Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Fantastic Video Taken From Aerial Drone Flying High Above Roosevelt Island NYC East River Waterfront - WOW

Reported previously on an aerial drone hovering over Roosevelt Island's Lighthouse Park and taking remarkable video images from above.

This is even better. An aerial drone flying over the southern portion of Roosevelt Island taking great images of the NYC East River waterfront,


the future home of Cornell NYC Tech at current Goldwater Hospital site,


FDR Four Freedoms Park and the Renwick Ruins Smallpox Hospital


as well as Southpoint Park and the Long Island City waterfront.


Here's the flight of the drone above southern tip of Roosevelt Island



and the drone that flew over Lighthouse Park last November



taking these pictures.



Wow!!!!!!!

Could the Roosevelt Island drones be a test of Amazon's Drone Delivery system?


Probably not but the drones do take some great pictures.

Learn more about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles at DIY Drones.

10 comments :

APS said...

Drones make for cool images, but not so much when it comes to privacy, isn't it illegal to fly them in NYC?

NotMyKid said...

400 feet is the maximum model aircraft altitude,which is regulated by the FAA.

Frank Farance said...

NotMyKid: It's unsafe and a regulatory violation to fly drones over Roosevelt Island. Drones can only be flown in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace. The East River Corridor is Class E (VFR, but controlled), and north of lighthouse is Class B. Another regulatory violation is operating within 5 miles of an airport (5 miles from LGA reaches down to the 34 Street heliport), and seaplane traffic directly operate over the Island at approximately 300 AGL, and helicopter traffic operates lower than that. Small unmanned aircraft systems must weight less than 4.4 pounds and operate "less than 400 feet above the ground, during daylight conditions, inside
Class G (uncontrolled) airspace and more than five miles from any
airport or other location with aviation activities".

Rick, you and Dick, seem to further this reckless behavior but publishing their views/videos. Could you please discourage these operators? The views all sound great until some plane/seaplane/helicopter crashes because it becomes entangled in one of these devices.

RooseveltIslander said...

Frank, the drone videos are news and of interest to the community.

It's not up to the press to discourage the use of drones. However, if RIOC, NYPD or some other appropriate regulatory body wish to issue some sort of advisory or warning on the subject, I would of course publish that information.

YetAnotherRIer said...

Please cite the source. AFAIK, hobbyist drones are not regulated by the FAA at all in New York State.

YetAnotherRIer said...

Found your source: http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=14153

Unfortunately, you failed to read it thoroughly because otherwise you would have noticed the section with the heading "Model Aircraft." Everything else in there is for commercial and other non-hobbyist application of unmanned aircrafts.



I guess you just wanted to prove NotMyKid wrong?

CheshireKitty said...

I'm sure there are a lot of applications where instead of sending a copter, instead you can send a much cheaper/cleaner - in terms of emissions/less disruptive drone: They can monitor shore erosion in remote stretches of shoreline, or runoff buildup in Spring in remote mountain areas that could translate into flooding downstream, as well as many applications in forest management. Drones can thus have many beneficial applications. Also, there have always been model airplane enthusiasts, just as there are model boat enthusiasts. As long as drones are operated sensibly - and after all, drones are operated by humans, they are not the equivalent of Canada geese that may not know to avoid certain areas of airspace - then there should be no problem with allowing them. Drones will also enable amazing photography - vistas not possible from copters. Why not?

YetAnotherRIer said...

That what I was saying: Frank was wrong. You are allowed to fly a RC aircraft for hobby-purposes. Just make sure you don't go above 400 feet, it is not heavier than 55 lbs, and if you are within a 5 mile radius of an airport let them know you are about to fly a model aircraft.

Frank Farance said...

YetAnotherRIer: You have this wrong. According to the regs (14 CFR 93), drones cannot be operating. I called the local FSDO (Flight Standards District Office), who confirmed that all aircraft must be in touch with ATC (as per the regs below). The FSDO staff suggested that I report a safety issue / regs violation with the FAA so that enforcement/corrective action can be taken.

Furthermore, even if the 1981 regulation applied, they still did not comply with the 1981 regulation (see below). I confirmed that the drone operator did not contact the local airport prior to his operating the drone.

I spoke to the 34 Street Heliport operations, who will notify their pilots about the safety concern, and they will contact the City's EDC to stop this kind of hazard.

Yeah, it all looks great, just as it would "look great" if I were to fly you in my own plane and I were to do an aerobatic loop over Roosevelt Island. But it's very unsafe and creates a huge safety hazard: when a helicopter or airplane ingests/strikes the drone, you have an aircraft now likely to make an Off-Airport Landing (a euphemism for a "crash"), with lives/property at stake.

Sorry we don't need helicopter debris raining down on Main Street because some idiot is operating an aircraft recklessly.

§ 93.350 Definitions.
(c) New York Class B airspace East River Exclusion is that airspace below 1,500 feet MSL between the east and west banks of, and overlying, the East River beginning at lat. 40°38′39″N., long. 74°02′03″W., thence north along a line drawn direct to the southwestern tip of Governors Island, thence north along a line direct to the southwest tip of Manhattan Island, thence north along the west bank of the East River to the LGA VOR/DME 6-mile arc, thence counterclockwise along the 6-mile arc to the east bank of the East River, thence south along the east bank of the East River to the point of beginning at lat. 40°38′39″N., long 74°02′03″W.; and that airspace 1,100 feet MSL and below between the east and west banks of, and overlying the East River, from the LGA VOR/DME 6-mile arc to the north tip of Roosevelt Island.

§ 93.353 East River Exclusion specific operating procedures.
No person may operate an airplane in the East River Exclusion extending from the southwestern tip of Governors Island to the north tip of Roosevelt Island except:
(a) Seaplanes landing on or taking off from the river; or
(b) Airplanes authorized by ATC. Pilots must contact LaGuardia Airport Traffic Control Tower prior to Governors Island for authorization.

As Rick described it, the drone is operated commercially, thus my citations apply.

Regarding the 1981 guidelines you cite, even if those guidelines were applicable, the operation also violates those provisions because:

- The aircraft was operated within three miles of three airports without notification of airport operator/tower (LaGuardia airport, 34 Street Heliport, 23 Street Seaport).

- The aircraft was operated without notification to Flight Service.

- The aircraft cannot avoid full-size aircraft because the operator is not in touch with ATC or other aircraft.

YetAnotherRI: You should look at your own thinking. My comment to NotMyKid was to add to his comments. But you have nothing original to say: you complain that I point to Google citations, yet you do this yourself. Simply, you want to be oppositional to me ... and it is more important for you to be oppositional than to think about safety?

YetAnotherRIer said...

All I can say is that according to the FAA hobbyist aircrafts are exempt from regulation as long as certain requirements are met (I am not going to repeat those.) If the drone was used for commercial purposes then, yes, you have a point. I will fly my own model aircrafts as I please, though, because I have the right to do so.