The Spark Takes On The SS United States

[joeke3el]

Sailing from 1952-1969, the great SS United States now sits alone in South Philadelphia fading away while efforts to restore it seem to fall short time after time. Meet my father (now 90) who photographed it in 1953 as my son and I venture down to its docking location to get some up close footage with the DJI
Spark.

 

[SoccerRef12]

When my father was stationed to Germany in 1960 we sailed across the Atlantic on the SS United States. Very memorable voyage.

 

[I B Spectre]

Another thoughtful look at an American asset that is deteriorating before our eyes. The costs of maintaining, much less restoring, a vessel such as this is usually only able to be borne by a government entity. It's sad. I appreciate your travels and documenting these wonderful things. Well done as always, thanks for sharing.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Nice work on the video, and great story, your dad Rocks! Was that a litchi flight or was that all manual?

 

[Dragonfly Joe]

Really enjoyed listening to your fathers account of the SS United States. My hat is off to the both of you.

 

[RotorWash]

Another interesting story! Superb flying btw and your dad looks great! ? ?

 

[Ianw58]

I came to the US as an immigrant on that ship in 1964. It has such great memorues for me. It's a shame to see it this way. Thanks for the video.

 

[Brian Snyder]

Thank you for sharing the video and background of the ship.

 

[Icarus50]

My mother sailed on this ship from the US to Europe. She had such fun memories! Great video and commentary, but very sad though to see such a magnificent ship in such condition, and "abandoned". Happy flying!

 

[Roland]

Well done. Hard to believe this video can be made with a spark.
How do you do that ?

 

[Franklin J]

Awesome video!!!!!!!

 

[BikeFlagAZ]

Fantastic! Very well shot and edited. Quite moving to watch.

 

[joeke3el]

When my father was stationed to Germany in 1960 we sailed across the Atlantic on the SS United States. Very memorable voyage.

Great story! Looks like our fathers were just several years apart for their Germany assignments. Thank you for watching!

 

[joeke3el]

Nice work on the video, and great story, your dad Rocks! Was that a litchi flight or was that all manual?

Manual, though I did rely on Focus mode in the Litchi app for some of the maneuvers. It's a great app! Thanks for your comments about my dad!

 

[joeke3el]

I came to the US as an immigrant on that ship in 1964. It has such great memorues for me. It's a shame to see it this way. Thanks for the video.

Very cool that you had the opportunity to be on board!

 

[joeke3el]

Well done. Hard to believe this video can be made with a spark.
How do you do that ?

Hi Roland,

I do a few things prior to flying.

I plan for about two weeks on subjects like this. I watch footage that's already out there on YouTube and I study the subject in Google Earth Pro. (free download) In urban areas such as Philadelphia, even man made structures are in 3D. You can look at subjects at any angle, figure out the height, etc. Sometimes I'll write to YouTubers who have already done something I want to do for any tips from their experience.

By the time I show up to film, I have about three to four flight ideas in my head that I want to execute and I've familiarized myself to the area with Googlmaps and Google Earth Pro to such a degree I feel like I've already been there. I know precisely where I'm going to stand, which side of the ship I'm filming first, how high I need to be to clear the top, etc.

I also leverage the Litchi app's "Focus mode" for some of the more complex maneuvers. Focus mode locks the camera on the area of your choice and allows you to move the drone around while all along the camera stays "glued" to a specific point of interest. For this video, I used this mode to get those shots flying near and around the stacks.

The last part is the editing. Probably more footage goes unused than what goes into the final product. I pick out the better parts and tie them all together for the finished video.

Thank you for your complement and thanks for watching!

Joe