Foggy NYC Morning with the Mavic Pro

Newbery · Mar 1, 2017

First flight with the Mavic and first time editing video of any kind. This was Saturday Feb 25 2017 around sunrise by the Williamsburg Bridge. Much room for improvement so any and all feedback is welcomed. Thanks!

erkme73 · Mar 1, 2017

Beautiful video - and one of the reasons why I so love this platform. That said, I can't believe with all the 'see something say something' hyper-sensitive paranoia in that city, you didn't have NYPD swat teams descend on your location. Flying near a bridge! How dare you! Remember these guys who were smeared in the media, accused of chasing down an NYPD helicopter, when all they were doing was trying to get away from it when they saw it approaching? They were filming a bridge as well. Subsequent ATC recordings proved the NYPD pilot noticed the drone at the other end of the bridge, and pursued it to investigate - and it's why the charges were dropped. Though, you have to dig to find that info.

erkme73 · Mar 1, 2017

Newbery said:
Lol, true. I did notice on the hover and B4UFly apps, it only said "fly with caution". There were a few ppl flying there so in all honesty, I was a bit nervous but figured it might've been ok. I will double check the city laws around bridges. If I recall correctly, it said not to fly directly over them or cars. But thanks anyway.

I just wanted to clarify that my "how dare you!" was entirely sarcastic. I love these kinds of videos that show off the magnificent testament to civil engineering - especially those old bridges. Unfortunately, as is the case in most larger cities (and even small ones now), the noose on what is considered acceptable flying is tightening with every legislative and city counsel session.

That story I linked to was a perfect example of two guys flying a Phantom, doing nothing wrong. In fact, when they saw the NYPD helicopter approach, they made every effort to avoid it and land immediately. The ATC recordings confirm that the phantom never got close to the helicopter and that they were following it. But those details are lost on the public (thanks to the anti-drone slant of the media). Thus, you simply have to be aware that despite doing everything by the book, there are those out there who will try to spin it as a negative. I think if I was flying at that bridge, my HR would have been twice the normal rate, not because of the fog, or concerns about crashing my MP, but having some over-zealous .gov agent drop a boot on my neck.

Newbery · Mar 1, 2017

Haha! Ah man, my mistake! Yeah I was reading the article just now. Such a bummer that the rules are getting tighter because there are many of us who do take caution. Thanks again mate!

NYCMAV · Mar 1, 2017

Newbery said:
Haha! Ah man, my mistake! Yeah I was reading the article just now. Such a bummer that the rules are getting tighter because there are many of us who do take caution. Thanks again mate!

Flying directly over the FDR with high speed cars below isn't very clever.