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A summer country spin

Northwood Mediaworks

Former Spark & Mavic Air 2 Flyer
Premium Pilot
Join
Jan 15, 2018
Messages
2,776
Age
65
Loc
Northern Ontario, Canada
Web
northwoodmediaworks.com
I wanted to practice my rotational shots, so took the MA2 out for a spin around the usual area... so some of the scenery may be familiar. I took a little GoPro video at each end of the flight, you can then see the Firehouse Arc2 strobes and the Tile I have mounted. Its basically a silent movie, 7 minutes, for those who just love flying scenery. Hope you're having a great if not scorching summer.

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R
 
Scenery certainly familiar Robin. Very nice work and good idea to film the take off and landing. Must say the strobes don’t look as flashy as I expected they might but perhaps the natural light dims them a bit. I too have a MA2 and am loving it but I don’t have the locations you have. That long straight track (presume not even a proper road) would constitute the longest straight road here in the U.K. Even our motorways bend after a mile or so! Let me know about the strobes because I could certainly do with seeing my MA2 better than I do now even with proper glasses on.
 
Scenery certainly familiar Robin. Very nice work and good idea to film the take off and landing. Must say the strobes don’t look as flashy as I expected they might but perhaps the natural light dims them a bit. I too have a MA2 and am loving it but I don’t have the locations you have. That long straight track (presume not even a proper road) would constitute the longest straight road here in the U.K. Even our motorways bend after a mile or so! Let me know about the strobes because I could certainly do with seeing my MA2 better than I do now even with proper glasses on.
Thanks. The strobes can work in two modes, short flashes or longer flashes... that was the shorter. I usually use the longer ones in the bright sun but forgot when I started up. They do help... it also varies depending how strong the charge is in each of their batteries (they were not freshly charged in that video). If you are flying at dusk they are exceptional, I think some of my neighbours might have thought there was a UFO visiting... The one I have mounted on top is likely the most valuable ... makes it more visible to other aircraft, in the event I am slow to get out of the way (its never happened mind you). The long track is in fact an arterial gravel road. And the surveys here were done much more recently compared to the UK, where the Romans started the road system (lol), doubt they were worried about straight lines of course... path of least resistance presumably.

This is where I got em.... and perhaps now there are even brighter ones... mine are the Arc2

Happy flying, we need to see some MA2 video from you soon!

Cheers
 
Thanks. The strobes can work in two modes, short flashes or longer flashes... that was the shorter. I usually use the longer ones in the bright sun but forgot when I started up. They do help... it also varies depending how strong the charge is in each of their batteries (they were not freshly charged in that video). If you are flying at dusk they are exceptional, I think some of my neighbours might have thought there was a UFO visiting... The one I have mounted on top is likely the most valuable ... makes it more visible to other aircraft, in the event I am slow to get out of the way (its never happened mind you). The long track is in fact an arterial gravel road. And the surveys here were done much more recently compared to the UK, where the Romans started the road system (lol), doubt they were worried about straight lines of course... path of least resistance presumably.

This is where I got em.... and perhaps now there are even brighter ones... mine are the Arc2

Happy flying, we need to see some MA2 video from you soon!

Cheers
Thanks Robin. You’re deffo right about the roads and Romans. Looking again at your vid I am not clear on what you’ve got and where they are placed. I see a big one on the top (did I see somewhere that there is important GPS reception kit under the skin on the top so presumably one has to know where to place that light so as not to obstruct reception-or is that the Spark?) and perhaps some on the rear arms, which would good for visibility at distance? Would value clarification. I have loads of footage of our Downs here as that is a good place to fly but I am conscious that people have seen that a few times-perhaps I ought to get on and do one decent one out of what I’ve got already. Fly safe. PS it has been so hot and dry here the ground is parched and brown. Rain just arrived and everything is getting greener again.
 
