X6 Shoot in New Orleans

[Ben Freedman]

Howdy...

I was hired this week by an insurance firm to take some X6 photos of a church in New Orleans. I told them that it was going to be expensive to bring me and the heli down, and that a photographer on a lift would likely be cheaper and get closer photos, but they insisted that no lift would be allowed on the grounds, and a real heli can't get low enough, so this would be a good way to go...

I also made all the normal noise about wind conditions, and told them that I would come for 2 days so as to maximize the amount of chances of getting favorable conditions.

Sooooooo. I headed down there, X6 in tow via UPS, in the original pelican case.

The X6 arrived fairly undamaged. There is now a crack in the plastic plate where the chargers sit, but that's pretty minor...

Day 1 - I asked to show up at 6:00, but they told me they weren't allowed to begin shooting until 8:30 when the Mass got out of church. Not good news for wind. I arrived at 8, and it was already very gusty. I calibrated the heli, which worked well, but at more than 20 feet off the ground, the gusts (20mph I would estimate) were just too much. I hung around, but the wind kept up through nightfall.

Day 2 - Showed up at 6am. Dead calm. YEA! Go to plug in a battery, there's a spark and a zap, and then nothing. The power switch does NOTHING! ARRGH!

I can't make it go at all. I call Dragan, but of course it's 5am in SK, so no luck there. I leave a message... I'm now feeling like a total idiot, but what can I do?

I walked around the church, and low and behold, THERE'S A LIFT! and not just a lift, but a mobile, fully articulating 125ft. lift... I guess someone figured out how to get it onto the grounds after all... (turns out it was the company that is bidding the insurance claim that brought it).

I talk to the operator, who is hanging around, and he agrees to drive it around the building taking me up and down to my heart's content. I have my trusty Canon G10 14MegaPix camera with my. I can zoom in FAR better than any pix the X6 would have gotten... My life is saved.....

Finally, around 10ish, with the wind picking up again, I get a call from Dragan. Have I checked the fuse? What fuse? I've never heard of a fuse! There's no fuse in the manual... There are no spare fuses included with the heli. Didn't you know? There's a fuse.

I turn the heli over, and with help of my flashlight, locate the 25amp fuse and confirm that it's blown. Gee... would have been nice to know that was there.... "We'll include it in the next manual" explains Dragan....

So, thankfully, we all lived happily ever after. Will they hire me again? Don't know. They are thrilled with the photos, but not ecstatic that the heli (which they hired me for, at Dragan's referral) was DOA on day two...

Of course, had they let me show up earlier on day one, that might have also solved the problem....

A cautionary tale all round... The moral: Carry some extra 25amp fuses.... What caused it to blow? Probably Karma from that homeless dude I kicked the previous night.... just kidding... :-)

-Ben

[rdent]

Ben.
A fuse?
WHAT FUSE?

So you didn't get the X6 in the air after the fuse incident.....??
Wow....Sounds like quite the adventure....
And WHAT LUCK!!!!
To have a lift just sitting there nice and pretty waiting for your service.
What are the chances of that....
Adapt, improvise, overcome.....Well done Ben....!

[Ben Freedman]

Here's a shot of me at the top of the 125ft crane....swayin' in the wind!



Best,

Ben

[helicrazi]

Glad you were able to still get the job done !!!!! wow what a long stinger you have !!!! is this the new Draganfly XX6 ?

[robc450]

Hi

Funny you should mention using a G10. I was at Draganfly last Monday for a demo and asked them about using a G10 instead of the LX3.

What do you think of the photo quality from the LX3? Have you made large prints from the files?

Thanks
Rob

[Ben Freedman]

Howdy...

The G10 is a really nice camera. We use it as a backup to our D300 and D700 Nikon. The LX3 is a wider lens, which is nice for heli-footage...

-Ben

[sRagnar]

hey

how was the demo and how did they do that ?
inside outside wind with camera load ??

[robc450]

A still camera was attached for the demo which was held indoors (for weather and legal/insurance reasons) and lasted about 3 hours (time flies when you're having fun).

I did quite a bit of hands-on flying:
- the new altitude control system is amazing (it'll be entering production shortly, older X6's are firmware upgradeable).
- it's very responsive.
- the only way to crash it would be flying into something (like a wall).
- very quiet. At one point the other visitor flew his X6 overhead (about 10' alt) and I didn't realize it was there (except for the breeze).
- turned off the transmitter to test the X6's reaction to signal loss. It hovered for a few seconds then began a controlled descent.
- the video downlink will breakup long before you loose control of the X6 (a handy "you've gone far enough" indicator).

The only tricky part will be getting insurance. I just got back from my insurance agent and based on what they saw on Draganfly's website, she thought the X6 was huge. You know, the cool pictures with an X6 in the foreground and a model heli in the background.
Luckily I had one of the guys take a photo of me holding an X6, the insurance agent calmed down when I showed her my photo and followed Dragan's "suggestions when talking to your insurance agent" (it's small, electric, lightweight, has lots of failsafe stuff, etc).

My agent is very interested and has a good attitude so hopefully things will go well. I'm probably looking at around $2,000/yr for $2 million in liability coverage.

The only change I'll ask Draganfly to make is to set it up for a Canon G10 instead of the Panasonic LX3. They said they would if there was enough demand for the G10 (I'd even pay extra for the conversion).

I'm hoping to get the insurance situation organized and an order placed by mid-June. Delivery is about 12 weeks (it'll probably seem much longer).

[rdent]

Robc:

What is the new altitude control system?

Might want to check with this company.
www.aerialpak.com/

They offer insurance for radio control photography.

[robc450]

The new system uses barometric pressure instead of GPS to control altitude. I flew both versions and the barometric system is much nicer.

I had a look at aerialpak, unfortunately they only insure US citizens and I'm in Canada.

[helicrazi]

That would be great if they could interface the G-10, robc. I asked if they could have interfaced my G-9 As I already had one and am familiar with it and have other lens for it. I sent them the link to a company that makes the interface module that I use for our mast setup, it just plugs into any two two unused receiver channels and the mini usb of the G-9 so I can zoom in and out and snap a pic. works great. I was told that they would have to open up the camera and it would void the warranty.

[robc450]

Do you know if that company makes an interface for the G10?
That sounds like a much better way to control the camera. Would you mind posting a link to the company?

Thanks

[helicrazi]

blip.com.au/item.aspx?itemID=14
They dont list the G10 but you can test it. blip.com.au/CameraTableCompatTest.aspx

[Ben Freedman]

Hey, Guys...

This thread has been hijacked (it's supposed to be about the New Orleans issues), which means no one else will benefit from this information. Perhaps you could start a new thread to discuss the G10, and the new altitude hold features of the X6...

Thanks!

Ben

[robc450]

Ben
Oops. Sorry about that.
Are you able to move the last 4 postings into a new thread for us?

helicrazi
Thanks for the info. I'll check out their test page and pass the info along to Draganfly. Plugging into a usb port would be a much better way to do things. Plus when the G11 (or whatever) appears it'll be easy to swap cameras.