Absolutely, positively never try this yourself. By all accounts, this flight was highly illegal and DPReview in no way condones this activity.
If you're at all plugged into the world of drone news, you've probably seen this video floating around the past week. Captured by master First Person View (FPV) drone pilot Paul Nurkkala, it shows his "flight of the year" in which he flies around, inside, onto, and under a moving train... barrel rolls included.
Nurkkala captured the video using his custom built drone, which is equipped with a GoPro Hero5 Session and piloted from afar using special FPV goggles.
The video has split the internet into two predictably conflicted camps. The first thinks it's just the coolest footage to ever come out of a drone, because Nurkkala is clearly such a talented pilot. The second is infuriated that he would do something so obviously illegal, post the results online, and receive so much praise and adulation (and so many views... at last count his 5-day old YouTube video had accrued nearly 850,000 views).
No judgement if you find yourself both entertained and a little bit annoyed/angry while watching the video.
in the current circumstances in particular, if the train machinist rightfully felt there was some kind of attack going on, sounded the alarm and stopped the train messing time tables affecting 100s of passengers while the police scrambled to the place along a couple of helicopters, who would pay for the damages/fuel cost/general disruption? “oh, I did not think of that”, most probably says the heroic tele-pilot
that'd be a fly or a bee point of view while observing a freight train.
Only thing is he should refrain himself from distracting the train machinist, so he can't be charged of "distracting a person in charge of hundreds of tons of moving steel".
one mishap though and he could derail the whole 50 cars of steel train, maybe by slipping his drone between wheels of steel and the track will cause the train to lose traction, ... or not, probably will cause some damage to his drone and the train.
It is kind of funny that dpreview tells us how illegal this is but shows the video anyway and comments on how awesome it is. There are going to be more and more restrictions as drone owners push the limits. I think I would have liked the video better if the drone operator hadn't flipped perspectives so often. My attention span really is a bit longer than 3 seconds.
"What if someone had died during the shooting". Who? How? The engineer is the only person aboard the train and is unlikely to swerve off the tracks. Million ton train vs 1lb drone. I know where my money's going. Great footage.
What an astonishing piece of photography. A man using the right tools for the job. All you hipster, coward, snowflake, pansy, PC retards can just bask in awe at how much better at life this guy is,, than you are,, or ever will be.
He's just gushing. It's apparent Juck has a crush on this minor celebrity, to the extent that he believes the skill to fly a drone equates to mastery of life.
I once felt that way, about a guitarist. I got over it when I was 14.
And yet after 1.2 seconds,, your boring, pointless, pathetic comment sent me into a coma. Maybe your own awesome video will awaken me! No,, no,,, yeah,, no,,,, of course not.
It took you that long to read my comment? Three like my comment, 1 likes yours. I win, you lose. Now seriously, I don't shoot videos. But this video consisted of the same stunts over and over. That is what makes it boring. The aesthetics of the video consisted of a constant wow! factor which rapidly dulled my senses. If you don't like my aesthetics, tough luck, and please take your mean-spirited comments to the local junk yard.
Some perspective on armchair regulators. The game is changing. Welcome to VR & AR. The drone pilot is essentially sitting in the drone thanks to his goggles fed directly from the drone cameras. Check it out here
To quote an Engineer (train), who viewed this video "As an engineer, I'ma tell you, that was f*@king incredible....your the best I have ever seen... ".
Didn't you know? This is a favorite hobby among engineers(train). They even keep score cards which they then compare with other engineers(train). I've heard their is a secret leader board, but only engineers(train) are allowed to see it.
The quote is edited (per the "...."), what is the whole quote? Maybe something like "As an engineer, I'ma tell you, that was f*@king incredible....your the best I have ever seen, but what you did very dangerous and illegal. I'm an engineer, so I should know."
I guess I don't get it. Is the point of this to show off flying skills or to show great video? I mean, yea neat drone moves, etc but the video is well yet again another drone video, so what's the point?
That was awesome. And I'm sure if the law said to put your finger up your ass and smell it too DPReview and all those wankers complaining about this would follow that to the letter.
I wont comment on the legality of the stunt other than say a) the drone posed absolutely no risk to the train but b) dura lex, sed lex. What I am interested in is (as a dumb novice drone pilot) how on earth did he do it? and I mean some of the stunts like flying UNDER the train? With all the wind, the vibration, etc, how is it possible that the rotors didnt touch anything? Amazing skills + amazing luck? Special equipment? Propeller guards?
