Actually picked up my white Spark during Black Friday sale last year. Didn't get a lot of chances to fly, but thought I was a careful pilot and went slowly from beginner to regular to sport mode as I became better at controls. No need for insurance (which I assumed did not cover user error). I even got it into sport mode and wow does that little quad go! Alas, when flying several hundred feet away from the home location my distance perspective was hard to see. I thought I was flying in front of a tree, and approaching quickly in sport mode. Alas, my judgement was just slightly off and instead I was into the top-most branch twigs. About 50 ft to the ground (which the little Spark does NOT like very much). Really ticked that I joined all those other people who have posted video of their mistakes.
I mentioned my mishap to a small airplane private pilot and he told me that 1) there is a reason why insurance is offered and 2) nearly every pilot makes a mistake now and then. In his case, it was the nose wheel collapse on a hard landing. For me, twigs in the top of a tree.
Between purchase and mishap, I got some good flights in and while I did not get video of it, my most fun flight was tracking a herd of deer in a field with some good close-ups of the animals before they were spooked by the bee-swarm sound of the propellers.
I also realized that while flying a GPS quadcopter isn't that hard (you don't have to actively manage altitude), these units staying power is more that they are wonderful aerial photography platforms. Learning how to get smooth video motion in three dimensions is the challenge, rather than the easier two dimensions of tripod- or cart- or crane-mounted video cameras. Learning how to get those tilts, pans, and more complicated movements using the quadcopter body itself is great learning and a challenge to master.
I mentioned my mishap to a small airplane private pilot and he told me that 1) there is a reason why insurance is offered and 2) nearly every pilot makes a mistake now and then. In his case, it was the nose wheel collapse on a hard landing. For me, twigs in the top of a tree.
Between purchase and mishap, I got some good flights in and while I did not get video of it, my most fun flight was tracking a herd of deer in a field with some good close-ups of the animals before they were spooked by the bee-swarm sound of the propellers.
I also realized that while flying a GPS quadcopter isn't that hard (you don't have to actively manage altitude), these units staying power is more that they are wonderful aerial photography platforms. Learning how to get smooth video motion in three dimensions is the challenge, rather than the easier two dimensions of tripod- or cart- or crane-mounted video cameras. Learning how to get those tilts, pans, and more complicated movements using the quadcopter body itself is great learning and a challenge to master.
