I would love to see what kinds of practical, real world, beyond just the fun of it, applications for FPV could be.

Don't be too vague, of course you could say photography, but what kind? Real estate, commercial scenics, events?

I know I have seen some archeological uses, such as finding wagon tracks out west.

I don't want to use up too many, I want to hear from the folks "out there".

So, go ahead and post. If someone takes the one you thought of, try to think of a different, or more specific application of the idea than what they used.

I have been approached over hd video of footage of golf courses for demo and promotional videos which is why im considering tricopter platform to achieve.

I can see hotels also wanting this unique approach to film capture too

Living in the Midwest, I think it would be good for viewing tornado damage. Usually when a twister roars through a community, they block off all avenues in..... to prevent looting (sad aint it?) and of course for safety as well. A half mile away you can fly over and view the damage before anyone else can.

I know that the legal issues get tricky once you try to use your RC airplane to make money.

As for pratical applications, I have seen people shoot parts of films/TV shows using a FPV heli. Search and rescue is also a good idea, but only for looking for other RC aircraft. I have had two requests (from the same person) to do a SAR mission for his down RC airplane. The first one was grounded after I tried flying in the fog . I wasn't able to make it to the second "mission."

I think AP and AV are a lot more real world practical applications for FPV than S&R,
and will be for the foreseeable future.
The problem with real time search and rescue, be it people or downed R/C aircraft, is that
the resolution of our SD video downlink is just too poor to really make out any details
while in motion. If a person isn't wearing bright colors, standing on a dark background (or
dark colors and standing on a ridge above the horizon), jumping up and down and
waving their arms, as you fly by less than 100 feet away you won't see em.
Yes we see people out in the wild in FPV vids, but usually it's because they collect
in popular areas (tallest peaks and such) I've searched for R/C aircraft before,
and I never spotted it while flying, but I did when I went back and reviewed the
video after the fact. An HD camera recording onboard would have helped a lot
but would still have had to review it later.

And yes, the moment you start asking for money for your services (in the US)
you're asking for trouble from the FAA and FCC. We currently operate our
R/C aircraft under the FAA's AC91-57 exemption for amateur modeling
and are using amateur radio bands (or power levels) for video, and sometimes control.
The moment you start asking money, you are no longer an amateur and
those exemptions cease to apply to you. The proposed UAV rules to the FAA
will sort some of this out, but it'll also pretty much outlaw what we do as
amateurs (away from AMA controlled airspace) in the process.

I think I'll stick with non-practical applications for FPV piloting, and try to
stay under the radar, so to speak.

ian

Consider this a thought experiment where the laws, regs, and restrictions don't apply.

Ok, here's one the downers can't complain about...

Rancher with lots of acres, wanting to inspect his herd/property without having to drive/ride all over it

Originally Posted by Coyote64

I have been approached over hd video of footage of golf courses for demo and promotional videos which is why im considering tricopter platform to achieve.

I can see hotels also wanting this unique approach to film capture too

These are by a good friend of mine here in the UK. Sit back and watch in awe...
http://www.airfilm.co.uk/showreel_general.htm

http://www.airfilm.co.uk/showreel_cemetery.htm

In Adelaide we have shark patrols along suburban beaches during summertime.
Using GA planes is real big $$$.
I had thought an ultralight could do the job way cheaper, and lots more fun.
If we could get better realtime imaging, then sharkspotting would be a definite. You could fly 100-200ft. The sharks stick out really well. I know as I have seen them while hang gliding.

Originally Posted by Flying-Monkey

Ok, here's one the downers can't complain about...

Rancher with lots of acres, wanting to inspect his herd/property without having to drive/ride all over it

Inspect for what? That there is in fact a herd of animals? That's about as much
detail as you'd get without dive bombing them. You'd be hard pressed to identify any
lame or sick animals, or whether your herd is mixed up with the neighbor's, find a stray,
or a predator, and so forth.

Originally Posted by ommadawn

In Adelaide we have shark patrols along suburban beaches during summertime.
Using GA planes is real big $$$.
I had thought an ultralight could do the job way cheaper, and lots more fun.
If we could get better realtime imaging, then sharkspotting would be a definite. You could fly 100-200ft. The sharks stick out really well. I know as I have seen them while hang gliding.