Incredible flying skills, but he is flying illegally and that just harms every other drone pilot out there that is trying to do this legally.
What did he do that was illegal? He needs to have line of sight on the drone at all times or have a visual observer that has line of sight and is in communication with him, the remote pilot.
Pretty pathetic he doesn't know this and even challenges people to say exactly what is is that he did that is illegal.
Duh, you and your VO (doubt he had a VO) have no line of sight dumb dumb.
One additional thing. During the video the engineer can be seen making eye contact with the drone then shutting his cabin windows. Can you imagine if there was an accident involving this train shortly afterwards and they reviewed this footage. The engineer being distracted by this drone flying around the main engine. The FAA would have a field day with this.
This footage is disturbing in so many ways. Even more scary is the people that think its perfectly fine and even cool.
I don't condone this, but the line of sight requirement is BS. The camera is substituting for, and providing the direct line of sight with wide angle coverage. This is a much better perspective than a direct line of sight.
The negative reactions - and frankly ridiculous comments from most on here (most of whom have probably never even seen a drone in real life, let alone flown one) is mind boggling. Take a chill pill for heavens sake; if you don’t like it or can’t appreciate his skill, go back to your EOS100D, portrait and BBQ selfies!
"probably never even seen a drone in real life, let alone flown one" Irrelevant
"can’t appreciate his skill" Irrelevant
Go back and read the threads below, because it's apparent you've lost focus on the matter at hand. Absolutely NONE of the 'negative reactions' are based on the observations you made above. You support P.N.'s actions, that's apparent. If you would care to offer a constructive opinion on how P.N. was being responsible, please do so. But if all you can do is extrapolate wildly, then accept that you're the only one who looks ridiculous.
@chadley_chad Well stated! Mostly "ridiculous comments" when the topic of drones comes up. You'd think a Predator drone was about to inflict serious damage on them!?
Tailings .... why do you insist on being a di**! The only thing not relevant are your stupid comments. Legalities aside, You clearly don’t appreciate the skill of the drone flyer or the incredible footage. As I said, if you can’t appreciate his skill or the incredible footage, go back to your stamp collecting; but don’t come on here trying to deny his skill ... you just come across as a moaning old fart!
At what point did I pass judgement on his skill? Please, please, point it out. Nor have I commented on the video itself. Again, you are obviously interpreting something not there, ie, extrapolating wildly.
His comments in the youtube thread would suggest a defiance/ denial of any regulation prohibiting his flight, (he specifically challenges another poster to state what he did illegally). At no point does he state that he had permission for his flight. I think it fairly safe to say he did not have prior approval.
I'll let you sort through the comments below to learn how his actions can be considered in violation of regulations.
@tailings All I've seen below is a bunch of paranoia. I have far more fear of the millions of gun toting Americans, drunken drivers, etc. than I do of drones.
It's an invasion of privacy once the operator starts to shoot the conductor. THAT is illegal without getting the explicit consent of the person being recorded.
This is Also highly illegal, disruptive, a perfect example of how drone operators shouldn't behave, and perfect ammunition for those who oppose drone legality.
I usually don't hope that people get in trouble. But, the FAA should not tolerate this.
We have reasonable FAA regulations on maximum drone altitude. We need regulations on minimum altitude in relation to distance from operator off of private, leased, or property where one has reasonable permission.
I agree and disagree with this video. The pilot is clearly extremely good! but this could encourage not as experienced pilots to try this which could cause harm to property and people. But we have to consider whether he got permission to do this and the window closing was part of the act.
....ok then, how about posting a video of a drug deal going down at the end of your street. Similar principle. The end doesn't necessarily justify the means.
Perhaps because it is not how he earns his living. Professionals sell their skill, mastres enjoy it freely. These are not mutually exclusive ways, but differentiable.
"dpreview in no one condones this" By sharing this to all your users you are in a way condoning what the drone pilot was going by sharing this video and giving it so much attention
I'm all for limited government, but as a lawful drone and RC airplane hobbyist, it is my opinion that this is exactly why the FAA needs to tighten up regulations regarding irresponsible flying of drones.
