The Drone Dish: filipino_flight_tales

On this episode of The Drone Dish, Ryan is joined by drone pilot Christer Isulat, AirVūz profile filipino_flight_tales. Chris, who is currently home in Manila, spends most of his time shooting beaches down south or in the western Philippines. Ryan admires what he calls Chris's "incredibly eye for drone videography," but Chris says he is still only a hobbyist. However, he's trying to make it a career! He says his passion started almost a year ago in Runyon Canyon when there was a drone flying above him taking pictures. He thought it would be great to bring one with him as he traveled around the world, which is exactly what he does now! Chris says the Philippines is a perfect place to capture aerial images because it is an archipelagos, meaning he never runs out of beaches to capture on his UAV. If he had to pick a favorite part of his country, it would be Palawan which is a group of islands with the most stunning sunny beaches and limestone cliffs. Ryan loves "Taal Lake" which Chris says may be the home of one of the smallest volcanos in the world. He and his girlfriend were on a drive and thought it'd be great to see what things looked like from the air. Chris says he had only seen the lake from ground level and was shocked by it's beauty when he saw it from up above. Drone rules and regulations in the Philippines have changed in the last year, Chris says they are being modeled after regulations in the United States (no flying over a crowd, restricted areas, or within 30 meters of pedestrians not involved in the flight). Chris would love to get back to the United States to fly his drone around the Grand Canyon or to Peru to see Machu Picchu from above. He's tried to capture the temples in Cambodia, but found out too late that he needed a specific permit to shoot them. His video "Up North" was recently featured on YourVūz, an AirVūz Original, but didn't win the $500 grand prize. He says he shot that video while on a work trip; looks like a fun trip to us! Not surprisingly, Travel is his favorite category, but he's also a huge fan of The Drone Dish! We like you too, Chris; thanks for joining us! For your chance to be on the show, upload your best aerial footage to AirVūz.com.

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And for more amazing aerial views, check out AirVūz.com VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Ryan Hoag: Welcome to the Drone Dish. Today we have Christer Isulat, also known as Filipino Flight Tales. But, just call him Chris. Chris, welcome to the Drone Dish. Christer Isulat: Thank you. I'm very excited to be here. Ryan Hoag: Now, you're 13 hours ahead of us here in Minnesota. Where exactly are you? Christer Isulat: Right now, I'm home in Manila, Philippines, but most of the time I'm traveling to the beaches down south or the western part of the Philippines. Ryan Hoag: [00:00:30] You have an incredible eye for drone videography from the uploads I've seen. Christer Isulat: Thank you. Ryan Hoag: Is this a hobby for you or a profession? Christer Isulat: To be honest, I'm trying to make it a career right now. It actually started during a hike when I was in LA, right about this time last year. I was in Runyon Canyon. I believe it was a Phantom that hovered right above me and I thought, "That's very interesting. Let me have one of those and I'll be taking it with me on my travels." This Phantom that I have has been with me for [00:01:00] the past year that I've been traveling around the world basically. Ryan Hoag: You're in the Philippines, which is a place on my bucket list. What makes it so amazing to capture from above? Christer Isulat: Oh, yeah, it's a lovely country. I love my country. Basically, the Philippines is an archipelago, so we have 7,400 plus islands, so we never run short of beaches at all. But to maybe the loveliest place would be in the western part of the Philippines, it's called Palau and it's a group of islands. [00:01:30] The latest video I uploaded was taken from there, so probably one of my most favorite spots in the world. You have stunning beaches, limestone cliffs, and all that. Ryan Hoag: Your submission of Tall Lake was particularly captivating to me with the water and the volcano in the distance. Christer Isulat: I'm not sure if it's the smallest volcano in the world, but it's basically a volcano in the middle of a lake. We went there one Sunday afternoon, my girlfriend and I, just on a random road [00:02:00] trip. Lucky I had the drone in my trunk. Then when we got there, I thought it was a good time to fly it out on a sunset. So I basically capture that without knowing how beautiful it was because I used to see it only on photos. It's actually just about a 5 hour drive from where we live. Ryan Hoag: What are the drone regulations in the Philippines? Have they changed in the last few years? Christer Isulat: They changed it now, because last year we were required to get a proper [00:02:30] airman license and all that, which was basically almost a proper airline pilot's test which was so hard for everyone. But with the proliferation of drones right now, they've adjusted it. Basically, we have patterned ourselves with American drone rules from the FAA, I believe. Fly 30 meters away from any person that is not involved in your flying and don't fly over a crowd, don't fly over embassies and restricted places. Ryan Hoag: Where are some [00:03:00] places in the world you'd like to capture with your drone? Christer Isulat: I would like to come back to the States and maybe visit the Grand Canyon or maybe some historic places, maybe in Machu Picchu and South America. I was actually in Cambodia a couple of months back and I was hoping to get good footage of the temples, but only to find out that it's not legal to fly there unless you get a proper permit for that, which, I believe it was about ... no, it takes a lot of time [00:03:30] to get the permit in there. But it was a dream of mine to be there, but it would have been better if I got to fly there. Ryan Hoag: Up North was recently featured on Your Views, one of our original programs here at Air Views. In the video, you are sand boarding. Is that something you like to do for fun? Christer Isulat: Not sand boarding, in particular, but surfing and a lot of water sports. I've gotten to the place on commission for some company that was trying to film for it and I was lucky enough to be there and I thought, "Hmm, maybe, [00:04:00] why not just do sand boarding and take a lot of drone footage as well during my breaks?" So, yeah, I ended up submitting that. Unfortunately, it didn't win. Ryan Hoag: What are your favorite categories on Air Views? Christer Isulat: I love the travel categories, obviously, because it's most of my submissions are in travel. But I also like the extreme sports ones and, yeah, I'm always a big fan of the Drone Dish as well as it's been a big honor that I got that email from you inviting me here. Ryan Hoag: Tell us one fun fact [00:04:30] not a lot of people know about you. Christer Isulat: Well, I'm the most random guy. I grew up as a basketball player. I was a college basketball player for one of the universities here and then from basketball, I became an engineer and then I run to real estate and now I'm into film. So I'm just doing what I can, what I love, what interests me for the time being and, right now, it's filming. Ryan Hoag: And where can we see more of your work? Do you have a website? Christer Isulat: My website, it's xtr- [00:05:00] creative.com. It's just basically where I dump all my footages, my photography. Ryan Hoag: Chris, we really appreciate you taking the time to be on the Drone Dish. We look forward to more uploads soon.