I checked with CASA... http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD::#SESSION_#:pc=PC_100374
Are they having a f'ing laugh?
All up some $5500 in license fees, excluding insurance.

So in order to do professional aerial photo/videography (and be compliant) you're looking at.
Private Pilots Licence
$10-30k equipment
$6k licenses
$3-23k insurance

+ ongoing yearly costs of $8000 (license + ~insurance), excluding equipment... one little mishap and there goes $20k.

Am I missing something? Are there any shortcuts?

If you use any aerial vehical to make money then you require an OC from CASA. Doesnt matter whether it is pro gear or a toy.

FlySurfer you dont need a full PPL, just the theory. But all the other expenses and CASA crap, yeah its a bit excessive and it only gets worse as the machines get bigger.

I worked on a doco recently with a UAV crew. they had one flying and the other doing the video/stills. we were overflying roads/powerlines etc so you needed to know what was going on.
at one stage, the flying are was in the path of the microwave network that goes from Klagoorlie to esperence, and in mid shoot all control was lost. the UAV held position ,waiting for the battery to run out, directly above the highway, with road trains and car going underneath.
the crew had to stand underneath with a catch net for 15 minutes, and pray it didnt fall when a truck was coming.
their kit included a custom fit out vehicle AND a second UAV , so probably 35k to your estimates.
they did a great job www.altitude-imaging.com

FlySurfer said..

landyacht said..
www.altitude-imaging.com

Btw the UAV should have self landed.

It did. Landing/Falling with style - same thing?

landyacht said..

at one stage, the flying are was in the path of the microwave network that goes from Klagoorlie to esperence, and in mid shoot all control was lost. the UAV held position ,waiting for the battery to run out, directly above the highway, with road trains and car going underneath.
the crew had to stand underneath with a catch net for 15 minutes, and pray it didnt fall when a truck was coming.

sounds like time to break out the archery gear

stephen

landyacht said..
at one stage, the flying are was in the path of the microwave network that goes from Klagoorlie to esperence, and in mid shoot all control was lost.

Quite a common occurance. A clever operator would have had 'Return to Home' set up so that the quad would have flown back to the original take off point when signal was lost.

Mark _australia said..
So my quadcopter carrying a shotgun is legal as long as I don't get paid?

Maybe, but no match for this one.

-overview-vl&list=PLFBFCDCC3DBB96BC4

Harrow said..
Once you've done it, you can easily make $5K a week if you are willing to travel, doing pole top inspections for electricity distributors.

Pole inspection is fraught with danger especially on windy/thermally days... and $5k a day, while possible is hardly the norm. The norm is cold calling and begging for contracts, and mostly waiting for the next poorly paid role.
A lets not forget insurance... f'ing ridiculous and you can't get day to day policies.

The big unknown to me is equipment... pretty much every time I take my RC gear out I don't pack up until something breaks; 1-30 mins.

landyacht said..
It had all those things. they had demonstrated that function earlier in the day and and had done some flyovers of hannan st and the superpit, so it was all working fine. on this particular spot it simply stopped responding and held its posn really well, even when big roadtrains were driving underneath.

Had all those features available, and may have even demonstrated it earlier in the day, but not using them later in the day. If it hovered in one spot after losing signal, then the stabilisation system was obviously working, so Return To Home must have been disabled. My guess is he did not bother to reprogram it for the new location, instead just turning it off. Usual complacency and laziness applies.

Reflex Films said..

.......

I can totally understand them wanting to make sure that the skies arent full of under qualified cowboys crashing left right and centre over every event and festival throughout summer

......

Me thinks CASA left it a bit late. Them kiters seem to be everywhere already.

Harrow said..
That's $5K a week, not a day.
Why do you have a failure every time?

Typo, I meant week.

Bcos every time I fly the damn thing it flies different... as the battery depletes it flies different, different batteries fly different, different placement of battery, the gyros sometimes get the shakes, and sometimes it just does weird sh!t... I always have to adjust the trim, and that will take ~8mins, which leaves 4mins flying time!
Just a little hit... and bang goes a prop, or 2... and the mount/s.
Little gust can equal disaster.

My next build will be semi custom hexa with 17" props... and a DJI A2 controller.
But the bigger they are the harder they fall.

Reflex Films said..
its a VERY complex situation!

CASA is farking joke just like every other Aus agency, over bureaucratic and incompetent... they said they would have a syllabus for UAVs in March 2012. FFS all they have to do is copy the Yanks or Brits, and double the cost.

... and you're right there's so much to learn to get a lawnmower in the air with a camera attached... programming, battery theory, electronics, aerodynamics, photography... let alone actually flying the lawnmower.

Yeah, definitely something odd going on with your setup. Maybe it's a very samll quad, or you've used cheapie components. Plenty of quads at our club, and once they are set up properly they hold position like a rock. Even in gusty wind conditions they do amazingly well. You can even walk up to one, give it a huge shove with your arm, and it will recover and come straight to the same position in 2 or 3 seconds.

A hex with 17 inch props? Woe, I'd love to see that. Pictures please if you ever do. :-)

And if you ever really want a challenge, start flying 700 size RC heli's, THEN you'll find out what set up and repair is about. Instead of replacing a couple of $2 props, it's $500 of parts and a whole weekend doing a rebuild. You don't want that happening every time you go to the field!

It sounds like your solid state gyros are the cheap chinese ones and the early versions were not that good.
Unfortunately they do exactly what you say above. They are somewhat erratic in stability.
They are used a lot in heading hold for model helicopters and you can see the tail flicking around when in the hover.
For helis it's not that critical because you're always on the controls to correct or ignore, but if the same thing was used in conjunction with an autopilot on a quadcopter, I think you could run the autopilot electronics into overload trying to compensate fot the variations, and end up with a stack-in.
They have got a bit better lately but the cheaper ones are still a mixed bag. i.e. in the same brand and type, some are excellent and some are not.

Anyone have any comments on the DJI phantom quad copter for a newbie? I know you wouldn't learn much but it looks decent to film amateur stuff with friends?

FlySurfer said..

Haydn24 said..

Anyone have any comments on the DJI phantom quad copter for a newbie? I know you wouldn't learn much but it looks decent to film amateur stuff with friends?

IMHO, the only thing going against it is the look... but apart from that it's an excellent 1st quad, and pretty solid.
If it was available when I was looking for my 1st, I would have bought it.
I'd skip the radio and get my own, unless you're sure you won't progress to something else.

Yeah looks like a cheap chinese toy, but all reviews seem tops, especially with the gimbal (although expensive). Do you just buy a different remote that works on the same frequency and use the stock transmitter? Sorry just learning.

Cheers

Ahh yes, meant receiver sorry thanks, makes sense to upgrade.