There are a lot of terrible, horrible, no good very bad things that drones do on a daily basis, but one of the decidedly cool uses you can put them to is sending them up in the air with a 3D video camera to take pictures of fireworks. Unfortunately, none of us are allowed to have nice things; the Federal Aviation Administration has declared Washington, D.C. ,a "no drone zone" for July 4th weekend, with many cities following suit.
According to the FAA's guidelines for recreational ground-operated aircraft - or smal unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) - drones are prohibited from flying "no higher than 400 feet and remain below any surrounding obstacles when possible" and avoiding "obstacles at all times," which fireworks can be categorized as. (Another no-no is operating an sUAS while under the influence of alcohol, which, let's be honest, is bound to happen at a Budweiser-soaked 'Murican outdoor federal holiday.) Inasmuch to this, the FAA is well within its jurisdictional purview when laying down a "no drone / fun zone" restriction.
Then again, not everyone who decides to operate an sUAS during an intensive fireworks display does it willy-nilly, but asking the local precinct about the dos and don'ts of droning on a national holiday might be what dissuades someone from flying a drone in the first place.
"We had one inquiry this year, one gentleman who asked about bringing a drone," Andrea Arnold, senior VP of public affairs for the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp., told Wired, "We directed him to the FAA's guidelines and told him what he couldn't do, and he chose on his own not to bring his drone."
Those who do decide to weave a drone in an out of some exploding fireworks will be slapped with civil penalties - even jail time. Well, you know what they say: there's no "fun" in "American."
If you're jonesing for some 3D footage of fireworks via drone cam, check out the footage below.
Photo: Matthew Woitunski | Flickr
