=== Let's Drone Out — Episode 127 ===
Title: DRONEORENSTEIN Gail Orenstein
Recorded: 2018-02-01
Hosts: Andy, Jack "Brightontillifly" Nash, Tony "TheTonstar1" Marchant, Neil "NJ Tech" Jones, Andrew "Frank" Hyams
Guest(s): Anaseed, Dom "D2" "Voice of Doom" Robinson, Gail Orenstein
Total audience: 4,877
Platforms: YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q974GymLeCc); SoundCloud (http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/401737119-letsdroneout-droneorenstein-gail-orenstein.mp3)
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Gail Orenstein is a London-based photojournalist who has used drones to cover events all over the world

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP7Ysk0D63FuO7R-sWF6yCg

http://www.gailorenstein.com/drone-journalism/

@DRONEORENSTEIN on twitter

[0.0] (Editor): This episode was edited thanks to the Patreon support of… and… thanks a lot for supporting the show and allowing me to actually do a good job of editing this podcast.
[17.58] (Editor): Is there an option on Patreon so people can donate so they don't swear or so that they keep the episodes to an hour? If not… okay, fine, whatever.
[27.02] (Editor): Enjoy the show.
[28.06] (Editor): No limitary recovered.
[31.94] Tony: Tony.
[33.94] Tony: Hi Jack.
[35.94] Jack: Right. If I can explain this, and you understand it, not only will it be a first for Let's Drone Out, but I think it will be amazing.
[45.94] Jack: Today is the first of the second 2018.
[52.18] Tony: Hold on.
[53.18] Jack: So I've always wanted to know whether the order of us appear differently. So if you say your name and then say who's next to you on the left. So to me. Hi, I'm Jack. Right until I fly. And next to me is Tony.
[73.18] Tony: Hi, I'm Tony. And next to me is N.J.
[79.18] NJ: Hi, I'm N.J. And next to me is Tony.
[83.18] Tony: This is not going to work, is it? Hi, and next to me is N.J.
[89.18] NJ: How does that work? What does it do?
[91.18] NJ: This is not going to work.
[92.18] NJ: I think it's in order of importance to us, personally. Google is there. It knows everything about us.
[98.18] Andy: So Tony's next to me. So does that… it sounds like that Tony's the important one for everyone.
[104.18] Tony: I'm happy about that.
[106.18] Jack: Who's next to you?
[109.78] Tony: Tony. It's me. I even put it on my T-shirt. I'm important.
[118.78] Tony: Frank, who's next to you?
[120.78] Frank: Tony. And let's throw in that account. It's also Tony.
[124.78] Frank: Oh, brilliant. Well, there you go.
[126.78] Jack: Tony, you get in the way of everything.
[128.78] Jack: I mean something.
[130.78] Jack: No worries. Right. So, yeah. So the last person to speak was Frank. Hello, Frank.
[136.78] Jack: Hello.
[137.78] Jack: Andy R.C.
[138.78] Jack: Hello.
[140.78] Jack: N.J.
[141.78] Jack: Hello.
[142.78] Jack: Tony.
[143.78] Jack: Bonjour.
[144.78] Jack: And our guest is Gail, who's going to tell us about drones in Afghanistan. Is that right?
[151.78] Gail: Well, close. Iraq and droning in conflict zones, yes.
[159.78] Jack: Okay. So you're really promoting the hobby as something really, like, safe and stuff.
[167.78] Frank: I reckon you must have heard us complaining about how hard it is to find somewhere that we can fly.
[172.78] Frank: And you've gone, yeah, that's easy.
[175.78] Gail: That's all the legwork for you.
[177.78] Gail: Have you come to a practicalize us?
[180.78] Jack: Because, like, Tony doesn't need any help.
[182.78] Jack: Like, you know, there's something I need to explain to you.
[185.78] Jack: Because we were wondering, like, why the earth would you want to come on LDO?
[191.78] Jack: You know, because it's not like if you are like a journalist or something, you do research.
[200.78] Jack: You know how to, like, research.
[202.78] Jack: Like, did you just have enough of that and then just LDO that would do?
[206.78] Jack: Because, like, you do realize, like, one of us thinks the earth's flat and it's the person who's next to you, i.e. Tony.
[214.78] Andy: I think we should find out how the military drones work with a flat earth and how they get around it.
[222.78] Frank: That's a question for Tony, I think.
[225.78] Tony: Oh, come on. Let's, let's, there's more important things tonight.
[229.78] Tony: We should do a flat earth.
[231.78] Frank: But yeah, how, I mean, obviously you were a journalist before getting into drone journalism.
[240.78] Frank: So how do you get into journalism to begin with, I guess?
[244.78] Gail: Well, I've been a photojournalist for years and a drone journalist for two years now.
[251.78] Gail: And I was the first female to drone in Iraq, the first civilian female.
[259.78] Gail: And it's been nonstop, really, going to conflict zones and droning over military, you know, basically refugee camps.
[276.78] Gail: And everywhere I can find a lawless place to drone, I'll go.
[281.78] Frank: Is that it, then? It's just like, there's a lot of stuff going down over there. They won't mind me.
[286.78] Frank: Or how do you get around the obvious difficulty of wandering around with a drone?
[292.78] Frank: I mean, they're not exactly, you know, welcomed into a lot of places, let alone conflict zones.
[300.78] Gail: Yeah, well, I mean, the thing is, you have to have, you don't just go over to Iraq and bring a drone.
[311.78] Gail: Okay.
[313.78] Gail: I have a lot of paperwork that has to be done and permission.
[317.78] Gail: And then you're sometimes embedded with the military. Sometimes you're not.
[322.78] Gail: So it's, you know, it's not that lawless. You do have some restrictions.
[331.78] Gail: What drone are you flying or should I say quadcopter?
[336.78] Gail: Okay, the quadcopter. Well, when I first started, I had the DJI Phantom 4, but actually it was impounded quite a lot when I went.
[347.78] Gail: And so I stopped bringing it. It was too big. And a lot of the military were using it.
[353.78] Gail: And also Islamic State were using it against the civilian population.
[359.78] Gail: So it kept getting impounded. And I decided, okay, I'm just going to go with smaller drones.
[366.78] Gail: And they didn't even really pay attention to my Mavic or just my little parrot.
[373.78] Gail: So I stopped bringing a larger drone.
[377.78] Tony: So you know, I was using it to actually drop bombs on the U.S. forces.
[388.22] Gail: Yeah, in Mosul, there was a lot of that.
[393.22] Gail: And so, you know, I didn't, as I said, when it was impounded about six months ago, I didn't even, for several weeks, I just left it with security.
[404.22] Gail: I didn't even go back and get it. I just took my smaller drones and I just was like, okay, I'm out of here.
[411.22] Gail: Because when you're going through so many checkpoints, it's such a, it's like, oh my God, I don't want to go back there and get that big drone.
[421.22] Gail: You know, I just want some small drones that can fold up, go, and I'm ready to fly.
[426.22] Gail: Mavic air for the wind.
[430.22] Gail: Yeah, so I usually go with three or four because I don't know also what's going to be shot down or confiscated.
[440.22] Tony: Have you had a drone shot down?
[447.22] Gail: No, but I have, you know, I've crashed and I've crashed and not retrieved.
[457.22] Tony: If I was in a war zone and mine and I had a fail safe or crashed, there's no way I'd go and get my drone.
[465.22] Tony: I'd probably send Jack out there to go and get it.
[468.22] Jack: Well, not that dumb. I can read, you know, land mine.
[475.22] Jack: Wait, Tony. Yeah, I mean, I'll be more worried about me getting shot.
[478.22] Jack: Do you know what I mean? Because if you're not paying attention about not getting shot, mind you, you probably don't wear goggles like we do.
[486.22] Gail: No, I don't. But I, you know, I I do a obviously pre-survey walk around and stuff.
[495.22] Gail: And I, you know, I'm very careful now. And when I was in Syria, I actually experienced my first military drone strike I was in.
[507.22] Gail: And that was that was something else. And I thought, I don't think I'm going to bring my drones yet to Syria.
[517.22] Gail: But so I first started really in Iraq, but I'm on my way to I'm leaving in a few days and I'm I'll be in South Sudan.
[530.22] Gail: And so I'm sort of more junky with drones.
[536.22] Tony: Happy you've got a YouTube channel because I want to subscribe. Yes, of course I do.
