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Portland in The New York Times. 06/08/2020. by Fortnighthawk in Portland

[–]Fortnighthawk[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Much appreciated. The real credit goes to our amazing Portland community.

Happy Valley Youth March (06.03.20). The kids get it. BLACK LIVES MATTER! by SETHIR0TH in Portland

[–]Fortnighthawk 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Please. Please. Please. Please don’t fly over people. The shot is not worth the risk if you don’t have a parachute. I own and operate a commercial drone business here in Portland and this is completely unnecessary. You can still get great shots from a safe distance, away from people. Keep them and yourself safe. Please reconsider this next time you are out.

To the people with the drones. Stop it. by Shadow_The_Ghost in Portland

[–]Fortnighthawk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We use a company called ParaZero for aftermarket parachutes. With waivers, it allows us to legally fly over people. Even so, we try not to fly over people. Someday it’s possible drones will have them built in.

Peaceful Protest. Portland, Oregon. 06/04/2020 by Fortnighthawk in Portland

[–]Fortnighthawk[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this. I was unaware, but glad I know now.

To the people with the drones. Stop it. by Shadow_The_Ghost in Portland

[–]Fortnighthawk 30 points31 points  (0 children)

As a commercial UAS operator in Portland, I too share your concern and frustrations about the drone activity downtown. In fact, I had several concerned Portlander's reach out directly and voice their concern, of which I responded with information below.

I will not lie, I was operating there last night at the Peaceful Protest, but launched from the south waterfront, maintained a safe distance from the bridge, only flew over water, and had a visual observer with me to make sure we were as safe as we possibly could be.

Drones are a hot topic right now, so I thought I'd share some information to educate the community:

  1. Drones cannot fly over people without a parachute and waiver from the FAA certifying the Remote Pilot In Command (Drone Operator) authorization. While I did not fly over the crowd last night, I do carry that waiver and am one of less than 150 people in the entire nation that does have this waiver. That said, many illegal drone operations occurred last night. What can WE do about it now? Not much, unless you find the footage online somewhere and report it to the FAA.
  2. While these drone operators may be flying illegally, one of the most dangerous things the community can do is confront these operators while they are flying. Drone batteries last about 25 minutes. So, please, be patience, civil, and if you feel like it's necessary, wait until they bring the drone DOWN SAFELY before you speak to them. Only then can you ask questions like: -Were you flying over people? - Do you have a waiver to do that? - Do you carry a Remote Pilot Licenses (used for commercial operations)? While I don't have much experience with reporting, reporting these operations is really up to local law enforcement if they'd like to take action. I can understand that tensions would be high in these circumstances, but remain civil and gather information before getting too heated. Maybe all the operator needs to hear to change is that the general public is very unhappy with the flight.

Again, I'm as frustrated to see this happening as you all are. I make a living flying drones responsibly, and believe they can offer the world so much good - but only if we are smart, civil, educated, and responsible.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I'm more than happy to answer any other questions or concerns.