SFOPhantom
 lvl.2
Flight distance : 718123 ft
United States
Offline
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Hi there,
funny I am working on my flying over people waiver here in the USA. Well I am applying it a little different. I am applying to fly over a construction site, as well as between construction sites.
I am not sure if a parachute is an effective way not to insure a person below the flight path.
While a parachute for sure reduces the crash impact is cause other side effects as well.
1 st and fore most it will effect the flight characteristics of the airframe, different CG, as well as drag, therefore shorter battery life. More airtime needed to fly the mission therefore more risk.
2nd. one more component which can fail therefore more risk. As well as a false sense of safety, I have a parachute so if something happen it is not that bad.
3rd when parachute deploys you have NO control of the airframe it can drift into traffic, trees, roof tops, power lines..... adds more risk.
4th. When the parachute deploys everyone can see the airframe hanging from the parachute.... therfore more people see it and get distracted of what they are doing therefore it increases the risk
of someone is getting hurt.... Like you are driving along with you car, bike or so forth now you see the parachute with a drone you are distracted. You will follow the airframe to the ground. That is humans nature.
If you aircraft does not have a parachute it will most like fall right out of the sky within the direction of travel unless the wind is so high that it will or can alter the fall. If now the airframe hits a human on the ground the impact will not be as bad as everyone expected as the landing gear will defect the impact, so will the body and even the propellers. The real problem is when the person will look up as that will expose his or her face which might lead to cuts and lacerations. It would be like a bird falling on you. You will most like have a concussion as well.
Most problematic would flying close to people with out or even with prop guards as the propeller can and will nicely slice and dice you if you carbon propellers. That is a real problem therefore I believe wedding and movie studios will have some real problems getting close to people, but the FAA will grant waivers above and between construction sites. Even delivery over people might be possible as most of the flight is way above people. It is all about the risk management. Therefore plan you mission mapping routs always over buildings, covers, cars and never really over walk ways and if you have to minimize the flight time over them.
You have to weight the risks, some time it make sense to have a parachute and most of the times it does not.
Just my two sense,
FYI I am no on page 5 of the flying over people waiver, trying to explain the same thing in more detail to the examiner lets see what he comes back with in 2019.
At the end it all comes down to safety and that you understand what and what you can and should not do. Flying close to a human or animal is NEVER a good idea.
We have a ZOOM lens.
On that note 99 % of the parachutes are installed to safe the airframe as well as the payload and not the human on the ground as there should be none under the falling
airframe anyway.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
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Second Officer
lvl.4
Captain
