Mountain Surfing with the DJI FPV Drone

 

I packed my my DJI FPV drone up into the mountains for its second flight ever this past week. It poured down snow for most of the trip, so I was worried I wouldn't get a chance to fly, but fortune favored me and I was granted a 15 minute break in the weather to cruise through the snowy alpine forest and try my hand at mountain surfing right at the edge of a wall of falling snow.

Now, as some may point out, this isn't a traditional long range mountain surfing video which typically begin with an ascent from the foot of a mountain and end with the descent in one long cinematic experience. Since the DJI FPV drone is limited to 500 meters above its takeoff point, this isn't really possible for this drone. For me this hasn't become a serious limitation yet, as I'm still getting used to flying FPV at all, and I don't feel comfortable taking it far away from me or trying really daring high speed stunts. For this video I aimed to get the feel of mountain surfing more than the full lengthy experience of long distance mountain surfing.

Next up I'm going to try flying in thick forest, so stay tuned for that!

DJI FPV Drone - First Flight

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.

DJI FPV Drone - Unboxing & Troubleshooting

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.

Wild Birds in the Snow

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.

Reclaimed Centralia Mine - aerial footage of a proposed Widlife Area

 

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

Soothing scenes from the wild coast of Olympic National Park

The ceaseless pounding of waves upon the rocky shores of the wild Olympic Peninsula both soothes the troubled mind and thrills the adventurous spirit. Here in Olympic National Park nature rules and the shoreline throngs with life in overwhelming abundance. One might sit for hours by the shore entranced by the ever changing motion of the surf, its roar mixed with the plaintive calls of sea birds and the scuttling of crabs hurrying upon their secret missions.

Transforming the Centralia Coal Mine - A Golden Opportunity for Wildlife and Recreation

Past Washington’s only coal fired power plant, now in its final few years, lies a vast landscape of lush prairie, rolling hills, and glittering lakes - a former coal mine now healing and gradually transforming into a unique wild refuge. Under a WDFW proposal, the reclaimed Centralia coal mine would become one of Washington’s newest and largest wildlife areas. Such a protected area would offer great potential both for conservation of endangered species, and for building a strong outdoor recreation economy in the region.