Planning a drone operation in an urban area.

[Nanosauromo]

And I want to run my plan by some other pilots first and get some second opinions on whether it sounds reasonably safe.

There's a hotel I frequently film events at and I want to get some drone footage of to use as stock footage establishing shots. The hotel consists of two wings, one 32 stories and one 12 stories. I've talked to the hotel and they're willing to let me launch from the roof of the shorter wing to shoot the taller one. My thinking is this will allow me to avoid flying over people (I plan to stay over the roof) and position me closer to the drone so I'll have a stronger signal.

I want to just get a handful of simple shots: An up and down moving shot of the tower, A side-to side moving shot of the same, and a 360° pan from high up.

The hotel is in a fairly dense area, but the 32-story wing of the hotel is among the tallest buildings around, and the closest buildings of comparable height are over a block away. I have my part 107 license, and the location isn't in controlled airspace.

Is there anything I'm overlooking that would make this a bad idea? Anything I should expect, any way I should alter my plan? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[ThisIsCusel]

Plan your shoot for a time of day/week to minimize traffic while still considering where the sun will be.

Probably early morning or evening on a Sunday.

Also, a spotter to make sure your pilot doesn't walk off the roof

 

[Nanosauromo]

Plan your shoot for a time of day/week to minimize traffic while still considering where the sun will be.

Probably early morning or evening on a Sunday.

Also, a spotter to make sure your pilot doesn't walk off the roof

The side of the hotel I want to film faces east, so it'll be in the morning. Less wind in the morning, too, or so I'm told. And I doubt the hotel would even let me up there alone.