OriginalDirtyBird

A Phantom is usually the unsung hero capturing the action behind the scenes, but today the Phantom is the star of the show! Join Phantom 3 Standard "Darth Videous" trailing sister ship "Miss Ruby" on an incredible, 17-minute, 7.2 mile, non-stop, thrill ride as the pair soar high above Baltimore in an epic night version of "Follow the Leader." The birds are stock & each is running autonomous Litchi flights based on "The Baltimore Run" mission. Chase bird "Darth Videous" is set to start ~25' behind lead bird "Miss Ruby" on point. Waypoints are identical except the chase bird is set +10' at each point to maintain a degree of vertical separation. This mission only needs some slight tweaking of camera angles to get 100% coverage of the lead bird throughout the entire flight. Note: This flight is 7.2 miles in length with 75 waypoints & near constant altitude changes. Not 100% perfect but it is pretty damned amazing how closely the birds executed this mission. *Updated with an all-new epic soundtrack! What the critics are saying: "Dirty Bird is Public Enemy #1" - James Comey, Director FBI "Did you see those streaks of light dude?" - Sean Penn, actor, stoner, Communist sympathizer "Can he please stop mentioning body armor & a fly-over being the only safe way to visit Baltimore?" - Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore "Curses! Foiled again!" - Snydley Whiplash, Canadian criminal, nemesis of Dudley "It's against the guidelines. You're going to ruin the hobby for everyone!" - Anonymous "I'm Matt Damon!" - Matt Damon, actor, left-wing wacknut "They really know how to get high, man!" - Tommy Chong, actor, comedian, stoner, entrepreneur "Εάν μόνο ήξερα!" ("If only I had known!") - Icarus, son of Daedalus, first recorded attempt at manned flight "I'll get you Dirty Bird if it's the last thing I do!" - Kavon Williams, career criminal, inadvertently caught on video committing an armed robbery during a test flight "A few of these contraptions would have changed the outcome of Waterloo. Sacre' bleu!" - Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor, general "I'm reporting you to the authorities!" - Crash Hancock, blogger, crasher of all things that fly "Your Litchi missions are poorly edited & boring!" - Bilbo Bender, Wee Gay Dwarf of McHenry Row "Who is Dirty Bird & who gives a crap?" - Mr. Clean, Product spokesman "Stay on the leader!" - Darth Vader, Sith Lord "He's going to ruin my company!" - Frank Wang, DJI CEO -- Recorded July 13, 2016

A flight over the remnants of the VA's "state-of-the-art" medical facility at Fort Howard Maryland. The complex has been closed for more than a decade & is in serious disrepair. This was captured with a Phantom 4. Recorded May 23, 2016.

The Phantom 4 "Nemesis" explores the Chesapeake Bay Bridge with an interesting return trip between the spans that gives a whole new perspective on crossing the bridge. At max distance I was 15,618' out with perfect signal. For some peculiar reason, as much as 40% of motorists express fear at traversing the 4.4 mile span. There is even a service that offers to drive frightened motorists across the bridge! Recorded April 17, 2016.

Time to skedaddle out of Dodge when I stumble upon a group of large birds....

My first dabble into autonomous drone flight. A 5.7 mile flight to Stoney Point & back. The bird was a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ & the mission was possible because of a modified version of the DJI flight app. Control was limited to waypoint to waypoint, with a defined altitude at each point, & an overall mission speed of 5, 10, or 15 meters per second. In hindsight the app was a little creepy because, as you can see, it would sometimes hang at a waypoint & make unexplained rotations. It was as though she wasn't sure which way she was supposed to go. Typical woman! (just teasing, ladies!) The bird was fitted with the now defunct Flytrex Live! 3G. This allowed me to monitor & log location, altitude, & battery level in real time throughout the mission. This little gem allowed me to recover my Vision+ several times. Recorded October 30, 2014.

The Phantom 3 Standard "Darth Videous" greets the cruise ship "Carnival Pride" as she returns to port. Recorded February 7, 2016.

