Uploaded September 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
burningman.com
song: "1000 Oceans" by Sunlight Project
This is my aerial perspective of some of the more interesting parts of Black Rock City 2013 from three radio-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles I operated each morning from Monday to Saturday. I used a fixed-wing foamboard plane, a quadcopter, and a Y6 hexacopter. All video taken with a GoPro Hero 2. The aircraft were controlled via FPV (first person view) with video transmitted back from the aircraft to video goggles.
I did not bring any trinkets, stickers, or gifts to Burning Man this year but I hope this video will remain as a small keepsake and memoir for other burners who can watch again as time goes by. There were too many amazing moments and people for me to remember but some of my favorite people and places are featured and noted in the video. Thank you for making my experience what it was, in the unique way that you did.
All of my video is open and free and encouraged for non-commercial uses. Send me a note if you use it so I can also enjoy your work. If you need raw video send me a PM and I will direct you to a download site.
If you like trance and progressive please check out the most excellent 2-hour weekly SAME Radio Show with Steve Anderson. It is all fresh, amazing, and free! Find the podcast at iTunes or visit: sameradioshow.com
Sunlight Project - I hope it's cool I used your song, which I heard on SAME Radio. It hit me as the perfect tune as I drove away from Burning Man. Many, many thanks for this beautiful and fitting piece.
BURNING MAN:
This was my fourth time at Burning Man and it gets no easier to describe each time. It is a weeklong temporary city of about 60,000+ participants (in 2013) who are all self-reliant and well-equipped to camp out in this most harsh, hot, dusty, dry lakebed but also interconnected and interdependent in a way that is really unique, tangible, but impossible to define. Foremost, it is unmistakably a huge party. There is a very large element of art of every medium and concept, plenty of music, and people generally doing the creative thing that they love to do, freely and for the enjoyment of the city, from cooking bacon to hula hooping to building amazing art cars to flying UAVs. Nothing is for sale but ice and coffee. Aside from that, Black Rock City is like capitalism in reverse. Rather than exploiting each other or looking for ways to optimize income and consumption, most BRC citizens go out of their way to give to you, to help you, to provide for your existence and your feelings in a true and meaningful way.
FPV (First Person View) and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles):
FPV is a method of operating a radio-controlled aircraft (fixed wing or helicopter) by using a camera mounted on the aircraft which transmits a live video stream back to the pilot via a small video transmitter. The video is received a the "ground station" and viewed through video goggles or an LCD monitor. This gives the sensation of being in the cockpit when flying the craft. My aircraft were a 48" wingspan foamboard creation of my own design I call the "Synapse" with a 20 minute duration, a four-rotor "quadcopter" with 9 minute duration, and a six-rotor "Y6 copter" with a 6 minute duration. Each uses a GoPro to record 1080p hi-definition video. The Y6 has an additional camera which serves as the FPV camera, whereas the other two use the GoPro for this purpose. All use lithium polymer batteries (LiPo) for power and I used 100% solar power to charge them at Black Rock City. I use the DragonLink 433MHz UHF long-range control system which about 5 miles of safe, reliable control. I never flew more than 1 mile away at BRC. The multicopters are equipped with the APM Autopilot which stabilizes flight and will return them autonomously to their launch point in case of lost video or radio control. In compliance with requirements this year my craft were registered with Media Mecca and I wore a Media pass each flight. I flew only during daylight over open playa and never at night or over crowds. Some other operators unfortunately chose to fly at night over crowds, much to my dismay. We pilots prefer the term "UAV" though many people call them "drones".