I forget who it was, but someone recently posted a video where they were flying
over the ocean and only later after reviewing the video did they realize
there was a whole pod of whales in the water that they overflew a couple times
without seeing. Again, I think it'd be quite difficult to identify sharks in the water
with a realtime SD feed.

I'm not trying to a "downer". I simply recognize the reality of the current state of FPV.

I've got a challenge for anyone who's up to it.
Go to your local suburban park with your FPV plane go out and fly the edges of the
park and try to find and identify pedestrians in the neighborhoods nearby at a safe and
not annoying altitude. The challenge here is to be able to spot them on streets,
lawns, back yards, riding bicycles, walking dogs.. etc. Try to pick out children
from adults. Bonus points for pets.

ian

Indeed, the present real-time SD video feedback is the limiting factor for a great many potential FPV applications.

I've mentioned this before in a posting a while back, but I still think it would be interesting to see what results could be obtained were someone to fit the Axis 207MW wireless network camera to an aerial vehicle....

http://www.axis.com/products/cam_207mw/

1280x1024 @ 12 FPS

With case it weights 190g, but de-cased, who knows...

There will always be those who can't, so all they can add is how you can't do something.

I want to hear from the can do people.

If you feel the need to point out a stumbling point, offer a viable solution. (ie: limitations of image resolution, overcome by higher res cam? Viewed on a larger format, like a flat screen tv?)

Please keep comments in this thread positive, or I will report the posts as off topic.

Please feel free to start your own "How you can't" thread.

Thank you

I'm with Ian on the difficulty of recognizing things from the air.

We have an impenetrable swamp that eats airplanes a couple of hundred yards before our field. It is so overgrown and difficult to walk in that it is almost impossible to search on foot either! (Not to mention the snakes, poison ivy and insects.)

I've never spotted so much as a wing tip flying over it. I have wanted to set up a point and shoot camera that can output video and fly a pattern over the area in the fall after the leaves are off the trees and see if I can stitch together a photo mosaic of the area so we can look for bits of color that might be airplanes.

On a rough guess you have less than one chance in three of recovering a model that goes down in the swamp and there must be twenty or thirty planes worth recovering by now.

I'd still like to do it but I need to build a plane for the task since I want to hang a point and shoot camera off a two axis aiming device dangling between the landing gear. I got as far as getting a very nice CF camera mount and wide stance CF landing gear. Still need to build a plane to carry the gear and a chance to fly it.

All my building except very small planes is done at a flying buddy's house and that limits my ambitions. Right now I am building a quarter scale sailplane there while he rebuilds a 1/3rd scale cub. In other words, it's pretty far back in the queue, but not forgotten. I do have a general outline for what I plan to build though.

Take a look in the aerial photography forum. A lot of those guys used to do aerial survey of farms (huge commercial farms) real estate photography and who knows what else and the FAA clamped down on anything that is not pure hobby activity. The reason was UAV builders selling their stuff to sheriff's departments claiming they came under the same heading as model airplanes. There were incidents in California and Florida where the FAA had problems with Sheriffs who didn't agree with them. Guess who won, and guess how it affected us.

Pete

...

Dream on..

With respect to "legal issues" and flying for hire or reward ... there are ways around these things.

Here in the UK, I know a PPL holder who owns a Jet Provost. He sells flights in that aeroplane at £200-odd for 15 minutes.

Now, this is an offence, because he does not hold a Commercial Pilot's Licence, nor does he fly from a licensed airfield and so forth.

He gets around the regs by these means .... He has formed a Jet Provost Club; you join the club (£200-odd) and as a benefit of club' membership, you get a free flight in the JP. He is not selling flights; he is selling club membership. Therefore, he is not flying for hire or reward.

To the best of my knowledge, the CAA has been trying to close down his operation for years. They can't.

It may be that a similar logic could be applied to FPV ops. After all, these regs are about nothing more than the Government extorting money from the individual. Anytime you can cut the State out of the loop, you get a pat on the back afaiac.