[544.22] Gail: I was just on the Burmese border, the Myanmar border, and I drone the, you know, the Rohingya situation.
[552.22] Gail: And it was really amazing because I'm used to as a photojournalist.
[557.22] Gail: I mean, you really run like like hell. So you're just always running around.
[561.22] Gail: And I'm always with these male photojournalists are like six foot four, six foot seven.
[567.22] Gail: And they're they can run really fast. So it's like, yeah, I just park my ass, just drone the thing.
[576.22] Gail: Not going to run now. So I mean, there's a lot of advantages right now in using it as well as safety advantages.
[585.22] Tony: Yeah. I've just subscribed to you. I think other people have your your links in the chat now.
[592.22] Tony: So if anyone wants to check it out. Sounds scary, man. Sounds really scary.
[599.22] Frank: How do you plan your trip? So do you go over first and just with a camera and to try and get some contacts and things?
[606.22] Frank: Or do you go out there with all your kit straight to begin with and just kind of work your way through?
[613.22] Frank: Do you phone a lot of people beforehand or how do you kind of know where's a good place to go?
[620.22] Gail: Oh, well, I'm on a side. I'm on assignment all the time.
[625.22] Gail: So remember, I was a photojournalist for 20 years. So you can see my work on Getty Images.
[632.22] Gail: And so basically, I went from a photojournalist to a drone journalist.
[639.22] Gail: But I still do I still do shoot quite a lot with still photography.
[645.22] Gail: But now I have the opportunity to drone the conflicts, which is so much better because you really you have to go far to these.
[657.22] Gail: These places take a long time to get to. And so when you're there and you're droning it, you see so much more from an aerial view when you're running around with your still camera.
[671.22] Gail: You have to run through the bomb buildings, you have to get to the top and then you really sort of get to see a sniper's point of view.
[678.22] Gail: But when you're droning, it's like awesome because, well, you know, you can just, you know, you don't have to.
[686.22] Gail: Well, you don't run as much really. I mean, I just sound like a lazy.
[692.22] Gail: I've gotten to be lazy, but there are a lot of advantages. And obviously, from an aerial point of view, you get to see just how massive the crisis is.
[702.22] Andy: So so when you say you're on assignment, is that working with a particular media outlet or do you work for yourself?
[709.22] Andy: And then with whatever sort of footage that you catch, you then approach various outlets of media. Is that how it works?
[718.22] Gail: I know I've been with the same agencies for 10 years. And now, as you watch television more, they're using more drone footage.
[728.22] Gail: So I'm asked more often now to shoot more drone footage than I am to do still work.
[736.22] Gail: So you know, you'll see my work everywhere.
[743.22] Andy: So it's an agency rather than saying, for example, you work for, I don't know, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail or whatever.
[750.22] Andy: It's an agency that then takes your product and then offers it out to the various media outlets sort of thing.
[760.22] Gail: Yeah, most of it is through Getty Images. They through the wire feed.
[769.22] Gail: So Associated Press, AFP, all the video footage is then downloaded through the news services.
[781.22] Gail: And then they, you know, Al Jazeera, they use, for example, if they're doing a story on the Rohingya in crossing from the Myanmar border to Bangladesh and they'll use my footage of hundreds of thousands of refugees who have crossed.
[802.22] Gail: So often I, you know, I see I see my footage all over the news now, but I mean, I'm used to that with my photography.
[812.22] Gail: But the difference is, is that when I'm in the Telegraph or was in the Guardian and having and I had a still photograph, it says, you know, photo Gail Orenstein via, you know, Getty Images or SIPA USA.
[827.22] Gail: But now my aerial footage is kind of a montage in other news footage.
[836.22] Gail: So it's a little bit different. Yeah, I suppose I was a bit more spoiled as a photojournalist.
[845.22] Gail: You really get the credit. But when you're doing aerial photography, news photography, news footage, they just kind of throw your aerial work in there with a montage of other stuff.
[860.22] Andy: Right. Do you have to identify yourself as like press? Do you have to wear like, you know, some something different that sort of says you're you know, you're you're not part of the military or anything like that?
[875.22] Gail: Yeah, I have this. This is what I have to be part of the military.
[881.22] Gail: I have this. This thing is, yeah, I have to wear this all the time. This is really heavy.
[891.22] Gail: And oh, yeah. So here I am.
[896.22] Tony: Yeah, any good if they speak English.
[901.22] Gail: I have one in Arabic as well.
[903.22] Gail: Oh, okay. No, I know. I know most people recognize this. Yeah, I do. I do have to wear this. And I also wear it because a lot of times I'm like where I go, they're really bad drivers.
[918.22] Gail: And I'm often in an auto rickshaw. And wow, I'm just I wear this just for safety.
[926.22] Tony: What if that's that's what I wear one night that when I go in Jack's car, like a grandma, I don't know what you're on about.
[936.22] Jack: You're the hooligan still thinks he's in Tokyo Drift.
[943.22] Gail: Yeah, I highly recommend this if you're going to go in Jack's car.
[947.22] Jack: Yeah, definitely.
[949.22] Jack: That I did, you know, head for him. It's only a small car.
[952.22] Jack: So you wear a vest as well.
[954.22] Gail: Yeah, I wear Kevlar.
[957.22] Gail: But I'm not going to put that on.
[960.22] Jack: I wouldn't. We got to fire a rocket knife at you.
[966.22] Frank: Oh, yeah.
[969.22] Frank: So what's what's the reaction of people on the ground?
[973.22] Frank: Because I imagine a lot of them won't have seen a drone flying before, particularly not like a multirotor just kind of hovering there.
[983.22] Frank: I can't imagine is particularly common sight. Well, actually, that's not true.
[988.22] Gail: Actually, most have seen it because most drones have been used on the civilian population.
[995.22] Gail: So the thing is, oftentimes when I enter a refugee camp, a lot of the children are running like hell away from me.
[1004.22] Gail: If because, you know, I'm trying to get to the camp, you have to do this really quickly.
[1009.22] Gail: OK, most people don't do my job.
[1012.22] Gail: People choose not to become a drone journalist.
[1015.22] Gail: So like you have to do these really crazy things.
[1019.22] Gail: So you jump out of the rickshaw.
[1020.22] Gail: You jump out of the rickshaw. You get to the refugee camp.
[1023.22] Gail: You have the drones in your hand and kids are running like hell away from you.
[1027.22] Gail: Then you're trying to say, come here.
[1029.22] Gail: You know, it's not going to be weaponized against you like it is in most civilian populations.
[1035.22] Gail: And I just get out and I show them what it is.
[1039.22] Gail: And, you know, then, you know, I just sort of let them hold it and stuff so that so that they're not so terrified.
[1047.22] Tony: So you must view some pretty emotional things from the sky, like people mass exodus and things like that.
[1056.22] Tony: I mean, how how bad have you ever been flying and started crying?
[1062.22] Tony: And, you know, you must have seen some pretty awful things.
[1067.22] Gail: Well, I see actually I see a lot of things all the time.
[1071.22] Tony: So you just used to it now.
[1074.22] Tony: She's on this podcast.
[1078.22] Gail: Yeah, I mean, I can't really.
[1083.22] Gail: I think the time I do that afterwards when I'm reviewing the footage and stuff in in post production, obviously.
[1092.22] Tony: Yeah. So in the in the heat of everything, you're just focused on getting the getting the footage in.
[1098.22] Tony: And then when you get back home and look, you're like, oh, my God.
[1102.22] Gail: Yeah. Well, yeah. But but when you're there, you're just like, you know, you got to hurry up.
[1110.22] Gail: First of all, you don't know. You don't just don't know.
[1114.22] Gail: There's a lot of uncertainty. So you just really have to just hurry up.
[1119.22] Gail: There's really not time to, you know, you just got to go and do your job.
[1124.22] Frank: Well, very exciting.
[1128.22] Frank: Someone asked, what about charging? That must be a bit difficult.
[1136.63] Gail: Charging charging the batteries. Oh, I carry.
[1141.63] Gail: Well, it reminds me, actually, when I used to shoot back in the 80s and 90s, I used to use just hunt, you know, I take it like 60, 70 rolls of Kodachrome with me.
[1153.63] Gail: And now I've got I've got eight batteries for my Phantom.
[1160.63] Gail: I've got six batteries for my Mavic and I've got four batteries for my parrot.
[1164.63] Gail: So it's quite battery intensive. Heavy.
[1171.63] Gail: I get to be holding around. It is a lot of kit. Yeah.
