Roswell Flight Test Crew

POSTING VIDEO: Touring the Drone Department at the B&H Superstore in NYC

 

As promised, here is the video we made while visiting the B&H store in midtown Manhattan to check out their recently inaugurated drone department. Our host for this adventure is Christian Domecq, whom you may recall we met for the first time at the B&H booth at NAB earlier this year. I hope this comes through in the video, but Christian and I hit it off immediately.

He was a lot of fun to hang out with, and I had the opportunity to spend some additional time with him at the Drone Nationals held later that week, as B&H had a tent to show off some of the drones and accessories they have on offer – including the just-released Connex Pro-Sight system, which promises zero-latency HD FPV. I'll need to see it with my own eyes to really, truly believe it – but if it's everything that they promise, it will be a game changer – both in terms of image quality and frequency management when it comes to applications like drone racing.

The B&H store in New York is pretty impressive. It's their only physical location in the whole world – much of their business coming from online sales – with about 70,000 square feet packed to the rafters with everything you could ever want for professional video production, photography and audio. It really felt like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory for the multimedia crowd – an impression reinforced by the system of conveyor belts that is constantly shuttling product overhead from the stockroom to the cash registers. However, I did not see any Ooompa Loompas.

Still, a unique and remarkable facility, and I was glad to have had the opportunity to visit in person. My hope is that we'll be doing more with B&H in the future. Stay tuned!

-Lucidity

 

POSTING VIDEO: Xiro Xplorer Unboxing, Setup and Testing

 

The release of this episode marks what should be a string of new aircraft review videos from us over the next couple of weeks, along with a tour of B&H Photo's new drone department at their New York superstore and a series of videos from the Drones Data X conference in San Francisco earlier this year. So, stay tuned for frequent updates ahead of the InterDrone conference in September, which we'll be attending!

Turning to the subject of this particular video – the Xiro Xplorer – it proved to be a formidable little aircraft, especially at its price-point. It flies really well and while the camera is “only” 1080p, I'd again direct your attention to the price tag and ask what more you could reasonably expect.

Is this going to replace the DJI Inspire One? No. However, it would be a great first video-capable aircraft for someone just getting started with drones and the video it produces would be entirely acceptable for a range of projects. This is a smart little machine that fills an important niche in the market.

-Lucidity

POSTING VIDEO: Meet the Pilots at the Drone Nationals

 

So, that concludes our online coverage of the US National Drone Racing Championship. However, I was also given the opportunity to write articles for two of the biggest magazines covering this sport: Model Aviation, the flagship publication of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, and RotorDrone. Developing content for those two outlets consumed far more of my time in New York than doing these videos, actually – so be sure to check your mailbox or local newsstand to see all of those.

My article will run in the November issue of Model Aviation – hitting the streets in late October – and I'm not sure when the piece in RotorDrone comes out, although I can confirm that it's already been sent to the printer so my guess is: fairly soon.

This seems like an appropriate place to leave our coverage: letting you hear from the pilots in their own words. I would certainly welcome your comment, but to me the overwhelming theme which emerges from their remarks is fellowship.

Almost to a man (and they were almost all men: inclusiveness is an attribute we're going to need to improve on in the future), they mentioned having met the people previously at other events, corresponding with them on the Internet, and finding a tent full of people with whom they share the same enthusiasm and interests.

I think that's a big part of what caught Andy Argenio's eye in the AMA video I posted a couple of days back: looking at these guys from the shoulders up, you couldn't discern them from traditional model aviation enthusiasts or, I suspect, early fans of the automobile or the hot air balloon.

No doubt, this is a special moment in the history of this sport's development – it's an exclusive club, but everyone is welcome. Just bring your soldering iron and about 100 spare props.

-Lucidity

 

POSTING VIDEO: DUG Helps Out with the Drone Nationals

 

The first time I spoke with Steve Cohen was over the telephone. It was early in my career writing about drones for various magazines – at the time, it was RC Sport Flyer – and I was doing a story about the Drone User Group Network. Steve was the head of the New York City Chapter, which was among the more active groups, so I did an interview with him.

We then met in person at the fly-in associated with the first New York City Drone Film Festival, on a very cold day in Brooklyn at the Seaview Rotary Wings RC Flying Club. When I was doing a story with Scot Refsland, who organized the Drone Nationals, Steve's name came up again as having helped lay the groundwork with a fly-in on Governors Island a year earlier.

