... didn't have much chance to check it out until recently...
... first time out - powered the system, checked ourself out on the included flight simulator and was in the air and flyin' in ten minutes - pretty simple...
... all systems go...
... had been tryin' to get it up into the hills for the past few weeks for some flight testing but was turned back each time for one reason or another... visited this first location four times before we got it right - first visit we had forgotten to recharge the camera battery - second visit was way too windy...
... third visit we were prepping the flight system and machine (specifically, attaching the propellers) all the while standing just a few feet away from this bush (above) when a large timber rattler went totally f*k'n nuts at out presence - buzzing like crazy - had no idea he was hidden there and scared the livin' sh*t out of us before he beat it to cover under that big rock... well, probably five minutes had rolled by and in all the excitement we had forgotten to go back to tightening the propellers - upon lift-off two propellers were immediately ejected with the machine subsequently flipping upside down and skipping out of control and around the cliff top before we could shut it down - destroyed both propellers but otherwise no other damage done...
... fourth visit (after purchasing a new propeller kit) conditions were perfect and all went well... did surprise another rattler on the hike in, so we remained wary this time around...
... another angle - didn't play with the color imbalance between those two images... that location is prime rattlesnake habitat...
... southwest facing with plenty of brush and rock crevices for cover - a bit nerve-wracking when stumbling about... saw five rattlers (and one garter snake) throughout the four visits...
... the 'Moon'...
... a shot from up at 'the Moon' last weekend - nature has really been good at reclaiming the area since being surface mined back in the late 70's - was completely barren up there for many years, hence the name...
... nearby 'Buzzard Rocks' (aka: 'Kraylick Rocks' as known to Pittsburgh rock climbers) - pictured is the "point" area of the cliff...
... there's a great moderate climbing route that goes straight up the nose of that thing that provides a bit of fun exposure that ya' normally don't find in SWPA - was never a big fan of bolting everything in sight but have to admit that that route and two or three on the adjacent walls would be lots of fun... don't matter anyway, though - the area has been restricted to climbing for the past several years...
... from the archives...
... doin' some "gardening" (around '83)...
... some rope fun (around '83) - note the coiled 'goldline' rope lying on the top of the wall - those twisted nylon ropes would stretch 10ft under body weight and close to double that under a fall - good luck getting it un-knotted after that as well if knotting anything other than a bowline.... after retiring it, used that same rope to pull over a large elm tree we were cutting down - was pulling with a 4WD truck and had it stretched almost to it's breaking point before the tree toppled - was a 150ft rope and I'll bet we had it stretched out another 50ft - had to eventually cut the (double figure-8) knotted section from the end of the rope length - still have it lying in the basement...
... didn't get too inventive with the 'Karma', but are pretty content with it - could use a narrower field of view and zoom options for the aerial work, but that's a camera function... a miniature aerial camera platform - does what we expected it to do...
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