Just An Observation

[Gef7]

We have had a barage of around the clock TV reports due to the current flooding situation in parts of the Houston area. Some of the video has been aerial shots of the affected areas submitted by folks like us with Solo, DJI, etc. Seems like the TV stations would have their own birds by now. They all have helicopters that cost lotsa $ to run here and there. Just throw a Solo and accessories in the vehicles. The camera guy could surely be trained to operate the Solo. I'm guessing that their investment could be recovered in one saved trip of the helicopter. I wonder if the marketing guys at 3DR are pitching this to news outlets. Just a thought.

 

[Acroduster]

The problem is that they would have to hire the helicopter pilot to fly it, as the rules for commercial use dictate. Seems that it would still be cheaper to have another person in the van than a full-sized heli...

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

It would also not play well with the media's clickbait narrative about drones being evil devices spying on everyone, taking over the world, and killing people.

 

[RichWest]

Local Fox station is paying people money for video and pictures, if they use on air....seems to cover the need for on the spot coverage. The station gets the community's participation and any liability rest on the aerial "reporter"...win-win.

I like your idea to have the field camera guy having the equipment available, but then there is the 333 requirements to fulfill such a task. Same guy is to setup his primary camera for the reporter while flying? Who is the spotter in this example? The reporter is scripting for their live on the scene report. Do you have any idea what they pay these field reporters and camera people? Not much.

I think we'll have touch and fly type cameras in the future that will provide these on the spot abilities. But with current Regs and current technology, this will be a while. Aerial inspection is the present push for sUAV, all hardware development is focused towards that aspect. The Solo "platform" will be leading that market...

Just my opinion.

 

[STMPNGRND]

We have had a barage of around the clock TV reports due to the current flooding situation in parts of the Houston area. Some of the video has been aerial shots of the affected areas submitted by folks like us with Solo, DJI, etc. Seems like the TV stations would have their own birds by now. They all have helicopters that cost lotsa $ to run here and there. Just throw a Solo and accessories in the vehicles. The camera guy could surely be trained to operate the Solo. I'm guessing that their investment could be recovered in one saved trip of the helicopter. I wonder if the marketing guys at 3DR are pitching this to news outlets. Just a thought.

many of those area stations hire Droneworks Studios which is 333 compliant.