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Waivers and 107

jaysrmc

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I have my 107 but the company I work for got some kind of 107 for the business. I have not been in the office to read it yet. They also got a night time waiver. The LOS waiver is still being processed however, I have been told it would get granted because it is an electric company that requires constant inspection of gas lines and such. My question is, and I have watch videos but what setting do I need to get quality night shots/video. The pipelines have small lights on them about every 1.5 meters. I only know of one other electric company that received a BYLOS waiver so we are hopeful seeing as the department of Energy is requiring night time flights to minimize the cost of me being in the forest for days at a time.

Anyways since I have the night time waiver I also wanted to get some night time shots of the city and have not done night time shots of the city.
 
You should probably mention what aircraft will be used to fly the pipelines. Also, waivers are somewhat specific and the application is as well; you can't take the 107.29 waiver from your employer and use it for a hobby flight to get night shots of a city, unless I suppose you do it at the same time as the inspections and get some incidental photos of the landscape. You will also need additional documented training before attempting a night flight, as is specified in every 107.29 waiver I have seen. You can view the waivers granted on the FAA web site.
 
Don’t forget about the lights you need to attach to your rig so it can be seen for
3000’ (?)
 
Don’t forget about the lights you need to attach to your rig so it can be seen for
3000’ (?)

3 miles is the minimum

DJI's stock lights do not meet the requirement

I have Strobon Cree's on mine, 2 Red, 2 Green and 1 White positioned in the proper orientation
 
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As for the settings, at the moment my DJI files are on another laptop so I can't look at the metadata, but the closer you can get to ISO100 the less noise will be in the picture, and then just find a shutter exposure time that works for you... it is hard to do long exposures when the drone is getting moved around so if you end up on the dark side, you can always clean it up in post production, especially if you are shooting in RAW format
 
3 miles is the minimum

DJI's stock lights do not meet the requirement

I have Strobon Cree's on mine, 2 Red, 2 Green and 1 White positioned in the proper orientation
Thanks! I am a little rusty on the numbers... :)

I have the daylight waiver, have not flown but need the lights. How did you attach them and where?
Thanks
 
Just got word today from the FAA that my §107.29 Daylight Operation Waiver was approved, good through 2022. I applied the evening of 9/20 and the waiver was approved and issued today, 10/12, so barely three weeks to process. I did not use an attorney, and it cost me nothing other than a long evening of very detailed writing (11 pages) to describe all planning, operations, documentation, training, visual illusions and nighttime phenomena, CRM, preparedness and contingencies—all very specific to my equipment, crew and operations.

I also have Strobon CREEs, which I've been using recreationally for civil twilight flights under §101.E Section 336. I currently have three: 1 red, 1 green, and 1 white. Technically, quadcopters are omnidirectional, so using aeronautical strobe norms is not strictly necessary, but it does hint at possible direction for other pilots and also gives a good sense of orientation from the ground.

I mount the LEDs with the included white velcro (somewhat wobbly feeling due to the slightly rounded battery back of the lights, but they are featherweight and nothing has ever fallen off), with the smooth sides adhered to the Mavic 2. The white is on top, as aft as could place it (which, due to the rear sensor and interchangeable batteries means just fore of the battery compartment—although I suppose I could spring for more velcro and then attach directly to the batteries). The green is starboard, red to port, which I mount side center, covered by the arms when closed (lights must be removed when closed, but soft side of velcro is gentle on the plastic and even acts as a little cushion). The lights are visible in 360° laterally and from above, and seem to be constantly visible from the ground as well.

Tip: I used Sharpies to draw large red and green dots on the port and starboard velcro* (both on the craft velcro and on the light velcro), which makes it easy to identify which light is which, since they all look the same when powered off—I just line up the colors and go!

Warning: The Strobon CREEs are bright bright bright! The buttons are difficult enough to push that you will likely have to turn them on before attaching to the craft, and that pretty much guarantees that you or your VO will get a blinding eyeful. Be sure to give your eyes at least ten minutes of rest afterward, to readjust to the dark.


* When flying in daylight without the anti-collision lights, and viewed from its port side, the little white velcro rectangle with big red dot gives my Mavic a slight Japanese Zero vibe.
 
Would you be wiling to post the language / content of your application, less any personal info?
 
Too specific to my own operations, and I don't want the FAA to get the sense that it's a copy-and-paste process (it took me over eight hours of work, consideration and forethought, which is kind of the point). However, a Google search will turn up some great pointers and starting points to get you oriented.
 
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