[1175.63] Gail: I have a fixer who usually carries a lot of batteries for me. It gets pretty heavy.
[1182.63] Tony: That's really exciting. Do you want any FPV drone footage? I'd love to do that.
[1188.63] Tony: I think I'd be scared, but I'd like to do like a one day and then go home.
[1194.63] Frank: Just just to try it and then go just to try it and then go home.
[1198.63] Frank: But in the corner to go, Tony.
[1203.63] Gail: I don't know.
[1205.63] Tony: I would I would properly like to do it.
[1209.63] Frank: OK, where would you recommend going? Where have you had like the best experience?
[1214.63] Frank: If, you know, I guess it's probably, you know, fun might be pushing it a bit.
[1219.63] Frank: But exciting, at least. Yeah, exciting. Not funny.
[1223.63] Tony: I wouldn't call any warm torn country fun.
[1228.63] Tony: Exciting.
[1231.63] Gail: Well, I was in. OK, this is really interesting.
[1233.63] Gail: I was in the tunnels where the Islamic State, they drill these massive tunnels and the I don't want to go there.
[1249.63] Gail: Yeah, I was they wanted me to sort of drone these tunnels.
[1255.63] Gail: And I was thinking, man, how am I going to it's so bloody dark.
[1260.63] Gail: So I was thinking about all these ways to put these lights on my my drone.
[1266.63] Gail: And that sort of just got my mind thinking about so many different things.
[1271.63] Gail: But I mean, that that was scary because I I just said, can you guys walk first?
[1276.63] Gail: Because I don't know if there's any IED down here. I can't see.
[1282.63] Gail: Yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, that I mean, that was that was definitely challenging.
[1289.63] Gail: I would say that was one of the more challenging. But Iraq, I really enjoy droning in Iraq, especially northern Iraq and Kurdistan.
[1301.63] Gail: The Peshmerga are very, you know, they're very helpful and you have to go through a lot of checkpoints.
[1310.63] NJ: So I've got a question to ask you. How close do you generally get to the subject area that you're going to fly?
[1316.63] NJ: Do you tend to you know, do you stay back, I don't know, 200 meters or is it half a mile?
[1322.63] NJ: Or what what do you consider to be a distance where you can concentrate on your footage and getting the right thing and not have to be obviously too close to the the area you want to film or are you right up there?
[1334.63] NJ: You know, how does that how does that normally work out for you?
[1337.63] Gail: Well, that's an interesting question. My background as a photojournalist, I'm always I always shot with a photojournalist.
[1345.63] Gail: I was shot with a 14 millimeter fixed lens. So I was I was always really I was I was trained like a hardcore kind of getting a mix of it and and just you're in everybody's face.
[1362.63] Gail: So I actually drone like that. I I drone or everybody's around me.
[1371.63] NJ: Wow. I think it was me. I'd be droning like a sniper. I think I'd be a long way away.
[1377.63] Andy: I think, well, if you look at the drones that we've got at the moment, they're very wide angle, aren't they?
[1383.63] Andy: So yeah, so you kind of exactly get close. However, this is one thing that I'm predicting is going to change specifically with DJI.
[1392.63] Andy: I think we are going to start seeing zoom lenses and things like that. Would that sort of thing make your job easier, a zoom lens on a drone?
[1401.63] Andy: So you don't have to get so close and and that they might not even see or hear you if you can zoom in, like, say, I know, 18 times zoom or something like that.
[1410.63] Gail: Well, you know, you see these when I was in Mosul, there was a crew from Hungary there and they they had this they had their DJI and this huge rig and they had mounted a a Nikon D4S on it.
[1428.63] Gail: And they were using interchangeable lenses. And but I'll tell you, it was really cumbersome.
[1435.63] Gail: And I could see that it was really slowing them down. So, yeah, I would, you know, I was looking at that. Have you guys used the anyone tested the air out the Mavic air?
[1446.63] Andy: Not yet. I'm still pondering whether to pull the trigger on it, because I think I think the Mavic two is just around the corner.
[1454.63] Andy: I think when that comes out, it may wipe out the air. So I may I'm, I'm not sure.
[1460.63] Tony: They're going to wait six months. They always do.
[1463.63] Andy: I've had March. I've had March for the date for the Mavic too. But we, you know, we, yeah.
[1470.63] Tony: They tease us with stuff all the way, you know, they're going to put this on it. And I think that would face cameras soon and I think the biggest problem with a zoom lens on a quadcopter is that
[1484.63] Andy: when you start zooming in, the the the tolerance of the vibrations and not there is a lot is a lot unique.
[1495.63] Tony: You need to have got one with a zoom. Yeah, I think as it walk here, I've got one as well. Yeah, I think actually I think it is walk here.
[1505.63] Gail: Zoom is based on a I mean, that that's a battery. So it takes a lot of energy when you're zooming in.
[1513.63] Gail: And I mean, it is the battery life extended on that. How does that work?
[1519.63] Tony: The walking has got three batteries. I've seen it.
[1525.63] Andy: You tend to find the bigger drones that carry these big lenses have got a huge flight time because they're they're big.
[1532.63] Andy: And I think I think what we could possibly see, and this is just a prediction for me, I can see something like the Phantom 4 having a little tiny one because because DJI seem to be.
[1542.63] Andy: I mean, first of all, I started off with some of the GoPro style cameras. But for me, they've they've suppressed, surpassed, surpassed what GoPro can do now with a camera, which is why I think we're seeing GoPro struggling.
[1554.63] Andy: And I think that's probably where the Phantom 4 is going to go. But I presumably for yourself, something like the Mavic Air would be good.
[1561.63] Andy: Because it's small. Is that why you're interested in it?
[1565.63] Gail: Yeah, it's small. And, you know, it people have told me it's about the size of a mobile phone, like an iPhone.
[1575.63] Gail: And so I think, yeah, obviously, when you're in, you know, difficult situations and you have to move quickly.
[1583.63] Gail: Sure, if I could stick that in my back pocket, that would be great.
[1587.63] Gail: It's more I have the interchangeable filters. Have you seen that?
[1593.63] Gail: The MD filters.
[1595.63] Gail: Yeah. Yeah, I think I do think interchangeable lenses will. But boy, they have to be really small because when you're droning so far in these places, you're really weighted down by all of these batteries.
[1612.63] Gail: So that really hasn't been resolved yet. I think that's going to be a big, have to be a big issue. These batteries.
[1620.63] Andy: I guess as well, I guess as well with the beams, so much sort of light reflection from, you know, the desert and stuff.
[1628.63] Andy: And the filters, I imagine, are quite important for you because of the amount of exposure that the cameras.
[1635.63] Andy: Yeah, here we don't need to worry so much because it's so dull, as you mentioned before we went.
[1641.63] Andy: But I imagine that the light exposure and the filters will help with stuff like rolling shutter and all sorts of things.
[1649.63] Gail: Yeah, I mean, oftentimes, I don't have a choice. So, you know, it's sort of one of those strange things that you can't you can't stop and say, I just want the cinema cinematography of that to just be so big.
[1669.63] Gail: Just be so beautiful. Yeah, you know, it's it's a very strange thing to do in the sense that you just have to be prepared to move very quickly.
[1686.63] Andy: Yeah, that was actually going to be one of my next questions surrounding the format because, you know, I was interested in what what format.
[1695.63] Andy: Obviously, you're primarily shooting photos and videos. So for videos, are you shooting in 4K and are you shooting are you shooting raw for photos?
[1706.63] Gail: I am shooting raw, yes. The files are are quite large. And also, you know, I have to I keep repeating this, but speed is the element because as soon as I'm done.
[1720.63] Gail: Remember, I'm not done. I still have to get back and I have to upload and transmit all of this stuff very quickly, you know, and I'm sorry.
[1732.63] Tony: Return time is not returned to home where you stop. It's returned to the controller then. So if you're running off the Phantom or whatever you're flying is going to return to where you're running to and not to the base that you took off from.
[1747.63] Tony: Is that how you set your camera, your drone off? Because that's how I would do it. Not return to home where I took off return to the controller.
[1757.63] Frank: You don't want it like forming you and showing people where you are, do you?
[1759.63] Tony: Well, there is that.
[1762.63] Gail: No, I it does return to home because I'm I am, you know, I can't afford. Remember, you know, I may have three or four drones on me at the time, but if one goes down, you know, I really have to I'm just desperate to to get the next one up in the air.
