Portland area pilots

Vancouver Wa here
 
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Vancouver wa
 
I'm on the SW side (Beaverton). I like hunting down scenic places to fly along the rivers--Willamette, Tualatin. Out west of Hillsboro, Forrest Grove there are also some scenic places to fly. It's a bit of drive, but worth it in the summer to get away from folks, take some great landscape shots and not get hassled by the sheriffs or park rangers. If anyone wants to seek out some places like that, PM me and we'll find a weekend day to go fly before the weather turns.

This is what I fly (P3 Pro with custom paint & some mods):

Valkyrie in Air Side-Top 1066x600.jpg
 
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Nice looking craft! I've been thinking about a slightly similar color scheme (aviation orange on top, black underneath) - have you found that it enhances visibility?
 
Nice looking craft! I've been thinking about a slightly similar color scheme (aviation orange on top, black underneath) - have you found that it enhances visibility?

Thanks, yes, it does a bit. The yellow stands out great against the sky. I was originally looking for more of a neon greenish-yellow (like some fire engines), which I think would have been even more visible. But then I opted for Tamiya's acrylic lacquer paint since it's more durable, and the closet they had was this more like construction vehicle yellow (a little orangey). This color can sometimes blend a bit with vegetation, especially new spring-time leaves.

The invasion stripes on the arms really help visibility and were worth it, even though it was pretty challenging to get them masked off and straight and even and all. I did the repaint when I had it fully disassembled after I crashed it and needed to replace the shell and a couple of motors.

What's even more visible is the big LED array on the front. It doesn't show very bright in this photo since the shutter speed was really fast and the sun was at my back, but it's crazy bright. I like to fly out alongside rivers, and sometimes when LOS it gets a little confusing as to which way I'm pointing out a couple of hundred yards in between trees. I can stop and spin around, looking for the light, to re-orient. The light is easily visible out 500 yards or more, even in it bright sunlight. When I had the shell apart, I mounted the light electronics inside with a little pushbutton switch near the battery compartment opening, rather than tape them to the side like the page below shows.

Anabee LED Landing Light - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012ZWHT04/

Cheers,
Paul
 
I'm in Beaverton. Haven't been able to get my Phantom out much lately (see photo above), since the weekends have been pretty wet and I've been focused a bit more on getting my racing quads built and learning to fly them well enough to get into some racing this summer.

I'd definitely be interested in getting together with folks that like to seek out scenic places with their camera quads. I prefer to get away from more populated areas, just to avoid both getting hassled as well as hassling people.

I think a way a group could help is in finding and sharing these types of locations. Some days I drive around for 6 hours just to get a couple of boring flights, other days I find a great spot and drain 6 batteries getting lots of cool video.

There are a few quad groups in the Portland area. NWFPV and Portland Multirotors are focused on racing quads. PDX Drones seems to have more camera quad folks, but they meet downtown on Thursday evenings, and I just haven't been able to get there from work in Beaverton.

Maybe once the weather starts to lift, we can pick a Saturday or Sunday and meet up somewhere to get a little flying in, and at least get to know each other a bit? I'm fine heading towards Oregon City if you've got a good spot, or wherever.

Cheers,
Paul
 

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