Learning to Fly

I'm a lazy SOB.

I bought my DJI Neo drone on Black Friday, last November, as an early Christmas gift to myself. And because it was my Christmas Gift, DW made me wait until December 25 to open it.

In the meantime, I watched countless YouTube videos about the best settings for the drone and about the best way to configure the drone, and several reviews that put the Neo through its paces. And even though DJI doesn't recommend flying the drone in sub-zero weather, I saw one reviewer fly it in –20°C, in Saskatchewan, without any issues.

I can do that, I told myself after watching the video. I live in a similar climate. As soon as I have some free time, I assured myself, and as long as the wind wasn't too strong (I find that it's much windier in the Ottawa area than it used to be), I was going to head out.

Of course, I hate going outside when it's –20.

I did drive out to the Experimental Farm, one weekend, to try my hand at my drone, using the automatic functions, while DW waited in the car, keeping the head going. I had the drone follow me, fly straight up for 10 metres, while the gimbal was pointed straight down. I had it fly an orbit around me and had it perform a 'selfie' flight, where it backs away from you while climbing, and then coming back along the same route.

That's about as much as I did before I felt too cold, and we returned home to a nice, warm house.

I did take it out again, one weekend, when I was snowshoeing on a trail. I had it perform the dronie manoeuvre and follow me as I ran in my snowshoes. I also had it follow DW and she skied along a parallel trail. But I didn't have it do much else because while we were out, it started to snow.

I shared that footage as part of a video about winter in Ottawa.

I wanted to get more practice with the drone but I've turned lazy when it comes to going outside and doing this sort of thing. I bought a large telephoto lens so that I could photograph birds, and knew that I should practice using it with the birds at Mud Lake, in preparation for our trip to Peru, but I was too lazy to go out.

I knew that I really needed practice with my drone before going to Peru but apart from flying it, one afternoon, in Claudette Cain Park and getting it up high for a sunset hover above my neighbourhood, I didn't master my drone before our trip.

As it turned out, there were so many places that we visited where drones were prohibited that I only flew it a couple of times. It wasn't worth bringing it on the trip.

I initially bought the Neo because I thought it would be good to have when DW, our Paddlefolk, and I got out in our kayaks. I thought it would be good to get some video from high above, while we paddled on a river or lake.

The previous weekend, we went out for our inaugural paddle with our kayaks, and I brought my drone along. But because we were setting out from one of the Rideau River lock stations, which are run by Parks Canada, the drone was prohibited. I knew that you couldn't fly a drone in a national or provincial park without special permission, but I didn't realize that the rule applied to the locks.

When we got away from the locks, I thought it would be fine to fly the drone but the wind became blustery and there was no way that I was going to attempt to land my drone on a moving kayak.

This weekend, we went kayaking on the Ottawa River at Petrie Island, in the city's far east end. We've never paddled here before but we had heard great things about the place, so it was high time that we checked it out.

We were meeting our Paddlefolk but DW and I arrived early so that I could fly my drone. But when we reached the canoe and kayak put-in area, we discovered that there was a race event going on. I could have walked over to the north-east end of Petrie Island to fly my drone, but I got lazy and instead packed my carry case in the storage compartment at the bow of my boat.

We set out and moved away from the race area, and headed west along the southern part of the chain of islands. There were so many people out in kayaks at canoes that I didn't want to fly my drone in this part (also, because I don't feel confident enough to land the drone while in my kayak).

When we got into the main channel of the Ottawa River, we made our way eastward, following the northern shores of the islands. The wind had picked up and caused little swells on the water, but it was nothing that our new kayaks couldn't handle (they're made for this kind of water).

There are sandy beaches all along the northern shores, so at one point, we moved in to take a break and stretch. I find, lately, that I just don't have enough padding on my ass and it gets sore when I sit for too long.

While we took this break, I thought I'd try using my drone. The wind was a bit strong but I figured that the Neo could still handle it. I also hooked it up to the dedicated remote-control unit so that I could have better control.

Almost immediately, I could see that the Neo was working hard to maintain its position against the wind, leaning into it and boosting its motors. Because I had it over water, I was very cautious about how I wanted to position it to capture video. I couldn't fly it too high because the wind was too strong above the trees.

My anxiety shoots up when the Neo gets to a certain height and this flight, over the choppy and fast-moving Ottawa River stressed me out. But I did get enough video to make it worthwhile.

But this flight told me one thing: I have to stop being lazy and take the time to properly learn how to fly the drone. Because even though I'm on the ground, I'm still considered a pilot of this flying machine.

Because of its size, I don't need to be certified nor do I need a permit for it, but I still need to fly responsibly.

It's no longer –20°. I have no excuses for staying indoors.

Also, I'm currently putting together a video of our Petrie Island paddle. It'll be ready later this week: stay tuned. (Here's a sneak peek at the thumbnail shot for the video.)