[1784.63] Gail: So I am really vigilant when I'm in the field. I'm very, very, very careful. So I know I they've returned and also I'm droning through a lot of wires, a lot of very complicated obstacles that, you know, I'm hoping in the future.
[1813.63] Andy: Like the obstacle apps are, you know, just useless, really. I don't know if you've seen the I watch the live stream of the Mavic Air and that one supposedly has got more sophisticated object avoidance in that before, as far as I'm aware with the Mavic.
[1834.63] Andy: Yeah, if it found an object, it would just stop that the air, I believe, is going to fly around stuff, I believe.
[1841.63] Tony: What about the test, though, when you like unpacking it and it's got the 10 questions before you take off?
[1849.63] Tony: Well, I've got to do this. I'm in a war zone. Can I fly here? Yes or no?
[1856.63] Gail: Well, you know, it's really I I always fly in my hotel room first. I tested out everything, make sure it works. And then I load it on to the taxi or whatever vehicle is available.
[1872.63] Gail: And last time I was in Kurdistan, it was the back of a milk truck. And I just said, hey, can I get a ride through these checkpoints?
[1885.63] Gail: So I just kind of I grabbed my drones and I went. But I do a lot of testing in my my hotel room. I fly around it and outside of it.
[1899.63] Andy: So are there are there any kind of laws in these countries or is it basically just do whatever to get the shots kind of thing?
[1908.63] Gail: Well, in order to enter, you have to have proper paperwork. And as I said, my larger drones are and have been impounded.
[1919.63] Gail: That's why now I bring a lot of backup, smaller drones. But yeah, you do need to have your press credentials ready.
[1929.63] Gail: You have to have gone to the embassy, bring a letter. You know, there is a proper process that you need to go through.
[1937.63] Gail: Now, nothing is standardized in terms of going from South Sudan and droning to Nepal or Bangladesh or Iraq.
[1948.63] Gail: So it's not standardized that way. So each country, unfortunately, it's very different. Each country is very different.
[1956.63] Gail: When I was in I had a stopover in Oman and they took my my DGI for and they impounded it.
[1967.63] Gail: And then the next day I went back to get it and they really mucked up the camera on it. I don't know if they were trying to pull it off or what.
[1980.63] Gail: But I recommend if it gets impounded, definitely get some kind of little video to make sure that when you're getting it back, it's in the same condition.
[1996.63] Andy: That is some good advice. I would suggest the same advice when using DJI's customer service.
[2004.63] Andy: I'm just kidding. They've got really good questions.
[2009.63] Frank: There goes any chance of an evaluation?
[2013.63] Andy: Oh, I don't know. I did. Did you service it used to be terrible? It's great now.
[2019.63] Jack: I got some flack off one of his subscribers the other day.
[2025.63] Jack: Like he uploaded the goggles video and I was just like, don't listen to this man. He works for Fat Shark.
[2032.63] Jack: One of his subscribers had no idea who I was.
[2039.63] Jack: He probably doesn't care that Let It Strain Out exists, which I don't blame him.
[2044.63] Andy: You can't say that now, Jack. You've got over a thousand subscribers now.
[2051.63] Andy: It's a thing now, Jack. You can't deny it.
[2057.63] Tony: Tom is the bringer of bad news, though.
[2061.63] Dom: I am just one of those many subscribers now.
[2066.63] Jack: Gail, please tell me you're going to bring Tony as a meat shield.
[2070.63] Tony: I am. If you say it up, I would go out and do some...
[2080.63] Tony: I can only fly for two and a half minutes, though.
[2083.63] Jack: Honestly, I've got a business card and I know someone who works for the M.O.D.
[2088.63] Jack: and I would be like, right, finger Tony's butthole for treasure.
[2094.63] Jack: You thought it was hard getting a drone through checkpoints.
[2098.63] NJ: That's not what I'm into. Flying drones.
[2101.63] NJ: Here's a question then. On how many levels is it wrong to freestyle around a war conflict?
[2111.63] Gail: Oh, my goodness. I must have broken that rule.
[2114.63] Tony: There you go. Gail's already done it. So I'm up for it. It'll be fun.
[2121.63] Gail: I have a question. When is the race and where is it going to be in which war zone?
[2131.63] Tony: Imagine a race in a war zone. I would do it.
[2137.63] Andy: It could be like in World War Two, was it?
[2140.63] Andy: Where on Christmas Day they met and had a game of football. It could be like...
[2144.63] Andy: Have a drone race.
[2146.63] NJ: This just sounds like Running Man. This is the consumer entertainment of the future, isn't it?
[2154.63] NJ: Droning through war zones.
[2157.63] Frank: Someone else can fill out this risk assessment.
[2162.63] Gail: No, this is a challenge. I'm challenging any of you to race me through a set of buildings,
[2172.63] Gail: downed wires, downed lines and refugees. Now, who's going to take the challenge?
[2178.63] Tony: I think you'd win, but I'll watch the challenge again.
[2182.63] Andy: I think at least you wouldn't have to worry about the fireworks at the end, would you?
[2189.63] NJ: Oh my God. I think I'd come last just because of the latency from being exactly 12 miles away.
[2198.63] NJ: We're going to have to call you Sniper NJ now.
[2203.63] Jack: I'm too busy laughing at Tony. I can't even get Tony down a haunted basement.
[2209.63] Jack: He probably would have wet himself, probably be rolling on the floor in his piss.
[2214.63] NJ: In all seriousness, it's a really fascinating subject.
[2217.63] NJ: It really is.
[2218.63] NJ: Especially, this is something I can relate to a little bit, believe it or not.
[2223.63] NJ: My father was actually a journalist for a company in the UK here.
[2229.63] NJ: I'm not sure if you know about it out in the States, but he's a news company called ITN.
[2233.63] NJ: He was a war correspondence cameraman.
[2236.63] NJ: He was the guy behind the camera when the journalists were there talking.
[2240.63] NJ: He did the Gulf War and Desert Storm.
[2243.63] NJ: Over 40 years, he's been out to pretty much all of the big Middle Eastern conflicts, certainly,
[2251.63] NJ: as well as other events like when the Berlin Wall came down and all kinds of things.
[2256.63] NJ: I remember he'd always keep a really good...
[2259.63] NJ: He'd have books and books of photographs that he'd taken on site.
[2264.63] NJ: I really appreciate it.
[2267.63] NJ: Especially when you mentioned the things like the Kevlar jacket and the hard hat.
[2271.63] NJ: He'd be travelling with this gear all the time.
[2273.63] NJ: He lost a few work colleagues that were killed out in these zones as well.
[2280.63] NJ: I can certainly relate to the realness and the fear factor of it.
[2287.63] NJ: Hats off to you.
[2288.63] NJ: That's a pretty intense job.
[2290.63] NJ: Keep the helmet on.
[2291.63] Andy: Hats on, should we say.
[2294.63] Gail: Well, I'm really lucky to be able to have drones now to use,
[2299.63] Gail: because actually it helps me in a lot of situations that I, for safety reasons,
[2306.63] Gail: I don't necessarily have to go directly into some of these spaces where,
[2314.63] Gail: as a photographer, I probably would have.
[2317.63] Gail: Now I can drone over it.
[2320.63] Gail: There's safety, but there's also...
[2324.63] Gail: News is changing a lot, and a lot of these combat video games that look so real.
[2332.63] Gail: These are the kinds of things that we are sort of competing with,
[2338.63] Gail: and we can't lose out to that.
[2340.63] Gail: We have to be able to somehow make marginal things interesting,
[2351.63] Gail: again, to a younger audience, or any audience for that matter,
[2355.63] Gail: because I just saw some combat video games and I'm like, wow, you know.
[2361.63] Gail: People are not going to be tuning in to what's going on in Syria, Iraq,
[2367.63] Gail: and the border of Myanmar when you've got just the CGI.
[2375.63] NJ: Desensitizing people, isn't it, when it's getting quite that real.
[2380.63] NJ: I get what you're saying there, absolutely.
[2382.63] Gail: Yeah, so we're sort of competing with that,
[2385.63] Gail: and as a drone journalist, how do you make this interesting?
[2391.63] Gail: So there's a lot of things to really think about,
[2396.63] Gail: what you're competing with, what you're looking for,
[2399.63] Gail: and it's quite competitive, it's very competitive.
[2405.63] NJ: Yeah, amazing.
