District XI—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Chuck Bower
Vice President
As a kid I dreamed of being inside my model aircraft. Today, with Advanced Flight Systems, my dreams have come true. The following comes from Mike Mosbrooker, associate vice president (AVP) and former District XI vice president (VP).
My wife and I visited our daughter and son-in-law in Chicago in late March. My son-in-law, Jon Buckland, asked if I wanted to try out his new quadcopter and experience FPV flying for the first time. Jon is the president and owner of Common Knowledge Communications. He does a lot of audio/video work among other things, so he is no stranger to technology.
I was pleased to find out Jon is also current on the FAA efforts regarding new rules for commercial and hobby model aircraft. He indicated that, although he currently uses the drone for noncommercial purposes, he would like to use this tool in his work when feasible. He indicated that he would like to get connected with people in Chicago who have similar interests and thought AMA might be a good fit in this regard. I will have more on this later.
On a pleasant Saturday afternoon, we set forth. Jon’s primary quadcopter is a DJI Inspire 1, so we took it and an older DJI Phantom—also set up for FPV and photography—to a park on the south side of town.
Jon got the Phantom out to make sure that the old guy (me) could actually fly one of these. I managed to pass that test, so we moved on to the Inspire 1. Both of the quadcopters were in custom cases that fit compactly into the trunk of Jon’s Mini. The downside of this is that “some assembly required” applies before flight operations.
The Inspire 1 has a fairly large airframe with 23-inch diagonal dimensions plus the 13-inch propellers. It weighs approximately 6.5 pounds, and has a 20-minute flight duration with a 6S 5,700 mAh battery. The camera can do more than 12 megapixel photos or up to a 4K video. Control is a 2.4 GHz system, while video is linked on a 5.8 GHz system.
Two controllers are included—one for the airframe and the other for the camera. Once it is off the ground, the airframe’s configuration can be changed to raise the skids above the fuselage allowing 360° camera rotation without airframe interference, but you don’t want to land that way! Flying this machine was not difficult. It is stable and features the usual menu of GPS-enabled flying modes.
To understand all of the telemetry data presented was beyond my comprehension for one afternoon. A video of the telemetry presentation for one flight is available in the digital edition and online at www.ModelAviation.com. As you might expect, I learned a few things during this pleasurable experience.
On a clear day, the line of sight is roughly half a mile above the horizon. When the aircraft drops below the horizon, it can no longer be seen at that distance. Line of sight is great until something happens, such as when the quadcopter is suddenly surrounded by 50 seagulls, at which time it can no longer be visually tracked. The video shows what it looks like flying, but much closer than a half mile.
Before flying FPV, it is a good idea to gain some familiarity with the local terrain and its dominant features. When you are told to fly to a landmark and then return, it is helpful to know what it looks like and where it is.
Jon’s main mission was to shoot a video of one of the several pleasure boat harbors that serve Chicago. He has already done several for the people who run these harbors for reference when someone comes in and wants to rent a slip for the season. This serves to build Jon’s standing with the officials, which can become important because Jon is a boater and needs a place to tie his boat up each year.
After Jon shot and edited the video, he indicated that some music was needed. He punched a few keys and we had music. (I hate it when people show off like that.) Jon told me that GoPro has software that will get rid of fish-eye and crop your work.
Thanks to Randy Cameron, District VI VP, and a few of his AVPs, Jon is a new member of AMA and is working to join local people with similar interests.
It was a good thing that we flew when we did. The forecasted flurries the next day measured about 7 inches. Next time we will try flying in June.
The diversity of our hobby can be our strength! See you at the flying field or maybe at a hobby shop. Flying season is here.
