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Thread: Drones for use while travelling by motorcycle

  1. #1
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    Drones for use while travelling by motorcycle

    I'm thinking about getting a drone to take on my adventure tourer on trips around NZ. My plan would be to load the camping gear in the panniers & bag on the rear seat and to put a drone & a D-SLR in the top-box where I could easily get at them whenever I wanted to create some video or photos.

    I liked the look of the DJI Spark and the fact that it is small, but the DJI Mavic Air has a better camera, 3-axis gimbal instead of 2-axis and its arms fold in so that it is even smaller to pack on the bike. My income is reasonable and a DJI Mavic Air (Fly More Kit) would only cost me ~4 weeks of savings, that doesn't seem too bad. The Fly More kit comes with 3 batteries altogether which would be a help when travelling by motorcycle and staying at camp-grounds each night. I'd probably add a car charger to give me a way of charging one of the batteries while riding (put battery in tank bag and plug charger into it). Maybe a 4th battery too, since the charger can have 4 batteries plugged into it (it charges one then the next, not all at once).

    Next year I'll be heading down to the South Island for 3-4 weeks for Bike Week, Vincent County Rally & Burt Munro Rally. With such great scenery down there I definitely want to have my D-SLR and a drone with me.

    Here is an example of the sort of idea: https://youtu.be/Z2jUxTw_NVM?t=9m33s
    Also: This year at the Burt Munro Rally there were way more people than at the previous one. I wanted to get a good photo of all the bikes & tents at the site, but unfortunately there is no hill overlooking the site to get a good shot from and I just didn't have a way of getting a good overview of the site in a photo. It would have be cool to be able to put a drone up and get some good shots of the massive group of bikes & tent set up there.

    Does anyone else here take a drone on the bike when travelling? What drone and how do you find it?
    Thoughts on the idea?
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Quote Originally Posted by PrincessBandit View Post
    I realised that having 105kg of man sliding into my rear was a tad uncomfortable
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  2. #2
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    Good idea but i would be inclined to read up about where and when you can fly these things, lots of rules and regulations coming on stream these days. Almost need a pilots licence, and i dont think you can fly them over DOC land anymore.

    https://www.airshare.co.nz/rules

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    You are going to be crossing Cook Strait. Some people doing that have their tie downs in the tank bag. You definitely want them where they're easy to get at. If you do that too you'll need a good plastic bag for the tie downs to ensure the drone and associated paraphernalia don't get covered in cow shit. It doesn't happen every trip but it does happen.
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  5. #5
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    two things, firstly, why not extend and do the woodstock on the way down, secondly, ya may need to check legality of flying drone over rally site, not very far from international airport

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    Quote Originally Posted by russd7 View Post
    two things, firstly, why not extend and do the woodstock on the way down, secondly, ya may need to check legality of flying drone over rally site, not very far from international airport
    That isn't extending my trip, I'll already be at bike week in Bannockburn when the Woodstock rally is on.

    Legality? Pffft!
    Although I'd probably keep it under 20m altitude to ensure I'm nowhere near any flight paths.
    I think the airport is a few kms away and I just can't see there being an issue as long as the drone isn't going super high.
    Flying a drone over the site - several people did it this year with no issues.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Quote Originally Posted by PrincessBandit View Post
    I realised that having 105kg of man sliding into my rear was a tad uncomfortable
    "If the cops didn't see it, I didn't do it!"
    - George Carlin (RIP)

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by rustys View Post
    Good idea but i would be inclined to read up about where and when you can fly these things, lots of rules and regulations coming on stream these days. Almost need a pilots licence, and i dont think you can fly them over DOC land anymore.

    https://www.airshare.co.nz/rules
    I read something about the DoC land thing, I don't quite get it. Why would there be any issue with flying over DoC land, what is their problem with drones?
    I've been riding out on gravel roads where there are fuck all people apart from the occasional farmer, not really anyone that would kick up a fuss over a drone being put into the air for a few minutes.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Quote Originally Posted by PrincessBandit View Post
    I realised that having 105kg of man sliding into my rear was a tad uncomfortable
    "If the cops didn't see it, I didn't do it!"
    - George Carlin (RIP)

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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkH View Post
    I read something about the DoC land thing, I don't quite get it. Why would there be any issue with flying over DoC land, what is their problem with drones?
    .
    Because if people are taking the time to walk in the bush the last thing they want is a fucking drone ruining the trip.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkH View Post
    That isn't extending my trip, I'll already be at bike week in Bannockburn when the Woodstock rally is on.