TECHNICAL:
DragonLink UHF for long-range control
GoPro Hero 2 at 1080p, medium field-of-view
LiPo battery power of 2200mAh or 4500mAh, charged by solar power onsite
1258MHz FPV video link
5.8GHz ground station repeater to FatShark video goggles
flight times are reduced at Burning Man due to high density altitude of about 7000' by 10am
burningman.com
song: "1000 Oceans" by Sunlight Project
This is my aerial perspective of some of the more interesting parts of Black Rock City 2013 from three radio-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles I operated each morning from Monday to Saturday. I used a fixed-wing foamboard plane, a quadcopter, and a Y6 hexacopter. All video taken with a GoPro Hero 2. The aircraft were controlled via FPV (first person view) with video transmitted back from the aircraft to video goggles.
I did not bring any trinkets, stickers, or gifts to Burning Man this year but I hope this video will remain as a small keepsake and memoir for other burners who can watch again as time goes by. There were too many amazing moments and people for me to remember but some of my favorite people and places are featured and noted in the video. Thank you for making my experience what it was, in the unique way that you did.
All of my video is open and free and encouraged for non-commercial uses. Send me a note if you use it so I can also enjoy your work. If you need raw video send me a PM and I will direct you to a download site.
If you like trance and progressive please check out the most excellent 2-hour weekly SAME Radio Show with Steve Anderson. It is all fresh, amazing, and free! Find the podcast at iTunes or visit: sameradioshow.com
Sunlight Project - I hope it's cool I used your song, which I heard on SAME Radio. It hit me as the perfect tune as I drove away from Burning Man. Many, many thanks for this beautiful and fitting piece.
BURNING MAN:
This was my fourth time at Burning Man and it gets no easier to describe each time. It is a weeklong temporary city of about 60,000+ participants (in 2013) who are all self-reliant and well-equipped to camp out in this most harsh, hot, dusty, dry lakebed but also interconnected and interdependent in a way that is really unique, tangible, but impossible to define. Foremost, it is unmistakably a huge party. There is a very large element of art of every medium and concept, plenty of music, and people generally doing the creative thing that they love to do, freely and for the enjoyment of the city, from cooking bacon to hula hooping to building amazing art cars to flying UAVs. Nothing is for sale but ice and coffee. Aside from that, Black Rock City is like capitalism in reverse. Rather than exploiting each other or looking for ways to optimize income and consumption, most BRC citizens go out of their way to give to you, to help you, to provide for your existence and your feelings in a true and meaningful way.
FPV (First Person View) and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles):
FPV is a method of operating a radio-controlled aircraft (fixed wing or helicopter) by using a camera mounted on the aircraft which transmits a live video stream back to the pilot via a small video transmitter. The video is received a the "ground station" and viewed through video goggles or an LCD monitor. This gives the sensation of being in the cockpit when flying the craft. My aircraft were a 48" wingspan foamboard creation of my own design I call the "Synapse" with a 20 minute duration, a four-rotor "quadcopter" with 9 minute duration, and a six-rotor "Y6 copter" with a 6 minute duration. Each uses a GoPro to record 1080p hi-definition video. The Y6 has an additional camera which serves as the FPV camera, whereas the other two use the GoPro for this purpose. All use lithium polymer batteries (LiPo) for power and I used 100% solar power to charge them at Black Rock City. I use the DragonLink 433MHz UHF long-range control system which about 5 miles of safe, reliable control. I never flew more than 1 mile away at BRC. The multicopters are equipped with the APM Autopilot which stabilizes flight and will return them autonomously to their launch point in case of lost video or radio control. In compliance with requirements this year my craft were registered with Media Mecca and I wore a Media pass each flight. I flew only during daylight over open playa and never at night or over crowds. Some other operators unfortunately chose to fly at night over crowds, much to my dismay. We pilots prefer the term "UAV" though many people call them "drones".
TECHNICAL:
DragonLink UHF for long-range control
GoPro Hero 2 at 1080p, medium field-of-view
LiPo battery power of 2200mAh or 4500mAh, charged by solar power onsite
1258MHz FPV video link
5.8GHz ground station repeater to FatShark video goggles
flight times are reduced at Burning Man due to high density altitude of about 7000' by 10am
