- Joined
- Dec 26, 2015
- Messages
- 1,669
- Reaction score
- 571
- Age
- 57
Only on flight number 8 with the P3P and I finally had my oh **** moment. I live in fairly populated area as New Mexico Goes... and have been flying in open areas close to the house to get the feeling of the Phantom. After 6 flights I decided I would drive a few miles out of town to the In-Laws and fly out there where I could get it out a little and cut it loose without fear of flying over someone's home or head. Responsible flying... Safety first!!!
So i get out there and go through the pre-flight checks, fire up the remote after connecting my itty bitty work iPhone 5s, fire up the bird, let it go through all the checks. Calibrate the compass after patting myself down to ensure that I don't have metal objects etc... Realize that I have my ACL brace on... (I'm an avid off-road motorcycle rider) had a bad accident... I digress.. So I strip down and take the brace off. Walk about 100 ft into the desert and calibrate the compass... YAY Success!!! Walk back to the paved area next to the house and luanch the Phantom..
This thing is an absolute dream to fly. Just an amazing aircraft. Back to the story. So I'm flying on the first battery I am watching the voltage and plan to land with the battery at 50%. I fly land without a single problem do some overflights of the house and land.. Fire up battery number two take out the bird and fly a little higher, somewhere near 50-60 Meters, I also intended to fly a little more aggressively... This is where it happens...
I am straining to see the telemetry on the Go app (5s way too small) and also keep an eye on the aircraft.... I am alternating between the aircraft and the screen because I wanted to snap some photos.. The Phantom is hovering, as I am trying to frame the shot. I look up and what do I see.. A HUGE HAWK!.. OH ****!. It is not attacking the Phantom but definately circling to get a look at what bird dared to be in it's airspace. So I start moving the Phantom forward and start descending ... I get the Phantom down without any pursuits by the real bird. I actually got it down really without incident but... When I looked up the first time and saw a bird larger than the phantom circling it scared the buhjeebus out of me.
I need that Air 2 to get here ASAP.. Absent the bird incident it was an awesome day..
So i get out there and go through the pre-flight checks, fire up the remote after connecting my itty bitty work iPhone 5s, fire up the bird, let it go through all the checks. Calibrate the compass after patting myself down to ensure that I don't have metal objects etc... Realize that I have my ACL brace on... (I'm an avid off-road motorcycle rider) had a bad accident... I digress.. So I strip down and take the brace off. Walk about 100 ft into the desert and calibrate the compass... YAY Success!!! Walk back to the paved area next to the house and luanch the Phantom..
This thing is an absolute dream to fly. Just an amazing aircraft. Back to the story. So I'm flying on the first battery I am watching the voltage and plan to land with the battery at 50%. I fly land without a single problem do some overflights of the house and land.. Fire up battery number two take out the bird and fly a little higher, somewhere near 50-60 Meters, I also intended to fly a little more aggressively... This is where it happens...
I am straining to see the telemetry on the Go app (5s way too small) and also keep an eye on the aircraft.... I am alternating between the aircraft and the screen because I wanted to snap some photos.. The Phantom is hovering, as I am trying to frame the shot. I look up and what do I see.. A HUGE HAWK!.. OH ****!. It is not attacking the Phantom but definately circling to get a look at what bird dared to be in it's airspace. So I start moving the Phantom forward and start descending ... I get the Phantom down without any pursuits by the real bird. I actually got it down really without incident but... When I looked up the first time and saw a bird larger than the phantom circling it scared the buhjeebus out of me.
I need that Air 2 to get here ASAP.. Absent the bird incident it was an awesome day..