I'm also a huge proponent of small, limited government and I also operate drones and RC airplanes/helis. But lets be real here, to think that a 2lb drone posed any danger to a train that weighs millions of pounds is just ridiculous.
So, when the engineer looked towards the drone, that wasn't a distraction? How about the possibility of the drone hitting the engineer through the window? Sure, maybe a low probability of that happening; however, still possible. Lastly, in addition to the FAA, do you believe Academy of Model Aeronautics supports flying a drone near, around and under a moving train? I think not.
The distraction of a few seconds is pretty much irrelevant considering it's a train on a fix track moving relatively slow. I did think of the possibility of the drone hitting the operator and somehow rendering him incapable of operating the train. However, the chance of that happening is probably in the .00x %. As for what the FAA or AMA thinks and or supports, well that's a different discussion.
DPreview: I'd love to hear how this guy justifies performing what is clearly an illegal activity. Since he's doing it out in the open...this story has appeared elsewhere with his name attached...why not get an interview?
The beginning and the end of the video does show someone from that group illegally trespassing on the gated property. To even walk along the tracks is trespassing.
As a commercial drone pilot I found the video both exciting and disturbing. Can you imagine being on a railroad crossing with a semi while the train is approaching and the engineer is distracted by the drone outside his window? Not an issue? Then why did the engineer look to the right, get distracted and find it necessary to close his cab window?
Uh, there's absolutely nothing the engineer could do in that situation anyway. And most likely the closing of the window was just about being annoyed at the flying paparazzi outside.
The stopping distance of that train would I suspect be over a mile, and would take over a minute, the driver being distracted for a second or two is not likely to be significant. His drone is also quite small, weighing in around 600g, very small and light compared to a commercial drone, so unlikely to cause any damage
99% of the time, I find that added music detracts from drone videos. Annoying and distracting. But not here. Good choice of music, not too loud, and fit well with the theme of the shoot.
Nothing wrong with reporting it. Don't need to post a copy of what was shot though. Now we'll have many wannabe's trying to copy or beat what was done.
Then don't blame DPR for their stupidity. I'm sure after watching a Fast & Furious movie not all cinema goers are going to crash their cars on the way home doing stunts.
If you travel from home to the office by car, you pose a bigger threat than all the drones in the world (well, apart from armed military ones), combined. Heck, wet floors represent a bigger threat than drones.
Why such hostility towards them at DPR? Because they can be pesky, like mosquitoes? Anything else? What's the deal?
Regulations do not make any sense. "Flying in line of sight", ha... What about autonomous cars? Do they (autonomous cars) happen to be lobbied better? Am I the only one seeing how absurd the situation is?
Flawed, inconsistent laws cannot be forced. In USSR, there was a saying that roughly translated as "Strictness of Soviet laws is compensated by them being nonobligatory". Very few seem to understand that concept these days, hence those "flying in line of sight" and similar requirements.
They artificially *create* outlaws. And if somebody breaks one rule, heck, here goes another, not a big deal now that he/she overstepped the line already...
Problem is that the minority will always spoil things for the majority. The minority being those who do stupid stuff and those with the loudest voices that complain about stupid stuff that is .00000001% of what most folks do. So laws get made just to shut the minority up, no matter how stupid the whole thing is, even when those laws go so far as to spoil things for everyone. And the stupid people still do the same stupid things anyway, some just because it is now illegal. Natural selection was always a good way to rid us of stupid, but sadly health and safety have killed off natural selection.
Vadim, It IS great footage, absolutely fabulous skill, that's not the point. I sincerely hope nobody you love or care for is 'taken out' by a distracted truck driver.
Small point: Johnny Mosquito has killed more humans than, well, everything else. So we're let to believe.
So, anyway let's, Ban wet floors and ban the sale of step ladders to the hard of thinking! Ban reverse gear in cars, that's occasionally a problem for some. Ban pedestrians using iPhones, a problem awaiting legislation, surely! Ban right turns, ban.......something, please! Oh, yeh. Ban alcohol consumption, has anyone considered that?
Yes, I understand the worries regarding 'state control' but sometimes we get the legislation we deserve.
@vadims You say "Regulations do not make any sense." They do to sensible people.
You also draw equivalence between not flying in line of sight and autonomous cars. How did you manage to reason that? Aren't autonomous cars under the control of the driver using line of sight?
