More drone stuff

[PMP]

6 hours ago, The Johnster said:

 ISTR a news article about 2 weeks ago about some idiot flying a drone on the Mach Loop!

 

But we’re straying into contentious territory about rules, licences, permits & such, which is what got the previous thread locked.  To quote Father Ted, ‘Down with this sort of thing (‘Careful, now’-Dougal)’. 

I don’t think there’s any need to refer to someone flying a drone in the Mach Loop area as an idiot. That whole area is unrestricted airspace for drone use up to 400ft above ground level. Therefore the drone operator was legal flying a drone in that airspace, and needed no permission from anyone to do so. The RAF use the area down to 250ft. Not many of the general public are aware of the specific valleys used, and recently there has been a significant drop in the amount of low flying done throughout the area due to budget cut backs, and an internal restriction by the RAF due to some inappropriate flying by some aircrew.

 

The legal/rules aspects are important, and there’s plenty of misunderstanding of them. The easy way to understand them is to use official sites, like this UK specific one 

https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code

Edited May 22 by PMP

[froobyone]

All this drone talk got me thinking about mine.

 

Here's two of mine sharing some father-son time.

Best

Dan

[The Johnster]

Aww. 

[The Johnster]

16 hours ago, PMP said:

I don’t think there’s any need to refer to someone flying a drone in the Mach Loop area as an idiot. That whole area is unrestricted airspace for drone use up to 400ft above ground level. Therefore the drone operator was legal flying a drone in that airspace, and needed no permission from anyone to do so. The RAF use the area down to 250ft. Not many of the general public are aware of the specific valleys used, and recently there has been a significant drop in the amount of low flying done throughout the area due to budget cut backs, and an internal restriction by the RAF due to some inappropriate flying by some aircrew.

 

The legal/rules aspects are important, and there’s plenty of misunderstanding of them. The easy way to understand them is to use official sites, like this UK specific one 

https://register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code

That would be where I got my ID, then, wouldn’t it?  The legal/rules mentioned on it include endagering aircraft, carrying the possible penalty of 5 years in prison, and presumably charges of assualt or manslaughter if anyone is injured or killed.  The Mach Loop is pretty well known to the general public and world-famous among military aircraft enthusiasts.  I have little interest in military a/c, and I’m aware of it!   The idea that anyone ‘legally’ flying a drone below 400’ anywhere along it is NOT aware of it is absurd. Such a person would be knowingly and wilfully endangering military pilots using the Loop, and thus breaking CAA rules, and hence the law.  And is therefore an idiot.  
 

The military pilots thread their way through narrow valleys and undulating ground at high speed with fast jets, and large transport a/c; they do NOT need to have to worry about drones!  

 

I’d rather not argue the point; it’s exactly the sort of thing that got the last topic closed.  Which would be a shame, as there are people here learning from each other.  I would hope you feel the same way.  

Edited May 23 by The Johnster
Removal of incorrect published information, see my later post

[The Johnster]

Criteria (in the light of my brief experience with thr Simrex) were a drone with ‘auto hover’, headless, good range, one-button return, 3 batteries, and of course the best camera/price ratio.  There were several with these specs on Amazon at around the £35 level, but I found this one on eBay fot £27.  It is brand new, and features a ‘follow me’ and ‘circle round a point keeping the camera pointing at it’ facility, both of which I think I’ll find useful. 

[PMP]

8 hours ago, The Johnster said:

 It has been illegal to fly drones anywhere on the Mach Loop since the May 9th incident.  
 

 

I’d rather not argue the point; it’s exactly the sort of thing that got the last topic closed.  Which would be a shame, as there are people here learning from each other.  I would hope you feel the same way.  

I do very much feel that there should be sensible informed discussion. I’m at work so can’t respond appropriately.
 

The piece I have placed in bold is utterly false. This is why it should be informed, not made up, or my mate in the pub etc.

