Flying close to a chopper

[whytepawn1]

Good evening guys.
How close to a chopper can I fly my drone...
The chopper will be taking off from the ground while my drone will be somewhere in the sky capturing the whole process...

 

[BigAl07]

Good evening guys.
How close to a chopper can I fly my drone...
The chopper will be taking off from the ground while my drone will be somewhere in the sky capturing the whole process...

In this situation I'd call your local FSDO and get this from them in writing. It's very possible someone will see this event (or the related video) and you'll get a nasty visit from them. It's not "just distance" and it could easily look like Reckless Behavior if you're not really careful. I would not risk this on "Internet Legal Council". Way too much at risk in this one.

Good luck and let us know what your local FSDO says.

Allen

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I can't help but wonder what sort of shot you could capture with a drone camera at a safe distance.

 

[BigAl07]

I can't help but wonder what sort of shot you could capture with a drone camera at a safe distance.

Some amazing shots. We've had a few videos posted here over the last year or so and they can be impressive yet a LOT of inherent risk.

 

[Repaid1]

I can't help but wonder what sort of shot you could capture with a drone camera at a safe distance.

Ummm.... a aerial orbit spiral, with it punching through the middle?? Just tossing it out there

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Thanks.

 

[maelstrom]

How close to a chopper can I fly my drone...

Whilst probably not the answer you're looking for, but from a retired helicopter pilot's perspective, I would personally say don't do it! Flyaways are not unheard of and you'd then have no real control over where your drone went. In an open space with nothing else around, at worst you've lost your drone. With a helicopter in flight nearby, at worst you could potentially down the helicopter. I'd be very surprised if the pilot of the helicopter was happy with this - I certainly wouldn't have been.

 

[Vic Moss]

That totally depends on where you are. We've done this with the Texas HP chopper during some training. It's all about coordination. He said stay 100' away (I stayed 200' away for my comfort, and rotor wash issues), and behind him. He said he would lift off and fly forward. It worked well.

But unless you have coordination with the chopper pilot, I would not fly anywhere they have the possibility to see you. They'll shut down operations right away if they see you.

 

[MrHawkeye]

I'd probably land it if I saw a chopper even remotely close to my operation area unless I was coordinating directly with them. There's too much that probably won't but could go wrong and the perceived recklessness has the potential to be more of a headache than waiting it out.

There's a job site at a mall that I fly at bi-weekly with a municipal helicopter pad very close by and this has been a constant factor all year, the 5-10 minutes I lose being patient with the helicopter is a necessary compromise in order to be a good ambassador in a very visible location. I'm also lucky that locally law enforcement has been reasonably easy to deal with and I don't want to contribute to that changing.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

As a matter of interest, is this proposed flight at the request of either the helicopter pilot and or its owner OR do they know of the proposed flight etc.?

 

[Tentoes]

Depends: Are you in cahoots with the operator of the helicopter. If not, you can be in big trouble. If you and the helicopter pilot are working together, then you're just worried about aerodynamics.

That helicopter makes a MASSIVE disturbance in the air. Not only is there a massive flow of air down from the rotor, but there is a huge doughnut of air around the rotor rolling from below to over. Get near that and your drone won't be able to hold its position. The tail rotor has the same effects.

Now, if the helicopter is just sitting on the ground without the rotors moving, just don't crash into it.

 

[DanMan32]

I can't help but wonder what sort of shot you could capture with a drone camera at a safe distance.

Many of the Mavics have zoom now, so you don't have to be physically close to get close shots.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

But aren't most digital rather than optical? What's the definition loss like in digital zoom? THe M2Z is optical + digital

 

[teeroy]

In the summer I do a lot of work with Alberta Forestry during fire season, they load us with heavy equipment and put us on a "standby" location close to the forested areas where a wildfire is likely to occur. We are regularly visited by choppers on site where they refuel or the fire boss consults with our equipment foreman. I'll ask them this coming season how they feel about a drone flight near them as they lift off, maybe I can get some video if they are ok with it.

 

[maelstrom]

He said stay 100' away (I stayed 200' away for my comfort, and rotor wash issues), and behind him.

Doesn't make it any safer if you have a flyaway. I know it's not very likely, but why risk it?

 

[Lets Fly]

But aren't most digital rather than optical? What's the definition loss like in digital zoom? THe M2Z is optical + digital

My M2Z looks great in either zoom, the noticed difference is if you need to blow the image up for some reason. Optical goes from 24mm to 48mm, and switching to digital 1080p goes from 24mm to 96mm. I love it but if you need real quality get closer and use optical.

 

[Vic Moss]

Doesn't make it any safer if you have a flyaway. I know it's not very likely, but why risk it?

Because 99.99% of all flyaways are pilot error.

It was all arranged. Later in the day we had three drones up with the helicopter. Not an issue.

Flyaways aren't part of my worry.

 

[DanMan32]

My M2Z looks great in either zoom, the noticed difference is if you need to blow the image up for some reason. Optical goes from 24mm to 48mm, and switching to digital 1080p goes from 24mm to 96mm. I love it but if you need real quality get closer and use optical.

With the way DJI implements digital zoom, they keep it as lossless as possible. That's why on the M2Z, the 2x digital is only available in 1080p@30. It's basically taking a 4k frame and bringing it down to 1080p. Thats why it's limited to 1080p@30, 4k is only available at 30fps.

 

[Kilrah]

Been flying <100m from a helicopter... when that was part of the flight briefing with the heli pilot and both our moves were preplanned so everyone knows what to expect. M2 set up with CSC enabled and failsafe behavior set to land in place to at best avoid any situation where the drone could end up where it shouldn't, and me with a radio around my neck to be able to signal any abnormality.

 

[dronerdave]

We fly RC fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and drones off a test facility runway. We get a lot of low fly overs but at times have to share the runway with others scheduled to use it. Sometimes the Sheriff or CHP chopper will fly down to us to make sure we know they are at the other end training and to just keep clear of their operations. I wouldn't even consider trying to capture up close imagery with my drone. See and avoid along with VLOS is enforced for good reasons. This PG&E chopper came in on us the other day. We just got out of the way.