PREFACE - This is an archived P2 Vision+ video recorded in April 2014. At the time of release it was requested that I pull it from public view for security reasons. Enough time has passed to warrant a re-release. This was one of my first flights with the just-released Vision+. I had no idea how she would handle in the stout 20+ mph winds. Everything was shiny, exciting, & new! She did fine & is still air-worthy to this day. ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION - Up close & personal with the twin 700' exhaust stacks at BGE's Brandon Shores Generating Plant. The twin stacks have been decommissioned, and the smaller, 400' stack to the left (white emissions) is the plant's flue-gas desulfurization system. Brandon Shores is the most prominent feature on the Pasadena, MD skyline. The plant is visible from miles around to anyone with a clear view of the horizon. The goal here was to gain perspective of the surrounding area from the vantage point of the 700' stack tops.

Archived Phantom 2 Vision+ flight at Fort Smallwood Park from April 2014. The Vision+ was the first out-of-the-box, ready-to-fly, Quadcopter with a 3-axis stabilized HD camera. Stock RC range was sometimes a mile or more over water or open land. The technology was brand new & uber-cool at the time.

My first trial run of a programmed building spiral was a bit too close for comfort! One commentor quipped, "I read an email while passing the 7th floor!" I plotted the spiral while zoomed in close on my Nexus 7. I did not realize just how close this was until I had a chance to watch the video. Whew! The spiral has since been adjusted. :) Watch at 1/2 or 1/4 speed to see this dramatic close encounter in detail!

Version 2.1 of "The Baltimore Run", a fully autonomous, 7.2 mile, drone mission above Baltimore's Inner Harbor created with the Litchi flight app. Flown by the venerable Phantom 3 Standard "Miss Ruby", from liftoff until return the Phantom is flying itself. Notable changes for this iteration include 3 full orbits of the World Trade Center, a close fly-by of the Hard Rock Cafe & Power Plant Live. Then it's up & away to the Marriott Waterfront & Legg Mason tower, through the Inner Harbor past Harborplace & over historic Federal Hill. An inquisitive lady takes notice from her elevated patio as the bird spirals around Harborview Tower before passing Domino Sugar, McHenry Row, & heading for home. A work in progress...

A quick drone survey (Phantom 3 Advanced) of the aftermath of the Blizzard of 2016 - January 24th, 2016. Recorded early Sunday morning after the 30" of snow stopped falling. Roofs & vehicles look less because the 50 mph winds self-cleaned many exposed surfaces.

Phantom Force Archival Footage - "Swarm Test Session". Here at Phantom Force we take our work seriously & a lot of planning, preparation, & testing goes into our missions. Here is archival footage of one such test flight. This is a 4-bird, 34,035',fully autonomous, Litchi mission over the Patapsco river. It begins at Fort Armistead, passes the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge, then passes over Sparrow's Point. We have Drone Nerd on point, Captain Rick riding shotgun, DroneViews in the #3 slot, & Dirty Bird as tail gunner. The flight consists of a pair of P3 Professionals in front with two P3 Advanced bringing up the rear. DroneViews P3A "Phoenix" is sporting an experimental 4.4 oz Kevlar condom for safe flight over Baltimore's dangerous skies. The mission began fine with "Phoenix" being a tad slow out of the gate due to increased weight. Things proceeded normally until we turned towards home when Captain Rick's P3P "White Wizard" inexplicably slowed. This forced DroneViews to react & check up. At the same time Dirty Bird's P3A "Poop Chute" poured on the coal, blowing past the entire squadron in rapid succession. All birds returned safely. This, as they say, is why we test....

A fully autonomous drone mission flown under a gorgeous sky by the Phantom 4 "Nemesis" using the Litchi flight app. Full RC contact was maintained all the way around Fort McHenry with intermittent contact during the Inner Harbor segment. The flight encompasses Port Covington, Fort McHenry, & Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Mission length is ~ 38,500' & the bird returned with 30% battery.