 

Please provide a link to the notification of the airspace change and restrictions for the ‘Mach Loop’ since May 9th.

 

My professional background for information is air Traffic control related, working with both civil and military operators.

 

 

 

[AY Mod]

1 hour ago, PMP said:

The piece I have placed in bold is utterly false. This is why it should be informed, not made up, or my mate in the pub etc.

 

Please provide a link to the notification of the airspace change and restrictions for the ‘Mach Loop’ since May 9th.

 

Worse than it being someone down the pub it's down to poor reporting in the media.

 

 

Whereas the BBC use the correct phrasing.

 

 

It can be seen that signs on site are warnings; not a 'ban'.

 

[The Johnster]

Fair enough, and that was indeed the report on which I based my comment, but it’s still illegal, and hence banned, to fly a drone in proximity to other aircraft, and that includes Mach Loop when the RAF or their chums are sheep-buzzing…

 

I will edit my post accordingly.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PMP]

3 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Fair enough, and that was indeed the report on which I based my comment, but it’s still illegal, and hence banned, to fly a drone in proximity to other aircraft, and that includes Mach Loop when the RAF or their chums are sheep-buzzing…

 

I will edit my post accordingly.  

 

Please stop making things up. It is not illegal, or banned to fly an aircraft in proximity to another aircraft in UK airspace.

[PMP]

21 hours ago, The Johnster said:

That would be where I got my ID, then, wouldn’t it?  The legal/rules mentioned on it include endagering aircraft, carrying the possible penalty of 5 years in prison, and presumably charges of assualt or manslaughter if anyone is injured or killed.  The Mach Loop is pretty well known to the general public and world-famous among military aircraft enthusiasts.  I have little interest in military a/c, and I’m aware of it!   The idea that anyone ‘legally’ flying a drone below 400’ anywhere along it is NOT aware of it is absurd. Such a person would be knowingly and wilfully endangering military pilots using the Loop, and thus breaking CAA rules, and hence the law.  And is therefore an idiot.  
 

The military pilots thread their way through narrow valleys and undulating ground at high speed with fast jets, and large transport a/c; they do NOT need to have to worry about drones!  

 

I’d rather not argue the point; it’s exactly the sort of thing that got the last topic closed.  Which would be a shame, as there are people here learning from each other.  I would hope you feel the same way.  

There's a lot to unwrap here but I'll keep it brief.

You did get your ID, that was after you'd bought a drone that was over the weight limit for flying it in a residential area. You  flew it and lost it whilst you had no operator or pilot ID, and only when  @Andy Y pointed out what you should have done did you then get 'legal'. Presumably you'd also weren't flying it in a Cardiff Council owned park, as their bylaws require you to have an ID, insurance, and have paid a drone use filming license to fly a drone on their property.

 

The thought that the mach loop(ML) is well known to the general public is utter nonsense. Most aviation related professionals have no idea what or where it is let alone the man in the street. If anyone reading this doubts this go into work, the pub etc and ask what's the mach loop?

The ML is in class G airspace, it's unrestricted for use by civil/military aviation and drone operators. In that classification of airspace the onus for collision avoidance is on the pilot, just the same as it is for a drone operator. The Welsh Low Flying area is only tenth in terms of traffic volume out of 18 designated UK LFA's. Military low flying are authorised down to 250ft or lower depending on tasking and aircraft type. Civil aircraft are allowed lower subject to complying with Rules of the Air Regulations 2007, and they can (and do), I've seen them, fly through the loop unrestricted and against the clockwise flow of the RAF traffic.

 

A drone operator is fully entitled to operate their drone up to 400ft above ground level within that (ML) area. It's not listed within drone apps, so how is Mr Smith from Milton Keynes when he sees the vista above and gets his legal drone out checks his app to take pictures of the pretty valley to know? Much of the UK except for the larger conurbations and the South East are open to military low flying down to 250ft activity, the busiest areas being around Shropshire and Wiltshire. The more likely and most common events at those heights are birdstrikes. So your responsible drone flyer is quite legal and not an idiot flying in non restricted areas up to 400ft and is not endangering aircraft unless they're acting irresponsibly.

