Mayday!

Just a short post today, haven't really been out flying too much as have been working!

I did however take it out for a quick test as there was a great sunset a few days ago. To my absolute horror, once I had launched the aircraft it started reacting oddly and not responding as it usually did to my commands. Thankfully I managed to land it safely (sort of) and once I had shut it down I rebooted it and ran a full analysis on it. It turned out that the compass was out of calibration so after I recalibrated it, everything went fine!

Until next time,

Bob

Tour de France Troubles

Well, today was an interesting one! Thanks to some last minute planning me and a few friends decided to head to see Stage 20 of the Tour de France which was due to finish in Alpe d'Huez. Having been to a stage last year near Grenoble we knew roughly what we needed to take, however working the same day we were setting off made it all harder to achieve! Thanks to teamwork and several stops at shops along the way we were all set and ready to camp.

The journey was one a few of us had done before, with a few minor changes due to roadworks but we made good time getting to Le Bourg d'Oisans, the small town at the bottom of the ascent to Alpe d'Huez. En route we encountered one of the best thunderstorms I have seen in my whole time here. The Lightning was almost continuous and was so bright, that the headlights on the car seemed pointless at times.

Once we had arrived the rain and storms were behind us so we looked a suitable campsite; a grassy area on the edge of a roundabout and we set up the tents. Within ten minutes or so I had mine fully set up and good to go but I suppose that's the joys of having a tent for so long, it's practically second nature using it! After that, I moved on to help the others who hadn't even got theirs out of the packing because they were that new.

Tents pitched it was tea time. We got out the camping stoves and got started; chicken pasta and sauce, my favourite! Once it was cooked (and a little carbonised for extra flavour), we dished up and as we were about to eat, the storm caught up with us and the heavens opened. The rain was so heavy it was like standing in a shower! In an attempt to stay a little dry we retreated to the car and ate by car light. Once we had had our fill we all retired to out tents.

The next morning was an early start, thanks to all the cars and trucks beeping their horns at all the tents and campervans. So, up early and our cowboy breakfast on the go; bacon, eggs and beans. Breakfast eaten, tents packed away and cars packed we set off for Alpe d'Huez.

On the way we passed loads of other people as well as stalls selling almost everything with the Tour de France logo on. I decided it would be good spot to get the drone out and sent it up a few minutes later. I instantly got attention from a few people; one of which was a Gendarme, the French armed police. I was expecting to be given a warning and told to stop so I brought it straight down as he approached. To my surprise however, he was just curious as to what it was and how it worked. Having had a little chat in Fre-nglish he seemed happy with me continuing to use it so it sent it back up and carried on! 

Since some of the group has moved on I decided to get a moving shot down the road, catch them up and then land in the grassy area next to the road further down. Once we had all met up again I started to bring the drone back down when another Gendarme came over and was practically yelling at me in French. 

After some translations, thanks to a member of our group, I realised he wanted me to land straight away. Once I had landed and packed away I went to carry on my way but was then told I needed to show my ID (which I didn't have with me!). Eventually they just took a friends details and warned me not to fly it again. In the end I didn't manage to fly it again anyway as the wind was too unpredictable and there were no safe landing areas.

Until next time,

Bob

Crisis Averted and An Interested Party....

Thanks to another day off from work, I decided to go out again and get some more footage for my latest video; Chamonix: A New Perspective. 

All my recent shots have been stationary, where I have sent the drone up and just move around the immediate area. This was good when I as learning but to get the more complex and interesting shots needed to keep the video flowing I needed to take it further away from me. This allowed to get more fluid shots as a whole but also to minimise the risk of me being caught in the cameras view.

This did however have it's downsides, such as losing sight of the drone. I do speak from experience here as that is exactly what happened to me today! I lost sight of the drone as it blended almost perfectly against the glaciers and white clouds. 

Naturally, the first thing I did was panic as I had just lost sight of my brand new drone! Once I had calmed down (a little bit) I was relieved I could still hear it in the distance. At this point, I was so worried that I completely forgot the DJI app has a map and compass showing the drones heading and location in relation to me! Since I had tried finding it and failed, I decided the only option was to press the RTH (Return To Home) button. This was the first time I had used the button in real life, but had seen how it worked in the DJI simulator which I used for the first time last night. 

Eventually, long story short, the RTH feature saved me a great deal of heartache and issues as the drone came straight back to me and landed exactly where it had launched a few minutes earlier!

Later today I continued along the valley down to the area around the village of Les Praz and decided to get some footage of the little chapel in the centre of the village. When I arrived, as per usual there were a few people in the area and on the greens around the chapel. Due to this I was tempted to not fly as I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere. 

However, I decided the mix of people was a perfect photographic opportunity I didn't want to miss, so I set up and launched! Within a minute or two I was approached by a French couple and through broken French from me (I know very little drone related French!) and broken English from them I had a pleasant conversation with them. I was extremely surprised as I was expecting them to complain about the noise. To my amazement they loved the drone and were extremely interested in the footage I had captured and the whole idea of the drone itself.

Due to this, as well as future plans I have decided to create a new Facebook and Twitter account dedicated to my new drone footage videos. In addition to this I have decided to get some updated business cards to give out to interested people, while out and about flying, for possible business opportunities!

Until next time,

Bob

Up, Up and away!...

Well after a long time thinking about it, I have finally decided to invest in an aerial photography platform (or a drone to you and me!)

I decided after a lot of planning and research to get the latest aircraft in the DJI Phantom series, the 3 Professional. The initial cost of the drone and all the essential extras such as; a spare battery, backpack and iPad for connectivity were fairly expensive but helps the system to run seamlessly and with no major issues. Unlike most of the previous DJI Phantom series (which needed a GoPro), the Phantom 3 comes with a pre-installed, non-removable camera which can record up to 4K video and 12MP stills. This is different but allows full compatibility with the controller & DJI App, plus the upgraded light bridge technology allows it to fly even further and still transmit a live video feed back to the app.

The Phantom 3 seemed the best choice for me (a beginner at best!) as it's DJI's most advanced drone yet. Straight out of the box it was fully set up and ready to run within an hour or so thanks to DJI's tutorial videos online; but everything was shiny so it took me a little longer than them! It really is so easy to set up and once you've got the basics configured through the DJI Pilot App, it's pretty easy flying. The app also helps make adjusting the settings easy on the go and most can even be adjusted with the drone still airborne, however it's best to make any changes while it's landed just to be safe.

Over the coming few weeks and beyond I'll be out with it as often as i can and will get some pictures and videos from it online asap! Feel free to check out my other videos, mainly filmed on GoPro cameras on my YouTube channel. Just search the following in YouTube;

Bob Winter Presents - My View For You...


Until next time!

Bob