Hi everyone!
My name's Anton and I live in Toronto, Canada. I'm a drone freak, but probably not in any way you might expect.
I recently bought (at a very significant discount) two DJI Mini 2 Flymore Bundles. I'm not a fan of DJI; my first drone was a P3P. I did one test flight, then moved to a different company. Gave the P3P away a few months later (it vanished in a flyaway, of course!). I'm not here to bash DJI, however. Not at all. I think their hardware is stunningly great. I didn't like the rather un-aesthetically pleasing P3P (it's boring), but DJI's later hardware looks pretty good.
I bought my two Mini 2's because, after doing some research I thought it might be possible to fly them in my "style". I also learned that they could be flown without a phone or app involved at all. Which is true. The next thing I'd like to do is remove the cameras/gimbals. I don't need them, and I'd rather not end up destroying them.
So, here's the part that may bother a few people. Parts of the way I fly are slightly dangerous. I don't suggest anyone try most of what I do. I have well over a thousand hours of practice (probably closer to two thousand) and I 'm pretty good at what I do. I am apparently the only person in the world who flies like this, by the way. That's not a boast; more like a lament. I didn't know no one else did this. I'd love to be wrong.
It's slightly, vaguely, dangerous, but ONLY to the pilot. Me, I mean. I'll explain.
I can fly very, very close to myself. Like, centimeters close. I fly LOS exclusively. Doing what I do, I basically can't take my eyes off the drone. If you've ever seen a kid with a toy airplane, zooming it around themselves while running around... that's kind of how I fly. I call it Precision Proximity Piloting. Or P3, as an homage to my long-gone Phantom 3.
I can do a few tricks, but the way I fly is my primary trick. I can dance with the drone, I can fly that close to myself with the TX behind my back, and I can spin the drone on my index finger like a basketball while moving around, bouncing it up and down. I can fly the drone around myself while I spin around as well. I've trained myself not to allow the dizziness to affect my flying. I tend to fly at face level, and I am in almost constant motion WITH the drone. I don't stand in one spot and fly way over there somewhere.
I primarily fly indoors, although I can do all this outdoors as well.
My drone of choice for my style is the Bugs 3 Mini. It's brushless, powerful, and inexpensive. I have nine of them in total. It self-levels (atti mode), and that's all. No GPS, no barometer, no sensors, no compass, nothing. The drone does NOT fly itself in any way. I do require self-leveling; I can't do this in acro. The Bugs Mini is also a pretty boring shape, so I add all kinds of junk to my drones to make them larger and more "visually stimulating", let's say. They're all under 250 grams, though. Adding stuff to them makes them HARDER to fly, not easier. Don't try this at home.
Again, please don't attempt the dangerous parts of this. I spent a long time very slowly developing my abilities. Unfortunately not my dancing abilities, however, Haha. The drone dances far better than I do. I'm just an old fat guy. I have no problem with anyone laughing at my dancing. I laugh at it myself.
So... would anyone like to see video?
The first minute is just me warming up; it gets better. This is from a couple of years ago - I'll be making new videos soon.
Happy to be here, and looking forward to whatever responses I get. And before anyone chastises me for doing something so slightly dangerous, first you have to go and chastise high divers, fire-eaters, chainsaw jugglers, race car drivers, etc. Do that, then feel free to lecture me.
Anton
My name's Anton and I live in Toronto, Canada. I'm a drone freak, but probably not in any way you might expect.
I recently bought (at a very significant discount) two DJI Mini 2 Flymore Bundles. I'm not a fan of DJI; my first drone was a P3P. I did one test flight, then moved to a different company. Gave the P3P away a few months later (it vanished in a flyaway, of course!). I'm not here to bash DJI, however. Not at all. I think their hardware is stunningly great. I didn't like the rather un-aesthetically pleasing P3P (it's boring), but DJI's later hardware looks pretty good.
I bought my two Mini 2's because, after doing some research I thought it might be possible to fly them in my "style". I also learned that they could be flown without a phone or app involved at all. Which is true. The next thing I'd like to do is remove the cameras/gimbals. I don't need them, and I'd rather not end up destroying them.
So, here's the part that may bother a few people. Parts of the way I fly are slightly dangerous. I don't suggest anyone try most of what I do. I have well over a thousand hours of practice (probably closer to two thousand) and I 'm pretty good at what I do. I am apparently the only person in the world who flies like this, by the way. That's not a boast; more like a lament. I didn't know no one else did this. I'd love to be wrong.
It's slightly, vaguely, dangerous, but ONLY to the pilot. Me, I mean. I'll explain.
I can fly very, very close to myself. Like, centimeters close. I fly LOS exclusively. Doing what I do, I basically can't take my eyes off the drone. If you've ever seen a kid with a toy airplane, zooming it around themselves while running around... that's kind of how I fly. I call it Precision Proximity Piloting. Or P3, as an homage to my long-gone Phantom 3.
I can do a few tricks, but the way I fly is my primary trick. I can dance with the drone, I can fly that close to myself with the TX behind my back, and I can spin the drone on my index finger like a basketball while moving around, bouncing it up and down. I can fly the drone around myself while I spin around as well. I've trained myself not to allow the dizziness to affect my flying. I tend to fly at face level, and I am in almost constant motion WITH the drone. I don't stand in one spot and fly way over there somewhere.
I primarily fly indoors, although I can do all this outdoors as well.
My drone of choice for my style is the Bugs 3 Mini. It's brushless, powerful, and inexpensive. I have nine of them in total. It self-levels (atti mode), and that's all. No GPS, no barometer, no sensors, no compass, nothing. The drone does NOT fly itself in any way. I do require self-leveling; I can't do this in acro. The Bugs Mini is also a pretty boring shape, so I add all kinds of junk to my drones to make them larger and more "visually stimulating", let's say. They're all under 250 grams, though. Adding stuff to them makes them HARDER to fly, not easier. Don't try this at home.
Again, please don't attempt the dangerous parts of this. I spent a long time very slowly developing my abilities. Unfortunately not my dancing abilities, however, Haha. The drone dances far better than I do. I'm just an old fat guy.
I have no problem with anyone laughing at my dancing. I laugh at it myself.So... would anyone like to see video?
The first minute is just me warming up; it gets better. This is from a couple of years ago - I'll be making new videos soon.
Happy to be here, and looking forward to whatever responses I get. And before anyone chastises me for doing something so slightly dangerous, first you have to go and chastise high divers, fire-eaters, chainsaw jugglers, race car drivers, etc. Do that, then feel free to lecture me.
Anton
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That was my reaction too. Wow. Anton has astounding control!