 

If someone wants to get a drone, check out what your countries rules are first, they will be easily found with a google search, and use the regions civil aviation authority site as first port of call. Generally they are pretty straightforward, and quite often similar. The main cut off for more onerous restrictions is weight related with a cut off weight at 249g, less or equal to that and in most jurisdictions those will put you into the hobbyist camp. That also (generally) allows the operator much greater leeway in where they can fly, and at what distances from people and buildings etc. Your country rules will identify those parameters, use them, not the bloke in the pub, or some ill informed journalist who can't be rsed to do any research. Prices vary massively as does quality and reliability, the more you pay the better the product. Get insurance.

 

If you want to know where you can fly legally use a recommended APP from a regional supplier, often the country CAA will point to one they recommend, and then take time to learn how to use it. That saves you telling people a heliport 300m away from you has a restricted zone when that zone doesn't exist. For example I wouldn't suggest using a UK APP for Singapore, as it shows the area around Changi as just a risk area, whereas in reality using Onemap, its a restricted zone with maximum penalties of up to 2 years inside and a Singapore $50k/£30k GBP fine.

^^ You can't fly here, it's a restricted zone...

You can fly in restricted zones, you do need permission though, procedures vary worldwide and any geofencing legally disabled. 

Learn how to read NOTAM's, again easy decodes are available on line and they are an international standardised format. These are notices to airmen and show restrictions and hazards to be aware of. The good apps will show the relevant NOTAMS and update frequently, for example a large industrial fire may have a temporary restriction put around it which prevents flying in that area, same thing for events etc.

None of the above is particularly onerous, or time consuming. its just common sense preparation, you are legally (UK) flying an 'aircraft' after all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Steamport Southport]

I remember a Lancaster flying over my house and the wheels were about 20 foot above the chimney!

 

Maybe I should bill them for rattling the windows in the mid 1970s....

 

 

And yes that was in a residential and heavily built up area. Would love to know who the pilot and crew was, and buy them a drink. One of my best memories. Coming from the old Speke Airport when they had the airshows there. Low flying planes were a regular occurrence back then. I remember a P38 doing the same thing a couple of years later.

 

 

Jason

[The Johnster]

Today went well.  I took the drone to Llandaff Fields, where I thought (correctly) there might be enough space to make some mistakes, and had a productive hour of practice before the wind started picking up a bit, 3 to 4 of clocks.  I thought I’d try some ‘hover, go forwards, go backwards, go sideways’, at which I got less competent as the wind got above 5mph.  Got into the bushes twice, and my choice of bright orange may not have been the sexiest but it certainly helped with the recoveries!   Battery lasted for the whole session, which is probably as good as I can reasonably expect, about half an hour actual flying time, and the session has given me some homework for the no-fly days over the next week.  

 

A problem with buying a cheapo off of the Bay of e is that the instructions leaflet has some entertaining translation from the original Chinese, and probably make sense in that language, but I’m left with a bit of guesswork to plough through.  The drone does various things with it’s headlights, flashing them in different patterns, but I’ve not gone through the procedures often enough to correlate whit it’s doing with what I think it’s doing, snd it is not above doing things apparently on it’s own.  The controller does similar stunts with beeps, but this is less important because the phone interface can do more and is more informative and intuitive.  
 

So I need to internalise the flashing light sequences and work out what they mean.   Funfunfunfunfun. 
 

 

[The Johnster]

Constructive no-fly day. 

 

I am extremely observant, and have taken until now to realise that there is a P8 logo painted on my fuselage, portside just ahead of lh rear folding arm.  So, being as that's the way we roll in Casa Juanstero, I googled it, and now have an idea what the drone is.  It's a P8 (no sh*t, Sherlock) and seems to be made by someone called HYOTB or Global Drone, and not just some anonymous Chinese supplier (or maybe it is?).  This is re-assuring and links to various tutorial vids.

