A Birds-Eye View : Droning around Downunder (1 Viewer)

[DAN]

Check out this neat vid put together by Dean Neal from Perth Motorplex. These drones give such a unique perspective that it's like watching Drag Racing for the first time. Enjoy!

 

[.]

If I had the money to burn I'd own one so I could get some cool footage like this. I doubt NHRA would allow anybody to fly one of these around at an event though.

 

[mick]

holy crap this is ULTRA cool......nhra please do this, the sport is tough to televise the way it is; this would only
improve your tv product; some of those shots provide very good sense of speed.
even the pit shots are great; most notably the jim read TF'r wacking the throttle.....maybe the pit shots wouldn't
work in nhra - it would just be shots of canopies with fumes billowing out from underneath

 

[Randy]

Insurance companies would never allow it. Besides that, someone else beat them to the idea. LOL

The video almost gives you a creepy sense of being a spirit lurking around that has come back to watch racing but is unable to interact or be a part of the action. I also notice the grandstands look like many called in sick just like the national events here.

 

[.]

Neat!
There were 3 of those things buzzing around Famoso Raceway for the March Meet a couple of weeks ago. One of them belonged to the track. They guy promptly flew it so high it went out of range and they lost it. Not sure if they got it back.

I hope someone will design something to steady the camera in one. It's too jittery. As a fan sitting in the stands however, they are annoying as hell!

 

[Dave]

holy crap this is ULTRA cool......nhra please do this, the sport is tough to televise the way it is; this would only
improve your tv product; some of those shots provide very good sense of speed.

Skip to 17:37. It's already been done. 14 years ago.

NASCAR's FOX crew came up with their robo cam on cables suspended over the track last year. It was a motorized wheel that would get that camera rolling I believe upwards of 50mph across and over the cars. Good idea until one of the drive cables snapped at Charlotte during the Coke 600 and fell down into the crowd and across the track. To make matters worse the cars came by on the next lap and yanked that cable hard destroying a goodly bit of a few cars and injuring a few fans. Thankfully not seriously. I don't think a little robo cam trolley system next to the length of the track at an elevated height is anything I'd want to see. Don't obstruct the fans view any more than they already do.

 

[rckymtn3]

Remote aerial platforms come in many types and sizes. The mini-blimp models and kites are the lesser expenses (and maneuverability), the remote controlled three/four-prop copters are the higher end. The best of these ($15K+) actually have GPS programmable flight patterns. You write a pattern out in a program, upload it to the copter, and the copter follows it, including lift-off, flight pattern, and landing. It will go to any altitude the machine is capable of, without fear of being lost. They've come a long way in a short time. As always, more money gets you better equipment, but creativity is still the heart of the images. You don't need to go real high to get great shots like this video shows. Great stuff. I want one too!

Here's one of the leading companies in this sort of thing. http://www.draganfly.com

 

[mick]

60 minutes did a story on drones a few weeks ago and the these prop-copters with video were a portion of the story

 

[mike]

I also notice the grandstands look like many called in sick just like the national events here.

The first night of this event had a packed crowd, but the following night wasn't too great. When the track is charging $45 entry or a discounted $72 two day pass it's quite pricey. Not to mention they were running the pro classes with a crappy three round format.

As for that camera, it was friggen annoying in the pits!! Produced some nice shots though.

 

[Jim]

What a terrific racing facility! Make me want to visit Oz.

I recently purchased a Mobius Action Cam (maybe, a poor mans GoPro?) and am very enthusiastic about its' possibilities. 'Gonna use it as a Dash Cam on an upcoming trip to Italy (all secondary country roads)..

The Radio Control airplane people are really into these things (for aerial photography) and - in fact - sponsor an on-line forum.

 

[mltdwn12]

Someone was flying one around the NHRA event here in Phoenix in February. Not sure if any footage was used, but it was all over the pits ad above the track!