[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: What does it mean to be a certified drone pilot?
Ray Roman, Filmmakers/Drone Operator/Editor: I wanted to be certified as a drone pilot because I knew going out for these different jobs I would be questioned, even for jobs that I’m meant to be there or hired to be there. You might have a manager of a store come out and ask me what I am doing. It just helped to be able to be certified.
Plus you do have to be certified in order to obtain FAA clearance in certain spots where you can’t just fly up a drone recreationally, you need to have the right certification.
Film Courage: That’s here in the states?
Ray: It’s probably throughout because the FAA is federal. I believe even around Disneyland they have what they call a TFR. There’s a flight restriction around a certain radius that you’re not even supposed to fly a drone around that area. You can obtain clearance to fly in some of these areas, it just takes a little bit more time.
I wanted to be certified so I know the proper steps to take and how to figure out how to get through these obstacles.
Of course you don’t want to have any incident where you’re up at the same level as an airplane. You don’t want to cause any kind of collisions. There’s some big responsibility that the average everyday drone user may not be aware of.
Film Courage: Is that something that would be common? Wouldn’t the drones be lower than most flight paths?
Ray: You can just shoot the drone up into the sky and press the up arrow on the remote control and send it up as high as you want. There is a height limit, generally 400 feet above ground level. Yes, these other planes generally fly higher than that but for somebody recreationally who’s just doing it as a hobby or just for fun, they may not know these rules.
It was getting my certification that I learned that.
Film Courage: So not only do they have to see you operate it, but there’s a quiz or a test?
Ray: There’s a test. Actually, they didn’t need to see me operate but there are I guess issues with that like if you were to crash it, I believe it’s said if there’s damage over $500 then you have to report it to the FAA. It was mainly just a…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Filmmaker Raymond J. Roman is a Producer on the documentary Concussed: The American Dream. With more than two decades of experience in video production since 2000, Ray has refined his expertise across various roles. For this documentary, he not only Produced but also applied his creative talents as the Director of Photography and Drone Operator. In addition to his film work, his company, Ray Roman Media, specializes in capturing commercial and residential real estate listings throughout Southern California, as well as covering local stories from San Diego to Riverside County. Ray Roman is consistently working on new projects and looks forward to sharing upcoming stories with his audience.
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