Greeting from the Arizona Desert

[UniqueOperator]

This all started with a challenge over a few glasses of wine and what to do in retirement. Next day it sounded like a good idea to try and found MavicPilot a good resource to understand "what's it all about?". Started with a DJI Tello & smart phone to test interest & flying skills. Answered my question during the 1st flight. A few months later earned a Remote Pilot Part 107 Certification. 2nd drone, a Flamewheel F-450, a gift from XYL to slow me down. Added a FRSky controller and learned about the basics of programming flight controls. After flying for about 4 years and a few hundred flights, with no camera, Yes! NO camera; the 3rd drone, a Mavic 3 & RC Pro, satisfied the camera thing. Some serious amateur photography is now in my future. Arizona lends itself to some fantastic scenery, historical sites, and stories to record and share. I still have a lot to learn and adventures to take. Now, I'm a new Mavic Pilot.

 

[MA2 317]

Hello from the Crossroads of America UniqueOperator.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[rawman001]

Welcome! beautiful area of the country. Just passed through your neck of the woods but didn't do much flying. For me though I'd only be able to fly maybe November thorugh March/April before I'd spontaneously combust.

 

[msinger]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Drone Master]

Welcome to Mavic Pilots! Enjoy the forum!

 

[edfrombama]

Good evening to all-
Unique- I spent a year in Chandler helping with grandsons, and the only thing I really regret is that I didn't have my drone then. There are some fantastic places to fly and photograph out there- Superstition Mountain, Salt River, out toward South Mountain- and don't get me started about the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains- gorgeous country.
I envy you your future flying and shooting.

Welcome to the club
Ed

 

[old man mavic]

welcome to the forum

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[Gagey52]

Welcome to the forum from the land of Oz. Look forward to seeing your work.
Regards

 

[tibadoe]

Welcome from VA.

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to your participation and your view of the world.

 

[careless]

Hello from Kentucky, USA

 

[eaglesurfing]

Welcome to the forum from south central Florida and enjoy.

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!

 

[dart106]

Welcome, from Tucson!

 

[Desert Drone Works]

Welcome from another Arizonan, in Tucson. Lots of good people and info here!

 

[John Locke]

Started with a DJI Tello & smart phone

Since you're from Mesa, AZ, you may know of a little restaurant named Tortilla Flats Saloon. It's just past Canyon Lake when you drive up the Apache Trail road, Hwy 88. You walk in the saloon and dollar bills are stapled all over to the walls and ceiling, everywhere in the saloon. This is where my drone interest started. When I walked out of that saloon, I see a guy just across the road looking up at the top of the mountain, holding a white radio with antennas. Curious, I looked up, and about 800' up was a white drone, likely a Phantom 2 or Vision+. I could see the drone up there hovering very still. Then he puts the RC down on his truck tailgate for a moment, the craft is uncontrolled, and the craft is steady as a rock. I was impressed. This was Feb 2015. I bought a P3P just 5 months later, after loads of research. Today, 7 models later I have flown all over the country, from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Hawaii (Alaska next year). Over this time I have learned a lot about video editing, having used 5 different editors over the past 6 years of flight. IMO, as a hobbyist, you really have to enjoy video editing or photography to get the full benefit of flying drones, taking advantage of it's unique perspective, preserving those flights for others to see. Welcome to flight. May you have fair weather and no wind.

Oh yes, make sure you fly Superstition Mtn which is practically next door to Mesa. It's a great POI.

 

[UniqueOperator]

Since you're from Mesa, AZ, you may know of a little restaurant named Tortilla Flats Saloon. It's just past Canyon Lake when you drive up the Apache Trail road, Hwy 88. You walk in the saloon and dollar bills are stapled all over to the walls and ceiling, everywhere in the saloon. This is where my drone interest started. When I walked out of that saloon, I see a guy just across the road looking up at the top of the mountain, holding a white radio with antennas. Curious, I looked up, and about 800' up was a white drone, likely a Phantom 2 or Vision+. I could see the drone up there hovering very still. Then he puts the RC down on his truck tailgate for a moment, the craft is uncontrolled, and the craft is steady as a rock. I was impressed. This was Feb 2015. I bought a P3P just 5 months later, after loads of research. Today, 7 models later I have flown all over the country, from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Hawaii (Alaska next year). Over this time I have learned a lot about video editing, having used 5 different editors over the past 6 years of flight. IMO, as a hobbyist, you really have to enjoy video editing or photography to get the full benefit of flying drones, taking advantage of it's unique perspective, preserving those flights for others to see. Welcome to flight. May you have fair weather and no wind.

Oh yes, make sure you fly Superstition Mtn which is practically next door to Mesa. It's a great POI.

Flying is where the excitement starts... Photography is the real challenge for me. I'm a point and shot amateur. Photo editing it's Adobe Elements to sort & organize, rotate 90 or 180 degs, and cropping to take out bad actors....

With an Mavic 3 I feel like a creative artist at the beginning of writing, directing, and filming an Oscar winning story... Daaa ... Wake Up! I'm asleep at the sticks! Again...
In reality I've got a lot of reading and practice. I'm already reading here in the forum a lot, a ton, shelves of novels on the subject of what to see, how to frame, and how to shoot it.

I did my first photo shoot of a Roof Inspection for a neighbor! I'm on the way to developing my "Director's Eye" error Director's Cut!

Thanks for all the Welcomes.

 

[MontanaMan007]

This all started with a challenge over a few glasses of wine and what to do in retirement. Next day it sounded like a good idea to try and found MavicPilot a good resource to understand "what's it all about?". Started with a DJI Tello & smart phone to test interest & flying skills. Answered my question during the 1st flight. A few months later earned a Remote Pilot Part 107 Certification. 2nd drone, a Flamewheel F-450, a gift from XYL to slow me down. Added a FRSky controller and learned about the basics of programming flight controls. After flying for about 4 years and a few hundred flights, with no camera, Yes! NO camera; the 3rd drone, a Mavic 3 & RC Pro, satisfied the camera thing. Some serious amateur photography is now in my future. Arizona lends itself to some fantastic scenery, historical sites, and stories to record and share. I still have a lot to learn and adventures to take. Now, I'm a new Mavic Pilot.

What AZ city is your base? I was born and raised in Tucson, a city surrounded by mountains and hills. Now I live in Bozeman, MT a city surrounded by mountains (often snowy).