[2407.63] NJ: I think we have to just very quickly,
[2409.63] NJ: obviously we've got lots of questions for you from people in the chat as well,
[2414.63] NJ: but we must just quickly cut to Dom for some more local news while we have him here,
[2420.63] NJ: because I'm not sure he can stay on for too long.
[2422.63] NJ: Dom, how are you, and what's the big news you've got for us?
[2425.63] Dom: Yeah, not too bad, are you getting me? Have you got my audio?
[2429.63] Dom: Yeah.
[2430.63] Dom: Low your camera a little bit.
[2432.63] Dom: Oh, that's because I'm sitting down, I'll come and look closer to her.
[2435.63] Dom: You're on top of the cooker hood because I'm cooking lunch there,
[2440.63] Dom: cooking dinner there.
[2442.63] Dom: Yeah, so as those of you that follow Hidden Valley's story,
[2446.63] Dom: it sort of came to an end over the last few days,
[2450.63] Dom: and for those of you that don't know, we've spent a lot of time,
[2453.63] Dom: a lot of the people involved in Let's Drone Out and the Mini Air Show as well.
[2460.63] Dom: You're getting choked up.
[2462.63] Dom: Yeah, we have all been involved with Hidden Valley
[2466.63] Dom: and what we've tried to do down here over the last three and a half years actually,
[2470.63] Dom: but Martyn and I basically had communication back from the planning office
[2475.63] Dom: and I think it was one of the inevitable three outcomes that was going to happen,
[2479.63] Dom: but we have been shut down.
[2481.63] Dom: Well, we've decided to shut the business down.
[2484.63] Dom: It's clear that we will need planning permission,
[2489.63] Dom: and given that it's something like 16,000 hectare site
[2493.63] Dom: and you effectively have to do impact assessments per hectare,
[2497.63] Dom: we would have the same sort of planning cost as planning a small village
[2501.63] Dom: or a road going through the place.
[2504.63] Dom: Whether it's by clever technical law or just simply we did it in the wrong place,
[2508.63] Dom: I don't know, but despite all our best efforts,
[2511.63] Dom: we are going to discontinue the business, which is sad.
[2517.63] Dom: I think we kind of went out of our way for a few years
[2520.63] Dom: to try to establish a point of contact between the flying community
[2525.63] Dom: and the various different authorities and interested stakeholders,
[2529.63] Dom: and despite the calls from the Department of Trade and Industry for more flying sites
[2534.63] Dom: and despite all the lip service that they pay to the community,
[2537.63] Dom: frankly, they don't want us to fly.
[2539.63] Dom: So this was just an inconvenience and we have closed the business.
[2546.63] Dom: So yes, you can't book to go and fly over the farm
[2550.63] Dom: with the permission tree that we had behind it
[2553.63] Dom: and with the insurance cover that we offered,
[2556.63] Dom: but it's still public land, so whether you go and fly there or not is up to you, really.
[2561.63] Tony: I'm down there the weekend.
[2563.63] Tony: Make the decision for yourselves.
[2565.63] Tony: I'm going there the weekend, you watch its face.
[2568.63] Dom: So the major difference, obviously, will be that you won't be able to drive down there.
[2572.63] Dom: Car access is kind of principal restriction,
[2576.63] Dom: so time to get fit, everyone, and get cycling.
[2579.63] Dom: I didn't say that.
[2582.63] Jack: Can I ask, Dom, how much is it per hectare?
[2589.63] Dom: I have no idea.
[2590.63] Dom: I mean, basically, it's a hurdle too high to jump.
[2593.63] Dom: It would have been tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds for the impact assessments.
[2599.63] Tony: Don't we all just need to go and fly around the council offices?
[2604.63] Tony: Like skateboarders used to do.
[2607.63] Tony: We all skate around the public paths and then they go...
[2610.63] Dom: They used to do a 50-metre exclusion and a 150-metre congested area zone.
[2614.63] Dom: But skateboarders did this.
[2616.63] Tony: This is how it worked.
[2618.63] Tony: Skateboarders skated everywhere and then they put skateboarders in parks.
[2622.63] Tony: Why don't we go and fly around their council offices
[2625.63] Tony: and then they will corner off a little section for us?
[2629.63] Dom: Just go and record your motors, Tony,
[2632.63] Dom: and get a small PA in the back of your van and park up outside their offices for a few hours.
[2636.63] Tony: I'm going to fly in a tiny woop in through a window and bang someone on the head.
[2643.63] Jack: That will learn them.
[2645.63] Jack: Frank's going to start a Kickstarter just because he's got...
[2648.63] Jack: He knows if he hasn't got enough to do.
[2651.63] Jack: You can get a hectare named after yourself if you donate enough.
[2655.63] Dom: Just to be clear, from Martin's point of view,
[2658.63] Dom: he can't proactively invite you down there.
[2663.63] Dom: Your members of the public, if you use the public access and treat it like any other public land,
[2668.63] Dom: it is ultimately between you and anyone who might complain
[2671.63] Dom: and the SDMPA who is the authority who might eventually send a ranger down there.
[2676.63] Dom: The tone when I'm talking to the SDMPA was probably one of frustration, actually,
[2682.63] Dom: as the arbiter in the thing because ultimately they were finding us a useful body, if you like,
[2690.63] Dom: for this issue, a point of liaison.
[2695.63] Dom: And given that we ourselves never had any complaints at all,
[2698.63] Dom: and I think between us we've all spoken to thousands of people who've stopped by,
[2705.63] Dom: tried goggles on, caught the bug, come and joined the club,
[2708.63] Dom: learned to fly with us, local schools, local authorities.
[2711.63] Dom: Everyone was behind it, but a dog walker and an XMP, I think, were the grave of us.
[2717.63] Tony: That's it. Two people.
[2719.63] Tony: And you've done so much for us, though, Dom, and I thank you so much.
[2726.63] Dom: To be honest, I'm actually quite looking forward to getting back to flying.
[2729.63] Dom: I'll see you down there the weekend then.
[2732.63] Dom: Yeah, I'll see you down there here.
[2734.63] Dom: No, I'm just going to overcome the wife's apprehensions.
[2737.63] NJ: Dom, with the amount of weight, the weight of the support that's come behind the whole thing,
[2744.63] NJ: especially in light of what's happened recently,
[2747.63] NJ: and obviously your enormous efforts to try and get this to turn around.
[2752.63] NJ: Is there anywhere else?
[2755.63] NJ: Is there any things of ideas that might be floating around in your head for where to go next?
[2762.63] Dom: From my own point of view, I've kind of run out of steam with it for a bit,
[2766.63] Dom: so I need to collect myself from...
[2769.63] Dom: I think one of the key arguments that it became apparent
[2773.63] Dom: that we'd have to argue in the planning permission for running a flying site
[2778.63] Dom: was we'd have to prove that we couldn't do it somewhere else,
[2781.63] Dom: which just seems like an infinite...
[2784.63] Dom: If I tried to turn that into some formal logic and then code it,
[2787.63] Dom: it becomes infinite recursion. It's just bullshit.
[2790.63] Dom: Sorry, you'll have to edit that out.
[2793.63] Tony: Edit that out.
[2795.63] Jack: He's a Patreon. He's allowed to swear.
[2798.63] Dom: I actually thought we would get to a point where they would either say,
[2803.63] Dom: yes, you can, no, you can't, or they would price us out of the market,
[2806.63] Dom: and it was very definitely the third one because it doesn't make them look bad.
[2811.63] Dom: But we spent...
[2813.63] Dom: Out of the funds, we collected some membership.
[2816.63] Dom: There's obviously some unused membership, so a quick last message on the topic.
[2820.63] Dom: Obviously, there's about 50 or 60 people who are members.
[2823.63] Dom: You had part of a year left.
[2825.63] Dom: We spent some of that cash in doing planning applications and so on.
[2828.63] Dom: There's about 200 quid left of it.
[2830.63] Dom: I could disperse that in £5 and £2 to the various members
[2834.63] Dom: who've got a few quid here and there,
[2836.63] Dom: but I am sort of going to give it a fortnight,
[2838.63] Dom: and unless anyone's got an objection,
[2840.63] Dom: I'm going to donate the last bit of cash to the Mini Airshow Fund
[2843.63] Dom: because if there is a legacy from Hidden Valley,
[2846.63] Dom: then it's Mini Airshow and all power to Andrew
[2849.63] Dom: and all of you guys for making that continue.
[2851.63] Frank: Sorry, there's a mic there.
