Medical photographer captures new Fisher House progress

  • Published
  • By Jim Spellman
  • 60th Air mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Construction of the new Fisher House II is progressing at an expedient pace since last fall's groundbreaking ceremony. The changes to the landscape surrounding David Grant USAF Medical Center the past few months is being observed not only by patients and daily drivers, but a small, remotely controlled device occasionally seen and heard buzzing high above the noise of hammers, saws and other construction equipment.

Sporting a pair of high-tech goggles while toggling a hand held controller, Gil Gardner, 60th Medical Group medical multimedia department manager, uses present-day technology to fly around the perimeter of Fisher House II. His mission is to gather high-definition video and still imagery of the construction site each week for historical and photographic records.

Instead of using scaffolding or a high-lift crane, Gardner utilizes a multirotor, global positioning satellite-based, aerial filming system to document the work-in-progress at Fisher House II.

"I purchased the DJI Phantom 1 quadcopter online about six months ago in order to do landscape aerial photography that would provide a setting for the music I write," Gardner explained. "One can find similar music and video clips proliferating on YouTube these days." The jazz music video "Goat Rock" by Gardner is one such example that was filmed on New Years' Day using the remote controlled device.

"The stock price for the Phantom 1 was $475, but I've added an additional $1,500 worth of equipment to give it first-person viewing capabilities," Gardner explained. "The Phantom 1 was specifically designed to carry the GoPro camera, and the H3 model I use is the most recent 'sports' camera to be produced by GoPro."

According to Gardner, most people tend to lump these consumer-level radio controlled model copters under the general category of "drones" -- as in unmanned aerial vehicles most in the military are familiar with, such as the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator. But there is a big distinction between the two: Unlike UAVs, RC model copters do not fly autonomously or carry weapons. Although they're rarely flown above 100 feet, they are constrained by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly no more than 400 feet in altitude, and have a short battery life that enables only 10 to 15 minutes flying time.

Just as important, RC model aircraft cannot be used commercially at the present time. "The FAA has been directed by Congress to provide new rules and regulations for commercial use drones by 2015," Gardner said. "So until that time, quadcopters like mine are relegated to hobby use only. Watch for this to change drastically in the next couple of years."

According to Gardner, flying the Phantom 1 quadcopter is fairly easy since it is GPS-based, enabling it to return-to-home if the copter loses communication with the hand-held controller.

"However there is a bit of a learning curve when practicing control of the copter with the camera," Gardner said. "Consistent framing of camera subject matter during flight through and around objects can be challenging."

"Because of the wide-angle camera lens, images and video must be manipulated later in Photoshop, or similar software to correct for the lens aberration," Gardner said. "Still, the HD-quality images one ends up with are spectacular."

"The Fisher House construction has provided me the perfect opportunity to put this wonderful new technology to use, documenting, from an unobstructed aerial vantage point, the historical progress of building construction over a period of months," Gardner said.

Construction of Fisher House II is on target and on budget, according to Col. Doreen Wilder, 60th MDG hospital administrator. Expected completion date for the project is May 30. For more information, contact Travis Fisher House at 423-7550.