Approaching The Crystal Springs Reservoir

I ordered the 3DRobotics Solo the day it was announced and available for pre-order. The drone itself is impressive, but I think it was announced and released a bit early. Getting extra batteries has been a challenge, and the gimbal has been delayed quite some time. While shipping hardware is always an accomplishment, it does leave me feeling a bit disappointed that I bought a drone that is fairly limited until the gimbal is actually in wide availability. Without a gimbal, recording smooth video will be a challenge.

I just got a couple extra batteries which has got me excited about the drone again. Well, I've always been excited about it, just, quite discouraged from trekking it out somewhere far away when I have only 20mins of flight before needing to recharge.

Using airmap.io, I was able to find a pocket of space just 15mins away from me that is outside the 5 mile radius of nearby airports, which is quickly becoming my practice and trial grounds. In the distance you can see the Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir with Skyline Boulevard cutting across the middle of the photo. It was incredibly windy which meant getting usable video was out of the question sans gimbal.