[2853.63] Jack: That's right.
[2855.63] Jack: Mainly Andrew.
[2857.63] Frank: Well, we've got loads of people helping out,
[2859.63] Frank: but if anyone else doesn't want to help out,
[2861.63] Frank: there's a volunteers group.
[2863.63] Frank: Go to facebook.com forward slash Mini Airshow
[2867.63] Frank: and then there's a volunteers group on the right hand side
[2871.63] Frank: if you want to help out with Mini Airshow.
[2873.63] Dom: Can I just endorse that having run a couple myself
[2876.63] Dom: is a hell of a lot of work, so please help Andrew out.
[2879.63] Dom: Otherwise, he'll look like Tony within a couple of years.
[2883.63] Tony: I'm helping him.
[2885.63] Frank: This Saturday, we're going to have a meeting on site
[2889.63] Frank: at Papa Merfield with all the aero-modellers
[2892.63] Frank: and just make sure everyone knows everyone else's faces
[2897.63] Frank: and try and make sure that we get along well
[2901.63] Frank: because I think that's going to be the big challenge of this year
[2904.63] Frank: is we've got a load of aero-modellers that already use the site
[2908.63] Frank: who have a bit of caution around drones
[2913.63] Frank: and then we've got all the drony people
[2916.63] Frank: who are a bit cautious about these old boys with their balsa planes.
[2922.63] Frank: And their daily miles.
[2924.63] Frank: And their white socks pulled up with everyone
[2929.63] Frank: living wonderfully side by side
[2932.63] Frank: and working together to the greater good and everything.
[2936.63] Frank: So, yeah, come along and meet some people.
[2940.63] Dom: Cool. Listen, I'm going to check out.
[2942.63] Dom: I've got dinner and I've got to play later on the Thursday night show.
[2944.63] Dom: So if you're bored, tune in for a bit of mashed up jungle and classics.
[2948.63] Dom: Don, thanks for everything.
[2951.63] Dom: I'll see you down there.
[2954.63] Dom: Yeah, see you soon.
[2955.63] Dom: Someone tell Bradder's.
[2957.63] Tony: Bradder's knows I've told him we're flying in the weekend.
[2961.63] Dom: Not thanks for the business.
[2965.63] Dom: Good. All right, chaps. I'll speak to you later.
[2968.63] Tony: Thanks so much. I love you, man.
[2970.63] Tony: See you later, guys. Have fun.
[2972.63] Jack: Cheers.
[2973.63] Jack: Tony, I'd just like to point out that you told another man that you loved him.
[2977.63] Jack: I'm not sure I'd just like to point out.
[2980.63] Tony: That is quite a homosexual thing.
[2984.63] Tony: He is tried. I can love him. I love my dad.
[2987.63] Tony: I love you sometimes.
[2990.63] Jack: I'm proud of you, Tony. You're changing.
[2993.63] Jack: I'm not coming out.
[2996.63] Tony: I'm still not with me more.
[2999.63] Tony: I love you too, Henry.
[3001.63] Frank: I love you too, Tony.
[3003.63] Gail: Wait, it's a show.
[3006.63] Tony: No, we've gone waiting.
[3008.63] Tony: It's nine o'clock and everyone goes going.
[3011.63] Tony: It's one big bromance.
[3013.63] Tony: I passed the water.
[3015.63] Andy: Bromance.
[3016.63] Frank: Yeah.
[3017.63] Frank: Bromance, yeah.
[3018.63] Andy: I'll just say, whilst on the subject of bromance,
[3021.63] Andy: you've got BMS Web in the chat.
[3024.63] Andy: And I think we should congratulate Thomas.
[3027.63] Andy: Yes.
[3028.63] Andy: I watched it live.
[3029.63] Andy: Can we clap?
[3030.63] Andy: Yeah, let's clap.
[3031.63] NJ: Can we clap?
[3033.63] NJ: It was absolutely spectacular, as usual.
[3036.63] Andy: I watched on the live stream and I was on the edge of my seat.
[3040.63] Andy: It was an amazing show as well as being, you know, fantastic result for Thomas.
[3047.63] Jack: High envy, Paul.
[3049.63] Jack: Because not only does he sit there and watch it and go,
[3051.63] Jack: that's amazing, like we all do.
[3053.63] Jack: But he also goes, that came out of my balls.
[3057.63] Jack: No wonder that little tadpole won.
[3060.63] Jack: Do you know what I mean?
[3061.63] Jack: I bet he's like...
[3064.63] NJ: Just a little tadpole won.
[3067.63] NJ: Well, Paul.
[3068.63] Jack: He must have dolphin for sperm.
[3070.63] NJ: Let me just show you, Paul.
[3071.63] NJ: Look, my shiny new HD3s.
[3074.63] NJ: The only dolphins that they have.
[3076.63] NJ: Oh, well.
[3077.63] NJ: One of them.
[3078.63] NJ: There you go.
[3079.63] NJ: I've got some somewhere.
[3081.63] Gail: Can I fly that in a rack?
[3084.63] NJ: I want the arch on this guy.
[3087.63] NJ: Yeah.
[3088.63] NJ: Yeah, this guy.
[3089.63] NJ: I don't want bullet holes in it.
[3092.63] NJ: I'm really, really mad at that.
[3094.63] Tony: That's got NJs and that got lights on the back.
[3097.63] Tony: You don't want them on there.
[3099.63] Tony: No, you have to be all black very stealthy.
[3101.63] Andy: That was actually going to be a question I had for Gail.
[3104.63] Andy: Have you ever had the chance to fly a race drone
[3108.63] Andy: rather than an aerial photography?
[3110.63] Andy: No, come on.
[3111.63] Andy: And are you interested in it?
[3112.63] Jack: Talk properly.
[3113.63] Jack: Say, Gail, do you fly a rate, mate?
[3119.63] Andy: Fly a rate.
[3121.63] Andy: She doesn't know what that means.
[3123.63] Andy: I don't know what that means.
[3124.63] Jack: That's sexist.
[3125.63] Jack: Oh, Andy, come on.
[3126.63] Jack: She might.
[3127.63] Jack: She's got out of your mode.
[3129.63] Jack: Up north as well.
[3131.63] Gail: Yeah, it's similar to that.
[3136.63] NJ: I think they call it sport mode now, don't they?
[3139.63] NJ: No, no, no.
[3140.63] Jack: Sport mode just means that it can go faster and tilt further,
[3143.63] Jack: I think.
[3144.63] Andy: My question to Gail was, we fly race drones.
[3148.63] Andy: I know.
[3149.63] Andy: Where they don't have GPS, where they don't have attitude.
[3153.63] Andy: Does that kind of thing interest you on the side?
[3156.63] Gail: Yes, remember, I'm flying manually often
[3161.63] Gail: because, hell, a lot of the times GPS just goes...
[3166.63] Gail: Yeah, yeah.
[3168.63] Tony: Especially down in the tunnels.
[3171.63] Andy: Yeah.
[3172.63] Andy: I'm surprised DJI don't restrict GPS as well in areas like that.
[3180.63] Andy: I imagine they do, do they, Jack?
[3182.63] Andy: Do you ever have to ask for permission, for example,
[3184.63] Andy: to fly in a certain area through the DJI system of...
[3188.63] Andy: Probably ask for a credit card.
[3191.63] NJ: Do you know what I want to know?
[3193.63] NJ: I want to know if you were absolutely in a particularly bad spot
[3197.63] NJ: and you're ready to go up and then just as it's about to happen,
[3200.63] NJ: the DJI quiz comes up.
[3202.63] NJ: Yeah, same questions.
[3204.63] NJ: Yeah, like, has any of that stuff got through?
[3207.63] NJ: Is it safe to fly here?
[3209.63] Jack: Stop bombarding her, let her answer.
[3212.63] Gail: Yes.
[3213.63] Gail: Oh, well, yeah, a lot of...
[3217.63] Gail: You know what?
[3218.63] Gail: That's why I fly...
[3220.63] Gail: I'm telling you, I know this sounds really weird,
[3223.63] Gail: but I am in my hotel room and I fly around in the hotel
[3229.63] Gail: because I'm like all these cookies and all these things that pop up.
[3235.63] Gail: I'm just...
[3236.63] Gail: I want to...
[3237.63] Gail: When I'm out in the field, I just...
[3240.63] Gail: I don't know.
[3241.63] Gail: It doesn't happen because I make sure it doesn't happen.
[3244.63] Gail: You know, I prepare really well.
