This is geeky beyond measure….
I’m in the “laboratory” getting ready for an aerial shoot tomorrow. My hexacopter is good to go, but in case I need another flight or backup I was getting my DJI Phantom ready to fly. I had just balanced some new props and was walking up the stairs when the doorbell rang. Quad in hand, I answered the door. It was a neighbor kid.
“My rocket is on your roof.”
He had launched a rocket from his yard and miscalculated the wind. The parachute was hanging off the edge of the roof and the rocket was on the roof. I told him I’d be happy to try taking the Phantom up there and seeing if I could get close enough for the wind from the props to blow the rocket down. He, his father, and three other neighbor kids thought that was a brilliant idea.
I was a little worried. I just spent a bunch of money on new props. I’d hate to break them AND leave the damn Phantom on the roof.
I piloted up to the roof and positioned the quad above the rocket. It was a bit breezy so I had to manipulate it a bit to keep it in position, despite being in GPS mode (that’s another discussion). I lowered to the point where the prop wash hit the rocket and voila! The rocket blew down and I was the hero of the neighborhood.
The neighbor kids raved how cool the Phantom was to which I said, “you should see the BIG bird!”
I then busted out the big hexacopter and did a neighborhood flight with a very attentive audience. They loved it, and I got a test flight in on the big bird after having to reset the gimbal settings.
I’m a wounded warrior, 22 years with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, KY. I got into RC after arriving to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Having a brain injury among many others, one day they came to my room, dropped off a large box with the pic of an airplane on it and told me to build it as I could.
I was ready to fly that thing the next morning. Unfortunately, Many more months in the hospital but I finally got too and I got the bug. Now I have several aircraft. a sweet 1/4 scale club and many planes and helicopters. In the multirotor realm, a 600 hex built for me by a company at another army hospital in San Antonio, a DJI Phantom Vision 2+ , and Horizon’s limp attempt, blade 350 qx2.
Cool story man. Hope I get to be a hero someday
Clearly YOU are the hero Todd. Thanks for your service and hope to fly with you someday.
So what would you recommend for a multirotor, or plane? Just realized what you offered
I would guess you’d have to answer the question as to what you want to do with it. Are you looking for aerial photos/video and if so, what camera do you want to carry? Sport flying? FPV long range?