As I've mentioned, I live on the wall of a canyon, Clear Creek Canyon on the Douglas County/Carson City border in Nevada. The creek is at the bottom, Old Clear Creek Road, where I live, is next up, and then a bit farther up the canyon is Hwy 50, the stretch that runs from Lake Tahoe to Carson City. For many years, I've seen a flag on a little peak just creekside of Hwy 50 as I made the drive down. It's a great sight, inspiring. As I was driving down Friday, I decided I was going to map the little cluster of houses where I live...and find that flag!
Yesterday I started my mapping project, and quite by accident, I found the flag in the process! By that time I didn't have enough reserve power to do a close-in recon, but I noted where it was...just about 1600 ft away, just on this side of Hwy 50.
Today, I set out to do the close recon of the flag. I was using 1080p because I wanted to use 4X, to get a good sense of the terrain before getting close to it. I had gone slightly past it, and I was backing up while watching for it. As a result of the prevailing winds here, the wind is usually blowing down-canyon, and it was today. It was a bit breezy, but I've flown the Mini-2 in far worse. Still, while I was backing up to spot the flag and set up my run, it seemed a bit sluggish, and slow moving. I figured I was fighting the wind to come back, which I had expected, and I had plenty of reserve power.
But then...I get a warning message!
"Warning! Very high winds. Reduce altitude immediately. Unable to automatically fly home."
I did *NOT* see that coming!
Now, I may be adventurous, but I'm no fool. I did what I was told! I dropped about 100 ft, and headed straight for home. Slowly. I should have switched it to Sport mode, but I didn't think to do that, so I was in Normal mode.
As it got closer, I could tell that it was struggling to remain control in what was now a very substantial wind. You probably won't be able to tell on the video, but I could see the little Mini-2 bouncing around in the wind, valiantly trying to maintain control.
Which it did. I brought it home, with a very low ground speed, and landed uneventfully with about 10 minutes reserve still on the battery.
I have three Mini-2s, and I've named them Enterprise, Defiant, and Phoenix. By coincidence...maybe...I was flying Defiant today. He's the one who fell 80 feet through a tall pine tree, and was recovered without any damage. Not a single prop blade was dinged. A freshly charged battery, and he was back in the air.
I'm going to end up selling Enterprise and Phoenix to buy other drones, but Defiant is the Mini-2 that I'm going to keep.
A little excitement to spice up a Sunday afternoon!
TCS
Yesterday I started my mapping project, and quite by accident, I found the flag in the process! By that time I didn't have enough reserve power to do a close-in recon, but I noted where it was...just about 1600 ft away, just on this side of Hwy 50.
Today, I set out to do the close recon of the flag. I was using 1080p because I wanted to use 4X, to get a good sense of the terrain before getting close to it. I had gone slightly past it, and I was backing up while watching for it. As a result of the prevailing winds here, the wind is usually blowing down-canyon, and it was today. It was a bit breezy, but I've flown the Mini-2 in far worse. Still, while I was backing up to spot the flag and set up my run, it seemed a bit sluggish, and slow moving. I figured I was fighting the wind to come back, which I had expected, and I had plenty of reserve power.
But then...I get a warning message!
"Warning! Very high winds. Reduce altitude immediately. Unable to automatically fly home."
I did *NOT* see that coming!
Now, I may be adventurous, but I'm no fool. I did what I was told! I dropped about 100 ft, and headed straight for home. Slowly. I should have switched it to Sport mode, but I didn't think to do that, so I was in Normal mode.
As it got closer, I could tell that it was struggling to remain control in what was now a very substantial wind. You probably won't be able to tell on the video, but I could see the little Mini-2 bouncing around in the wind, valiantly trying to maintain control.
Which it did. I brought it home, with a very low ground speed, and landed uneventfully with about 10 minutes reserve still on the battery.
I have three Mini-2s, and I've named them Enterprise, Defiant, and Phoenix. By coincidence...maybe...I was flying Defiant today. He's the one who fell 80 feet through a tall pine tree, and was recovered without any damage. Not a single prop blade was dinged. A freshly charged battery, and he was back in the air.
I'm going to end up selling Enterprise and Phoenix to buy other drones, but Defiant is the Mini-2 that I'm going to keep.
A little excitement to spice up a Sunday afternoon!
TCS