[3247.63] Gail: And I know often the GPS goes out,
[3251.63] Gail: so I just...
[3252.63] Gail: That's another reason why I don't fly really, like, miles away.
[3258.63] Gail: That's right, yeah, that makes sense.
[3261.63] Gail: I would never see the...
[3264.63] Gail: I would never see it again.
[3266.63] Gail: Not to mention that it probably would get shot down.
[3270.63] NJ: Have you actually ever had that?
[3271.63] NJ: Have you had something go into an area, a problem occurred
[3274.63] NJ: and that was it?
[3275.63] NJ: You just walk away from the drone and think that's it?
[3277.63] NJ: I'm not going back for it.
[3279.63] Gail: No, not...
[3281.63] Gail: No, I'm too...
[3283.63] Gail: I'm so...
[3285.63] Gail: I'm very, very cautious.
[3287.63] Gail: No, I haven't.
[3288.63] Gail: And by the time I get to the area,
[3290.63] Gail: I've passed so many checkpoints
[3292.63] Gail: and I've had to show the drone so many times
[3295.63] Gail: that the military has usually...
[3299.63] Gail: They've called up to the point and said,
[3302.63] Gail: she's on her way.
[3305.63] Frank: Another question that was in the chat earlier is,
[3308.63] Frank: have you ever had any close calls yourself
[3311.63] Frank: if you've been flying or anything
[3313.63] Frank: and been, like, lucky to get away kind of thing?
[3317.63] Gail: Well, like I said most of the time, it's the...
[3322.63] Gail: I wish that they would have better obstacle avoidance apps
[3326.63] Gail: because it is oftentimes when you're in a place like that,
[3332.63] Gail: people really have built up.
[3337.63] Gail: So you've got lines that you just can't see
[3343.63] Gail: and pylons are around and all kinds of, you know, obstacles
[3350.63] Gail: that you don't have in a cow field that I was trained on in the back.
[3357.63] Andy: Those things as well are really difficult for DJI
[3361.63] Andy: because things like cables, they're so thin.
[3364.63] Andy: I mean, if you've ever played around with the object avoidance
[3367.63] Andy: on a DJI product, it really has to be a fairly big obstacle.
[3372.63] Andy: If it's, like, just a twig on a branch
[3375.63] Andy: or something like that, you're crashing into it.
[3377.63] Andy: Oh, you obviously have experienced that.
[3381.63] Andy: I've got a friend, right? I've got a friend.
[3384.63] Andy: No, he's already got a friend.
[3387.63] Andy: We've all got a friend.
[3389.63] Jack: Found this SD card.
[3392.63] Andy: I've got a friend who, when he first got his Mavic,
[3397.63] Andy: was flying it around and the Mavic has got a narrower field of view
[3401.63] Andy: than the Phantom. He had a Phantom previously
[3404.63] Andy: and was flying it around and so it was flying it diagonally
[3409.63] Andy: and so he couldn't actually see that it was flying towards a tree
[3413.63] Andy: because his camera was facing away from the tree
[3415.63] Andy: and it was kind of in the range of the object's avoidance
[3420.63] Andy: but I think with the fact that it was coming at it for an angle
[3423.63] Andy: and the fact that it was winter and they were just really tiny twigs,
[3428.63] Andy: it flew straight into the tree.
[3430.63] Tony: How did you get it back, Andy?
[3432.63] Andy: A massive big ladder and a lot of apologies.
[3435.63] Andy: See?
[3436.63] Tony: Andy, you failed for that.
[3439.63] Andy: Were you afraid of it?
[3440.63] Andy: Oh, okay. I helped to get it back.
[3443.63] Andy: I helped my friend to get it back.
[3447.63] Andy: True story. It is actually true.
[3450.63] Frank: Owen in the chat asked a minute ago,
[3452.63] Frank: do you have any problem from a privacy point of view
[3456.63] Frank: with the people that are in the situations
[3459.63] Frank: where you're filming or taking photos,
[3461.63] Frank: like get release forms or anything?
[3463.63] Frank: Is there anything like that that you have to deal with?
[3465.63] Gail: Well, most people are very happy to see me,
[3471.63] Gail: especially after I show them what I'm doing.
[3477.63] Gail: But no, I think in a war zone,
[3483.63] Gail: you have to...
[3486.63] Gail: I'm not going to go and fly over refugee tents
[3492.63] Gail: where I know women are over in that particular area.
[3498.63] Gail: So when I go to a refugee camp, I will get a layout.
[3502.63] Gail: There's a map.
[3504.63] Gail: I'll get the layout of where particular wash areas are
[3510.63] Gail: and things like that.
[3512.63] Gail: Yes, there are obviously things I won't fly over.
[3516.63] Gail: And I don't want to get...
[3522.63] Gail: Sometimes you can't help it, though,
[3524.63] Gail: because the toilets are everywhere.
[3527.63] Gail: And so when you're...
[3529.63] Gail: I mean, really, look, when I was just in...
[3533.63] Gail: when the Rohingya's just crossed into Bangladesh,
[3536.63] Gail: there was sewers just everywhere.
[3539.63] Gail: So you're flying and you just really see just streams of shit everywhere.
[3545.63] Gail: And it's like...
[3548.63] Gail: Oh, sorry, is that me being beeped for saying shit?
[3553.63] Tony: No.
[3555.63] Tony: Well, I'm down to a war zone.
[3557.63] Tony: Now, now, now.
[3559.63] Andy: I think it's a phone going off by the side of it.
[3562.63] Jack: It's the Google Hangouts.
[3566.63] Jack: Someone's calling you.
[3568.63] Gail: This is my first time on it.
[3571.63] Gail: Oh.
[3572.63] Gail: But the thing is, you see a lot of things that...
[3578.63] Gail: especially when you arrive and the conflict may have just started.
[3583.63] Gail: So when hundreds of thousands were crossing from Myanmar into Bangladesh,
[3592.63] Gail: they were also just starting to build refugee camps.
[3597.63] Gail: They were open toilets.
[3600.63] Gail: And obviously, you edit things like that out.
[3604.63] Gail: But you have to use discretion.
[3608.63] Gail: Not necessarily when you're in the air, but obviously post-production.
[3614.63] NJ: So what's the real...
[3616.63] NJ: Sorry, Andrew.
[3617.63] NJ: So what's the real, like, the bet that really draws you to what you do as a job?
[3622.63] NJ: Because, I mean, this kind of thing always interests me because
[3625.63] NJ: everyone has their passion and, you know, what may be...
[3630.63] NJ: looking at what you do scares the life out of me.
[3633.63] NJ: And as I said, I have a little bit of understanding of what you do.
[3637.63] NJ: But what is it particularly about this job that really kind of gets you out of bed in the morning
[3642.63] NJ: and makes you think, this is where I want to go and this is what I want to do?
[3646.63] NJ: And, you know, what's the draw?
[3649.63] Gail: For me, the draw is that...
[3652.63] Gail: Well, especially now, I think the draw is that these...
[3658.63] Gail: We are just so infiltrated with just so much that if I have the power with a drone now
[3669.63] Gail: to sort of change the way news...
[3673.63] Gail: That we can see news.
[3676.63] Gail: We can see it from an aerial perspective.
[3678.63] Gail: It's so much more interesting because you really do get a bigger picture of what is going on.
[3685.63] Gail: I realize now, a lot of times I'm looking through my stills, footed, my stills,
[3692.63] Gail: and I'm just thinking, wow, man, if I had this drone, you know, if I had this quadcopter just five years ago,
[3702.63] Gail: it would have been so much...
[3705.63] Gail: I would have been able to bring so much more back of the story.
[3710.63] Gail: And when you're droning that, you really see just how much is going on.
[3716.63] Gail: And for me, that's everything.
[3721.63] Gail: I've always had that interest in working as a photojournalist.
[3728.63] NJ: So it sounds like it's brought some real scale to what you...
[3732.63] Gail: Yeah, the scale has completely changed my life.
[3737.63] Gail: This is very weird, and most photojournalists would be freaked out.
[3742.63] Gail: But for me now, I just take a few stills, and then when I get there, all I want to do is drone.
[3748.63] Gail: I just want to drone, drone, drone, drone, drone.
[3751.63] Gail: Because I can't believe what the hell is going on down on the ground.
[3756.63] Gail: And I can't believe for 20 years how much I've missed of the story.
