don't always have in stock.
My windshield is only $350 but is not normally "in stock" at "local" glass shops. 
  What this means is that if I run over debris of any sort while towing to inspection, to staging, during the run or back to the Pit's or someone's bored Kid decides My windshield would look better with a BB gun hole in it... I will most likely be done for the Year.  I don't have many more chances to Race due to age, health and the increasing costs.  I think that the majority of LSR entrants are in a similar situation.
  If drones, kites, radio controlled airplanes, balloons, etc. are allowed, who is going to police who is flying them and where they are used.  The safety patrol is not capable of always seeing a drone controlled by a "non-participant" flying out over the Race Course or right of ways  and possibly crashing  between runs.
  It is very hard to find debris on the salt and We cannot afford to add to the possible safety concerns for the gratification of others.
  As to the "fraidy cat" outlook, imagine how much our insurance carrier will like the possibility of Spectators or Racers being under any potential man powered device with even the "remotest" possibility of injury.                                       Bob Drury

[bbarn]

Drones have become the new anti-lock breaking systems. People don't understand them in their new capabilities. These things have advanced in a couple of generations to highly sophisticated marvels of modern electronics. Gyro-stabilized, GPS enabled and navigated, video integrated...every modern buzzword you can think of. These aren't the remote controlled helicopters or airplanes we played with years ago.

The FAA has jurisdiction over where you can and can't fly them, that is part of the license you sign for. As far as approach to Wendover and commercial traffic, it isn't going to be a problem. Their airspace is way higher than what you will be flying a drone at Bonneville. Approaching aircraft go from around 2000 AGL to runway altitude at 3 degrees of approach. You'd have to be right off the end of the runway to have any chance of getting one of them.

As for noise, most of the pro models you are going to see are large models with very quiet electric motors on them. Once they get about 50' off the ground you can't even hear them. I would not want to have 50 of them buzzing around, but a couple would not be noticed unless they were flying them low.

There was one flying at the test and tune a couple years ago all around the pits and starting line. You only heard it taking off or landing. After that you had to look to find it. If the wind stopped and no cars were running in the pits or down the track you could find it but otherwise it was not noticeable.

As far as crashing into people, you have just as much chance of getting run over by a car in the pits as you would a drone falling from the sky. These things are built tough, but they are super light. If they weren't you could only fly them for a few minutes. Some of these drones have 30-60 minute flight times on a single charge. Building them out of 120 D.O.M. would kill their flight time. I wouldn't want one falling on my head but I also believe the likelihood of that is slim.

For the models that would be equipped with cameras that would be low-grade commercial units you are talking $1,000 and up (seen them for $20k) These things aren't just going to fall out of the sky, they are programmed not to. Any that are smaller than the $1k are going to be 1/10th the impact of a foul-ball at a stadium or 1/100th of a bat let loose into the stands.

We drive cars and motorcycles to speeds that make some people nervous just saying the numbers. Are we really going to be scared of a .75 pounds object that moves at less than 12 MPH? Seriously, unless the sky is teeming with them or someone is trying to use the track as a landing pad I don't see a big issue...

[hotrod]

It will always be a balancing act, but I sometime find it interesting that some folks see photographers as a nuisance and fail to see that they (at least the serious ones)
are the historians of your sport and your individual efforts.
Without photography all you have to show for your efforts, are some memories and a couple physical mementos like a brass plaque or a hat. If you are lucky a brief mention in some book.

Years later you or some of your relatives or friends love to see our pictures but seldom have the time to help us get good ones when you're in the heat of the battle.
We understand that in the heat of the moment your singular goal is the next run, but please respect our desire and willingness to invest significant time money and effort to record your pursuit of your goal.

Those of us who try to record and document Bonneville, have the same expenses and frustrations as the racers.
We spend money to drive out to events which get canceled just like you do.
We spend thousands of dollars on camera gear, just like you do for engine parts and tires.
One camera or lens can cost as much as your entire bill for your last trip to Bonneville.
Like you we spend hours in the hot sun for a brief moment of perfection, and to be ready to capture it as it happens.

You blow up engines or cut tires, we break lenses or cameras.

For both us it is a cost of doing business. We both know up front that those risks exist but we are willing to take those risks to accomplish our goal.
Your goal is to go fast and reach a record, my goal (and the other photographers) is to get a good picture of you doing that.
None of the photographers make any significant money doing this. Like the racers it is a labor of love.
You can spend years getting to your goal and same with the serious photographers who document your struggle.

We are your history! We make it possible for you to look back and show others what you accomplished.
That is why one of the most popular threads on this forum "Old Bonneville Pictures" has nearly 1/2 a million views (463660).
That is why we have racers and relatives of racers hopefully asking if someone has a picture of car #xyz during the event some years ago.
Many times the photographers gladly provide those pictures if they have them for essentially no cost considering what they cost to acquire.

This needs to be a win win relationship and if we respect each others needs we both come out ahead.

[fordboy628]

Well said Hotrod.

 
Fordboy