Travel And Photo Today

Come Fly With Me! Quadracopter Photography

Quadracopter and the World War I Memorial In Kansas City

(Don’t worry -it is a photoshopped image – but kinda of cool)

For those of you who have been wondering where I’ve been, why haven’t I been writing articles recently – well there are several answers. First, it’s summer and I tend to get a bit lazy. Sitting at the computer, writing and publishing articles is fine, but I enjoy being out and about. It’s bike riding weather, time to get out and do some photography – you get the idea. And then of course, there is this new interest of mine. Aerial photography.

I’ve always enjoyed flying. I got my private pilot’s license long ago. But due to cost and time demands I let that lapse. Flying is not cheap. And to fly well you have to fly a lot. As with most things – practice is important. To me it always seemed that if you are going to drive yourself around the sky it it only makes sense to to be good at it. After all, unlike driving a car, if you get lost or confused or have a problem when flying – well you can’t just pull over and stop and think. When you are flying – you are flying.

I recently got back into “flying” on a somewhat smaller scale. I purchased my own “Quadracopter” – a four rotor radio controlled model aircraft which is becoming very popular with model aircraft enthusiasts. For me, it was a great way to get back in the air. And my version of the “Quad” also has a camera on board allowing me to do some very interesting aerial photography – quadracopter photography that is. The camera shoots video as well as still images.

I should probably mention that the world of remote controlled helicopter use is growing rapidly. The vast majority of RC pilots fly responsibly, using good judgement. Unfortunately, there have been, perhaps, a few who have flown in an inappropriate manner, irritating the public and in some cases being downright reckless. As a result there are some moves now to place more regulations and restrictions on RC aircraft use. As with everything – a few “bad apples” can create problems for everyone. That said, let me state “for the record” (in case “big brother” is reading over my shoulder) that my flying and photography is as a hobbyist only and my intention is to always fly in a reasonable and responsible manner.

Learning to flying my Quad well is an on-going adventure. I plan to write more in the future about my particular Quad – reviewing the machine as I get to know it better. I will also be sharing video and images from time to time. (By the way – learning to fly and photograph well with the Quad is a bit of a challenge. And then, learning to edit and work with video in the computer is another learning curve as well. ) As a first presentation, below is a YouTube video of a brief flight in the Midtown Kansas City area – shot from a small park near the Kansas City Scout statue and showing the Central Kansas City area in the distance.

So now you know, if you don’t see articles as frequently as in the past – it’s probably because I’m out flying!