Philadelphia City Hall

kodiak1120 · Nov 7, 2018

Check out this video I finally got around to putting together from back in July. I think it turned out pretty good:

Edit: the original video was kind of choppy. After researching, I realized it was due to a frame rate issue whereby the frame rate for my project in Davinci Resolve (24 fps) didn't match the frame rate of the footage (29.97 fps). Unfortunately, in Davinci Resolve, you have to set the frame rate for the project BEFORE you import media and you cannot change it thereafter. I ended up having to redo the whole video using the correct (29.97 fps) frame rate. I've uploaded the new video and changed the link. If the link isn't working, it's probably because the video is still being uploaded.

Thwyllo · Nov 7, 2018

Your citation is in the post

kodiak1120 · Nov 7, 2018

Thwyllo said:
Your citation is in the post

???

Jaycee · Nov 7, 2018

It’s a great video... BUT isn’t this illegal, to fly over a built up area? I’m new here so forgive me if I’ve got this wrong. I’m also British, based in London, so rules may be different in the US. My understanding is that I would not be allowed to do this in a similar location in the UK. Can one of the experienced members please advise?

macoman · Nov 7, 2018

It is ilegal. I am from Philly as well. You need to have permission from City Hall and have a waiver to fly over buildings, cars and people on the ground.

rickw · Nov 7, 2018

haha,here we go again

gjmphoto · Nov 7, 2018

It did come out very nicely! Interesting building up close like that.

Was that you on the roof of the nearby building, or were you on the ground at the time?

As for legality...if it isn't a no-fly zone, since you weren't flying over a gathering of people, I'd believe it was legal. There is no "built up area" constraints in the States, that I know of.

Congoblue · Nov 7, 2018

Jaycee said:
It’s a great video... BUT isn’t this illegal, to fly over a built up area? I’m new here so forgive me if I’ve got this wrong. I’m also British, based in London, so rules may be different in the US. My understanding is that I would not be allowed to do this in a similar location in the UK. Can one of the experienced members please advise?

You are correct, this would not be allowed in the UK, you are not allowed to fly over a "built up area".

rickw · Nov 7, 2018

with that being said this is USA

Congoblue · Nov 7, 2018

Yes, I don't know the USA rules, can only answer the 2nd part of the question about UK legality.

kodiak1120 · Nov 7, 2018

macoman said:
It is ilegal. I am from Philly as well. You need to have permission from City Hall and have a waiver to fly over buildings, cars and people on the ground.

Wrong. Do you have a citation for what you are saying about needing permission from City Hall? Even if such a requirement existed, it would unenforceable since the FAA has exclusive jurisdiction over airspace.

Regarding a waiver, you do not need a waiver if you are licensed, as I am. If you have your Part 107 Certification, you can fly in Class G airspace. This entire area is Class G, as long as you are under 700', which I was.

Regarding flying over "buildings, cars and people," you are wrong. You do not need a waiver to fly over buildings. The regulations only talk about flying over people, but you could argue that cars are included in that. In any event, I did not fly over any cars or any people, so it's irrelevant.

This was done at about 7:30 a.m. on a weekend, so there were minimal cars and people around anyway.

kodiak1120 · Nov 7, 2018

Jaycee said:
It’s a great video... BUT isn’t this illegal, to fly over a built up area? I’m new here so forgive me if I’ve got this wrong. I’m also British, based in London, so rules may be different in the US. My understanding is that I would not be allowed to do this in a similar location in the UK. Can one of the experienced members please advise?

Thank you. Yes, it's legal if you have your Part 107 Certification and fly in Glass G airspace.

kodiak1120 · Nov 7, 2018

gjmphoto said:
It did come out very nicely! Interesting building up close like that.

Was that you on the roof of the nearby building, or were you on the ground at the time?

As for legality...if it isn't a no-fly zone, since you weren't flying over a gathering of people, I'd believe it was legal. There is no "built up area" constraints in the States, that I know of.

Thanks. I was on the ground, but within line of sight the whole time. You are correct, regarding the no "built up area" constraint in the U.S. You would need to have your Part 107 Certification in this area though, due to the proximity of helipads.

macoman · Nov 7, 2018

kodiak1120 said:
Wrong. Do you have a citation for what you are saying about needing permission from City Hall? Even if such a requirement existed, it would unenforceable since the FAA has exclusive jurisdiction over airspace.

Regarding a waiver, you do not need a waiver if you are licensed, as I am. If you have your Part 107 Certification, you can fly in Class G airspace. This entire area is Class G, as long as you are under 700', which I was.

Regarding flying over "buildings, cars and people," you are wrong. You do not need a waiver to fly over buildings. The regulations only talk about flying over people, but you could argue that cars are included in that. In any event, I did not fly over any cars or any people, so it's irrelevant.

This was done at about 7:30 a.m. on a weekend, so there were minimal cars and people around anyway.

My bad, apologize for the wrong info... Great video thought.

kodiak1120 · Nov 7, 2018

macoman said:
My bad, apologize for the wrong info... Great video thought.

No problem... sorry for my tone.

Porky · Nov 7, 2018

Great video but for some reason it was very jerky my end. I was watching in 720p

kodiak1120 · Nov 7, 2018

Porky said:
Great video but for some reason it was very jerky my end. I was watching in 720p

Yeah, it's an output issue in Davnici Resolve. Trying to figure out a fix. I think it's due to a conflict between how the footage was shot (29.97 fps) and the framerate of the project (24 fps, I think). I forgot to set it manually before I started the project and I'm reading that I have to do the whole thing over again. Apparently you cannot change framerates in DR after you import any media.

Porky · Nov 7, 2018

kodiak1120 said:
Yeah, it's an output issue in Davnici Resolve. Trying to figure out a fix. I think it's due to a conflict between how the footage was shot (29.97 fps) and the framerate of the project (24 fps, I think). I forgot to set it manually before I started the project and I'm reading that I have to do the whole thing over again. Apparently you cannot change framerates in DR after you import any media.

Still nice though, I wasn’t criticising it I thought it might be something my end that was causing the problem

Would like to see your next video.

dannybgoode · Nov 7, 2018

Legal or not (we have some interesting civil laws in the UK over lower airspace which of course aren’t applicable here) I really enjoyed the film.

The descent starting at around 2 mins was particularly well framed with the skyscrapers in the background.

Jaycee · Nov 7, 2018

kodiak1120 said:
Wrong. Do you have a citation for what you are saying about needing permission from City Hall? Even if such a requirement existed, it would unenforceable since the FAA has exclusive jurisdiction over airspace.

Regarding a waiver, you do not need a waiver if you are licensed, as I am. If you have your Part 107 Certification, you can fly in Class G airspace. This entire area is Class G, as long as you are under 700', which I was.

Regarding flying over "buildings, cars and people," you are wrong. You do not need a waiver to fly over buildings. The regulations only talk about flying over people, but you could argue that cars are included in that. In any event, I did not fly over any cars or any people, so it's irrelevant.

This was done at about 7:30 a.m. on a weekend, so there were minimal cars and people around anyway.