 

For instance, calibration is not really discussed in meaningful English in the user manual leaflet (nor so far as I've been able to find out on the online pdf versions, which are basically the same thing), and I have as yet been unable to determine the a/c's weight, which is of some importance for registration and licensing purposes.  If the learning curve is 1.000', then I'm probably off the metaphorical ground by about 6' now, but at least off the metaphorical ground, which, with a drone, is I suppose the idea...  Onwards and upwards. 

 

I'm starting to get a handle on the flashing lights; steady flash until you pair with the app, then rapid flash, then steady leds when you are paired up and ready to fly.  Battery USB A end has red led until fully charged.  Next Sunday looks good now just for another flying session, and I'm thinking of the eastern end of Whitmore Bay beach (Barry Island), tide will be receding late afternoon early evening.  This end is usually less crowded and clear of the Rhoose Airport RFZ, and it'll be nice to go ta-tas...  If not, Jackson's is an easy and not unpleasant walk, or Pontcanna Fields sounds like a goer and I might even be able to shoot some footage of the wier.  I might know a bit more about what I'm doing by then!

 

I've been thinking, never a safe thing to do without the proper equipment, which I've never really had access to, and wondering if it is worth investigating the idea of tethered flight with the little Prussian engine (P8, see what I did there), sort of powered kite idea.  It would seem on the face of it to have several advantages; I could fly in stronger winds, it should make a steady video platform, I'll be able to manoevre a little and get the feel, I could fly more safely in areas with trees and rivers, and if it all goes wrong, I can follow the string to find the a/c...

 

The idea would be to tether the a/c to a keyring by lines from the base of each of the sponsons, perhaps 2 or 3 feet underneath the a/c, and then by a kite reel to El Juanstero.  The main problems would seem to be that in strong winds the a/c would tend to describe an arc from the end of the kite line downwind to the ground, and sidewas movement would be risky, that the four subsidiary lines are going to get tangled with each other and/or the props if they go slack, and the main line is going to cause all sorts of problems if it goes slack, so the a/c will need to be kept in a more or less permanant ascent under power configuration to keep it taut.  But it would possibly work for low level flying on windy days and might be worth a shot with, say, 30' of line.  Over the Mill Gardens, not so far to walk home when it's a dismal failure.

 

I was also considering sausage balloons underneath for flying over water with, making it a sort of seaplane, if you flew upwind it would come back to you in a few minutes on a lake, and there is one near me, but these would make it next to impossible to control in the wind, something I'm already having trouble with.  Sunday avo gets you like this sometimes, perhaps I should stop and start thinking about dinner now...

 

Might even have a railway session later!

 

[KeithMacdonald]

29 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

I was also considering sausage balloons underneath for flying over water

 

The mind boggles! Unless you are intent on creating some kind of inverted Zeppilin, I suggest you don't - the windage could be massive and frightful.

[KeithMacdonald]

35 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

I have as yet been unable to determine the a/c's weight, which is of some importance for registration and licensing purposes

 

Hurry up and do that, then (at least) you will know whether you are flying legal or not.

 

 

Kitchen scales should be sufficient?

Edited May 26 by KeithMacdonald
Screen grab from caa.co.uk

[KeithMacdonald]

Have you worked out which category you are in?

 

[The Johnster]

 230g, found out today, below 250g, not a toy, with camera.  Need to check that Op ID is ok for this drone and not the one I lost earlier, but, yeah, pending that, I'm pretty sure I'm legal! I have flyer ID even though I don't need it according to your table above. 

 

Balloon floats are, quite obviously, a mad idea, thing would blow all over the place, or have too much wind resistance on calm days!

