Fly Away

This summer I purchased a quadcopter and we’ve had a lot of fun with it.

IMG_2196I’m amazed at what $50 can buy in a quadcopter.  This includes a camera mounted on the underside which can take still photos or movies.  Not great quality, but it is still exotic to get a view from up above.  The grandkids had a lot of fun chasing it around in the back yard, and also at the park at Sunriver.  They took turns flying it.

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Here is a video clip from it flying over our house:

I worry about it getting away from me and having it fly into oblivion, or it getting stuck high in a tree.  There are two challenges when flying it–wind, and disorientation.  Both were factors when I did stick it into a tree once, but I was able to reach and free it with a long pole.  This past weekend I had a narrower escape.  Flying in more wind than I should have in our back yard it scraped along the grass and got turned around, so I was unsure which way was forward and couldn’t correct it as it flew away from me.  When it got about two houses away I cut the power and hoped for the best.

It was getting dark when we went looking for it, which was a good thing.  Because we were able to see its lights blinking through a neighbor’s fence across their yard and in a swamp area behind it.  I was very lucky it didn’t stick high in a tree or be lost forever in the brush.  I doubt I would ever have found it without its lights blinking in the fading light.

So the quadcopter survives to fly another day.

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