A Quadcopter View of the Dunalley Bushfires
— Filmed in January, 2013
This is some of my video I took over a week of transporting supplies in and out of the bushfire areas near the Tasman Peninsula. The locations include Boomer Bay, Dunalley, Murdunna and Sommers Bay. I was invited by locals into many remote locations not visible from any roads and far from Dunalley to give people a better idea of the unseen damage inflicted by the fires in these areas and some of the miraculously close calls amongst them. I used a small quadcopter I built with a Gopro black edition that I fly as a hobby. I hope to give people an alternative perspective to the dangers of bushfires, how quickly they can get out of control and how little is left in the aftermath of a fire on this scale. Stay safe! Be prepared! You can learn more from the Tasmanian Fire Service website.
I’m an FPV (first person viewing) pilot living in Hobart. I’ve been building and flying planes and UAV systems for about 4 years now. I had a friend who lived in Murdunna, and myself and another guy decided to try and get him a generator and supplies after the first big day of the 2013 bushfires. We found a back way to get access to the restricted areas and decided to take the opportunity to transport more generators and supplies to other people we met on our travels. We averaged 2 to 3 trips a day with two vehicles travelling as far as Eaglehawk. I always keep a quadcopter or similar in the back of my car so i flew around every chance I got in an effort to show everybody the full extent of the damage. I had never seen anything like it. I fly multicopters as a hobby, but hope to get a commercial license soon. For now I will just enjoy making videos for youtube and showing off the potential for these amazing machines.
