I was so entertained by this, I thought it would be worth sharing for WUWT readers. Imagine flying a drone with an HD camera through a fireworks display. Guaranteed to leave a smile on your face for the sheer novelty of the viewpoint, watching the near misses, and even a couple of hits…
Videographer Jos Stiglingh flies a DJI Phantom 2 drone with a GoPro Hero 3 Silver through the heart of a fireworks show. Highly recommended that you switch to full screen mode and set the video playback for HD.
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Re Walt Stone (@Cuppacafe) says: July 5, 2014 at 6:36 pm
Sorry, California Coastal Commission beat you to it, cancelling the 4th for one small coastal community:
http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2008/6/W13-6-2008.pdf
[begin short excerpt]
Commission staff recommends revisions to the Cease and Desist Order. Language to be added is shown in italic and underlined, as shown below:
Page 22, new subsections to First Respondent’s Defense section, should read as follows after paragraph starting “The Gualala River is within the Commission’s retained permit jurisdiction (See Mendocino County Post Certification map for LCP – Exhibit 11)…”
2. The Proposed Fireworks Display involves the Placement of Solid Material The launch requires the placement of solid materials on the ground so that aerial shells can be released. The shells are launched from mortars using black powder charges. The lift charge and shell are placed at the bottom of a mortar that has either been buried in the ground or affixed to a wooden rack. Therefore, the proposed fireworks display meets the definition of development as it involves the placement of solid material on land.
I’ve already seen a bunch of Facebook comments that this should be illegal, could have prematurely detonated a firework by running into it with associated Bad Things Happening, i.e, SOMEBODY WAS HAVING UNAUTHORIZED FUN!!!
I think Ric Werme was the first to take that path here.
ossqss: “And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air” is strictly forbidden without permits from your local town government and fire department.
More Independence Day fun:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/america-fuck-yeah
Janice I liked the music too, maybe the 1812 overture? Bit sober though. I hope everyone had a pleasant July 4th.
Marcos says: July 5, 2014 at 4:29 pm
why are remote controlled aircraft now called ‘drones?’
Yes, many RC modelers are asking that question.
Probably the same reason we now call an arctic cold front a polar vortex. But that goes back a long way. The school janitor became the custodian, then became the custodial engineer. Congress should pass a law, or maybe the President could take Executive Action.
I’ve even seen “manned drones” mentioned in the news. Ouch. Black boxes, quantum leaps, an endless amount of ignorance (in the best sense of the word, of course) flowing from the news media, who I doubt are aware that media is the plural of medium.
I’m starting to feel like a tourist on this planet, just passing through.
Great video, by the way. Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” would work, too.
JamesS says:
July 5, 2014 at 7:25 pm
ossqss: “And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air” is strictly forbidden without permits from your local town government and fire department.
——————————————————————————————————–
Hence, the beauty of the USA, no?
We actually have the right to bear arms and get the proper permits as necessary…..
Just sayin, , , , ,
How does that work in other countries?
Was checking to see if there were different musical accompaniments on YT, and I see the original video was posted May 13, 2014. That would explain what I thought was a rather small and subdued group of spectators at the beginning of the video. Does anyone know where it was filmed? It may not have even been in the US.
If you are in the US and travelling home on Sunday, please drive safely. Hope you had a great Independence Day.
Well.
Hi, Everybody!
Thanks, Ric Werme, how very nice to know that you noticed I was MIA. Yes, indeed, I have been absent, mostly because I am (in your ear) between jobs and have been for a long time and really need to put a lot more time into ending this loooong “between” time. Your observation skills (esp. your fine memory) were right on as usual. I hope that your busyness has been happy busyness.
**************************
Steve P — YOU WIN! “Stars and Stripes FOREVER!!!!” Yes!
**********************************************
Hi, Tom J! Have you been to any drag (or other type of car race) races yet? You were planning to… . I hope you make it to at least one. Happy 4th of July a day late to you, too!
