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Nearly lost the Inspire this morning on the beach...........

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Went out for a beautiful early morning flight on the beach this morning, virtually no wind (1-2 mph), great visability, Inspire performed flawlessly but...........All of a sudden, around half a dozen very territorial seagulls appeared and took a real dislike to a white thing, with black 'wings' hovering in their hood :eek:.

I could see that sooner or later one of them was going to come down from above and have a go at the Inspire. It probably would have made a nasty mess of the seagull but also taken the craft out of the air.

I got it back to me asap and they followed me in the air for around 100yds to chase me off their turf :confused:.

Real scary moment not down to pilot error or technical problems but wildlife!!!!!
 
Went out for a beautiful early morning flight on the beach this morning, virtually no wind (1-2 mph), great visability, Inspire performed flawlessly but...........All of a sudden, around half a dozen very territorial seagulls appeared and took a real dislike to a white thing, with black 'wings' hovering in their hood :eek:.

I could see that sooner or later one of them was going to come down from above and have a go at the Inspire. It probably would have made a nasty mess of the seagull but also taken the craft out of the air.

I got it back to me asap and they followed me in the air for around 100yds to chase me off their turf :confused:.

Real scary moment not down to pilot error or technical problems but wildlife!!!!!

I'm due to do some footage on the coast near me and you have confirmed my fears! Haha
 
I had simular experience with my phantom and pigeons , and you are right it is scary situation .
 
I had a very similar experience with Crows in Goa, India.

Apparently I got too close to one of their nests and two crows started dive bombing my phantom (at the time). It was literally a scene out of Top Gun, like 3 fighter jets dog fighting it out, but instead of jets it was two crows and my phantom. Barely got out of there in one piece!

Birds are very territorial, especially if you get close to their nests with eggs or babies.
 
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Honestly... I don't think you would have had a problem...
Ive had multiple similar experiences and while yes they chase it and may even dart at it they were smart enough not to actually touch it.

And, even if they would have... I would not be surprised if the inspire would keep on flying!

One of the first really well done review vids of the inspire the guys took it out to a model airplane airfield and was flying it around with the airplanes. At one point one of the airplanes clipped the inspire. The inspire put a good gash in the plane and sent it straight to the ground but it (the inspire) kept flying.

After reviewing the footage of the collision with the gimbal smoothed everything out and you couldn't even tell that there was a collision!
 
Y
Are you sure? The pre-flight check should ensure that there are no hazards to persons, property, wildlife and aircraft.
Yes I'm sure. No sign of nesting birds or any other wildlife at the location (maybe some fish below surface but clarity of water precluded any decent visabilty to check for shoaling fish :p).
I am actually CAA certified with permission for aerial work (PFAW) and carry £5m liability cover as well as £3,500 airborne. I also do a risk assessment at each flying site and have a full pre and post check list procedure and ops manual.
These birdies came out of nowhere........:eek:
 
Honestly... I don't think you would have had a problem...
Ive had multiple similar experiences and while yes they chase it and may even dart at it they were smart enough not to actually touch it.

And, even if they would have... I would not be surprised if the inspire would keep on flying!

One of the first really well done review vids of the inspire the guys took it out to a model airplane airfield and was flying it around with the airplanes. At one point one of the airplanes clipped the inspire. The inspire put a good gash in the plane and sent it straight to the ground but it (the inspire) kept flying.

After reviewing the footage of the collision with the gimbal smoothed everything out and you couldn't even tell that there was a collision!

The airplane was made out of Styrofoam , but you might be right the bird would not attack unless it is hungry HAWK.
 
I have had an encounter with a hawk and he definitely made a dive at my phantom. I think he would have hit it if I didn't avoid it but can't be sure.

Glad the gulls didn't get ya.
 
Great save mate!
Any vid?
No video unfortunately, I was at about 50 feet with camera pointing straight down to get some shots of the surf breaking. Seagulls moved in and I just wanted get out of there quickly......didn't really think about bringing up the camera level, just wanted to get the Inspire back to me sharpish. o_O
 
Some birds are always protective to their territory and seagulls belong to this kind of birds.
I can assure you that around this time of year (nests and eggs) you better look out where you flying.Where I live are 3 major birds area's with are now closed to public. Due to this.I stay away for about 1 km to the boundary of these area's.
Allready have been attacked 4 times over the last 2 years.
But good to hear your bird(Inspire) is back on it's nest Editor!:)
 
You should'a hid in the nearest phone booth!

It's situations like this where a few miniature AMRAAM missiles would have come in handy! ;)

How cool would that be? :cool:
 
You can outmaneuver any bird by flying strait up, I often get hawks and eagles flying up to mine as soon as I am above them they get scared and fly away. I don't worry about seagulls or pigeons, they fly up to it, but never make contact.
 
Went out for a beautiful early morning flight on the beach this morning, virtually no wind (1-2 mph), great visability, Inspire performed flawlessly but...........All of a sudden, around half a dozen very territorial seagulls appeared and took a real dislike to a white thing, with black 'wings' hovering in their hood :eek:.

I could see that sooner or later one of them was going to come down from above and have a go at the Inspire. It probably would have made a nasty mess of the seagull but also taken the craft out of the air.

I got it back to me asap and they followed me in the air for around 100yds to chase me off their turf :confused:.

Real scary moment not down to pilot error or technical problems but wildlife!!!!!

Sounded humbling :)
 
Some birds are always protective to their territory and seagulls belong to this kind of birds.
I can assure you that around this time of year (nests and eggs) you better look out where you flying.Where I live are 3 major birds area's with are now closed to public. Due to this.I stay away for about 1 km to the boundary of these area's.
Allready have been attacked 4 times over the last 2 years.
But good to hear your bird(Inspire) is back on it's nest Editor!:)

Don't need publicity! I gave up a spot due to American Bald Eagles.. I wouldn't even dare, or think to even have an adventure of any sort, NO THANKS! Would love to capture footage of them feeding off the lake, but then again nature could run its course without my interference or incident. I think we all know what this means should one decide to attack. I surrendered to wildlife[emoji6]!! Keep the peace, and No publicity..
 
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Honestly... I don't think you would have had a problem...
Ive had multiple similar experiences and while yes they chase it and may even dart at it they were smart enough not to actually touch it.

And, even if they would have... I would not be surprised if the inspire would keep on flying!

One of the first really well done review vids of the inspire the guys took it out to a model airplane airfield and was flying it around with the airplanes. At one point one of the airplanes clipped the inspire. The inspire put a good gash in the plane and sent it straight to the ground but it (the inspire) kept flying.

After reviewing the footage of the collision with the gimbal smoothed everything out and you couldn't even tell that there was a collision!


I've had that happen. Shooting in the harbor and a group flew in, stayed and seem to play but no strikes. All over water, no issue
 

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