This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Ever dreamed of flying through downtown Salt Lake City?
A GoPro camera attached to a Blade 350 quadcopter shows you what that would be like. Ben Kinard uploaded the footage to Youtube Tuesday morning, offering a unique view of the city as the helicopter soars above and around the Wells Fargo Center.
Kinard said he shot the video about three weeks ago during his lunch break. He wishes he could have flown the copter right over every building downtown.
"It really makes for an amazing shot. I'm very happy with how it turned out," he said. "My heart was definitely pounding. A gust of wind messed with the drone at one point and yes if anything went wrong the thing would have been completely destroyed. Other than that, it was amazing and exhilarating!"
Once the video found its way to Reddit Tuesday, a fair amount of commentators were thrilled by it — but others questioned whether Kinard's flight was a safety concern to people or property. Kinard said he honestly does not know the legality of his flight.
"I hope I'm not in trouble or anything, but in my mind there is no difference between flying a small toy drone and driving a two-ton vehicle every day downtown," Kinard said. "There is risk in everything we do. I'd do it over and over again. People enjoy my work and I plan on doing a lot more."
He's made a lot of other such videos in the mountains around his neighborhood, and even made one above Zion National Park, and plans on many more around the country.
"It's a different way of viewing things it can be quite beautiful," Kinard said. "I think that's what got me into it and I'm sure that's why people like it so much."
— Michael McFall
Twitter: @mikeypanda