Flight Log
I had a drone themed Father’s day this year (6-20-2021) and we all took a trip to Chandler Hovey Park in Marblehead, MA for some play drone flying. I discovered this little gem off the UAV Coach recommendation, which I am slowly working my way through.
The weather was great when we got there at about 9am: low 80’s with low wind and not a cloud in the sky. I managed to fly two full batteries and experience a few new firsts in addition to the cool new location:
- My new father’s day gift, strobe lights from Firehouse Technology
- First time flying on the ocean
The Flight
Chandler Hovey Park is at the end of a little archipelago in Marblehead, MA, overlooking the harbor. 100’s of moored boats make up one side of the park.
And the other side is basically open ocean, broken up by only a few small islands.
I originally set up near the lighthouse, and started flying over the harbor side. Luckily, the day had barely any wind, which translated to a moderately windy day over the ocean. I think on a moderately windy day, the ocean may be problematic (though in general, my Mavic Air 2 hasn’t really noticed the wind ever with the exception of my White Mountain incident), but on this day it just gave a pleasant breeze.
The park was getting moderately busy, but flying here takes place entirely over the ocean, so I didn’t have to worry about flying over people all that much, except for takeoff and landing. Still, if we hadn’t been there early it might have proven difficult, so I’d be a bit cautious flying here on weekends in the summer.
I got some great photos and had a blast flying over the water. Visibility was great, though it can be easy to lose sight of the drone as you get further away in the blue skies (the new strobe lights helped). Depth perception is also difficult when flying line of sight over the ocean.
Boats in the harbor are mostly moored, but the harbor has a channel in the middle boats exit though. At the beginning of my flight, I was very concerned I was going to accidentally fly over the people in those boats. However, using my drone’s camera to “cheat” and figure out my exact position, I realized the boats were actually hundreds of feet further out then I initially thought.
After I completed the first battery, the area was getting a bit crowded, so I decided to move to the other side of the park and try the open ocean side. This was a GREAT decision. The ocean side of the park actually had a better view of the lighthouse, since the harbor ends up in the background, and I got some great photos of the coast line that came out really cool in the aerial shots.
I even got a bit brave towards the end and was able to get a good shot of the entire park as seen from the sky!
Overall, I would rate this as a great place to fly, though maybe not your first flight. The only caveats I would have are:
- Be wary of really busy days and times, or you may have trouble taking off
- Wind is probably 5-10 mph higher here then the rest of Boston, so take that into account
I definitely plan to fly here again though. The ocean views are unique from the mostly grassy/woody flights I have taken so far.
Strobe Lights
In addition to the flight, I also tested out my new strobe lights from Firehouse Technology. I had first learned about the concept of navigation lights during my lesson, but I hadn’t actually tried them out on my drone before this.
I received the two front facing mounts alongside red and blue Arc V lights as a father’s day gift. They charge via USB and snap securely on the front extendable arms of the drone
I actually received the red/blue combo set, and have since learned that red/green on the left/right side is more standard.
Luckily I can easily pick up a green light to replace the blue. While this isn’t regulated in drones, it feels like the accepted best practice.
The other thing I am still learning about is anti-collision vs navigation lights. I am using these to increase my line of sight (which they were great for), but there feels like a lot I have left to learn here.
Conclusion
Overall, this was a very enjoyable day. I feel like I keep learning more useful tidbits and getting some great photos!
You can see all the photos from this flight in this gallery!