[The Johnster]

Looking good for Saturday evening over the rec.  I have now realised that the yellow areas on Drone Assist maps are not restricted as such, simply that there are hazards of which one must be aware, and the yellow circle surrounding Cardiff Heliport can be flown in.  The red areas surrounding Rhoose and St.Athan airfields, Cardiff and other prisons, and various MoD bombing/missile/ artillery ranges must not be flown in.  This opens up the possibility of more sites in my immedieate area, but the rec is prolly best and the line of least resistance for now until my skill level improves.  Which, with the drone properly calibrated now I've found out how to do this*, it should. 

 

Whatever the information on DA maps, I would say that it is clearly unwised for a person of my skill level to attempt flight anywhere near trees, roads, railway lines, power lines or over water for now.  Apparently the CAA's drone code allows me to fly within 50m of people and 150m of tall buildings because my drone is less than 250g (230g), but avoidance is better practice until I can reliably and consistently fly the drone back to me and land it.  Practice, practice, and then practice, to get to the Albert Hall...

 

If the Saturday session is successful and I feel competent enough, Sunday is not bad for flying and I am thinking of maybe Barry Island beach for golden hour filming.  But I also want to get some outdoor cooking on the patio in over the w/e, and that might take priority.

 

 

*I'm a bit miffed at the poor calibration instructions that came with in the box, and their more or less verbatim repeat online from the manufacturer, Global Drone/HYTOBP.  These are worse than useless, they are dangerously misleading  Careful reading of the Chinglish suggests that one presses a button, but in fact the calibration happens when you press this button, get a beep, and then move the joysticks simultaneously to 5 o'clock (right) and 7 o'clock (left) and get another beep.  Some of my issues from the Pontcanna flights are prolly due to this fairly important procedure not being properly carried out. Mea culpa of course, but the solution took quite a bit of online digging and the assistance of forums on Grey Arrow.  There seems little to prevent newbies like me buying P8 drones, reading up on the rules, doing their best to get it right, and flying them unwittingly uncalibrated despite your having followed the Chinglish instructions as best you can, especially since the beeps and flashing lights are not clearly explained, and this could in some circumstances result in drone damage, loss, or injury to third parties.  Would my GA £5m cover be valid for an accident caused by an uncalibrated drone; I doubt if the manufacturer could be persuaded to accept responsibility!

 

The problem is that the instructions are written by someone who knows how to calibrate and fly the drone because he designed it, and to whom it is therefore obvious, and translated by someone who thinks he/she/it if it's AI can speak English.

 

AI seems to be a serious curse in the drone world.  An AI description of a loco on eBay is usually misleading, likely to be mendactious chiselling, and amusing to the likes of us, but the equivalant when one is talking about a small unmanned aircraft is potentially actually dangerous as well.  In marketing it is bad enough, but it really needs to be removed from anything like weather apps, pre-flight checklists, setup instructions, or flying instructions, which need to be clear and unequivocal, and ideally written by a native English speaker. 

 

But we are improving; at least I brought the drone home with me last time...

Edited May 30 by The Johnster

[The Johnster]

Experiments in the bedroom (stop that, grow up!) with tethering the drone are promising; crude string tether at the moment but it has been surprisingly easy to establish the centre of gravity, and I’ve been able to walk around the bed with the drone following meekly about 4’ above my head on a string like a kiddie’s balloon.  There are possible filming applications for this trick, but the method of attaching the tether needs refinement.  
 

It could increase flying opportunities in medium winds and restricted space as well.  ‘Flying’ it, in the sense of directional control, looks like being a hiding to nothing, though; all that happens is that you get maybe a whole to correct before the movement becomes a downward arc until the a/c hits the ground nose, tail, or side first (bed, luckily). 

