Close enough to a rotational cloud to have moderate concern

brandon429

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I realize it's not right up on me, try to imagine being in front of that while flying a craft and you're trying to time your healthy exit as/if needed. The wind is blowing directly at you lol, not horizontally. It's a matter of when it gets there not if, it's a mile tall and making a growling noise.

Exhilarating falls short of description


Here's how tornado hunting with a drone works


Apps nowadays allow you to position far out or up close

you can choose to go look for flight boundaries based on comfort levels and craft abilities and storm positions. This particular craft was bought precisely to get high wind footage and remain stable.

Today lined up, I launched and withstood about 60 mph gusting it can take more and I'm out in the country so these initial tests are isolated

I have not skydived but even with a fear of heights I did tall bungee once and this was equally scary for sure. Beast rotator and you're trying to decide if it's moving along with the 60 mph winds or not towards your face. You need to fly, be able to fight winds getting back, leave on time if required, watch for dropdowns behind you, watch for wind speed changes that can prevent return, and catch land without crashing. Whew

Screenshot_20210517-193525_MyRadar.jpg

When she got within 200 feet to the ground i got the heck out.

The craft held up amazing


not bad for second high wind flight testing. Every single day after work can find some rotations this place is a trip. Over time and positioning you aim for more distance covered to the target while you're safely back out in the dirt field getting pelted by topsoil. Watch the movie twister once a week during the season

20210517_203257.jpg

the human body will effect a leave/change of position when the eyes see that change into a point, its fascinating physiology. Spinal mediated, a base reflex to get out now and never drive there again lol but maybe tomorrow.

The controller was shaking in my hand actually.
 
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brandon429

brandon429

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I have a strange rule breaking takeaway from yesterday
its that hunkering down came from the days of blind radio spotting, verbal relay, and only the universities had the radar and they had to analog relay the info out as far as it could go, this created a delay where the twister could land anywhere.


nowadays if a family directly sees a rotating red mass on the radar coming their way, getting in the f150 and simply driving opposite would beat hunkering down. if we can use apps to 100% track out a drone launch site live time, we can use them to drive the heck away from the destroyer. the only time I'd have my family hunker down is if we have no signal to read the live time radar. those apps are accurate too, even down to instant rain feedback I was able to verify everything last nite.

though 0% in weather science would agree with me, I can't say Im for hunkering down if you have a weather app. Im for hunkering in the opposite direction right where it specifically shows zero rotation, you can fly rc in that spot or just drive further.

for example

right where that snakehead is aiming above, the folks in that business can see the mass on their screens for fifteen minutes ahead of time, its how I tracked there to get the flight. they should already be gone from that building, not hunkered down inside it.
 
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blasterman

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I would give anything to storm chase or live in tornado alley and chase those storms.

Just avoid hook echoes.
 
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brandon429

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last nite got hairy lol towards the end we see the dust kick up couple hundred feet into a swirl about 300 yards in front of me

what that means in west texas is land your drone, shoot it into the jeep window if you have to, drive away very fast

I'm 100% sure that I'd never hunker down in a storm now, not ever. These apps are so spot on accurate and free they tell you literally where a tornado can and cant be

a tornado isn't going to form where there's no coverage above, it forms in the pink zones and the apps have zero delay. to the second, when that cloud changes shape in front of me it changes on the app, amazing. in 96 they could never have known we'd have that in pockets

Lightning is the real risk Im having to stay pretty far back from the optimal shot range due to millions of volts randomly raining down. filming this feels like riding the judge roy scream roller coaster with no safety bar engaged. it feels like anyone's skidiving adrenaline etc

it doesnt matter if the drone crashes out here, its pure dirt as far as the eye can see.
 
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brandon429

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thank you!

you can bet ill be sending that drone as a one way ticket one day, when that twister drops down. I’ll be far back

go straight into manual and barrel it at 80 mph right up to the funnel. its recording on the goggles side too.

*clearly if this wasnt wide open country I wouldnt do that. here is dirt, for miles. if a downdraft slams it then Ill cry but it will hit dirt.
 
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brandon429

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that’s the effects from the cloud seen in post #4

I don’t understand why these apps like myradar aren’t being touted as lifesavers they are exactly that. If someone lives on a dirt road where you can get stuck evacuating that would make sense to hunker down

but if you live in a city with pavement, when your app shows an ominous red dot moving your way slowly, you get in the car and drive oppositely and go home when it passes. I had to drive an hour to get where these storms were and the app brought me to the back side for filming.

For example

right now Paducah residents should be ready, the other areas not in concern. They have exact early warning right now in case something worse develops. They can be loading up to leave for a while if possible

Screenshot_20210528-102832_MyRadar.jpg
 
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brandon429

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that tornado started to form right in front of my craft in the later part of the video you can see the tip forming, if it would have formed that would be my first twister by drone. Considering this is only my fourth outing I’d say we’re on track this season to find one. Thanks for checking out

go virtual storm chasing we me above put that in full screen

thats too close to highway to fly the drone actually into the cloud. One day we will see this in the country near no cars and them it becomes dorothy 2.0 like the movie. It came with these stickers lol I did not order little girl stickers off amazon and then envision myself as bill paxton sampling the wind direction with a hearty smile as I applied them to have my version of Dorothy from movie twister.

hard to believe that little rascal can withstand 60 mph headwinds and still punch home fast. It’s top speed in flat winds is 89 mph factory spec. In a dive, 110+

image.jpg
here’s how it’s rather handy for getting aerial wind speed and directional data: bring it to altitude and put it in neutral no gps hold.

the wind pushes it and the craft reports incredibly accurate side speed and distance plotted: a complete 2d velocity and direction sampler from hundreds of feet up.
 
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Sailingeric

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I have always wanted to see a tornado, from a safe distance. I nearly saw one on the Bahamas a couple years during a bad storm, and have seen 3 water spouts near Frying Pan Shoal off the coast of NC
 
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brandon429

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Thank you both for stopping by

these models that can aim the camera up vs just straight out…imagine that bad boy above is flown only via full face goggles so it’s exactly like sitting in a theater in full visual twenty foot screen high def
Zero peripheral vision lol

as youre hovering at height you pan up and it feels exactly like sitting in a recliner in the sky and leaning back until you are about to tip, in no exaggeration the human spinal column reacts in this way


my jaw even starts to clatter exactly like being too cold but it’s pure flight reflex tremble and if I mess up flying my thou $ toy is dirt field, it’s so much pressure lol. I love it I just went out right now but this run was a bust, nothing juicy.

we will find some juice before long
 
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brandon429

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crabs I’ve never met anyone who’s seen one where in the world was that — completely unimaginable

if I was near one of those I would not fly id gt o
 

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