When I graduated from college, I was
fortunate enough to make it into and through US Naval Flight Officer School.
Anyone who has ever flown an airplane knows the first rule is to ‘work the
checklist’ and flying a video quad requires the same dedication to following
the checklist. Today, I have a sequenced checklist with seventeen mandatory
steps for capturing compelling video which which hopefully has that happy ending where I have that precious
.jpg file on that mini SD card in my hand and not at bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Of course, combining technology with
video skills plus a checklist is simply a reasonable start. The next prerequisite
for that compelling video thing is weather. Nothing ruins a quad video adventure
faster than wind and fog. In my case, it takes an hour and a half to drive to
the Pacific Coast. That is a three hour investment in time, so checking weather
forecasts and/or checking webcams is a great hedge against disappointment. The
DJI Phantom will tolerate 10MPH winds but the video can get a little shaky even
with the Zenmuse gyro stabilizing camera gimbal. Check the forecast!
But then again, before you run your
checklist prior to flying over that volcano in Iceland, you might take one more
invaluable undertaking. Preflight Test.
Before you head out for that ‘mother of all video sessions’ make sure that your
shit works Grasshopper.
Lesson #123.8. The other day I was going back
to the Coast to video some sea lions that I had missed on a prior trip. On that
prior trip, Tommy had descended a tad too low and was sprayed by a rogue wave. I
decided to run a test flight while at home to make sure the salt water had not
corroded some vital innards. Innards were fine but I had no FPV. After a hour
of peeling the tech onion back, I found a broken film tape connector between my
GoPro and Tommy. I had a spare connector and all was well. Had I not performed
a complete test flight, I would have wasted 3 hours of windshield time and
be faced with some very uncomfortable personal quality time with myself on the
drive home.
Lesson #123.8.a. Watch out for rogue
waves. Not exactly how sure to do that by the way?
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