So, I was not especially surprised to find him at the event, helping set up barricades to keep spectators away from the flight line. What I did initially fail to appreciate was that he had taken over the national leadership of DUGN, and was pursuing official recognition as a Community-Based Organization (CBO) – the standard established in the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act for non-government entities who can regulate hobby unmanned aircraft operations.

Right now, the Academy of Model Aeronautics is the only organization that qualifies as a CBO, but I've met plenty of other individuals and groups who are interested in achieving this same designation. That said, it seems to me DUGN has the most realistic chance of actually getting it done: it has a long history in the community (relatively speaking), individual chapters throughout the country, and I was intrigued what Steve said about “seed money” in this interview.

We didn't talk much more about this issue off camera, so I have no additional insights to offer, but it will be interesting to see how this effort unfolds in the months and years ahead.

-Lucidity

 

POSTING VIDEO: AMA at the Drone Nationals

 

Originally, AMA District II Vice President Eric Williams of Schenectady, New York, was scheduled to serve as the Contest Director for the US National Drone Racing Championship. However, I got my first inkling that I might see my old friend Andy Argenio – the District I vice president and chairman of the Advanced Flight Systems Committee – while waiting for the ferry to Governors Island.

The Drone Sports Association had arranged for officials and volunteers to pick up their credential at the ferry terminal, before making the seven-minute trip over to the island. As I collected my own badge, I couldn't help but notice Andy's name and face among those still waiting to be collected. I guess if your name starts with “A,” you show up first in a lot of alphabetical lists. Anyway, I figured it made sense for him to put in an appearance, being from the neighboring district and given his interest in emerging RC flying technology, like FPV.

However, when I actually caught up with him a few days later, he informed me that circumstances had required Eric to withdraw and he himself was serving as Contest Director. I always enjoy working with Andy: I've known him for several years, having first served together with him on the AMA's sUAS Task Force, helping to shape its response to the emergence of drone technology.

I thought Andy brought an especially valuable insight to the proceedings, as well – which you heard in this video and will see reflected even more strongly in the November issue of Model Aviation, where I will have a substantial feature about this event. The gist of it is pretty simple, however, whether you're flying stick-built replica of a P-51 or an FPV racing quad, the underlying attitudes and values are the same.

Hopefully, this will be a perspective that gains traction among that subset of AMA members who still regard “drones” as an alien entity, infiltrating and corrupting the organization. As Andy quite rightly observed, these young pilots and this sport are the future – and it will be a better future both for them and for the AMA if these two groups can learn to see themselves in each other.

-Lucidity

 

POSTING VIDEO: Governors Island Confidential

 

Among the many lessons I learned from our NW Qualifier event in Bend, Oregon, a few weeks back was how urgently people want to be in New York for the US National Drone Racing Championship this coming weekend. I was particularly moved by the comments of Levi Dixon – who drove 20 hours to be at our event so he could have one more chance to qualify – and Chris Wang, who has been dreaming of New York since watching the livestream we hosted for the event in Sacramento last year.

These guys are sincere, and passionate, and I really respect that. But it also made me realize that for each of them, there are probably thousands of additional people out there who won't be able to make the trip, either as a competitor or a spectator. The coverage on ESPN3 should be like nothing we've ever seen before, and I'm sure it will find many devoted viewers among the drone and FPV racing community.

However, going back to my days as a newspaper reporter, I remembered how so many details get left out of mainstream coverage – things that I suspect you, the hard-core enthusiast, would be curious to know more about. That's what I hope to be able to share with you during my time here in New York.

That said, I must confess I'm up against a challenge the likes of which I've never confronted before... My other duties this weekend include reporting two major features about this event – one for Model Aviation and the other for RotorDrone – as well as serving as the principle host for the coverage on ESPN. That last bit, by the way, came as a surprise to me.

I had anticipated doing a couple of segments during the ESPN broadcast, but last night DSA Chairman Scot Refsland took me out to a very nice steak dinner – a sure sign of danger to come – and asked me to be “The Voice of FPV.” I was honored and agreed immediately, but that responsibility will consume much of the time I had planned to invest in producing more of these videos.

