Need help flying inside bowling alley!!! Scared to crash drone at charity event

[Mossiback]

Actually I don't think that applies to indoor flight, which is not regulated by the FAA.

Cool

 

[jaysrmc]

Actually I don't think that applies to indoor flight, which is not regulated by the FAA.

I'm pretty sure you are right.

 

[jaysrmc]

If you do it, make sure you have insurance. I would ask if they will let you in before opening time to practice. After practicing you can decide if you are confident enough to try and the pay is worth the risk. @Canuk had good advise (you only need the foil to cover the top-rear of the MP). Keep in mind that in Atti mode you will be pushed around by the breezes (including your own prop wash) and keep away from the ceiling; the props can suck your MP right to it if you get too close.

And, you should be 107 certified to be making money by flying your MP.

FAA does not regulate or control the air space inside a building. Not sure why he would need to be 107 certified.

 

[kodiak1120]

The Magic is great indoors... Here's a video I did of a new hospital that was about to open:

The people would obviously be a concern though so my vote is no.

 

[ScubaBob]

I have a Mavic Pro. I recently was offered a paying job to fly my drone for a charity event at a bowling alley. They want me to fly over the lanes to see all the participants bowling and having fun.

I have flown indoor before without issue, but today I tried to practice at my new apartment and the drone drifted up and to the right. It was not responding to anything I was doing and it hit the ceiling. I have extremely high ceilings so it went about 15-20 ft in the air without reacting.

Should I take this job?

Here are pictures of the lanes. I am not sure how it will react to the surface or the light. I would hate to scratch the wood surface of a bowling alley by crashing.

View attachment 42581 View attachment 42582

Way too risky. Too many distractions, no GPS, too much metal, etc. If you crash it will confirm to everyone there that drones are not safe, they crash, are dangerous, etc. You will give a bad impression to all if something bad happens and I think the odds of something going wrong are greater than everything going right. There are plenty of cameras on the market and if used with a tripod or other technique can give you just as good (if not better) photographs from the same angle. You may try hooking a GoPro or other lightweight camera to a sky hook with a short piece of shoreline and see how that plays out. If you get too much glare from the bowling lanes use a smoke screen.

 

[baddog]

It can be done, but practice first at facility during non business hours to test.

1) turn off all avoidance sensors. Avoidance sensors cause the drone to rise up or back off obstacles it senses. You can not control it. Try doing a hand grab, landing, the second it senses your hand after you grab it, the drone will try and spin up RPMS to lift away. It is very alarming...

2) Fly in Tripod intelligent flight mode. It will greatly reduce your speed and deaden the sticks. This how I fly in creak beds and on wooded trails.

3) Practice, Practice, Practice...

4) if you are the least bit apprehensive or nervous then just say no to the bowling alley and offer hand held video

 

[Drone on]

I have a Mavic Pro. I recently was offered a paying job to fly my drone for a charity event at a bowling alley. They want me to fly over the lanes to see all the participants bowling and having fun.

I have flown indoor before without issue, but today I tried to practice at my new apartment and the drone drifted up and to the right. It was not responding to anything I was doing and it hit the ceiling. I have extremely high ceilings so it went about 15-20 ft in the air without reacting.

Should I take this job?

Here are pictures of the lanes. I am not sure how it will react to the surface or the light. I would hate to scratch the wood surface of a bowling alley by crashing.

View attachment 42581 View attachment 42582

Tripod mode...obstacle avoidance on. Many youtube videos about this. Not bowling alleys in particular, but flying indoors

here's a good one

 

[Kossnen]

I'm firmly in the "don't do it" camp solely for the risk. Another reason not to that has nothing to do with flying: distraction. Your skill or the Mavic's indoor abilities aside. Wouldn't it just be very distracting for the bowlers? It would be hard to bowl with a loud, bladed machine, barely above eye-level, flying around. Assuming you're flying for 10 minutes, that's 10 minutes of a loud noise in an enclosed area, kids getting weirded out and clinging to parents, and parents (especially ones that have drones, knowing how they do indoors) getting antsy and on-guard. Seems like it would make for less than stellar shots. Just a thought.

