My friend Paul Stevens writes a newsletter for former AP folks. He saw my drone stuff on Facebook and asked me to write something for the newsletter. As this short writeup explains, it's nice to have a hobby that gets you out of the house and close to nature, especially now : )
Former AP news editor has a new passion as a remote pilot
(John Strauss, former news editor in Nashville and Indianapolis with a stint on the General Desk in between, left AP to join The Indianapolis Star in 1998. His post-wire work has included making news magazine shows for Indiana public television stations, which led to his current interest.)
I learned to fly in a Cessna 152 with the tail number 757XB, so that when talking to the tower, I was “757 X-ray Bravo,” which sounded cool. The training included solo fights from South Bend, Indiana, to Michigan and Illinois, but I put flying on hold after moving to Indianapolis for a new job with the AP.
Now, after moving from the wire to jobs in local news, teaching, and strategic communications, I’m flying once more, this time with a plane that fits in one hand but packs a startling amount of technology – and fun.
My aircraft is a DJI Mavic Mini, which at $400 is only slightly more expensive than two hours of flight instruction these days in a tiny Cessna. It’s really a flying camera: I wrote and produced shows for public television, and often thought it would be good to become a licensed drone pilot and get nice high-angle views of the towns we visited.
A license isn’t required yet for recreational, non-commercial flyers, but to shoot video for freelance video work, I needed to pass the FAA’s Aeronautical Knowledge Exam, which covers airspace classification, flight restrictions, aviation weather, emergency procedures, and other necessities.
Here’s the short course: Don’t fly over people, near airports, or more than 400 feet above the ground. The FAA has jurisdiction over the skies, but there are a myriad of state and local regulations. The best advice: Don’t bother people.
I love anything that flies, and the little drone fits the bill surprisingly well. Controlling it via a live video link over a central Indiana soybean field the other day, I swooped down between some trees and followed a winding creek, skimming 6 feet above the ground. In the historic southern Indiana town of Madison a couple of weeks ago, I flew out over the Ohio River for a scenic look back at the town and a cruise downstream.
Most of the flying is done by microprocessors as the bird locks on to a dozen GPS satellites for stability. Press a button, and it lifts to about 3 feet in the air and waits for instructions. Push a stick and it climbs, descends, goes in any direction you point it, with the camera stabilized the whole time. For shooting, the challenge is making the kind of careful, precise control movements to produce smooth images.
I’m still a rookie pilot, but the practice is fun. And these days, it’s good to have an excuse to get out in – and over – nature. Here are three of the pieces I’ve done for practice:
Madison Saturday
https://youtu.be/5cFPxqP7vPY
Hamilton County Country
https://youtu.be/kTsJIIcwzW4
White River and the GM Plant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4MN9orwumY
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