#(:))
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Hi, dear Bush Bunny. Yeah, “1812 Overture” would be better. Nice to hear from you. Take care.
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ossqss: “And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air”
… gave proof through the night,
that our flag — was — STILL — THERE!” Yea.
Good one, Oss Qss.
Don’t play this one (at least all you Americans) unless you feel like standing up…. (WHAT??!!! You DO stand… every time….. don’t you? I can’t help it. Even if I am dog tired, I drag myself up off the couch and stand. Feel guilty if I don’t. I LOVE MY COUNTRY!!!)
#(:))
For an especially moving rendition….
“Star Spangled Banner” …. on September 12, 2001
London, England
(the video’s poor quality is far outshone by the deep feeling it conveys)
Happy Independence (from another still-great nation) Day.
With love.
Great fireworks!
Re music…what happened to Music for the Royal Fireworks…GF Handel?
WW2 bomber crews would certainly relate, both US and British. US crews flew through exploding 88mm and 120 mm artillery projectiles at 18,000-24,000 feet over Germany, and UK crews at night at even lower altitudes, where the fireworks were lethal mortar bombs. Those explosions didn’t throw sparkling smoke, but hard jagged, metal fragments at supersonic velocity. We owe our current freedom to dissent with the political establishment, Nazis, etc, due to heroics like that.
Not quite up with the times, I have a laptop with a 27″ monitor attached and Windows 7. I took screenshots and saved them to a folder, then set that folder to do a slide show for my desktop background.
It came out fabulously.
Thanks, Anthony!
I can’t agree with those who thought the music was inappropriate. Andrea Boccelli and fireworks – perfect!
Beautiful perspective of fireworks!
It reminded me of a time in my misspent youth when I, along with a bunch of other 12-to-15-year-old punks, wanted a closer view of the fireworks. The crowd was suppose to sit in one area, as the fireworks were shot out over another, so that falling embers would not land on people. The out-of-bounds area was roped off, and guarded by a couple burly policemen who glared fiercely every time we neared the rope, so we walked away innocently whistling, awaiting the deepening dark of summer dusk. Then we practiced boyish stealth. Most of the boys made it into a small grove of pines within the ropes, but I got nabbed and was sent outside the ropes with my ears buzzing and my knees knocking, and therefore climbed a tall pine further down the ropes, only a little ways inside the rope. It was one of the best views of fireworks I’ve ever had, looking down at the upturned faces of the crowd and sideways and slightly up at the flowers and bombs. However my favorite view of all was as follows:
One style of fireworks back then would reach the top of its arc and then, only as it was falling, would produce a flower, and then a flower, and then a flower, and then a white dot with a tremendous bang. By the time the bang came the works had fallen quite close to the top of the little grove of trees my friends hid in, and I envied them. Then one shell had a glitch. There was a flower, a flower, a flower, and then a little trail of sparks, made by a burning fuse, fell into that grove of trees. Then that glade was lit from within, and there was a tremendous bang. This was followed by a mass exodus of shouting boys running like mad in every direction, as the two officers looked on in complete astonishment. I still chuckle, remembering, fifty years later. (No one was hurt beyond ringing ears.)
ossqss says:
July 5, 2014 at 9:39 pm
Hence, the beauty of the USA, no?
We actually have the right to bear arms and get the proper permits as necessary…..
Just sayin, , , , ,
How does that work in other countries?
Gareth replies.
It’s worth checking the outcomes, the right to bear arms varies in many other countries, but the effects are interesting. A study by two New York City cardiologists found that the U.S. has 88 guns per 100 people and 10 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people — more than any of the other 27 developed countries they studied. However, Japan, on the other hand, had only .6 guns per 100 people and .06 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people, making it the country with both the fewest guns per capita and the fewest gun-related deaths. The correlation between gun deaths and freedom to own guns is pretty close. It may be a contested correlation like Co2 and climate, but there is a lot of evidence to suggest it’s an informative and very reliable correlation. The right to own guns may be an important principle for many in the US, but that right comes at a terrible price. Personally I think it’s far too late to try and reduce gun ownership in the States, other countries just have to ensure the problem is contained within the US, with it’s citizens learning how to survive such a situation. Lets hope the streets of the big cities do not end up like the fireworks video every evening after dark.