Oh, and the next time you need assistance on something where you are wronged by an illegal act, consider how that law works for you too. But it wouldn't if everyone thought like you.
I see the point your trying to make, but the rules and regulations created by the FAA are to protect others. Sure enthusiasts on this page understand drone flying and what is right and wrong, we understand the potential risks our drones may pose. However for the average consumer they might not understand how dangerous it is flying their drones at high altitudes or near highly populated areas They alsoay not be as skilled as entbusiasts, these r the people that pose the greatest risk.
Aren't autonomous cars, errrr, autonomous? They have no driver, some are monitored remotely as they have cameras on so someone in an office a million miles away can take control if need be. They certainly do not have line of sight control. This drone was actually under human control more than any autonomous car ever was or is, as it was controlled by a human 100% of the time.
ovengloves, there are five SAE levels of automation , only level 5 is fully autonomous (without human input). I am not aware of any of those on the roads yet.
Anyway, autonomous cars are being designed specifically for self driving and are still being rigorously tested for safe operation in their intended environment. That is a different scenario to the unauthorised flying of a custom built drone out of line of sight around a moving train.
It does beg the question as to whether people may be able to abuse the intended operation of autonomous cars too, and what that might be. As long as the human brain can think of an abuse, it will be done until yet another regulation or law is necessary to stop it. :-)
Fascinating footage. Wouldn't it have been possible for him to ask some authority for allowance to do this performance? He could have proven his skills before and would so have made this video more enjoyable for a bigger audience.
I'm willing to bet he could have (and may have) struck a deal with the Railroad commission and the company that runs these cars. That's a free promotional video for them.
Illegal? Maybe. Irresponsible? A little but the guy obviously knows what he's doing.
The fact is that people's hostility and scaremongering when it comes to drones is WAY out of proportion to reality thanks to the media sensationalism, it's one of those things people love to get irate about.
If that drone had hit the train it would have been like a fly hitting a car.
Much bigger risks to trains are wild animals, stray tree limbs, people walking on the tracks or driving over crossings when they know a train is approaching. But that doesn't sell as many newspapers and so doesn't get people pointing their fingers.
Completely agree its mostly scaremongering about drones, often by people who should know better like airline pilots reporting bird strikes or close encounters with plastic shopping bags as 'drone strikes'.
What's wrong with you people? "Illegal" doesn't necessarily mean "bad". The only danger in that movie was to crash the drone. Obviously a drone cannot do no harm to a freight train.
.....and, when the driver of the truck behind you on the freeway is distracted by a drone piloted by a 'Master Pilot' and the 50 ton truck slams into the back of your car, with those that you love and care for aboard? If you survive, come and talk to me again......oh wise one!
AMG its about a million times more likely that the truck will kill you because the driver was drunk/fell asleep/was looking at his phone... or changing his 8-track.
How long before a lb of PE8 with detonator is attached and.........? Crowded stadium, freeway, runway, endless possibilities. This looks like North America, it could be anywhere, 'We' REALLY need to start controlling these things. I mean, you wouldn't let somebody run around in public, with say, a loaded assault rifle.......would you? For every 5000 enthusiasts that have fun shooting paper targets, there is probably 1 nutter that needs to shoot people. Why take the risk in an increasingly crowded world? This is a much, much wider discussion, I know. We can't even stop vehicle drivers with murderous intent. DPR, you need to have a long hard look at yourself, regarding this. God Bless America.
It's much easier to load a regular civil plane with explosives. Or a car. Or just shoot random people with firearms - what happens almost every day. Much more effective in terms of damage. Still nobody tries to ban planes or automobiles, and guns are legal. How much people were killed by guns or road accidents last year?
What's the root, here, would you say? Make EVERYONE happy, somehow? Then, let the less happy have their weapon of choice? Good luck with that, my friend. Was Adolph a root or a trunk, would you say? Extrapolating this discussion beyond the immediate, I know. Apologies.
not make everyone happy, that would be ridiculous. the root is to teach people how to handle unhappiness in life, the non-destructive way. see, the problem is not because they're unhappy, the problem is because they don't know what to make of their unhappiness. i know i'm talking very utopian-like here, but maybe, just maybe the answer to our humanitarian problem lies in the simple thinking of a 7-year old kid.
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