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Flying Over/Near Highways

Citizen Flier

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I'm looking at locations to get long exposure stills of traffic. I want to do this properly, safely, and legally. One of the best locations in my area has multiple onramps almost forming a cloverleaf, and there are canals for reflections, etc. One thing I DO NOT want to do is pose any type of a distraction hazard to vehicles. I plan to do this at dusk, as per suggestions in another post. Scouting on the ground reveals a viewpoint with 2 converging onramps over water, and there are no FAA restrictions for the area. But I am concerned about proximity & visibility to drivers. I find the M2P to become pretty inconspicuous at and above around 100'. But I'm used to flying in remote areas and want to be extra cautious for this project. I do NOT intend to fly OVER traffic, as the spots I have considered should produce the perfect view from a straight up vertical flight. Straight up, take photos, return straight down. Will only fly in low wind. And I have already noted overhead wires, etc. Any general suggestions for this type of flight plan? Recommended distances from highways? Thanks.
 
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I don't know about distance from roads. Someone might say that it could be a hazard to the roads even when not flying right next to the road, because an out of control aircraft doesn't go straight down. But then, that's true for all occurrences around roads or people.

So my immediate thoughts are:
  • Be aware of an interference, such as from magnetic or radio sources, that cold mess with signals / compass. You might come and check the area for such before your intended flight time. Or just be cautions about it when you first take off, looking for indicators, and be prepared for anything like that (land immediately, abort the mission and spend all of your efforts on landing the craft safely).
  • If this NOT a remote area, you might have people come up to talk to you (whether it be just a curious person or a complainer). The thing is, if you're concerned about flying safely around traffic, you do not want distractions. So be prepared with things to say, like "I am happy to answer that question, just as soon as this has landed" and such. I now carry a bright green vest with the letters FAA on it and that seems to help.
I hope those thoughts help,
Chris
 
to me the biggest issue is if the drone is spotted by drivers ,what would the impact be as they tried to see it overhead and were distracted thus causing an accident,this would be more problematic as you ascended and descended
 
to me the biggest issue is if the drone is spotted by drivers ,what would the impact be as they tried to see it overhead and were distracted thus causing an accident,this would be more problematic as you ascended and descended

I would think that this would only be an issue if taking off right next to the roadway. If one is a few dozen feet/meters away and gets it high enough quick, then they could move into position (at 100' for more) and a drive is very unlikely to see that and be distracted by it. With a little planning, a person could take off quite a long distance away from the road before moving into shooting position.

Chris
 
Turn off your forward LED's and any strobes you have attached. I assume the rear LED will not be facing traffic so should not be a problem. At dusk, without lights, the drivers should not notice it at all. Of course air traffic will also not notice it so scan for air traffic and make it a quick flight.

EDIT: I should have specified that I was thinking of a quick straight up around 200', take pictures, then down. But what is likely to happen is once up it takes longer to frame than planned, then try at a different angle, then it is dark so try some of those shots. So after thinking it through it would best be avoided.
 
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Drone anti-collision lighting IS required at twilight and at night
Twilight

Flights made during twilight require anti-collision lighting but do not require a Part 107 waiver.

  • Morning Civil Twilight is generally defined as starting one hour before sunrise and ending about a half-hour before sunrise.
  • Evening Civil Twilight is generally defined as starting about a half-hour after sunset and ending one hour after sunset.
 
So as i know it to be is there is no setback distance required from roads just not "over" so I have gone up to but not crossing any edge of the road (side, culvert, curb, etc). always clearly defined as no where touching the "road" (which im sure the DOT definition of a road varies by state).

As for turning off lights or strobes, that is a big no, as a requirement is having such features for twilight/night flights. So that would be my concern for distracting drivers. But if you launched straight up for a middle of a clover bybass that would be totally legal if it is not illegal for you to be in the launch site based on state laws. Just send the UAV/Drone straight up get your shots straight down never crossing a road. That being said, i would be concerned about my personal safety and visibility to drivers being in an area in the dark where people are not expected to be normal operating/getting to and leaving that location safely etc.

