Video © 2014 Raymond Fogarty. Cork City, April 13th, 2014.



 I was looking for a new hobby and it came down to buying either a telescope or a drone. So I went with the latter and it was probably the coolest thing I ever bought! Camera drones only just appeared and the rules regarding unmanned aircraft were unknown to most, including me. I spent a lot of time with my new toy, marveling at how the world looked from high above. I was able to fly as high and as far as possible and it was amazing! I shared the videos with friends and family but unbeknownst to me, my uncle sent this unedited clip to Cork’s Red FM, who shared it on their social media.

I woke up one morning with an avalanche of notifications and messages from many Irish media outlets. The unedited clip went viral because apparently, no one had ever seen Cork city like this!

It did of course attract the attention of the IAA who informed me that flying like this was a danger to folks on the ground and to helicopters or planes that might be occupying the same airspace. It’s something that I didn’t think of, assuming my little drone was just an expensive toy that posed no real threat.

I was asked to take the clip down and I promptly complied. Yet, my video impressed folks enough for them to suggest that I do something better; to get educated about the rules of the air and be a responsible drone pilot. I studied for and got my drone pilots license and it laid the foundations to start a successful business!

I’m grateful for the people in the IAA who gave me a chance to prove that I could still enjoy drones while flying responsibly; and for the chance to turn it into something more than a hobby.

Check out my website [ Ссылка ] to see what I do now!

And remember to #FlySafe. [ Ссылка ]

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