 

[chezedog]

Don't.

 

[JY-tek]

flying indoors isn't the big problem.... the BIG problem is that there will be many people in the building. Too many opportunities for things to go wrong with really bad consequences. If they wanted you to fly/video inside with nobody else there, then it's really up to you to see if you can do it without problems. But with other people involved.... Stand clear! I vote no!

 

[ac0j]

42 votes for no, 3 for yes so far.......
When I predicted 10 fold more votes for no earlier, I was a little short it seems. But at least we know now that roughly 6% of drone pilots here would happily risk our safety in a bowling alley for a few bucks.

 

[BanditsRoost]

I have a Mavic Pro. I recently was offered a paying job to fly my drone for a charity event at a bowling alley. They want me to fly over the lanes to see all the participants bowling and having fun.

I have flown indoor before without issue, but today I tried to practice at my new apartment and the drone drifted up and to the right. It was not responding to anything I . ml ml

I have a Mavic Pro. I recently was offered a paying job to fly my drone for a charity event at a bowling alley. They want me to fly over the lanes to see all the participants bowling and having fun.

I have flown indoor before without issue, but today I tried to practice at my new apartment and the drone drifted up and to the right. It was not responding to anything I was doing and it hit the ceiling. I have extremely high ceilings so it went about 15-20 ft in the air without reacting.

Should I take this job?

View attachment 42582

No,
But I would invest $90 in a Tello and do agreat job. Photos are acceptable and if you go slow the video will be acceptable for social media. I'm awed at the abity of that little uav to maintain stability i doors.
Just my opinion and not taking anything away from my Phantoms or Mavics. Just my observation as a long time casual pilot.

 

[Neto]

If you are asking, you shouldn’t.

 

[Q-Vision]

A safe solution would be a diy cable cam across the width of the bowling alley with a camera of your choice. Check out the Syrp Genie.

 

[Aerial West]

Almost always, you dont need to fly inside. it's very easy to hold the drone and get gimbal shots. I'd also use a ronin on a pole before flying here.

if you must, its probably big enough to avoid walls. Just be comfortable, and know the air patterns there. AC units can send your drone flying when you dont realize wind is happening.

 

[DiggerNZ]

If you want to do a test run by your self you put it into tripod mode and use tinfoil taped on the top of the pro to put it into atti . Make sure all sensors are off and use prop guards . Do a test with nobody around and then decide . When the drone go in and out of gps mode would not be good . The home built tinfoil hat will keep it in atti

I often do this in my own house which is small. I sit outside with my DJI goggles on, fly through the front door and into every room in the house. I have my blades fully enclosed by the cage you can buy for the Mavic Pro. Downside is, due to having to put on smaller blades it is very noisey. Took a little practise to figure out what to switch off at first but I made myself a list of settings once I got it to a controllable state.
For those that wonder why I would even contemplate flying inside, I work for a government agency and have been asked a few times to fly inside buildings to film training exercises. Have not done it yet though due to various reasons beyond my control but I still keep training in tight conditions to retain the ability should it be called upon. Think earthquakes and unsafe buildings for people to enter...

 

[VortexSpin]

The Magic is great indoors... Here's a video I did of a new hospital that was about to open:

The people would obviously be a concern though so my vote is no.

Very nice. Well done. Thanks for sharing. [emoji106]

 

[skadee]

Don’t. I flew in a (empty) roller skating rink today, the MP was very unpredictable, and scared me a few times. I’d consider myself an experienced pilot, but flying indoors with varying light conditions will be unpredictable unless you do all the things baddog suggests AND get some prop guards, but that would still be too risky, IMO.

Your MP may not react the same with people in it’s sensor field of view as it does on your “practice” days with no people in its FOV.