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California Mavic Fliers

Raptorman

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I have an idea for a series of drone videos in California and wouldn't mind hooking up with any locals that might want to join me. I do not yet have the Mavic though I do have an Inspire 1 Pro that I plan to take as well. I'm actually based in the Salt Lake City area and assuming I get the Mavic within the next 3 weeks or so my plan would be to travel to CA in late November or early December.

My particular interest is to shoot drone video of the trains in the area near the Techapi Loop and possibly Cajon Junction as well. I have other things I want to shoot as well but it's the trains that might benefit from having several teams to cover a larger area. My idea is to follow a train for perhaps 20 miles from a bit before Caliente to beyond the loop near Cable. I think to properly do this so that there's 100% coverage would require 3 teams so that team 1 could shoot his section then skip sections 2 and 3 and move to 4 -- otherwise it would be unlikely to be able to move to the next location in time to catch the same train.


Brian
 
Well, as it looks like the Mavic Pro is going to be later than I expected, probably into December, I may have to revise my travel plans closer to the end of the year. In addition to the Mavic Pro that I have on order I also have a Pansonic G85 on order and also backordered but I suspect the G85 will be in my hands within a couple weeks -- the Mavic though, looking like December.


Brian
 
I have an idea for a series of drone videos in California and wouldn't mind hooking up with any locals that might want to join me. I do not yet have the Mavic though I do have an Inspire 1 Pro that I plan to take as well. I'm actually based in the Salt Lake City area and assuming I get the Mavic within the next 3 weeks or so my plan would be to travel to CA in late November or early December.

My particular interest is to shoot drone video of the trains in the area near the Techapi Loop and possibly Cajon Junction as well. I have other things I want to shoot as well but it's the trains that might benefit from having several teams to cover a larger area. My idea is to follow a train for perhaps 20 miles from a bit before Caliente to beyond the loop near Cable. I think to properly do this so that there's 100% coverage would require 3 teams so that team 1 could shoot his section then skip sections 2 and 3 and move to 4 -- otherwise it would be unlikely to be able to move to the next location in time to catch the same train.


Brian
Trains are cool, I have a cool shot at the 8:50 mark on THIS video. I might be interested, it will depend on my travel sched as well... I have P3's, various other quads and of course a Mavic on order... as the time gets closer, hit me up... if you want to see some of my other videos here is my YouTube channel: CactusJackSlade Been flying R/C for 35 years, aerial video for 11 years, multicopters for 5 years...
 
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I'm all for it. I actually live in Tehachapi and here's one of the first videos I shot of the Loop. Was out testing mapping software and heard the train coming up so, changed out the battery and hit record. I think it came out pretty decent. Since then, I've got the Mavic, should be here tomorrow, and I'm trying to finish up my S1000 with 5D Mark III... Let me know if you guys shoot up this way or what the plans are and we'll go from there.

Couple things to keep in mind though. Outside of the Tehachapi city, we are in a restricted flight area controlled by Edwards AFB. I can get prior approval to fly but as long as we stay under 200ft AGL, we are good to go.

Looking forward to hearing some more about the trip.

Derrell
 
I'm all for it. I actually live in Tehachapi and here's one of the first videos I shot of the Loop. Was out testing mapping software and heard the train coming up so, changed out the battery and hit record. I think it came out pretty decent. Since then, I've got the Mavic, should be here tomorrow, and I'm trying to finish up my S1000 with 5D Mark III... Let me know if you guys shoot up this way or what the plans are and we'll go from there.

Couple things to keep in mind though. Outside of the Tehachapi city, we are in a restricted flight area controlled by Edwards AFB. I can get prior approval to fly but as long as we stay under 200ft AGL, we are good to go.

Looking forward to hearing some more about the trip.

Derrell


Derrell, thanks for the feedback. I noticed in B4UFLY that portions of the rail line that goes through the loop is within the Special Use Airspace R-2508. It doesn't cover the entire area I want to shoot but it does cover the loop itself. Almost all the train videos of the area cover just the loop itself and my idea was to cover much more of it starting just north of Caliente, up and through Bealville, on to Keene, continuing through Walong (the loop), and then stopping just north of Cable. That would be close to 20 miles by rail and at an average train speed coming south (climbing) that should take just about an hour.

If one person or team were to do this they would not be able to cover the entire route with just one train as you would need to setup probably 8 or 10 times to cover that distance and it could take 20 minutes or more to get from on setup location to the next. Again, what I kind of wanted to do was cover one train all the way from before Caliente to just before Cable and have a mix of following within a couple hundred feet and being perhaps a mile away. To properly do this I think 3 teams at a minimum while 4 would be preferred.

I do not yet have my Part 107 but I do plan to get it before the end of the year. Hopefully I'll have the Mavic Pro by then and with the Inspire 1 Pro I should be well covered. I may have to defer my Cali plans until early next year and by then I should have my 107.

Again, thanks for the feedback and perhaps we can get together either later this year or early next.


Brian
 
I was at Tehachapi loop two weeks ago. Edwards rarely flies on weekends in this area and when they do weekdays it's well above 700'. Here's my take home....


In this video you can us flying from the top of the hill at 2:00. That's the best overlook of the loop to fly from. You can see three miles up and three mile downdown the valley that the track follows.


Fly often, be safe.
 
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