One of JD's bowling buddies, Guy, asked to take a first ride in a small airplane. JD was happy to oblige one hot July morning. Here's the last 47 minutes of the flight in a Piper Warrior from a dashcam, with intercom and radio audio. Guy took the controls for part of it as JD looked on and explained things. The flight was from the Hammond, LA airport, with a couple of touch and go's before the full stop landing. Fun was had by all!

JD found a few spots devoid of people so that he could safely drone from the Moon Walk in front of Jackson Square in New Orleans' French Quarter. Other pilots were out there droning, too. See how many other drones you can spot whizzing by. 4K video from CGO3+ camera on Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter. Edited with Cyberlink PowerDirector.

4K video from JD's Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter at and over the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in downtown New Orleans, July 4, 2021. Yuneec CG03+ camera. Edited with Cyberlink PowerDirector 365

His Yuneec Typhoon H drone hadn't been out to Lake Shadow in a while, so JD decided to send it out there this morning. He also had it visit St. Michaels High School in Shenandoah, LA before heading home. Lake Shadow is about 2,290 feet from the launch point. Altitude was 312 feet the whole way. Video to the controller gets a little iffy at that distance, but so does keeping the drone physically in sight. So that was far enough. Pre-flight turned up a loose camera gimbal damper, which meant spending 20 minutes or so with a bread wrapper tie hooked around the neck of the damper to thread it back into place. And a second damper came loose during the repair of the first. But eventually, the drone and camera were airworthy. 4K video from tyhe Yuneec CG03+ camera. Editing and background music licensed by Cyberlink PowerDirector.

It's another trip from Hammond, LA to Slidell, LA and back in a Piper Cherokee Warrior. The weather was too good not to fly, albeit a tad on the breezy side.

JD walks his pet drone down the street. It's a Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter in Watch Me mode with Intel Real Sense® obstacle avoidance turned on to keep from hitting trees and light posts. Shenandoah subdivision in Baton Rouge. Music licensed to me via the editor, Cyberlink PowerDirector's EULA. 4K video from CG03+ camera.

A May, 2021 trip around JD's neighborhood in the Shenandoah subdivision of Baton Rouge. Yuneec Typhoon 4K video. Edited with Cyberlink PowerDirector 365. Music licensed for JD’s use by Cyberlink PowerDirector 365 end user license agreement (so don't give me any grief about it, YouTube!)

The day was too nice not to drone. Temperature in the low to mid 70's, and CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited). So we put the Yuneec Typhoon H out to pasture, just north of JD's home in Shenandoah, LA. Then we flew back and a bit south to nose around in the neighborhood. John stopped by to chat near the end of the flight, just as the bugs attacked the drone. Maybe they were attracted by its new anti-collision strobe light. 4K video, CG03+ camera, edited & rendered with Cyberlink PowerDirector 365, with music computer-generated by Pinnacle Studio, so don't bother making a copyright claim.

A quick trip over Grassy Lake near JD's house. Here's hoping it doesn't start looking like the too-shallow City Park Lake in Baton Rouge. If it does, it will be more grassy than lakey. 4K video from a Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter.