vacationing in HI with a drone

[halfmonkey]

I'm thinking about getting a drone and using it while vacationing in HI. I just started looking into this as I've seen some awesome footage on you tube and thought that having a drone would be cool because it would give some different perspectives of us while we're hanging out around the island aside from the selfie sticks and tripod shots.

I'm looking at the DJI Mavic 2 Pro. Does anybody have a drone they use while vacationing? Can you share your thoughts, tips, and tricks? Suggestions on a good drone? Tips and tricks about traveling and flying on a plane with a drone? I know you have to register your drone with the FAA. I live in CA and so if I register it in with my home address in CA, is there a problem with me taking it to HI and flying it there?

Again, I'm just starting to look into drones so please forgive me if I missed something or didn't ask something that maybe I should be asking. Thanks.

 

[chscag]

If you register your drone with the FAA it will be registered no matter where you go in the US. However, you probably should check on the local laws there in Hawaii about flying drones. Hawaii is one of the most popular tourist hang outs in the US and they might have local restrictions on flying drones especially around their beaches. Of course it may also depend on where you intend to go in Hawaii.

 

[pm-r]

is there a problem with me taking it to HI and flying it there?

I'm not familiar with what drones to recommend or the laws in Hawaii, but I do know there are some very large Hawaiians there who can do a lot more than kick a bit of sand in your face if they really don't like what you're doing. Drone or not.

BTW: That's a pretty nice high-end and pricy drone to be learning on and starting off with.

Just saying… but maybe start off with a bit more and cheaper semi-disposable unit???





- Patrick
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[halfmonkey]

I definitely recognize that people don't want to be "spied" on and it's not like I'm going to fly the drone at head level and buzz around people's heads and faces. My goal is to use the drone to take pictures of my family from different angles that I wouldn't have been able to get using a selfie stick, tripod, or asking another person to take our group photo. I would also use the drone to capture landscape shots that again I wouldn't be able to get with my camera in hand.

As far as people are concerned, I'm not interested in taking videos and pictures of random people that I don't know and if they get bothered by a drone flying in the air that isn't focused on them, then I'd have to say that they're probably just bitter people that don't understand what being in the public means. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public. Again, I'm not saying that I'm going to be taking pictures/videos of people. I would launch the drone and the done will take pictures and videos of my family. If someone happens to be in the background, well then they happen to be in the background. I just want to use it to capture my kid boogie boarding at the beach from the air. Such an awesome perspective. We're going to the Kaneohe Bay sandbar and seeing the videos on You Tube, I think it would be awesome to capture some videos and pictures from the air to give a different perspective. Again, my thought in using the drone is to capture different perspectives that I wouldn't otherwise get with using my camera in hand.

Of course, I'm not saying that I wouldn't respect people's "privacy" in public but at the same time, they are in public and to say that a drone might annoy someone, well I don't know what to say to that. What is there to annoy someone if the drone is taking off and has nothing to do with the person next to you? Maybe a little bit of a buzz? I don't get it. Like I said, I can see if someone is flying a drone at head level through a crowd and people are having to duck because the drone would otherwise smack people in the head for example but if a drone is a few hundred feet in the air out in the ocean taking pictures and videos, what is there to be annoyed about?

I found this website, https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map that seems to provide a pretty good layout of where you can't fly. It also list some warning zones but you can still fly in those areas so it seems that Oahu doesn't have too many no fly zones.

 

[pm-r]

I found this website, https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map that seems to provide a pretty good layout of where you can't fly. It also list some warning zones but you can still fly in those areas so it seems that Oahu doesn't have too many no fly zones.

Amen I guess.

Now all you have to do is find a safe place to practice with your new drone. There is usually some learning involved.

Maybe you might want to look into some of the higher-end and much pricier drones that can basically almost fly themselves and avoid any collisions.




- Patrick
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[IWT]

I definitely recognize that people don't want to be "spied" on and it's not like I'm going to fly the drone at head level and buzz around people's heads and faces. My goal is to use the drone to take pictures of my family from different angles that I wouldn't have been able to get using a selfie stick, tripod, or asking another person to take our group photo. I would also use the drone to capture landscape shots that again I wouldn't be able to get with my camera in hand.

As far as people are concerned, I'm not interested in taking videos and pictures of random people that I don't know and if they get bothered by a drone flying in the air that isn't focused on them, then I'd have to say that they're probably just bitter people that don't understand what being in the public means. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public. Again, I'm not saying that I'm going to be taking pictures/videos of people. I would launch the drone and the done will take pictures and videos of my family. If someone happens to be in the background, well then they happen to be in the background. I just want to use it to capture my kid boogie boarding at the beach from the air. Such an awesome perspective. We're going to the Kaneohe Bay sandbar and seeing the videos on You Tube, I think it would be awesome to capture some videos and pictures from the air to give a different perspective. Again, my thought in using the drone is to capture different perspectives that I wouldn't otherwise get with using my camera in hand.

Of course, I'm not saying that I wouldn't respect people's "privacy" in public but at the same time, they are in public and to say that a drone might annoy someone, well I don't know what to say to that. What is there to annoy someone if the drone is taking off and has nothing to do with the person next to you? Maybe a little bit of a buzz? I don't get it. Like I said, I can see if someone is flying a drone at head level through a crowd and people are having to duck because the drone would otherwise smack people in the head for example but if a drone is a few hundred feet in the air out in the ocean taking pictures and videos, what is there to be annoyed about?

I found this website, https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map that seems to provide a pretty good layout of where you can't fly. It also list some warning zones but you can still fly in those areas so it seems that Oahu doesn't have too many no fly zones.

I have the deepest respect for your views on Drones and your determination to cause the minimum of intrusion and discomfort to others in public as well as private places.

I would only say that here in the UK, there have been numerous documented intrusions into certified airspace, near misses with aircraft, "pilots" of Drones losing electronic control of their Drone causing it to fall to the earth with the odd few accidents to people on the ground. And then there's the legitimate concern of folks on a beach, or by their pool, or in the park that can't tell whether the onboard camera is capturing them or not.

I have no doubt that you are one of the honest, good guys; but not everybody has your ethos.

Ian

 

[Jonzjob]

A drone?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle

I have been flying drones for the past 30 years. They are the fixed wing glider type and it is a shame that they are now only recognised by most as the multi rotor helicopter type. You have to learn to fly. even birds have to learn to fly and the best way to do that is to join a club that does the type of flying that you want to do. Apart form anything else the joining will give you the coverage of insurance.

If you think about it, you don't drive without insurance, do you? A 'drone' can fail, you can make a mistake and hit someone. It could injure them quite badly and being your side of the pond you are more aware of how much that could cost you. It could hit a car and put it off the road and injure or kill !

So, if you are going to take to the air then for your own sake do it safely. Not long after starting to learn to fly I managed to hit one of our club members and flattened him with a RC glider. It frightened the very life out of me and made me realise just how easy it can be done.

Because of the multi rotor 'drones' in England and the problems they have caused there is a lot of activity in law and it could change the way we have to fly just because of novices and idiots who have just been able to go out and buy one of these 'toys' and fly them without the slightest bit of a clue what they are doing and what damage they could cause. I would be VERY angry if my hobby/sport was destroyed by that bit of stupidity!

Never forget that "SAFE FLYING IS NO ACCIDENT". Get your drone, join a club and they will teach you how to fly and most important is to get yourself insured. Then you will come to know just what a wonder it is to fly one. 30 years on I am still learning, and still crashing to although a lot less. I have been asked why I haven't got my PPL (private pilots licence) and my stock reply is that I have seen how I land !!!

Enjoy it safely...

P.S. This is one of my 'drones' It's a semi scale model of a 1931 German glider called a Minimoa, 10 foot wing span, and is wonderful to fly.

https://flic.kr/p/297KHbn

And this one is one of my better landings.

https://flic.kr/p/297KHva

 

[pm-r]

Enjoy it safely...

P.S. This is one of my 'drones' It's a semi scale model of a 1931 German glider called a Minimoa, 10 foot wing span, and is wonderful to fly.

Very nice.




- Patrick
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[Jonzjob]

How are you getting on with your drone search 1/2monkey? Any luck so far?

I had forgotten to say that I have a couple of quadcopters. Neither big or expensive. This is the smaller one

https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-E0...66972.html?rmmds=category-left-hotproducts__4

Terrific fun and you would have to work quite hard to do any damage with it Still not easy to fly, for me anyway !!

 

[Jonzjob]

I have no idea if 1/2monkey has that 'drone' yet, but whatever, this is an interesting bit of youtube!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L9kRUZx9VU

 

[halfmonkey]

How are you getting on with your drone search 1/2monkey? Any luck so far?

I had forgotten to say that I have a couple of quadcopters. Neither big or expensive. This is the smaller one

https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-E0...66972.html?rmmds=category-left-hotproducts__4

Terrific fun and you would have to work quite hard to do any damage with it Still not easy to fly, for me anyway !!

Unfortunately to say, I decided against getting the drone because all of the negative views towards people with drones. It seemed that in the responses that my threads were getting (as I created other threads asking about drones on other websites) most responses seemed to start with people saying they wanted to shoot drones down. It also seemed that their desire to shoot down drones were based on two issues. 1 being the noise they make even though I still can't understand what kind of noise is so loud from a drone that they would want to shoot it down. I mean the new drones make a low buzz and if they get annoyed with that to the point of wanting to shoot it down, they must lose their sh!t when a harley rides by them on the freeway. Second issue that seems to come up justifying their behavior is someone saying that the drone is invading their private space. I can definitely understand if a drone user is doing something illegal like spying in your bedroom window or something like that but I made no mention of doing such thing and it seems to be brought up in every single thread that they would shoot down a drone if that happened. Truth be told, I would too but my thread wasn't created asking under what circumstances would someone shoot down a drone. It was a genuine inquiry on tips and tricks about using a drone in HI. In any case, I've decided to just stick with my camera, tripod, and selfie stick.

I remember a time when selfie sticks were annoying and then everybody got them and they're not so popular now. Oh well. Maybe in a few years, people will feel more welcoming to drones.

As an fyi, I ended up looking into the Mavic 2 Zoom. That looks like such an awesome drone and having that zoom capability would have been awesome as I think it would help alleviate some of people's concern about the so called "extremely loud and annoying" buzzing by being able to fly further away but still zoom in to get the shot I'm trying to capture.

 

[pm-r]

if they get annoyed with that to the point of wanting to shoot it down, they must lose their sh!t when a harley rides by them on the freeway.

Most smaller drones don't carry a loaded .45 or sawed-off shotgun so they are a bit different!!!

In any case, I've decided to just stick with my camera, tripod, and selfie stick.

I've noticed quite a few "tourist type places" now have notices that selfie sticks are not allowed.

Just thought I'd mention it.





- Patrick
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[Jonzjob]

The problem has been caused by morons who don't have a clue what they are doing and think that they are so smart-*** they don't need to be taught by anyone. They know it all.

1/2monkey, why, if you want a drone, don't you wait until after your holiday, join a club and they will not only advise you on the best one for you but will also teach you how to fly it safely and give you the insurance cover so essential in this wonderful world of ours.

Just as a matter of interest. When we were living in France SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) needed a new mobile phone. So off to Dartys, one of the biggest electrical retailers in France, to have a look. The First question from the French bloke, who didn't speak English, was "what type of camera do you want"? I told him that I have a good camera but it's lousy at making phone calls and I wanted a phone that was good at making those calls. He was most confused and kept asking about the dammed camera.

I couldn't get it through his thick head that then phones did not take good photos and all we wanted was a blasted phone! eventually we had to have a phone with a camera, no choice on that. I have no idea what the camera is like. In the years we have had it even the phone has only been used a couple of time, the camera. ---- never.

Another of my 'drones' A 1932 1//6th scale Grunau Baby, German again.

https://flic.kr/p/HgTTc7