920 and the Law

[PatR]

So a little general interest stuff for a change. The weather was pretty good today so I decided to head out to shoot some "local color" stuff for a guy's website. Not looking for anything special, although I prefer lakes, rivers, and oceans but there were too many people around the lake you can't fly over... so just whatever popped up Two of the places just happened to be right off a state highway, one 20 miles out of town, the other only a mile out of town on the "busy" side of the country state highway. There's an unusual rock formation growing out of the middle of rolling pasture about 1/4 mile or so to the side of the highway. What the heck.

As I'd already done one 7 minute flight on this set of batteries I knew the time would be short, which helped push the flight a little bit to get in, shoot, and get out. Still gave some geese a bit of a worry on the way back though. So, flight done, everything is shut down and I'm loading the 920 into the back of the pick up and I hear a vehicle pull over onto the gravel behind me. I didn't have to look, it had to be a Highway Patrol. Sure as the sun shines it was. As he exits his car I smile and lean back on the tail gate. What are you doing out here he asked? I reply: "Taking some pictures of the rocks over there." He looks in the back of the truck, sees the 920 and comments: "I've never flown one of those."

That was all it took to break out the ST-16 and pull up that video for him to watch and get into quite a discussion about multirotors and aerial photography. He asked the cost of mine and I nicely explained it was a bit on the high side for someone just getting into it but recommended three different consumer rigs to get him, and his kids started. I put all that on the back of a business card and let him know if and when he elects to buy something he should give me a call and I'll give them a few free lessons. I didn't show him the one with the geese All in all a good day. Not the best video quality because I used auto focus, but any day you get to be face to face with the law on a state highway and both of you come away smiling is not just a good day, it's a great day.

I'll be going back to shoot that one again. I really don't like auto focus. Screen grab from the video.

 

[Murray Martz]

So a little general interest stuff for a change. The weather was pretty good today so I decided to head out to shoot some "local color" stuff for a guy's website. Not looking for anything special, although I prefer lakes, rivers, and oceans but there were too many people around the lake you can't fly over... so just whatever popped up Two of the places just happened to be right off a state highway, one 20 miles out of town, the other only a mile out of town on the "busy" side of the country state highway. There's an unusual rock formation growing out of the middle of rolling pasture about 1/4 mile or so to the side of the highway. What the heck.

As I'd already done one 7 minute flight on this set of batteries I knew the time would be short, which helped push the flight a little bit to get in, shoot, and get out. Still gave some geese a bit of a worry on the way back though. So, flight done, everything is shut down and I'm loading the 920 into the back of the pick up and I hear a vehicle pull over onto the gravel behind me. I didn't have to look, it had to be a Highway Patrol. Sure as the sun shines it was. As he exits his car I smile and lean back on the tail gate. What are you doing out here he asked? I reply: "Taking some pictures of the rocks over there." He looks in the back of the truck, sees the 920 and comments: "I've never flown one of those."

That was all it took to break out the ST-16 and pull up that video for him to watch and get into quite a discussion about multirotors and aerial photography. He asked the cost of mine and I nicely explained it was a bit on the high side for someone just getting into it but recommended three different consumer rigs to get him, and his kids started. I put all that on the back of a business card and let him know if and when he elects to buy something he should give me a call and I'll give them a few free lessons. I didn't show him the one with the geese All in all a good day. Not the best video quality because I used auto focus, but any day you get to be face to face with the law on a state highway and both of you come away smiling is not just a good day, it's a great day.

I'll be going back to shoot that one again. I really don't like auto focus. Screen grab from the video.
View attachment 8489

Great story!

 

[xspwhite]

I'm assuming he saw it flying in the sky, and decided to come find you because he's been thinking of buying one.

 

[PatR]

Doubt it. As I was parked on the side of the road, 5’ off pavement, I checked for clear traffic before the take off and landing. I didn’t need some driver getting skittish and swerving when they saw a drone. He might have been thinking of buying one but he didn’t see mine until he looked into the back of the pick up.

 

[xspwhite]

So he maybe thought you were dumping a body or something.

 

[PatR]

In California one of the responsibilities of the Highway Patrol is to check on people and vehicles pulled over on state highways. I figure he was just doing his job.

 

[xspwhite]

Oh I don't know. Your walking out of a rock corey, then your fiddling with something in the back of your truck bed. Might look a bit suspicious. JMO...

Must be nice to be in California right though. It's freezing here.

 

[PatR]

Weather's not bad but the political situation sucks. Where did you come up with "rock quarry"? That rock formation, a county landmark, was out in a pasture off a state highway.

 

[xspwhite]

Nice to meet you my friend. I'm a XSP victim, and I came here because I'm trying to figure out if my next drone will be a yuneek typhone H or a phantom 4.

 

[PatR]

I would not make that decision until after the H Plus is released. The current Phantom line has a better camera than the current H but maintains corporate control of the user. Ultimately you’ll have decisions to make that won’t be confined to just what a camera can do, but include factors influenced by true ownership and system functionality.

 

[xspwhite]

Have you found much difference flying a 6 rotor copter vereses a 4 rotor?

 

[PatR]

I suppose we might have to qualify my answer a little by mentioning how they are set up. If set up fairly close to each other for maneuverability a flat 6 or flat 8 is much smoother in directional changes and makes for a better camera platform. A hex to me also seems to be more precise in directional response. Windy conditions is where differences become very apparent. A flat 6 or 8 is much more stable than a quad and will be able to deal with more wind. Quads and coaxial eights can be a bit more "sporty" than a hex but Yuneec sets their smaller hexes up fairly aggressively, making them quite "sporty" when flown like a sports car. There's always the "big one" that comes into play when flying expensive equipment. A quad will always spin and tumble all the way to the ground when a motor fails. A 6 or 8, either flat or coaxial, can be flown to a landing and remain under control if the system was designed with enough "head room" available for the remaining motors to compensate for the loss of thrust from one or two motors. Losing more than one motors is a problem if the second lost motor is not directly opposed to the first on a flat 6. With a flat 8 that's not as critical.

 

[aber57]

I can add one thing to the list of considerations of any of the P4 series: cracks. I have a P4 and have replaced the upper and lower main body shell pieces twice. If you research them on the forums crack issues comes up a lot.
(Got my typhoon March 10, newby Yuneec owner)

 

[xspwhite]

Any word on when the plus will come to market ?

 

[PatR]

The Plus was marketed back in mid 2016 or so. It's now a discontinued product and only the remaining inventory is available from various sources. Understand the 920 is not for those seeking something new or the "latest-greatest with all the whistles and bells", it's a platform for people that know what they want to do and determined the 920+ is suitable for their endeavors as it is. Those people will be secure in their ability, understand photography, and have already mastered most of their flying skills. What's out there as remaining inventory is all there ever will be.