Edited June 1 by The Johnster

[The Johnster]

I was out up the rec with the P8 Saturday early for another go, much more successful this time.  The difference is that I managed to work out the proper procedure for calibrating it, despite the Chinglish which fails to mention the joystick movement and 'wait for the beep' part.  Couple of false starts, but on the third go I got it to hover reasonably steadily, and corrected when the wind started to move it; before long I was hovering pretty well.  The lights began flashing after a few minutes, which I (apparently correctly, there's nothing in the Chinglish manual) guessed meant the battery was running down, so I landed it and replaced the battery, went through the procedure again, and flew a square about 20' up without too much bother, and landed it at my feet!

 

Then over the pub for a guiness to celebrate.  I'm much more confident now and will only improve with practice, but the gusts were getting up a bit and, as I've found out on the forums over on Grey Arrow Drone Club (and by experience) even a small amount of wind is not good for cheap Chinese drones.  The guys on GA forums reccommend a DJI MIni2, but they're £250 and I'm only a poor pensioner, and there are projects on the layout to consider as well.  I ran it up in the bedroom earlier on full chat to see how the battery lasted, about 7 minutes, half what the manual claims, and, yes, the lights began flashing, after which there was about a minute to land it before the power began to fall away, which it did very quickly!

 

I will want a better drone sooner or later, though.  GPS and 'return to base' are pretty much essentials, as is a decent camera.  Time to dig out the old double-barrel and rob a bank...  GA have successfully put me off the tethered madness.  Looking at UAV Forecast I'm grounded until next Monday, when clear skies and near-flat calm is promised, but as I found out last week things can change quickly for the worse or the better, and you have to keep an eye on weather progress.  I'm thinking perhaps a trip to Barry Island, where the eastern end of Whitmore Bay beach is outside the Rhoose Airport No-fly zone, and the tides look ok, a low at 16.30.  And I haven't been on one of Veolia's new trains yet...

Edited June 3 by The Johnster

[The Johnster]

Forecast changed, didn't go.

 

More practice and I'm getting better, but this cheapo drone is a bit limiting (no sh*t, Sherlock).  I think I've probably gone as far as I can with it so far as video quality goes.  The intention is to shoot decent video, and I can't with this drone, because:-

 

.It does not fly steadily enough, though practice will probably enable me to fly it more steadily.

.The camera is not brilliant, especially in poorer light.

.I cannot rely on being able to retrieve the drone if it goes down in some of the places I want to to film, which are characterised by being rough terrain or coastal. 

 

GPS is a core requirement.  I've shortlisted four on the 'zon, prices between £50 and £150, which is what I think I can manage without compromising the living budget.  As you'd expect, the customer ratings/reviews follow the price levels fairly predictably, and my favourite of these is not the most expensive/best reviewed, it's the second in the list at the £120 level.  The principal advantage of GPS is that the drone will return to base, come to daddy, when the battery levels get low, if signal is lost, or on the return home button.  That alone will give me confidence to fly over water or rough territory, at least after a few trial flights have developed my confidence in the GPS system.  There are other advantages as well, in the form of 'follow me' and 'orbit point of interest' features, and the ability to set a waypoint route and let the drone fly it autonomously, and GPS should mean steadier postitioning and hovering as well, though how effect that might be in a £50 drone I'm not at all certain. 

 

I'm also watching a 2h DJI Mini2SE auction on the 'bay.  This is way out of my price range as a new item but the ultimate drone for my purposes, and the guys on Grey Arrow (is it just me, or does this sound like an extreme right-wing clandestine paramilitary organisation?) are very enthusiastic about it, and not very enthusiastic about the cheaper alternatives).  I might be able to score a Mini2 yet at a stretch and go without luxuries (you know, stuff like food or beer) for a week, but I don't have a good history of 'bay auction success.  All will be revealed, even if only to me, next Wednesday, pension day.  This is probably going to be the day I acquire a GPS drone of some sort or other in some way or other.