“There’s no doubt that the HD video is stunning. It’s also dangerous and likely unlawful (at least if it occurred in the United States). The flight is unsafe as the existence of the drone in the airspace above the fireworks display creates an increased risk of hazardous debris (from the fireworks or the drone) falling into spectator areas. There is also the remote possibility that a firework colliding with a drone may divert the pyrotechnic downward into spectator areas, causing it to detonate where it otherwise should not. The drone in this video made it safely through the fireworks, but put a few more drones in the air and you’re also bound to have a mid-air collision. All of these factors show how this operation was unsafe. While this drone operator escaped getting hit with a firework, there’s no way he could have planned that. Avoiding the explosions was luck, not skill.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/07/04/video-shows-drone-flying-through-fireworks/
“There is no light if you are not here with me. Lands that I never shared with you, I shall experience with you on ships across seas that exist no more. With you, I will go. I know you are with me”
Good morning and thank you for the Andrea Bocelli (:
Joel O’Bryan might have added that those RAF and US Air Force pilots flying through flak at night would know that the really big explosions in the sky were the aircraft carrying their friends, particularly if they had not yet had time to drop their bombs. 44.4% of the 125,000 RAF air crew who flew during World War II were killed in action.
Gareth Phillips
July 6, 2014 at 5:55 am
May I suggest that you look at gun ownership rates in Switzerland (where every able bodied male is a member of the armed forces and thus required to maintain a rifle at home) and the rate of homicide in Switzerland. It’s quite a bit different than the picture you present.
I’d suggest, in regards to countries with highly restrictive gun ownership policies, to look at their total overall homicide rate and not just the homicide rate involving guns.
Anyone who listens to the William Tell overture and thinks of the Lone Ranger is not an intellectual!
Fantastic perspective! I believe this video would be great with any number of musical choices.
My recently departed Mother would cry every time she heard Andrea Bocelli sing this song. It was a perfect reminder for me.
Thank you.
Bad match of music to video? I’ll say! The visual impact is totally lost on Andrea Bocelli, who is blind!
Tom J says:
July 6, 2014 at 8:26 am
“Gun violence” in the US is sociological. The two main demographic groups affected are young, minority urban gangster males killing each other (& innocent bystanders) & old, Anglo, rural sick or despondent males killing themselves. Firearms save more lives each year than are taken with them by others in the US, & our homicide rate has fallen as the population has aged, even while the number of guns owned has increased dramatically.
Because of its gangbangers, the US has a higher than average murder rate for a developed country, although even some European countries’ intentional homicide rates are higher. Other European countries have recently suffered more mass murders than the US. Homicide rates in Latin America (except Chile), the Caribbean & Sub-Saharan Africa are generally much higher than in the US, according to UN statistics, which may or may not be reliable:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
If you exclude big cities, America has murder rates comparable to Europe, while still more than developed Asia. Among the 12 most populous countries (with over four billion people), Japan’s reported murder rate is 0.3 per 100,000 population, Indonesia’s 0.6, China’s 1.0 (same as France & UK, not among the top 12), Bangladesh’s 2.7, India’s 3.5, the US’ 4.8, Pakistan’s 7.7, the Philippines’ 8.8, Russia’s 9.2, Nigeria’s 20.0, Mexico’s 21.5 & Brazil’s 25.2. Again, can’t vouch for reliability of these alleged data.
PS: So a lot of murder still takes place the old-fashioned way, ie with edged weapons or blunt instruments.
Fireworks of a different kind with a DGI Phantom…