Video TR: Lake Powell (Lone Rock Beach CG) & Antelope Canyon

Nice! Funny how you put together a great video with stunning aerial footage and someone (who wasn't even there) complains about the drone overhead. I have the much-bigger and louder Phantom. Above 250 feet you can't hear it, and above that it gets tough to even see. The Mavic is virtually invisible at those heights.

turbojimmy wrote:
Nice! Funny how you put together a great video with stunning aerial footage and someone (who wasn't even there) complains about the drone overhead. I have the much-bigger and louder Phantom. Above 250 feet you can't hear it, and above that it gets tough to even see. The Mavic is virtually invisible at those heights.

Yeah, and as I replied on YouTube it was virtually impossible to hear with my neighbors' generators running, people buzzing around the beach on ATVs, etc. Somehow I doubt that the poster would've complained about those intrusions, though.

I've only been able to get a few minutes into the video as I have to leave for work, but it looks very interesting.

Lake Powell is my favorite place. We visit 5-6 times each year, but always stay on the north end (we have a houseboat in Bullfrog).

A drone is on my "want list" I think it would be amazing to video some of the wake sports we do.

I am NOT trying to give you a hard time, rather just inform you. Use of drones is illegal at Lake Powell. Not sure if it is enforced, but thought you might want to know.

Powell Rules

That's some low water.

Bionic Man wrote:

I am NOT trying to give you a hard time, rather just inform you. Use of drones is illegal at Lake Powell. Not sure if it is enforced, but thought you might want to know.

Powell Rules

Oh ****. Thanks for letting me know! I thought that only applied to National Parks, and not NRAs. And oddly, the DJI app that controls the drone is designed to alert me when I'm in a no-fly zone. I've deliberately powered on the app within National Parks to check, and verified that it alerted there, but it didn't do so at Powell.

Again, sincere thanks for letting me know.

azdryheat wrote:
That's some low water.

It is indeed quite low, but of course I was there at the lowest point of the year.

azdryheat wrote:
That's some low water.

It is actually up quite a bit over prior years. Do your snow dance for a big winter to continue bringing levels up!

FirstTracks wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:

I am NOT trying to give you a hard time, rather just inform you. Use of drones is illegal at Lake Powell. Not sure if it is enforced, but thought you might want to know.

Powell Rules

Oh ****. Thanks for letting me know! I thought that only applied to National Parks, and not NRAs. And oddly, the DJI app that controls the drone is designed to alert me when I'm in a no-fly zone. I've deliberately powered on the app within National Parks to check, and verified that it alerted there, but it didn't do so at Powell.

Again, sincere thanks for letting me know.

Sure thing. I think it is a stupid rule, and I hope that it is rescinded.

Bionic Man wrote:

FirstTracks wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:

I am NOT trying to give you a hard time, rather just inform you. Use of drones is illegal at Lake Powell. Not sure if it is enforced, but thought you might want to know.

Powell Rules

Oh ****. Thanks for letting me know! I thought that only applied to National Parks, and not NRAs. And oddly, the DJI app that controls the drone is designed to alert me when I'm in a no-fly zone. I've deliberately powered on the app within National Parks to check, and verified that it alerted there, but it didn't do so at Powell.

Again, sincere thanks for letting me know.

Sure thing. I think it is a stupid rule, and I hope that it is rescinded.

It really makes no sense. I understand and actually agree with the rules for National Parks -- can you imagine what a junk show that would be with every kid with a drone launching theirs?

However, NRAs just make no sense to me. Most National Parks are densely populated by visitors, whereas nost NRAs I'm familiar with are a) massive; and b) very sparsely populated by visitors. I mean, GCNRA alone is 1.25 million acres! That's nearly 2000 square miles! When I flew at Alstrom Point near the end of the video, I swear that there wasn't a soul within 10 miles of where I was standing. Exactly who would I be bothering?

In my opinion, restricting someone from flying a drone in a 2,000 square mile area just because the NPS manages the land, is a ridiculous overreach of their administrative authority. And to be technical, the NPS has no authority over the airspace, the FAA does. Which means you could launch from, and return to land immediately adjacent to the NRA and fly over it completely legally. That's why the NPS can't keep airplanes from flying over NRAs. Using a drone to reach a spot in the middle of a 1.25 million-acre plot is virtually impossible. However, I would have been able to legally fly over Lone Rock Beach as there is non-NRA land within 7 km of the camping area, which is the operating range of my drone. I could have simply driven over there, launched my drone, flew the same flight pattern and landed back where I took off from, and that would not have violated anything.

If you will, imagine the loud uproar if the NPS decided to declare a 2,000 square-mile area encompassing all of Lake Powell a non-motorized area, with no vehicles allowed? Access could only be by foot, which would take many days to reach certain parts. No land motor vehicles, no power boats. I sincerely doubt that rule would be passed without opposition as this one apparently was, yet in reality the principles behind this hypothetical rule are not any different than they are behind their no-drone policy.

I wouldn't hold my breath for the rule to be rescinded anytime soon, for the percentage of people engaging in drone photography is still miniscule, and therefore lacks the clout to resist that rule. Look at the recent roller coaster where recreational drone enthusiasts had to register their aircraft with the FAA, then were told they didn't, then were told again that they had to, all within the span of less than a year. The industry still lacks sufficient critical mass to stand up to such shenanigans. However, as the number of aerial photographers increases sometime down the road that may change.

Apologies for venting and thread drift.

DJI and a lot of drone owners like the fact of registering because they say it promotes safety and accountability because your reg number is on your drone. Not sure if I agree or not but don’t have much choice at this point. At least NF aren’t on the no fly zone yet.