National Park Service Drone Shoot

[Vic Moss]

We were just given permission to share some of the photos we were able to take at Mesa Verde National Park last week. We were there shooting for their new visitor center video. It took a ton of paperwork, and a Blue Drone, but we got it done. Skydio provided not only the drone (X2 Color), but also two of the creative employees to assist me with any questions I had during the shoot. It was a LOT of paperwork, but it paid off.

NPS/DOI also were watching this to see how it went. It went great. So there may be future opportunities to fly drones for the National Park Service.

We can't share any video yet, we have to wait until the video is released in the park (or online) before we can share any clips of that. I can't wait to see that.

But here they are from the first drone shoot for a National Park.

 

[Recoveryone]

Great job Vic, sometimes we have to take what we can to move forward

 

[Dave Pitman]

Very nice, and good job trudging through with the paperwork! Good thing you had to use a blue drone for that sensitive location.

Don't get discouraged when some academic decides they want to "study" the relics or something and bypass all that mess. Happens up here with marine life that have huge buffers for everyone except the aforementioned group. It is what it is I guess.

 

[airpreneur]

That's fantastic @Vic Moss! Now that there's a precedent hopefully the next time the process will be a bit easier. Things like this are exactly the kind that I hope to be a part of my business as part of the point of doing this instead of a day job is to get out there into nature.

BTW what's a "Blue Drone"? I haven't heard that term before. I also am curious about the X2, was it a requirement for some reason? Would love to hear more about the paperwork required and what kinds of advice you could relate.

Looking forward to checking out the videos once they are available.

 

[Vic Moss]

That's fantastic @Vic Moss! Now that there's a precedent hopefully the next time the process will be a bit easier. Things like this are exactly the kind that I hope to be a part of my business as part of the point of doing this instead of a day job is to get out there into nature.

Stuff like this in the future will hopefully be easier to get approved.

BTW what's a "Blue Drone"? I haven't heard that term before. I also am curious about the X2, was it a requirement for some reason? Would love to hear more about the paperwork required and what kinds of advice you could relate.

"Blue Drone" is a gov't designation that is purely political. It means that someone in DC approved it for gov't use. It's basically supposed to be for DOD security reasons, which makes sense. But requiring one for something like this is preposterous.

Looking forward to checking out the videos once they are available.

Me too.

 

[dronecyclops]

Way cool

 

[Vic Moss]

Way cool

Totally agree. Had to pinch myself a few times during the gig.

 

[TreeLineView]

Nice job Vic. Watching this closely. I have some interest from some towns on Cape Cod on the National Seashore. They want to contract me for flights to monitor shark activity for swimmers during peek summer months. Have not had much luck with NPS so far

 

[Vic Moss]

Nice job Vic. Watching this closely. I have some interest from some towns on Cape Cod on the National Seashore. They want to contract me for flights to monitor shark activity for swimmers during peek summer months. Have not had much luck with NPS so far

I would think this would be a slam dunk for use case within a National Park. It's even more fodder for the argument that the blanket ban is moronic.

 

[WildDoktor]

I'm just seeing this (haven't visited this site in a while!); this is awesome, for several reasons!

Question: how did this opportunity happen? Did you contact them, or did they contact you? Or something else entirely?

 

[GFields]

Great work, thanks for sharing

 

[Vic Moss]

I'm just seeing this (haven't visited this site in a while!); this is awesome, for several reasons!

Question: how did this opportunity happen? Did you contact them, or did they contact you? Or something else entirely?

The producer reached out to me after a couple of other people suggested I may be able to get permission.

 

[ssokc]

We were just given permission to share some of the photos we were able to take at Mesa Verde National Park last week. We were there shooting for their new visitor center video. It took a ton of paperwork, and a Blue Drone, but we got it done. Skydio provided not only the drone (X2 Color), but also two of the creative employees to assist me with any questions I had during the shoot. It was a LOT of paperwork, but it paid off.

NPS/DOI also were watching this to see how it went. It went great. So there may be future opportunities to fly drones for the National Park Service.

We can't share any video yet, we have to wait until the video is released in the park (or online) before we can share any clips of that. I can't wait to see that.

But here they are from the first drone shoot for a National Park.

Very Jealous! Have been trying to get permission to fly at several near me of simple things like campgrounds and focal points, but the canned statement is always, we don't allow that...

 

[azuretrails]

I heard the paperwork for NPS permits were even worse than filing for FAA waivers. Curious, what did they require in terms of insurance? Did you have to use any safe-recovery devices?

 

[Vic Moss]

I heard the paperwork for NPS permits were even worse than filing for FAA waivers. Curious, what did they require in terms of insurance? Did you have to use any safe-recovery devices?

The production company dealt with all of the insurance and permitting. But yes, flying a drone from NPS lands and waters is a royal PITA. And it shouldn't be.