The next time you take your drone out for a spin, you better keep a close eye out for flying objects that might interrupt your joy ride — like birds. One Cambridge, Mass. man learned this lesson the hard way after a territorial hawk took down his expensive flying gadget.
Christopher Schmidt, a software developer, has flown his Phantom FC40 $499.00 at Amazon quadcopter several times a week since purchasing it six months ago, and uses an attached GoPro camera to capture footage for his YouTube page. One recent flight, however, didn’t go quite as planned.
He was flying the drone above Magazine Beach Park in Cambridge this week, capturing views of the Boston skyline, when a hawk charged at the aircraft, full speed ahead, taking it down. Check out the video below for a look at the whole confrontation.
In the 39-second clip, you can see the hawk fly in from the right and crash into the drone, talons-first before the quadcopter falls to the ground. Luckily, Schmidt’s equipment — and the bird — made it through the encounter with only minimal damage.
via VIDEO: Drone vs. Hawk (Spoiler: The Hawk Wins) | News & Opinion | PCMag.com.
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