preparing for a dangerous mission

[Lapeer20m]

later today, i plan to return to the ruins of the pontiac silverdome.

The parking lot is 100 acres.
The building itself is 141 feet high, and about 600x700 feet lenght/width

The building itself is probably 2000 feet from the nearest road. I want to film the building inside and out in great detail. It is made of steel and concrete.

before i leave, i want to fly back and place a fresh SD card in mavic, then try to see how far down inside the stadium i can fly before the RC signal becomes poor.

I will set RTH height at least 100 feet higher than the stadium.

There are no people around, and the area is wide open other than the decrepit old building (and some junk volkswagens)


Wish me luck!

it used to look like this...before the roof blew off



now it looks more like this:

 

[JHSlayer]

Looking forward to the results.

 

[Top Hat]

Have a GOOD and SAFE flight.
Don't forget to post some vids.

 

[hammer73]

Remember that if you fly inside a structure and lose signal... it will return to RTH altitude. Not a problem if there is no roof but then you're not really inside either. [emoji6]

 

[Lapeer20m]

Remember that if you fly inside a structure and lose signal... it will return to RTH altitude. Not a problem if there is no roof but then you're not really inside either. [emoji6]

This is the part that makes me the most nervous. I've only had mavic about a month and I've never had to rely on RTH. It should work as intended...but there is always a possibility of the giant metal structure causing problems with the compass or gps or any number of other possible malfunctions. If mavic is lost inside the structure it's not easily recoverable.

There is no danger to people or property, other than mavic.

 

[Richard]

If you had FPV Camera or Lichi, for example, you could actually go all the way down inside the dome and preset your shots as the mission continous even if signal is lost.
Would make it even more exiting..

 

[Steve1966]

Hope you get some good video as it is going to be demolished in a couple of months.

 

[Sencorp]

I would highly suggest not going deep in. If for what ever reason you loose the bird, it may be more expensive to retrieve it than to even replace it. I would have a go at attempting to get permitted access inside and fly from inside then to get your shots. It's worth trying to track down the mgt co to get access. Would make for an amazing video for sure. Either way best of luck and really look forward to seeing the debriefing of your mission!

 

[Lapeer20m]

While i was standing on the sidewalk piloting my mavic, I heard a friendly german voice say hello. I turned to find a gentleman powering on his own mavic right next to me. He heard all theve VW's were in the lot and wanted to make his own video.

I thought that was pretty cool.

The flights (there i flew three missions over the silverdome today) were pretty mundane. I did have only one loss of connection. It's the first time ive ever suffered this condition, but was not unexpected. mavic performed flawlessly and ascended to the predetermined height were i was able to easily reconnect.

the video is processing.....

 

[Sencorp]

Awesome! Gotta love a successful mission!

 

[NewbieJeff]

Live 10 miles from it. Will fly a mission this week. Thanks for the idea

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

I would highly suggest not going deep in. If for what ever reason you loose the bird, it may be more expensive to retrieve it than to even replace it. I would have a go at attempting to get permitted access inside and fly from inside then to get your shots. It's worth trying to track down the mgt co to get access. Would make for an amazing video for sure. Either way best of luck and really look forward to seeing the debriefing of your mission!

To help, offer them pics and/or video in return (not all of them, just enough to wet their appetite). Promote them as media for their upcoming demo. Might even spike some interest in them hiring you for progressive video as they do the demo. Possible commercial work for you. $$$$.

 

[Lapeer20m]

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[seryan09]

Great job! Loved watching it, so sad.

 

[Lapeer20m]

I have a lot of great memories there as a kid.

 

[SoCalDroner]

Is that 2 thumbs up at 2:00?

 

[fastturtle]

Looks like a guy at 2:00 definitely giving 2 thumbs up!

 

[bakerboy]

What's the back story to the damage and why it hasn't been repaired?

 

[frankiez]

Looking at the before and after picks of the stadium brings to mind the Queen song "another one bites the dust".

 

[Lapeer20m]

What's the back story to the damage and why it hasn't been repaired?

Money

This was the worlds largest indoor stadium and the premier venue for many different events. Built for more than $50 million

The primary revenue source for the stadium was the Detroit Lions (American) football team. A new stadium was built 15 years ago for the lions. Once they moved out, the stadium was no longer profitable. It sold a few years ago for about $500,000. Eventually it fell into disrepair and the roof blew off.

There were various ideas to revitalize the stadium, but none came to fruition.

Now it is scheduled for demolition.