When I arrived, the whole gorge was shrouded in mist and I thought it would be a washout. Had a coffee at the bottom and then drove back up the gorge (video of the ride also on this site).
By the time I had parked and clambered (read dragged up by the dog) up the side of the cliffs to a suitable (hand-held) take-off point, the mist had cleared a bit. Cut my thumb on take-off (with blood running everywhere lol), took the video and some images and brought the M2P back down just as it started pouring with rain. The dog was off, looking back at me and I’m sure she was thinking ‘Get down on your bloody own, matey’.
I am quite pleased with the overall result, especially thinking of what it was like when I arrived. I hope you enjoy watching.
Great video some lovely shots and good filming, can I ask exactly where you took off from. I got a handle for mine on eBay, I did a video on it, here is the YouTube link.
It was intended for mounting a phone on top of the drone and using the drone as a hand held gimbal, I modified it a using action camera bit. It works really well, but I haven’t used it in action, although there was time when it would have been really useful, but I’d left it at home.
Since filming this video I have changed my mount, the new on has a qhick release similar to a tripod quick release and it also has a clear hole to allow a cable to enter into the bottom of the CrystalSky so I now use a 20mm long cable from there to the USB A socket on the bottom middle of the controller.
I’ll maybe add a photo or two of it on here next time I’m out.
Thanks for the comment Phil. If you look at the video at 9.01, I launched from the left hand side, half way up the slope somewhere around the circle in the image below:
I will check out the handle link, it might save my thumb again lol (my fault entirely).
Thanks for the image, I think I wouldn’t be able to get up there as I have a bit of a mobility issue, but I can see why you hand launched it, did you catch it coming back down?
Yes, I often do hand launch and catch. This time I think it was a combination of the dog getting into a position I wasn’t happy with and not moving my hand away quickly enough. My own fault and I will be more careful in the future. Not keen on that much blood, especially when it is my own lol.
I had a look at the video Phil. It would certainly be useful in taking off from similar situations as Cheddar and might have saved my thumb lol. Do you know how it affects the flying of the drone?
To be honest I have hardly used it, I was hoing to get out on a boat to use but the boat opportunity didn’t happen. I used it once where I usually go just to practice things and it didn’t seem to affect the way it flew at all. It only weighs 28g so its not a lot, all the weight is straight down so if anything it will lower the centre of gravity which is not really a bad thing. It will use a little more power for going up, but not a lot compared to hanging a GoPro underneath it.
This is the eBay link for the handle, it’s only £9.22 with free delivery from China so may take a few weeks to arrive.
I thought it was worth if you are going to be doing any hand launch.
Phil
