The alpine forest in winter is a seussian wonderland of trees frosted by the cold winds that coat the fragrant needles of the silver firs with elegant serenity. Buzzing through this maze of mountain splendor with the DJI FPV was a ton of fun, despite a few close calls!
I put together this how-to video on setting up the DJI FPV motion controller, and included my first flight with it. It's a ton of fun, and way easier to pick up and fly than I had expected. It's remarkably intuitive and makes flying feel more natural and immersive, though it will take some getting used to for me to be completely comfortable with this input method. I do have a few complaints though, it's really easy to hit the record button by accident (hence why the footage from the drone picks up midway through the flight!), and it was pretty annoying having to bind the controller to my account and activate it. Overall though, this controller is pretty cool. I'll be making a review video about it when I've had a chance to really get to grips with it.
I finally got my DJI FPV drone activated, updated, and took it out for a spin - my first time flying FPV! I've got to say, as someone coming from the Mavic 2, even just flying in N and S modes with this thing is quite a thrilling experience. I honestly hadn't expected to be flying through fairly tight spaces and doing close passes to the ground so confidently after just a few minutes.
I'm not even going to try to fly in Manual mode until I can find a decent flight simulator to try on Android/PC - I had planned to learn via the DJI flight simulator, but I don't own an IOS device. To be honest, I'm perfectly happy with N and S modes right now, since they allow me to get that FPV style footage that I want to capture. So, first impressions from my first flight are very positive indeed - I love this thing and am already thinking of a dozen different places that would awesome to fly at.
I realize there are a bazillion DJI FPV drone unboxing videos out there, but I couldn't resist filming my own since this is such an exciting new piece of tech! I picked up the drone plus the fly more kit (which I know from experience I will end up buying anyway), and the motion controller (which was too cool to resist!). Unfortunately, I couldn't get through the activation process in time to take it for a spin on the day I filmed/edited the video.
For anyone else having trouble with these issues I'll explain what happened and how I finally solved the problem.
In the lowland temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest snow falls but rarely, and when it does the wild birds that hide themselves in thickets and brush come out to forage in profusion. It is surprising that these delicate creatures, even hummingbirds, used to a moderate and gentle climate survive through such harsh conditions, yet their song seems all the louder for the snow.
Once a vast, barren strip mine, the difficult and lengthy process of reclamation has turned the Centralia Coal Mine in Washington into an enticing landscape of wide prairies, young forests, and many shimmering lakes glittering in a sea of green meadows. Huge herds of elk now roam, and bald eagles wheel through the skies. In this place once utterly obliterated by human industry, life has returned in force.
Now the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wants to acquire the former mine and transform it into a Wildlife Area to help restore endangered species and open it to the public for outdoor recreation such as hiking, kayaking, and fishing. This is a fantastic opportunity for the region, and if you live in Washington I would greatly appreciate it if you wrote to your state representatives and the WDFW in support of the project.
I recently took a drive through this landscape along the county road, and though public access to the land is currently strictly prohibited I was able to get a tantalizing peak into this intriguing place with the help of a drone. I look forward one day to hiking through wildflowers and along serene lakeshores where once was naught but a barren wasteland.
For more info, about this and other WDFW land acquisition projects go here: https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/wdfw-lands/land-acquisitions