PsyBorg
Wake up! Time to fly!
Soooo I think I have settled down and can discuss the FPV changes at FFO and maybe help save / make it liveable for those going to FFT.
This year at FFO any FPV besides Multigp racing, and limited Dji flights was basically eliminated.
The way it worked was ALL FPV had to be coordinated thru the Multigp coordinators. This is all good and much needed as was discussed after last years events.
The bad side was the decision was made to eliminate the second FPV area and to limit all fpv to 25mw.
Bu doing that any testing or set up was at the mercy of how much time between races the Multigp guys would allow. Pretty much making that process extremely slow with all the waiting.
This also pretty much eliminates any FPV fixed wing flights as 25mw is too limited range and increases the risk of something bad happening instead of the thinking things would be safer.
I emailed Stefan and got a less then satisfactory explaination and didnt get a warm fuzzy they want to deal with tbe FPV side of this.
He did however leave the conversation open with an invitation for new ideas or solutions.
I know what I would do to try and appease pilots wanting to fly FPV yet enhance the safety factor.
First and foremost. Post and put out digitally to ALL pilots pre registered the rules for flying FPV.
Next to cover EVERYONE again post the rules for FPV at the registration area.
Now for the rules...
1. Its the law you must show proper ham certification to be able to do anything FPV. This includes the Multigp area and build/ set up.
2. There will be NO FPV on the main flight line nor will there be any flights in the main area unless pre approved and coordinated for things like the FT crew filming.
3. The farthest available area on either side of the flight line will be dedicated FPV space. This has always been the case for channel separation. The Multigp area can be moved further down then they have been to aid that separation even more. This area will be 25mw to comply with the Multigp rulings for racing as it seemed to work well this year.
The other end is for all other FPV flights. This will be coordinated the same way as the racing area with dedicated pilot seats / stations where people will que up with gear ready for that particular station.
One chair dedicated to fixed wing ss they can be up for extended periods and three for multirotor. With the exception that if there is slow pilot flow one of these can be used for an additional fixed wing pilot at the discression of the area Flight Crew member.
This area will be variable power up to 200mw. This gives freestyle pilots as well as fixed wing pilots room to fly safely but not be powerful enough to bleed over and take out the racers.
4. A small portion of the build tents will be a dedicated FPV work area. NO antennas can be attached to FPV transmitters and only dummy loads shall be used. If a pilot does not have a dummy load he can trade his pilot pass to the Flight Crew member in charge to borrow one. When it is returned the pilot pass will be returned.
NO other area INCLUDING camping and rv sections will be used for FPV. Anyone not following the rules immediatly surrenders their pilot pass for the day if caught with a live FPV system outside designated areas.
5. Twice a day for one hour in the open FPV area there will be dedicated time for non ham certified pilots to do supervised test flights or for certified pilots to take people interested to see what FPV is for rides and possibly to let them try FPV.
Twice a day for an hour will be dedicated to tiny whoop and micro quads up to 3 inches to get air time. If enough people have them maybe one of these hours can be dedicated to races limiting power to 25mw.
6. Always power on goggles to check your channel before powering any transmitters up.
These are my thoughts to make FPV a viable accepted part of Flight Fest as well as provide a structured way to do it while educating and keeping things as safe as can be expected at such a large event.
With enough repetitive public service announcements of the rules I think we can minimize the amount of incidences that are problematic. This in addition to proper promotion AND enforcement of what ever rules are worked out should keep things fun and safe.
Fell free to post your own ideas and keep in mind this is NOT a debate. No flaming others ideas as we want as many ideas as possible.
Let the Core Flight Test Crew make the decissions what to implement or not. Then we can debate those if they are too outta line with our thoughts.
I will ask mods to delete posts not conforming to the topic or that are argumentative and detrimental to the cause.
Lets see how truly intellgent we are and resolve this to a useable and safe implementation of a less segregated FPV experience.
This year at FFO any FPV besides Multigp racing, and limited Dji flights was basically eliminated.
The way it worked was ALL FPV had to be coordinated thru the Multigp coordinators. This is all good and much needed as was discussed after last years events.
The bad side was the decision was made to eliminate the second FPV area and to limit all fpv to 25mw.
Bu doing that any testing or set up was at the mercy of how much time between races the Multigp guys would allow. Pretty much making that process extremely slow with all the waiting.
This also pretty much eliminates any FPV fixed wing flights as 25mw is too limited range and increases the risk of something bad happening instead of the thinking things would be safer.
I emailed Stefan and got a less then satisfactory explaination and didnt get a warm fuzzy they want to deal with tbe FPV side of this.
He did however leave the conversation open with an invitation for new ideas or solutions.
I know what I would do to try and appease pilots wanting to fly FPV yet enhance the safety factor.
First and foremost. Post and put out digitally to ALL pilots pre registered the rules for flying FPV.
Next to cover EVERYONE again post the rules for FPV at the registration area.
Now for the rules...
1. Its the law you must show proper ham certification to be able to do anything FPV. This includes the Multigp area and build/ set up.
2. There will be NO FPV on the main flight line nor will there be any flights in the main area unless pre approved and coordinated for things like the FT crew filming.
3. The farthest available area on either side of the flight line will be dedicated FPV space. This has always been the case for channel separation. The Multigp area can be moved further down then they have been to aid that separation even more. This area will be 25mw to comply with the Multigp rulings for racing as it seemed to work well this year.
The other end is for all other FPV flights. This will be coordinated the same way as the racing area with dedicated pilot seats / stations where people will que up with gear ready for that particular station.
One chair dedicated to fixed wing ss they can be up for extended periods and three for multirotor. With the exception that if there is slow pilot flow one of these can be used for an additional fixed wing pilot at the discression of the area Flight Crew member.
This area will be variable power up to 200mw. This gives freestyle pilots as well as fixed wing pilots room to fly safely but not be powerful enough to bleed over and take out the racers.
4. A small portion of the build tents will be a dedicated FPV work area. NO antennas can be attached to FPV transmitters and only dummy loads shall be used. If a pilot does not have a dummy load he can trade his pilot pass to the Flight Crew member in charge to borrow one. When it is returned the pilot pass will be returned.
NO other area INCLUDING camping and rv sections will be used for FPV. Anyone not following the rules immediatly surrenders their pilot pass for the day if caught with a live FPV system outside designated areas.
5. Twice a day for one hour in the open FPV area there will be dedicated time for non ham certified pilots to do supervised test flights or for certified pilots to take people interested to see what FPV is for rides and possibly to let them try FPV.
Twice a day for an hour will be dedicated to tiny whoop and micro quads up to 3 inches to get air time. If enough people have them maybe one of these hours can be dedicated to races limiting power to 25mw.
6. Always power on goggles to check your channel before powering any transmitters up.
These are my thoughts to make FPV a viable accepted part of Flight Fest as well as provide a structured way to do it while educating and keeping things as safe as can be expected at such a large event.
With enough repetitive public service announcements of the rules I think we can minimize the amount of incidences that are problematic. This in addition to proper promotion AND enforcement of what ever rules are worked out should keep things fun and safe.
Fell free to post your own ideas and keep in mind this is NOT a debate. No flaming others ideas as we want as many ideas as possible.
Let the Core Flight Test Crew make the decissions what to implement or not. Then we can debate those if they are too outta line with our thoughts.
I will ask mods to delete posts not conforming to the topic or that are argumentative and detrimental to the cause.
Lets see how truly intellgent we are and resolve this to a useable and safe implementation of a less segregated FPV experience.
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