Fly, feet on ground

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA had not too long ago made a list of rules and regulations regarding the legality of flying drones in India especially without a license This for a while set the industry in turmoil and many doubts were cast on the enthusiastrsquos drone flying scene as drones above 250 grams needed special permission for import and an Unmanned Aerial Operator Permit UAOP license to fly drones Only the sub250 gram drones were spared regulationUtkarsh Verma and Puneet Xaxa from Whoopmasters IndiaInstead of dying out like they were supposed to the Indian drone scene has exploded with sub250 gram homemade drones called Cinewhoops that deliver quality video while shedding all unnecessary weight Drone enthusiast Lysander Fernandes said ldquoI have professional experience in flying stabilised drones such as the DJI Mavics and Phantom for four years But imagine being air borne with your drone to rapidly descending and having the dexterity to fly under a moving car all fluid aerial movementsmdashin one go Sounds impossible right An FPV pilot with a CineStar Go Whoop attempted this successfully It weighed a mere 237 gmsrdquoAn Umma85x Cinewhoop drone with a strippeddown GoPro cameraCineWhoop drones also go in to the 500700 gms range if they have a heavier camera in which case DGCA regulations apply This is why enthusiasts avoid itCine whatThese drones are called Cinewhoops because they have a highresolution camera that can record cinema quality video and the whoops comes from tiny ducted race drones referring to the protection around the propellers To shed the weight the drones are stripped of all unnecessary electronics protective coverings and even heavy batteries Most drones have three to five minutes of flight time before they need a battery change Flying these drones is also a lot of hard work because once most of the assists are removed drone pilots have to rely on their own skills But the rewards are manyThe GepRC Cinewhoop drone that can record 4K videos weighing in at just 184 gmsldquoFlying FPV drones can be addictive because of the immersive experience it offers Firstperson view FPV is from the perspective of the pilot via the onboard camera of the drone fed wirelessly to video goggles It is practically not possible to fly drones like a Mavic or Phantom like an FPV drone Up until now drone shots in cinema have had a standard perspective But now there is an increase in demand for more aerobatic shots Cinewhoops also help reduce the cost of expensive gear and the risk involved in attempting a difficult aerial shot Personally itrsquos an outofbody experiencerdquo says Ashish Modasia a seasoned FPV PilotA beta 95X drone with Indiarsquos only naked GoPro 8Build your own CinewhoopDrone building and flying is not a cheap hobby and it requires a lot of practice dedication and research Building a Cinewhoop can cost anywhere between Rs 15000 to Rs 50000 The controller and firstperson view headset cost an additional Rs 15000ndashRs 50000 Flysky Frsky Radiomaster make a basic starter controller that you can pick up You can also buy kits that come with instructions to build everything from construction to how to strip down a GoPro are included A basic analogue kit starts between Rs 25000 to Rs 30000 add the FPV kit and you are looking at a total of Rs 55000 to Rs 80000According to Piyush Parmar of Orbiter films ldquoDeconstructed GoPros are a great tool to shoot in compact spaces as they can be mounted on smaller drones called whoops Whoops are safer to fly in compact spaces with real living subjects as they are ducted and light weight Owing to their smaller size and slow speed it is easier to manoeuvre through gaps and constricted spaces while maintaining the cinematic feel of the shotrdquo says Utkarsh Verma who builds drones and programmes them Currently says Verma the trend has not caught on in the country as compared to abroad because of the risks involved while decasing them and also the right tools to do that are not available readily in the countryThe Indian film market has only just started to accept and experiment with FPV and the multiple possibilities of perspective it offers ldquoI have decased my own GoPro 8 and have been using it for my commercial projects The international community for deconstructed GoPros has come a long way in the last 23 years and constantly tinkering with the idea of decasing a GoPro safelyrdquo says Verma who built more than 40 nano to micro drones in the last one year He says it is not at all challenging once you have understood the hobby well enough and chosen the right partsDonrsquot need a drone to startThe good news is you can test if flying a drone is a hobby you are interested in by using simulators There are three popular simulators The first is Lift Off Rs 565 which is available on PC PS4 and Xbox Lift Off lets players experience flying an FPV drone It is used by novices to learn and by veterans to practice and race The spatial skills here translate to real life very wellFPV Free Rider is another game that simulates being a drone pilot It is available on Android PC Mac and Linux for Rs 370 The selling point of Free Rider is that it can procedurally generate new tracks and also environmental conditions that give you an idea of how to fly no matter what the situationDrone Racing League simulator Rs 349 has a lot of research behind it and you can simulate drones you might end up flying right in the simulator The game is used to train the racers in the drone league and it is an excellent tool to learn how to handle the speed of the smaller drones The game is available on Xbox and PCStrong communityThe best thing about drone flying is the community behind it You can start by registering yourself on the Indian Drone Racing League website If you just want to learn and connect with people from the community the registration is free The site has a dedicated Cinewhoop sections with nearly 1500 people on it You can also connect with Whoopmasters India on their Instagram Started by Verma and Puneet Xaxa it is now a 300 member community Their members are happy to teach educate and help others within the communityResource stationReady to Fly RTF drone kits and parts can be purchased athttpsanubisrccomhttpstujorccomhttpsrcmumbaicomLinks of interestIDRL website httpsdroneracingindiacomWhoopmasters India httpsinstagramcomwhoopmastersindia