Drones

 A few months ago I decided to join those of you who have purchased a drone for inspecting those "out of reach roofs." While I do believe every accessible roof should be walked there are times when even an otherwise accessible roof it not accessible due to weather conditions for example. 

  It's that time of the year here in Michigan where you have some days when roofs are totally hidden under snow then days, like yesterday, when there are portions of the roof that are visible but still snow and ice covered on other spots. Yesterday was such a day.

 Arriving a little early I decided to put my AR Drone to work and impress the buyer's with my cool technology. The thing is the drone is good when the weather is perfect. On a sunny day with almost no wind I can zip it around and capture video and/or images and insert them into the report. Yesterday it was cold and a little windy. On windy days the drone acts like it's being flown by a drunk pilot, I was not drunk.

The first takeoff was less than perfect as it tilted hard to the right right into my truck door. I quickly recovered it and continues. The resulting flight was practically worthless and only got worse.  As I was bringing the drone down for a landing it was caught by a wind, taken across the street and deposited nicely into a tree some 20 feet up in a neighbors yard. To make matters worse the neighbor was standing outside on their driveway watching. Not to be beaten I retrieved my ladder, propped it up against the tree and began to climb. Imagine what I looked like climbing a tree to retrieve this apparently worthless toy. For a moment I considered leaving it but then I'm sure the neighbor wouldn't appreciate the ornament.

The lesson I learned was to get a better drone, don't fly it on overly windy days and safe face.