 

I have set myself a drone task.  Those of you familiar with Roath Park in Cardiff will know the Scott Memorial lighthouse clock in the Lake ('Who Gave Their Lives in the Antarctic Regions', 'Britons All, and Very Gallant Gentlemen').  The Terra Nova's last British port of call was Cardiff, for coaling.  The lighthouse has a bronze model of it on top which acts as a weathervane, about 3' long.  I don't think it has any serious scale pretentions but has the right number of masts and a representation of the rigging, and the very first time I ever saw it, as a rugrat in a pushchair, I have wanted to get a close-up squiz at it.  With my present drone, even in windless conditions*, this is going to be a bit fraught; take off from bank, or bandstand field below dam, massive tree in the way, or promenade (top of dam), probably too crowded to be safe, out over water, and control too imprecise to ensure decent footage.  I estimate a 20% chance of it being a suicide mission, possible crash into lighthouse, drone down in the lake, won't float, irretrievable.  With GPS, simples, program drone to fly to lighthouse (or fly it myself), orbit fpv facing the model, fly around a bit until the battery runs low, return home automatically, go for beer and check out the cool vid you just made!

 

 

*I'm beginning to realise that there is no such thing as windless conditions unless they are in places surrounded by trees, buildings, or other similar dronehazards.  With a sub-250g drone I don't have to keep 50m away from these, but anything closer than 10m is chancing a collision.  There are always air currents, thermals, immeasurably vast tonnages of atmosphere pushed up and sucked down by the 40-foot Bristol Channel tidal range twice daily pumping mechanism which effects up to 5 miles inland, and odd little eddies between sunlit and shaded areas.  Flying a non-GPS drone to a course or bearing (as opposed to zooming vaguely around the rec, great fun but not what I want for filming purposes) or holding position in a hover depends on countering the wind with the drone's motors, always flying directly into it, has proven quite difficult. 

 

The operating mechanism, i.e. Johnster (with the sort of eyesight and reaction timing one might expect from a 72-year-old), is 100' away and 40' down, and can only guess what the air around the drone is actualy doing in real time, because one can only see the result of it half-a-second too late; it is a foregone conclusion that, without positioning, the drone will drift to one side or the other, and that correction input from the operating mechanism will fail to establish a balance because the control is on/off, not graduated, not fine enough.  The a/c see-saws side to side in increasing arcs, and neither the distance from base nor the height can be accurately maintained, never mind the bearing,  Within about 90 seconds, the longest I've managed so far and in a very light breeze, the situation deteriorates to the point at which it becomes advisable to try and fly home, but at least to land before things deteriorate further.  The drone can fly at about 12mph in 'fast' mode but that does not mean it can counter a 10mph wind, and an apparent flat calm at ground level might easily mean a 10mph air stream 20' up.  I think it is time to accept that this is really an indoor drone.

 

What I try to do is to get the drone into a hover about 20' up, where it won't attack me (you should have seen the comedy dive on to the grass yesterday morning!), then try to fly a square under control.  I've managed two sides so far.  That's a long way from close-ups of the Terra Nova.  But:-

 

Funfunfunfunfun!

[The Johnster]

I bought a gps drone.  A DJI mini 2se for those interested, most of the bells & whistles but 249g so the over 250g CAA restrictions don’t apply.  This is as recommended to me on the Grey Parrot, I mean Grey Arrow forums, who seem to just as daft a bunch of specimens as we are. Bought direct from the manufacturer so as to take advantage of a free t-shirt they are giving away with them.  I’m a sucker for a free t-shirt, me… £249 (that’s right, a £ per gram) is a big hit in the wallet, though, no beer for a few weeks!  If you consider it is 10x more expensive than my present drone but 100x better, it feels more like a bargain…
 

Terra Nova or bust!  This thing has some frankly stupendous technology; as well as the all-important positioning system and the return home feature, there are ‘quick shot’ modes, in which the drone will execute a set manoevre, e.g. ‘spiral’, where the drone ascends in a spiral away from a feature or person on the ground (or something like a lighthouse or statue), filming it in he process.  It can also fly along a pre-programmed route via map waypoints in the app, so  in theory, you could set it a task and let it get on with it while you go off and have a cup of tea & a biscuit.  
 

