long term travel with quadcopter

[rtwtrip]

Hello all,

In 3 months I will be going on a round the world trip for just over a year and I'm wondering whether or not a drone is .. practical.

One the one hand the various locations will present great opportunities for gorgeous images and videos, but on the other hand it means that I have to lug a heavy bag with breakable equipment along for more than 12 months.

I understand that certain countries might not allow drones in an all, and I also understand that airplane transportation can be a bit of a hassle now and then.. but im looking for a way to make taking a drone along possible.

1) how small can one make a phantom? Mod the legs into foldable.
2) if the phantom is not practical, what type of camera quad would be better?
3) would a softwase (camera bag) be good enough?
4) Does anyone have experience with having to haul around (for a long time) backpacks with clothing/etc along with an additional drone bag?
5) what would be the best way to transport the quad?

Somewhere I feel that this should be doable, but when done wrong the hassle might not be worth the benefit.

 

[jamesb72]

A Parrot Bebop is much smaller, easy to control from smartphone and the pics/video are amazingly good for such a small craft - I'd be looking at that over a phantom for such a long trip for the reasons you gave.

Just a random youtube video to give an idea of the quality - it has a fixed camera with fisheye lens, and electronic stabilisation which provides smooth camera footage and even allows virtual 'tilt' downwards!

 

[witold]

Not practical at all. The gimbal assembly is just too fragile. Folding in landing gear won't help you much because the gimbal is still there in the middle. On top of that, you still have to carry a pretty big controller+tablet, a giant brick of a charger, and batteries... and maybe filters, extra props, and a few other widgets.

In some ways, I got my Phantom in order to travel more and revisit and film some cool places. But Phantom logistics are a PIA.

 

[rtwtrip]

A Parrot Bebop is much smaller, easy to control from smartphone and the pics/video are amazingly good for such a small craft - I'd be looking at that over a phantom for such a long trip for the reasons you gave.

Just a random youtube video to give an idea of the quality - it has a fixed camera with fisheye lens, and electronic stabilisation which provides smooth camera footage and even allows virtual 'tilt' downwards!

That bebop is actually a **** good suggestion. Much smaller and seems more bump proof.
Gonna look into this, thanks !