Sitting at Sandy Point with one charged battery remaining, I spotted a cruise liner heading out to sea. The Phantom 3 Advanced "Poop Chute" was quickly in the air & in pursuit of her quarry, which was more than a mile off-shore & traveling in excess of 20 knots. Soon she caught up with the sleek & impressive "Grandeur of the Seas", pursuing her all the way under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge for some exciting aerial video. At the end of this encounter the Phantom was 14,416.8' distant! It is totally amazing doing this from nearly 3 miles out, sitting at a park picnic table, with perfect control & video. It was an exhilarating experience piloting the drone during this flight.

One of the best features of the Mavic Pro is its dimunitive size makes it incredibly easy to bring along. Mine is generally riding shotgun & ready for deployment at a moments notice. Here is a video compilation from three late-day, back-to-back, flights above Towson, MD.

Inhospitable winter weather had me bored & eager for an opportunity to fly my Mavic Pro, so here is a flight near Brandon Shores Power Plant on a particularly cold & windy day. Not too difficult to discern from the emissions that the plant is running at high capacity. Breaker breaker one nine, watch @ 4:00​ for a close call with the Rubber Duck. The Mavic Gods were with me this day as I was watching the display & not the bird! Musical Tracks: "He Who Brings the Night" - Two Steps from Hell (Archangel) "Dragon Rider" - Two Steps from Hell (Archangel)

This mission could have been called "Far, Far Away"! The Phantom 4 "Night Fury" captures the sunrise on a 55,101' (10.436 mile) early morning Litchi mission. The bird launches from Fort Armistead, passes Fort Carroll & Sparrow's Point, then flies over Fort Howard before turning towards home. The aircraft is a stock "Special Edition" P4 with a high-capacity battery. She returned with 19% remaining. I had full contact until about half way between Sparrow's Point & Fort Howard where my altitude dropped to only 22'. I am amazed that signal was regained 5.25 miles away as she flew above Fort Howard at the furthest point of the mission! Aircraft & RC are stock but I did have a WindSurfer on the remote. This is a "real time" mission. The actual flight was nearly 22 minutes. Grab an adult beverage, enjoy the music, pucker up, & imagine your bird way-way out there!

On a beautiful February afternoon the Maesrk cargo ship "Vilnius" is recorded by the Phantom 3 Advanced "Poop Chute." Check out the beautiful algae & plankton bloom around 4:45​ into the recording. Cool Note: The crew had spotted my drone during the flight & stumbled across my video of the encounter when it went online. They enjoyed seeing the drone & the video. Very cool!

Some exciting air-to-air video of the Phantom 4 "Night Fury" (black) & a Phantom 4 Pro flying over Baltimore. The birds were running a joint Litchi mission during the tight formation flying.

The Mavic "Proteus" records the Texas Quarry in Cockeysville, MD. Cockeysville was originally called "Texas, MD" hence the name of the marble & limestone quarry.

The DJI Mavic "Proteus" records Television Hill & Druid Lake on a beautiful day in North Baltimore. This is a manual flight & the towers stand 997' & 1280' AGL respectively. My launch point was from the Loyola athletic complex parking lot which is 100-200' higher than the tower bases. I love how the water in Druid Lake contrasts with the Baltimore cityscape in the background. I'll have to fly this again on a clearer day with better visibility.

P3 Advanced "Poop Chute" & P3 Professional "Goldeneye" take to the skies @ Fort Armistead Park, MD for some formation flying above the Patapsco River. Recorded February 19th, 2017 on a beautiful & unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon.

The Phantom 4 "Night Fury" captures the July 4th, 2017 fireworks at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The complete show is included. Recorded & rendered in 4K.

This is the "Winter Edition" of a 74,099' (14.03 miles) Litchi flight over the Loch Raven Reservoir in Dulaney Valley, MD. The real-time video runs nearly 30 minutes so it is presented here at 2x speed to reduce it to ~15 minutes. I achieved the long flight length by creating the full mission then separating it into two segments. The end point of the first segment is the start point for the second. The two were spliced together in post. The video was recorded in 1080 x 30 fps with the camera in full auto & no filters or post color correction.