A short clip from our visit to the English Lake District earlier this week. The light was fading after a 12km hike over Catbells and back down through Newlands Valley. Decided to get the drone out one last time and fly backwards away from the sun and avoiding as much of the dreaded green lens flare as possible.
Avoidance sensors where deactivated due to low light, the map was grey due to no internet and not staying pre-loaded from the previous flight. The perfect recipe for what happened next.
So... a few short moments after this video ended the drone hit some bracken 300m up the side of Rowling End near Causey Pike. After a short tumble the bird was down.
It was dark by the time I'd reached the bottom of Rowling End and had planned the rescue... route to crash site, backup route to crash site, route out of crash site, backup route out of crash site, head torch, map, compass, food, water, redbull, gloves, hat, rain jacket, first aid kit, portable phone charger and lastly the drone remote. My friend Charlotte had the GPS coordinates just in case I didn't come back (her idea!).
After half an hour of heading upwards through patches of dead bracken and heather, some short scrambles over loose rock, curious glowing eyes (sheep) the yellow flashing LEDs of the drone were a welcome sight. The rescue was a complete success, the only damage was to the tips of one set of props and one of the clips where the prop connects to the motor had broken off. Everything was checked over and fixed the next morning, the drone ready to fly another day
I created another one just for the memories of the day, it's probably too long and boring for most people but as a personal video it's nice to have and shows off some of the beautiful countryside.