We cancelled a trip to New York City after finding out the cost of train tickets, and my wife made a spur of the moment decision to visit a castle on the other side of the state.
Since the castle is in a state park, we could not take off from there, so after doing the castle tour, we headed for a late lunch/dinner across the river and then I sought out a launch position that was in view of the castle.
It turned out that a ferry boat slip that had closed down for the day was pretty ideal. Perfect line of site. So I started up the P4P, about 50' back from the iron fence, but soon got the 'compass error' which is a first for me in the year of flying this drone. I moved back 100' and rebooted the P4P.. same thing. Moved back 200' and rebooted. Same error. At this point, I'm thinking the odds of this mission aren't looking too good. But I decide to calibrate the compass, now in a wooded lot back from the slip. That goes okay, so I go back to my launch location. All systems go. I just have a warning about unpaved runways nearby, and need to do a self authorization. That went smoothly.
Was able to takeoff, fly two laps around the castle and hand catch the drone afterwards. Total flight time 6-1/2 minutes. Right at sunset. The lighting turned out dramatic. Minutes later would have been a dud lighting situation.
So here's the final result. I added original music that I composed and performed a few years ago and the result is this:
Interestingly, when I got home, I had to calibrate the compass again to fly at home. There is a lot of iron in the ground in eastern part of my state, and likely affected the compass.
Nice effort all around. Good to see you have a good mind-set for spontaneity. It paid off well this time!
BTW, I just saw a "click-bait" photo for the Gillette Castle the other day and passed on it. Now I know I was waiting for your video! Way better than the click-bait!
Thanks for all the nice comments.
Persistence paid off. I came really close to just giving up, thinking something was wrong with the location or the drone. The rocks really ARE different over there. I've known for years it is a black hole for medium wave (AM) reception in that part of the state due to the iron content in the rocks.
As I edited this thing, I thought, "not another silent movie.. what can I use for music?" So I dug out some stuff I composed in 2006. It just barely covered the shortened edit. But, short and sweet makes the best videos.
Mark Weiss Posted at 5-31 18:50
Thanks for all the nice comments.
Persistence paid off. I came really close to just giving up, thinking something was wrong with the location or the drone. The rocks really ARE different over there. I've known for years it is a black hole for medium wave (AM) reception in that part of the state due to the iron content in the rocks.
As I edited this thing, I thought, "not another silent movie.. what can I use for music?" So I dug out some stuff I composed in 2006. It just barely covered the shortened edit. But, short and sweet makes the best videos.
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