Just make sure its safe entrance/exist while maintaining visibility and you are not violating any local laws in terms of trespassing or being in an unauthorized road area to make the UAV/Drone flight portion legal in terms of not crossing a road or flying above a road
 
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Drone anti-collision lighting IS required at twilight and at night
Twilight

Flights made during twilight require anti-collision lighting but do not require a Part 107 waiver.

  • Morning Civil Twilight is generally defined as starting one hour before sunrise and ending about a half-hour before sunrise.
  • Evening Civil Twilight is generally defined as starting about a half-hour after sunset and ending one hour after sunset.

The FAA definition of twilight seems different than the above, and is as follows:

You can fly during daylight or in twilight (30 minutes before official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local time) with appropriate anti-collision Fact Sheet – Small Unmanned Aircraft Regulations (Part 107)
 
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Be aware of an interference, such as from magnetic or radio sources, that cold mess with signals / compass. You might come and check the area for such before your intended flight time. Or just be cautions about it when you first take off, looking for indicators, and be prepared for anything like that (land immediately, abort the mission and spend all of your efforts on landing the craft safely).
How do you determine such interference prior to flying? Is there a testing device you use?
 
How do you determine such interference prior to flying? Is there a testing device you use?

Well for freeways its pretty solid assumption there is a lot of rebar within this raised bybass thus could interfere with the compass etc. Knowing the location to a substation or high voltage power lines/radio towers are pretty nice to know as well, but outside of testing for this interference without an application or device.
 
looking at photo's and video's should give you the answer to your question. I don't think anyone shooting that type of shot would take off from a busy mall parking lot or anywhere there were or might be.. "spectators" . "look at me! I'm flying a drone"....is not a good frame of mind.
Drivers pay zero attention to Boeing 747s and Airbus 380's flying low over the extremely busy 405 in Los Angeles so I doubt that you are going to disturb drivers if you are flying at a reasonable altitude with a drone. A Predator maybe ;)
 
I did this last summer with, what I think, were excellent results. I originally wanted to photograph the clover leaf as you suggested, but I found I would have had to gone far beyond the 400' ceiling. (In a whispering voice) I even went up to 500' but still couldn't capture enough of the clover leaf exchange to make it worthwhile. So I focused on cars going over a bridge. With the aperture wide open and the ASA at (800 I think, maybe 1600), I put my Mavic 2 Pro in the multiple-shot mode (or whatever it's called) at various long exposures between a half second to a couple seconds. If I remember correctly, one second yielded the best results. I was amazed at how stable the Mavic is when taking long exposures. I would say better than half of the images were solid. The highway speed was 70mph, so I got nice long headlight/taillight streaks.

I launched about a half block away and took it to 200' before heading to the highway. That way, unless drivers were looking for UFOs or meteors, they wouldn't see the Mavic's lights. Since I was inside five miles of an airport, I did call the tower for clearance, which they kindly provided. The only other concern that presented itself were a lot of high-voltage wires in the area.

Actually, after thinking about it for a bit, I think I used my Phantom 4 (since sold) not the Mavic. But I would imagine the Mavic would have similar results.

Good luck!
 
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Thus is a huge concern for me. I would not want to distract a driver under any circumstances. Trying to get feedback on safe distance. I want to keep as much distance as possible, but wondering what a safe minimum would be.

to me the biggest issue is if the drone is spotted by drivers ,what would the impact be as they tried to see it overhead and were distracted thus causing an accident,this would be more problematic as you ascended and descended
 
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"Thus is a huge concern for me. I would not want to distract a driver under any circumstances. Trying to get feedback on safe distance. I want to keep as much distance as possible, but wondering what a safe minimum would be"

I wouldn't want to distract anyone either but ask the first person you see what the present sky conditions are without looking up and I bet they won't know. If You're at a sensible altitude to take long exposure photo's ..no one is going to hear you or see you.
 
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