Thanks Robin. You’re deffo right about the roads and Romans. Looking again at your vid I am not clear on what you’ve got and where they are placed. I see a big one on the top (did I see somewhere that there is important GPS reception kit under the skin on the top so presumably one has to know where to place that light so as not to obstruct reception-or is that the Spark?) and perhaps some on the rear arms, which would good for visibility at distance? Would value clarification. I have loads of footage of our Downs here as that is a good place to fly but I am conscious that people have seen that a few times-perhaps I ought to get on and do one decent one out of what I’ve got already. Fly safe. PS it has been so hot and dry here the ground is parched and brown. Rain just arrived and everything is getting greener again.
Okay, glad to assist. I have one ARC2 on the front, one on the back. They are about one inch square, the one in the attached pictures I mount on the top of the drone. You can see the velcro strip on the underside of it, adhered to its battery. I have placed another velcro strip on the top of each of my Mavic Air 2 batteries, which I then attach that strobe to, and also my Tile Pro, which also has a velcro strip.

The other two strobes are attached to the Mavic's front and back legs with a 3d printed custom holder specifically made for the ARC2 strobes, you can purchase the online also. They simply snap on over the legs, they are made of soft-ish but firm rubber composite of some sort, the strobes are fairly easy to snap in and out of them. I have a red one at the back, white at the front, and white on top. The two for the legs do not have any velcro strips attached. So, because the top one attaches to the drone's battery, it does not interfere with any GPS reception on the front half of the top of the drone. On my Spark, I put a velcro strip on the top of the back of the drone, which drapes down over the back of the battery when installed, and I attach the strobe to that... so just one on the spark. The strobes themselves take about 45 minutes to charge, and I get about 2-3 flights (~20 mins each) before they start getting dim or quit completely.

I hope that clarifies. They do increase the distance you can maintain visual contact with the aircraft, and also show that you are serious about additional safety should the authorities want to check your craft. Cant hurt eh!

Okay, so if you, like I , have exhausted the local scenery for sharing, then we must endeavour to go further afield. No worries. Cheers.
 

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That’s
Okay, glad to assist. I have one ARC2 on the front, one on the back. They are about one inch square, the one in the attached pictures I mount on the top of the drone. You can see the velcro strip on the underside of it, adhered to its battery. I have placed another velcro strip on the top of each of my Mavic Air 2 batteries, which I then attach that strobe to, and also my Tile Pro, which also has a velcro strip.

The other two strobes are attached to the Mavic's front and back legs with a 3d printed custom holder specifically made for the ARC2 strobes, you can purchase the online also. They simply snap on over the legs, they are made of soft-ish but firm rubber composite of some sort, the strobes are fairly easy to snap in and out of them. I have a red one at the back, white at the front, and white on top. The two for the legs do not have any velcro strips attached. So, because the top one attaches to the drone's battery, it does not interfere with any GPS reception on the front half of the top of the drone. On my Spark, I put a velcro strip on the top of the back of the drone, which drapes down over the back of the battery when installed, and I attach the strobe to that... so just one on the spark. The strobes themselves take about 45 minutes to charge, and I get about 2-3 flights (~20 mins each) before they start getting dim or quit completely.

I hope that clarifies. They do increase the distance you can maintain visual contact with the aircraft, and also show that you are serious about additional safety should the authorities want to check your craft. Cant hurt eh!

Okay, so if you, like I , have exhausted the local scenery for sharing, then we must endeavour to go further afield. No worries. Cheers.
That’s really helpful and thank you for the trouble you have taken. It will be very useful to have this info (I print it off as I am not sure how to save it somewhere). Clearly the ones on the top are visible to aircraft etc and the ones on the legs are visible from the ground for pilot IDing which are what would help me. We don’t have much light air traffic here so the one on the top is probably not necessary. Again thank you. I always take my MA2 with us when we go out (and landing pad) just in case there is a good place to fly-not very often as we are such a small landmass.
 

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