So, all I can promise moving forward is that I'll do my best. I hope you enjoyed this first video, regardless of how many ultimately follow it. I'd like to extend very special thank the Park Service rangers staffing Castle Williams, who with no advanced notice or credentials gave me the run of the place. Friendly and professional, all the way!

-Lucidity

 

POSTING VIDEO: A fairytale ending at the NW Qualifier

 

There isn't much more to say about this event than: “Wow! What an ending!” A father and son finish in first and second place, and both qualify for spots in the US National Drone Racing Championship!? It doesn't get any better than that! It's a close to a Hollywood ending as you're ever likely to see, and the best part is that you don't have to wait two years for the sequel.

Tune in next week to see “The Millers Take Manhattan,” as the Drone Nationals comes to Governors Island in New York Harbor. I'll be there, doing my best to keep up on YouTube and Facebook, and maybe even attempting another livestream (or two). However, you'll be able to find live coverage on ESPN3, where I'll be offering my own sage wisdom alongside David and Sarah from That Drone Show and numerous other members of the FPV community.

Circling back to our event in Oregon, I'll be providing an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how we pulled it off in an upcoming issue of RotorDrone, so be checking your mailbox or local newsstand for that. For now, I'd like to thank the people that made it all possible: the folks at Drone Complier for arranging the event, and especially our good friends at SOAR Oregon, who provided substantial support – as well as spending the entire day hunched over a spreadsheet, making sure that the race results were accurate and made available in a timely manner. Thanks, guys!

-Lucidity

 

Dromida Announces Latest FPV Quad

This just in: Hobbico subsidiary Dromida has just announced the latest in its series of super-tough quadcopters – the 370mm XL FPV. This is getting to be a rather more substantial aircraft – being 40mm larger than the Gaui 330x that began my multirotor drone adventure all those years ago. We did a review of the original Dromida FPV ship – the Ominus FPV – in March of 2015:

 

It wasn't an Inspire One by any stretch of the imagination, but for the price, you got a pretty neat little aerial camera platform. We won't know for sure until we get our hands on one to test – it's slated for release in late July or August – but based on the photos and the specifications that Hobbico has shared with us, it looks like they have made some improvements in the design. Looking forward to trying it out!

My only question – why didn't they make it in yellow?

-Lucidity

 

POSTING VIDEO: Doing Science in West Virginia, Part III

 

Probably the best thing about the years-long delay in getting these videos online is that I get to immediately tell you how the story ended. Before we left West Virginia, we gave all of the thermal images that we had captured to Research Scientist Paul Kinder. He took them back to his lab in order to perform the more detailed analysis which would prove whether or not this approach is actually viable.

Spoiler alert – it is! Based on the outcome of our work together, Paul added drones and FLIR thermal imaging cameras to his toolbox, and restoration on the Shavers Fork has continued. So, the next time someone tells you that drones are only good for launching missiles and spying on your neighbors, you've got one more example that shows how they can make positive contributions in the world.

-Lucidity

 

POSTING VIDEO: Doing Science in West Virginia, Part II

 

Before heading out to the rugged and remote environment where Research Scientist Paul Kinder was doing actual habitat restoration work on Cheat Mountain, we spent a day on the West Virginia Animal Science Farm. Using a small pond on the property, we did some initial testing, to see whether or not the FLIR thermal imaging camera would be able to detect the variations in water temperature that are critical to the survival of the brook trout.

To be honest, our friends at FLIR were skeptical about whether or not this process would work at all: something to do with the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection, and some other stuff I've forgotten from my high school physics class. Anyway, they didn't necessarily think it would work – and as you saw in the video, it initially appeared that they might be right.

Flying over the center of the pond, all we could see was an opaque, unchanging, foggy nothingness – a reflection of the overcast sky in the surface of the water. I myself had seen the sky reflected in water viewed through a thermal imaging camera before, but it had never been my primary focus and I did not anticipate that it would completely obscure the thermal properties of the water itself. Well, it did.

I honestly thought we might be sunk, until we – entirely by accident – captured a view which included both the water and the land surrounding it. Having something with distinct thermal properties in view (the ground) allowed the camera to resolve the temperature differences in the water.

As you'll see in tomorrow's video, our next step was to head up to Cheat Mountain and see how the process would work in the actual habitat restoration zone.

-Lucidity