Hope you have a laugh and learn something.

Very low res from phone.

I expect some of you people can fly your drone through the eye of a needle and not touch the sides. Well, I can’t, but I did want to fly through parts of a ruined building to see how easy it would be.


For those who don’t know, without satellite data, the drone switches to ATTI mode. Within a confined space, prop-wash and wind movement make controlling the drone like playing football in shoes on an ice rink. The player being the drone, in this case.

Obviously, only a loony would attempt to fly their drone indoors, without prop-guards. I decided to buy some from Fineguard for £9.00 on Amazon UK. I can confirm they worked perfectly. Fitting them required prop removal, clipping them together and refitting the props. Not a big drama and you may prefer to assemble on site rather than carrying an unfold able drone.

Because I would be passing through narrow doorways and down passages, I switched off the forward sensors and flew in tripod mode. All this mode does is reduce the responsiveness of the sticks. A large stick movement translates to a slow movement of the drone. The novice shouldn’t make the mistake of believing this creates a stable drone, like putting a camera on a real tripod. It doesn’t, the drone is easily deflected by slight air movement.

I decided to start off with something easy, like passing through a double door opening. Once I knew what to expect and got a feel for close encounters, I tried smaller openings. Although not shown in the video, simply because I forgot to press the record button, I flew through the rooms in the main building. The hazard here was thin, dangling wires in the gloom that were almost impossible to see.

I mentioned prop-wash earlier. You will notice in the video how skittish the drone becomes, passing through a narrow opening. One instant it bounces away, the next it sucks towards it. However, I only hit 3 times with the drone-guards during the whole test. The effect of a hit would have broken a prop and a hard fall for the drone amongst junk. Needless to say, the guards just bounced the drone gently away. No fuss, no drama.

I also mentioned wind movement. In the dark chamber at the end of the video, the air currents blowing through were unmanageable. I had the strange deja-vous moment that the drone was darting around like a ball around the screen on an early computer game. To make matters worse, the room was so dark, I could hardly see the drone, at all. I managed to land it in the room, but in so doing, I stood on the drone-guard. It survived with no damage.

My closing tip is, never fly with prop-guards if there is much wind. The drone will be less able to resist the drag.

Hello and good day AlansDronePics. Thank you for posting this video and for giving us your insight on how you have produced this said video. Thank you for your support.

Pretty cool looks old there

GroTToFlyeR Posted at 3-23 11:03
Pretty cool looks old there

Yes, its a Victorian fort that was used by the Germans during WW2

GroTToFlyeR Posted at 3-23 11:03
Pretty cool looks old there

Yes, its a Victorian fort that was used by the Germans during WW2

Nicely done

A J Posted at 3-23 23:31
Nicely done

Thank you.

my hat off to you, tremendous job,  well done , you are quite the pilot! thank you for sharing.

Well done

Great place to fly looks pretty interesting!

Woe Posted at 3-24 05:44
Well done

Thanks Woe. I was in a dark place...

TomThomson Posted at 3-24 07:40
Great place to fly looks pretty interesting!

Typical sights on the island can be seen here.
https://1drv.ms/b/s!ArAx9oM6899RgcRdcUJN-gAu1me80w

AlansDronePics Posted at 3-24 02:19
Thank you.

You're welcome

AlansDronePics Posted at 3-24 08:07
Typical sights on the island can be seen here.
https://1drv.ms/b/s!ArAx9oM6899RgcRdcUJN-gAu1me80w

Thanks! Small island full of intersting stuff ...

Great flying Thanks for sharing

Think I saw a ghost in the doorway at the end

jeffmossy Posted at 3-24 11:21
Think I saw a ghost in the doorway at the end

No, just me. There are ghosts there.
I have seen them when I photograph in the dead of night.

AlansDronePics Posted at 3-23 22:58
Yes, its a Victorian fort that was used by the Germans during WW2

Awesome

AlansDronePics Posted at 3-24 08:00
Thanks Woe. I was in a dark place...

You're welcome and come back to the light.

Very cool, nicely done