[3761.63] Gail: And it isn't until you drone over these areas that are so conflicted with war and refugees and all that,
[3773.63] Gail: you cannot believe the state of things, the environmental impact,
[3778.63] Gail: the degradation of just everything around you, especially the environment.
[3784.63] Gail: You really see the impact of what's going on.
[3789.63] Gail: And just really, I know there's probably a lot of people who are like,
[3793.63] Gail: oh, global warming, it's shit and all that.
[3797.63] Gail: And I'm not trying to convince anybody of it.
[3800.63] Gail: I'm just saying, wow, when you do it, I challenge anybody to go to some of these spots
[3809.63] Gail: and tell me that environmental degradation is not going on,
[3814.63] Gail: because you really see it on a mass level when you're droning over it.
[3821.63] NJ: Yeah, certain very, very interesting stuff and a very, very unique,
[3829.91] NJ: very unique look at it from your point of view.
[3831.91] NJ: So, yeah, thank you very much for sharing your views and opinions on it.
[3836.91] NJ: It's fascinating subjects.
[3838.91] NJ: I'm very different from the channel.
[3840.91] Gail: What's interesting about what you're doing, though, is I always think about you guys a lot, actually,
[3846.91] Gail: because you're doing something that involves, you think of us as very separate,
[3854.91] Gail: but I actually don't.
[3855.91] Gail: I think that one of the reasons why I wanted to come on the show is because,
[3859.91] Gail: actually, I don't think that the way that we drone, sure,
[3863.91] Gail: you might not be droning through Islamic State tunnels.
[3867.91] Gail: But one thing that you are doing that fascinates me is the speed by which you are able to take the drone at.
[3881.91] Gail: And you're doing that incredibly effective.
[3885.91] Gail: And I would love to be with one of you.
[3889.91] Tony: I'm for hire.
[3892.91] Tony: I want to come.
[3894.91] Tony: I want to go to a conflict zone and do it.
[3897.91] Tony: I really would do it.
[3899.91] Tony: I promise you.
[3900.91] Gail: I think the speed by which you are able to fly is so challenging for me.
[3906.91] Gail: I just want to I really want to learn more about that because I think that could help me a lot.
[3912.91] Tony: I think I think we're also all part of the mini air show.
[3916.91] Frank: Yeah, I was just going to say.
[3920.91] Frank: Are you available on the 12th of May?
[3923.91] Frank: Really?
[3924.91] Tony: Yeah.
[3925.91] Tony: I think you'd be a great person.
[3927.91] Tony: I would be in person in Vault 2.
[3929.91] Frank: It's at Papa Marefield.
[3933.91] Frank: She's just on the train outside of London.
[3936.91] Gail: Do you guys fly through obstacles?
[3939.91] Frank: There will be plenty of obstacles.
[3941.91] Andy: Yeah.
[3942.91] Andy: We fly into obstacles, not on purposely.
[3945.91] Andy: And there are obstacles you're allowed to fly into, by the way, like racing gates.
[3950.91] Andy: Think about the Red Bull Air Race, if you've ever seen that, but shrunk down.
[3955.91] Andy: Right.
[3956.91] Gail: So how is it really OK?
[3958.91] Gail: So it's not really that different.
[3961.91] Gail: I mean, you're talking about speed.
[3963.91] Gail: I'm talking about speed.
[3964.91] Gail: You're talking about obstacles.
[3966.91] Gail: I'm talking about obstacles.
[3967.91] Gail: Really, we have quite a lot in common.
[3969.91] Andy: I think as well you have to think that regardless to the sort of genre of flying that you're in,
[3974.91] Andy: we're all part of the demand that creates this technology.
[3979.91] Andy: If we weren't all here demanding this technology, companies like DJI,
[3983.91] Andy: they wouldn't be selling these drones and making them.
[3986.91] Andy: So I think we've all got that in common, for sure.
[3989.91] Andy: The market's there.
[3991.91] Andy: Yeah.
[3992.91] Jack: Except some of us aren't getting shot at.
[3995.91] Jack: That might make you a better pilot.
[3997.91] Jack: It might like, you know, racing's easy.
[4001.91] Jack: It's having like, you know, 556 whizzing past my head.
[4007.91] Tony: Can I fly from a tank, though?
[4009.91] Jack: No, because you won't get any reception, dickhead.
[4012.91] Tony: Good point.
[4013.91] Tony: Well, I can have a long aerial go now from my Teralis out the top of the tank.
[4019.91] NJ: Well, as I said, bringing my crossfire system in for a kilometre range.
[4024.91] Tony: Man, I would so do it, though.
[4027.91] Jack: Take Tony.
[4028.91] Jack: I'm well up for, you know, should we start a kickstarter now?
[4031.91] Jack: Let's get Tony shot.
[4033.91] Tony: I don't want to get shot.
[4035.91] Tony: I just want to go out on fly.
[4038.91] Jack: Thanks.
[4039.91] Jack: What's your PayPal?
[4041.91] Jack: Right.
[4042.91] Jack: Right.
[4043.91] Jack: Let's call it there.
[4045.91] Jack: We've got an editor now, and we don't want to go over time and make him really upset.
[4049.91] Jack: But thank you so much for coming on the show.
[4052.91] Gail: Thank you.
[4053.91] Gail: Please come back.
[4054.91] Jack: It was so interesting.
[4055.91] Gail: I'm going to be there May 12th.
[4057.91] Jack: Cool.
[4058.91] Jack: Wicked.
[4059.91] Jack: Look forward to seeing you.
[4060.91] Jack: Yep.
[4061.91] Jack: Yeah.
[4062.91] Jack: 100%.
[4063.91] Jack: And we'll give you details.
[4064.91] Jack: I think there's a meet and greet thing for all the names so people can come over and chat
[4070.99] Jack: to you.
[4071.99] Jack: I'm in charge of that.
[4072.99] Jack: Not your story.
[4073.99] Jack: So please bring, you know, your photos and like footage that you can show people.
[4078.35] Jack: Really?
[4079.35] Jack: Think about doing that.
[4080.35] Jack: Yeah.
[4081.35] Jack: Because if people watch this and then go there, then they'll want to see stuff.
[4086.87] Jack: Yeah.
[4087.87] Jack: Okay.
[4088.87] Gail: Any gifts I can bring for the show next time?
[4091.87] Jack: Yeah.
[4092.87] Jack: Vegan cookies.
[4093.87] Jack: Tony.
[4094.87] Jack: Okay.
[4095.87] Jack: Food.
[4096.87] Jack: I like food.
[4098.87] Jack: Okay.
[4099.87] Jack: I like food.
[4101.87] Jack: I don't know.
[4103.87] Jack: But thank you.
[4104.87] Jack: You've been listening to Let's Drone Out.
[4106.87] Jack: We'd like to thank all our supporters on Patreon and subscribers on YouTube.
[4112.07] Jack: If you're listening to this on iTunes, please go and give us a rating.
[4117.63] Jack: If you're not listening it onto iTunes and you go over to iTunes, Let's Drone Out and
[4121.27] Jack: give us a review.
[4124.43] Jack: You've been joined by Andrew slash Frank.
[4126.91] Andy: Good night.
[4127.91] Jack: Andy R.C.
[4128.91] Andy: Thank you for watching and listening.
[4132.07] Jack: Gail.
[4133.07] Jack: Sorry, I don't know.
[4134.07] Jack: You say her name.
[4136.07] Jack: Orenstein.
[4137.07] Jack: Orenstein.
[4138.07] Jack: Do you want to say goodbye?
[4142.07] Gail: Thank you so much.
[4143.07] Gail: It's been a pleasure.
[4145.07] Jack: The sexy.
[4148.07] Andy: We've already done me, Jack.
[4150.07] Andy: What are you talking about?
[4152.07] Jack: Come on, Enjo.
[4154.07] Jack: See you soon, guys.
[4156.07] Jack: How do I sound on your monitors?
[4158.07] Andy: You sound amazing.
[4160.07] Tony: You sound great, Jack.
[4162.07] Jack: Road mic, Tony.
[4165.07] Jack: You've been joined by Tony.
[4167.07] Tony: Au revoir.
[4169.07] Jack: You've been joined by Jack.
[4171.07] Jack: Thank you.
[4172.07] Jack: Right until the fight.
[4173.07] Jack: Peace.
[4174.07] Frank: Good night.
[4175.07] Frank: Thank you so much.
[4176.07] Andy: Good night.
[4180.85] Andy: Telemetry lost.