    Legality? Pffft!
    Although I'd probably keep it under 20m altitude to ensure I'm nowhere near any flight paths.
    I think the airport is a few kms away and I just can't see there being an issue as long as the drone isn't going super high.
    Flying a drone over the site - several people did it this year with no issues.
    my bad, thought woodstock was weekend before bike week and vincent was weekend after

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by russd7 View Post
    my bad, thought woodstock was weekend before bike week and vincent was weekend after
    Actually, I thought the same, but their website shows the date overlapping. It is possible that they have cocked up the dates though. If the Woodstock Rally was actually on a week earlier than the website currently shows then I would consider starting my holiday earlier.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Quote Originally Posted by PrincessBandit View Post
    I realised that having 105kg of man sliding into my rear was a tad uncomfortable
    "If the cops didn't see it, I didn't do it!"
    - George Carlin (RIP)

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by AllanB View Post
    Because if people are taking the time to walk in the bush the last thing they want is a fucking drone ruining the trip.
    For busy bush walks I would agree. But there is a lot of DoC land that is really quiet with no fucker around. I suppose that you COULD fly a drone if there is no one else around to object to it - if you fly a drone in the forest and there is no one to hear it, then does it make a sound?
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Quote Originally Posted by PrincessBandit View Post
    I realised that having 105kg of man sliding into my rear was a tad uncomfortable
    "If the cops didn't see it, I didn't do it!"
    - George Carlin (RIP)

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkH View Post
    For busy bush walks I would agree. But there is a lot of DoC land that is really quiet with no fucker around. I suppose that you COULD fly a drone if there is no one else around to object to it - if you fly a drone in the forest and there is no one to hear it, then does it make a sound?

    Probably equally concerned at the native wildlife being disturbed by a drone. Or a rare horny bird getting hurt trying to mate with it.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkH View Post
    ... the DJI Mavic Air...
    That's the one you want.




    Talking to some very senior CAA officials recently and drone use is a MAJOR topic at the moment. Expect some serious new laws and requirements in the future.
    As for using one near an airport... forget it.
    There will be "systems" in place in the foreseeable future where you will not be able to use your drone near a significant airport, because you find out that "my drone will not work for some reason"...
    TOP QUOTE: “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Swoop View Post
    That's the one you want.
    I considered the upcoming Mavic 2 but that would be much more expensive and is a larger size. I think that the Mavic Air offers enough for my current needs/wants.

    Quote Originally Posted by Swoop View Post
    Talking to some very senior CAA officials recently and drone use is a MAJOR topic at the moment. Expect some serious new laws and requirements in the future.
    As for using one near an airport... forget it.
    There will be "systems" in place in the foreseeable future where you will not be able to use your drone near a significant airport, because you find out that "my drone will not work for some reason"...
    I wouldn't be surprised at new laws, but I'm dubious about a drone not working.
    Drones are smart and many have GPS, so with co-operation from manufacturers they possibly could refuse to fly in certain locations - that's a maybe and would only work on drones from certain manufacturers and only ones that have GPS.
    Blocking the signal obviously wouldn't work, there is no way anyone will accept WiFi (drones work on the same frequencies) not working for anyone within a few kms of an airport.

    Meanwhile, if you aren't a complete idiot - don't fly at any height near an airport. If very close to an airport then don't fly at all unless you are keeping below the height of the buildings. An plane flying below building height has bigger problems than drones. Drones can fly very high, definitely don't do that near any airports though.

    If you are more than 5km from a runway and are flying a drone with a ceiling height kept below 100m then I wouldn't think you would be causing any problems for any planes. If you are very near an airport and flying very high (like flight path high) then there should be some very severe penalties available - preferably including revoking your right to breed, we have enough stupid fucks in the world already.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Quote Originally Posted by PrincessBandit View Post
    I realised that having 105kg of man sliding into my rear was a tad uncomfortable
    "If the cops didn't see it, I didn't do it!"
    - George Carlin (RIP)

  15. #15
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    I'd be curious to give some of these a go but I'm not sure if they'd be able to keep up with a motorcycle on a twisty road..

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