In practice this would be very naughty, as the CAA require the pilot to have eyes on the a/c continuously, or be in the company of an observer who keeps eyes on the drone while the pilot flies fpv, by the smartphone screen as if he was aboard the a/c.  
 

This sort of automated flying is probably the best way to use the drone for filming, as some of your attention can be spared for operating the camera.  Appropos, 12mp stills, 2.7k video, 3-way gimbal camera mount, 4x zoom, shutter speeds up to 4k/second.  Oh, yeah, now we applying negative pressure to the correct mammary gland…  Battery is claimed to be good for 30mins flying, and control can maintained up to 4km, though the drone would be invisible at that range; in fact I reckon I’d have trouble keeping eyes on at more than 250metres, less if the a/c is below the treeline. 

 

It’s an intelligent drone with an intelligent camera mounted on an intelligent gimbal mechanism, all powered by intelligent batteries, and the intelligent app won’t let you fly it in FRZs; best I let it make the decisions!  I’m seriously impressed, and I haven’t tried to fly it yet; I probably need a dog; the dog is to prevent the pilot from playing with the controls, and the pilot is there to feed the dog…

['CHARD]

Drones, you say?

 

You'd be well advised to get your lugholes round some apocalyptic post-punk from our 2022 album then.... 

[The Johnster]

I'll check it out, Chard.  In the spirit of returning the favour, you might want to look up Claro, the rockin' 2001 release from Welsh Latin/Afro-Caribbean traditionalists Samba Galez, and IIRC still available on the website.  Your intrepid reporter is featured on cowbell.  A so-called mate who heard us busking in town one Saturday claimed we sounded like 'a skeleton w@nking in a biscuit tin'; insults of that order of wit and originality are to be cherished!  Best thing is, he's absolutely right unless your system can handle a bit of lowdown dirty Rio favella bateria percussion and the evil bass of Pernambuco Samba Reggae.

 

DJI say my drone is out for delivery, so it might be with me later today with any luck.  It's a fairly complex setup so I won't be flying immediately (all right, maybe a quick spin around the living room to frighten The Squeeze).  I reckon they ought to fly it direct to my patio...  Prolly Monday or Tuesday for the test flying/snagging/putting it through it's paces*; rain on Friday evening and the rec will be crowded with cricketers, student barbecues (they taste pretty good smoked), families, dog-walkers and the ilk on Sunday when the wind dies back, so it doesn't matter if it doesn't turn up til the weekend, but I'm like a kiddie at xmas, waiting for the DPD knock on the door...

 

*Take off, hover, land.  Repeat.  Basic manoevres from 1.6m gps-fixed hover, forward, backwards, right turn, left turn, left sideways, right sideways, return to hover, land.  Run through the 'quick shot' pre-programmed video modes on the app; rocket (straight up with camera facing straight down to set height then down, hover, land), 'dronie' (same thing at a 60-degree angle), orbit (around the subject), spiral (guess)  and boomerang, like dronie but out along an elongated elipse.  Return, hover, land, over the Claude for a beer and examine the footage.  That should be a pretty good workout and plenty for a first session!

[Steamport Southport]

Don't take you drone to see Taylor Swift or similar acts!

 

Seriously, it's on the list of banned items so someone has probably tried it....

 

Banned items include: 

 

Suitcases and bags larger than A5

Umbrellas

Drink cartons, cans, plastic bottles over 500ml

Glass bottles and drinking glasses

Alcohol

Prams/pushchairs

Drones

Laptops/ computer tablets

Video recording equipment and large-bodied camera

Tools

Knives, weapons, and laser devices

Smoke canisters

Fireworks

Flares

Airhorns

Fold-away seating

Posters, signs, fags or banners

Professional cameras or recording equipment