Some thoughts and reports from outings...
Blogs from some outdoor adventures.....
Last Munro was 23rd April 2015, a fine outing up my local hill with my favourite girl a day before her 11th Birthday. http://steamingboots.weebly.com/blog/from-winter-to-summer-crampons-to-sun-cream The weather had been superb and the summer looked like it was going to be good. I felt good in our initial climbing forays and my 2015 summer tick list was growing nicely J…….. Last outing on a hill – 8th May on the Corbett Ben Donich. http://steamingboots.weebly.com/blog/may-snow-on-ben-donich After the summer weather in April I headed up the easily accessible Ben Donich, the early snow shower gave a dusting and my knee felt fine. A week earlier on the Arbroath sea cliffs it had “twanged” a little but this happens a few times a year, sometimes whilst in the outdoors and other times whilst at work….. The trip was nice and the snow made it a refreshing walk…… 24hrs later after spending a Sunday morning on the work laptop, I could hardly stand up. Something had gone well and truly in my knee and it wasn’t the usual “twangs”. OCD (see this post for more info…) http://steamingboots.weebly.com/blog/-ocd-and-outdoor-activities-osteochrondritis-dissecans So now into September and still waiting on a date for surgery( pre assessment was three weeks ago) I thought I would give a little insight into my first few flights with my new toy. Having run out of things to buy (new tripod purchased, dry bags bought, new guy lines, mid layer and even a bloody snow shuffle ???) I eventually made the leap and purchased a drone. These purchases are all due to my withdrawal symptoms and OCD for getting to the mountains and can’t really use any of them till I get my knee fixed – I mean why the hell I saw the need to buy a snow shovel is beyond me but it seemed logical at the time !!!?? However I have been contemplating buying a drone for a few years to supplement the Steaming Boots footage, but price and a fear of crashing an expensive toy have delayed me…….. until now. The launch of the Phantom 3 standard ticked all my boxes and I made the buy about three weeks agoJ Unlike all of the other toys and bits of gear I’ve purchased I was able to actually use the drone (the rest of the kit is waiting for me to get back to the hills!!). First objective was to find a safe, open space in the middle of nowhere (but close enough to hobble too!!). A field was found and I headed out on a nice calm day with two excited kids in tow… (not sure who was more excited – me or them!!). After lots of reading and then reading again, I started the drone in beginner’s mode which limits how far the drone will fly from you (30m max). The whizz of the propellers started and with the touch (well slide) of a button the Phantom 3 Standard was up and hovering a few meters in front of me. A bit of throttle and I was away experimenting in the large open field not going too far away !! As the battery lowered I brought it back home to land with another slide of the button – all was well and I had managed the first flight without smashing the drone to pieces or it falling form the sky J. Here’s a short film of the first outing: A week later and my next objective was to end the flight by catching the drone. When I eventually get to the hills I don’t think there will be much flat ground to land so I need to start using this technique. So out and about and it was easy, new landing technique now done and ticked off J I had also taken beginner mode off and was now able to fly a little further away (I still had a 90m limit though!). This weekend I have been out twice. Friday night saw a cracking sunset which I tried to catch over the River Earn. Think the shots came out ok: Was also up super earlier on Saturday morning and caught the sunrise…….. So basics are coming along nicely, don’t think I’ll ever be a super pilot but just need enough skill to catch some nice fly by mountain shots. The software and drone itsself seem to do all the hard work and with the launch of the “intelligent modes” this coming week, that be something new to look up…
The follow me, way point s and orbit modes are the ones that drew me to the drone in the first place (actually the 3DR Solo initially before the P3S emerged!). Look forward to hopefully getting these under my belt before I get back to the mountains!!!! So far so good – the sky’s the limit and all that!!! J Apart from the learning curve that come with the drone, this summer has seen an unusually high amount of garden time (never looked so good), have even managed to get to 90% of the local footballs teams games. However my OCD to get to the mountains is still there, the poor weather has help slightly and the fact that I can still ride my bike (albeit slowing and with some pain) have helped. Really hope to be back n the game by the time the winter arrives!!!! Tick tock for the OCD (Disseccans this time!!!)_
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WilkieMurraySome thoughts and reports from my outdoors activties... Archives
August 2017
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