I'll go first!

[Myron]

Hey Guys,

As some of you know and have already seen, We (RP Search Services) have been using
model aircraft for many years now in the Search and Recovery field as well as Law Enforcement and Emergency Management. We have had some setbacks dealing with the FAA but we keep digging and hopefully soon, the pending regulations will be available and not to restrictive. We have been on at least 100 searches and have 8 missing person recoveries to our credit. We have also been to Tanzania Africa to document and charity mountain bike race to Mt. Kilamanjaro, Florida to look for Bigfoot, as far away as India to look for Ghengis Kahns tomb. There have been many others, but these are the most notable ones..

I'm posting a link to our youtube channel so the news clip videos can be seen.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WIMBERLEYDUDE?feature=mhee

Myron

[aaron_gx]

Awesome.

[kev.au]

Watching now.


Post your channel over here: http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread....AB-VIDEO-CACHE

[aeryck]

Nice work. This is exactly the type of positive exposure the FPV community needs as a whole.

[volto]

That's awesome. but I wish they wouldn't call them drones, the aircraft are obviously not piloting themselves.

(sorry, this is response to your latest video of the news clip)

[Myron]

Volto,

Yes, the media has managed to screw that one up. Everytime we get in front of a camera, were dilligently trying to us something other than "drone"..

Myron

[CaliDave]

Nice work Myron... I hope to help as you have locally too. I'm going to follow up with our local search and rescue who has yet to get back to me (but could have been busy around the holidays), and I'm wondering if there are any tips for success when first approaching these local services who may have never seen or worked with our gear before.

How do you feel it should be presented, are there words to avoid, things to say that make officials feel they are benefiting from us and not being bothered by another thing to think about?

Our local search and rescue is quite large and has air units, dog teams, HAM operators, etc (here's the link).... so they have lots of options, but none seem to be of the FPV side.

Any thoughts for "showing them the light" and convincing them we can really help in some situations?

Maybe this is it's own thread as more people want to get into it? I'll let you make the call since you're the expert here. So feel free to reply here or make a bigger thread with your thoughts for successfully approaching local departments who could use our help.

Thanks. -Dave

[Myron]

Hey Dave,

I'm thinking I may throw up another "sticky" with tips on getting started in doing some community service. I am also going to throw up a sticky with links to the various documents that are playing a role in this whole thing.. I want everyone to be informed on what they may be up against if they are called on to help out.

For some quick answers.. Once you show ANY SAR team, that you can provide fast high resolution ariel views of a search site, they will be more than happy to hear you out. Your video in the other thread is a good start. If you can, maybe mix some more Google Earth images and high res stills for better orientation. Maybe just email your link over to them and they will more than likely open up. Make sure you show them how much area you can cover in a short time. For most of our flights, the FPV is a backup in the case we have to fly further out than normal. We carry a 12mp digital still camera and shoot pics verticaly. We also geo-reference the shots so that the center of the frame is close to the coordinates. Be prepared though, if they call you in, and you aid in a recovery or just the search, they will be the ones in the spotlight. All of them are non-profits and run pretty much only on donations and grants and volunteer time.. They will use the "WOW" factor you provide to garnish more support and donations for their team..

All searches and emergency events have a CP or Command Post.. Some set up at the local VFD or Church or Communiy Center, some are makeshift out of the back of a truck or a bus. Always. ALWAYS check in with the CP first and tell them what asset you have brought to bare. NEVER fly when full scale is close by.
Also, dont be dissapointed if they dont you use at first or in every case.. Sometimes evidence has been discovered that makes an FPV flight useless.


OH, and stay away from the dog handlelers.. They are typically a weird batch!.. In their eyes, the dog is the ONLY usefull tool when it comes to finding a missing person..

Stay tuned!!!

Myron

[Lucidity]

Just to offer a different perspective, the dog handlers we flew with at Northwest SARCon really loved our birds. Here is the video:


View this video on YouTube

In fact, they wanted to know if we could make one small enough for them to carry in a rucksack and deploy in the field. That said, these guys do both search and rescue and fugitive retrieval -- and I think it was a more the fugitive retrieval end of the business where they were thinking the drone might come in handy.

Still, my experience is that everyone in the SAR community is at least intrigued by the technology -- if not downright interested.

[CaliDave]

Great info thanks! I think your sticky ideas would be a great start for the sub-forum and just that little insight helps me be better prepared to present to them. I'll keep you updated on my success and hope to add to the volunteer work we know can benefit our communities.