Taylor now gets to fly drones as part of his planning job

| March 3, 2022

Admit it, you’re a bit envious of those who get to fly drones as a part of their job? Taking Taylor out for his birthday in 2021 As someone who has enjoy everything aviation their entire life, I’m a bit jealous my son is now a licensed commercial drone pilot … just a I am […]

A favorite photo of Drew flying his Quadrotor 5 years ago #TBT

| July 29, 2021

While reviewing and purging a few backups to stay under one of my cloud storage service’s data caps, a favorite photo popped up that was backed up on OneDrive. It was a pre-children time for Drew and Katelyn visiting his parent’s place on Lake Michigan when there was free-time for self, hobbies, tech gadgets and […]

Baby Reveal: GrandDAUGHTER #2 is three months away! [video]

| November 10, 2019

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Sooner or later a close call with a drone will be too close

| January 25, 2019

As more and more federal employees decide they aren’t going to continue to work without a paycheck, the focus has shifted to the unpaid in the Coast Guard, TSA and Air Traffic Control. Air travel has now moved front and center as the “shutdown-standoff” continues (the Senate is at least negotiating). Flyers are feeling it […]

Storms and more storm in Ohio, but it sure looks nice up north

| July 22, 2018

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Drones on boats, a good idea?

| January 29, 2018

My friend Jeff is planning on ordering a DJI Mavic Pro this weekend. I sent him a recent article that has him pondering models. Jokingly I sent him this ani.gif suggesting he let me borrow it when I head to the boat … to which he replied, “Sure, if you put down a $1000 deposit. […]

Happy Anniversary Katelyn and Drew, plus drone video below

| April 13, 2017

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World War I surveillance DRONE – or pigeon photography

| February 5, 2017

Homing pigeons were outfitted with lightweight cameras in WWI with time-delayed shutters for aerial reconnaissance photography, likely the first "drones."  They were used very effective as messenger pigeons prior to wireless radio and effectively in communicating behind enemy lines in World War II. Interestingly the Swiss Army continued they military pigeons until it was disbanded […]

Together with Katelyn and Drew for their baby reveal [video]

| November 8, 2016

The highlight of this past weekend was in getting together with the Oostra family on a sunny and beautiful Sunday afternoon where Katelyn and Drew had a “Baby Oostra” reveal party. A popular trend nowadays is for young couples to make the gender reveal “an event” … and creativity seems to be the key. A […]

Archiving some quadcopter video footage from Wayzata, MN

| October 26, 2016

The  advancements in unmanned aviation continue to impress me as a new generation of pilots is flying by remote control rather than “stick and rudder,” “yoke and peddle” … but all can still fly by the “seat of their pants.”  I’m still unsure what to call these computer controlled devices nowadays … quadcopters, quadrotors  (what […]

A beautiful quadrotor aerial video from Lake Michigan

| September 1, 2016

My son-in-law Drew shared a really impressive Phatom3 movie clip on YouTube after his July 2016 vacation in Michigan. There were some incredibly beautiful views, sunsets and shoreline video … of course it didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect for Katelyn and Drew’s vacation at his parent’s “cabin” (as they call it). Although I’ve […]

Archive: Phantom 3 quadrotor-drone video from Iowa

| July 6, 2016

My daughter Katelyn and husband Drew were in Iowa over the July 4th holiday weekend with his family. Since they were visiting the old farm homestead, it was a perfect time to get his new Phantom 3 quadrotor out and take a little more video. The time to visit northwestern Iowa is obviously the summer […]

Quadrotors are likely going to be the next personal aircraft

| June 28, 2016

I’m not sure how the whole "drone" future is going to turn out, but it is exciting to watch the improvements over a short period of time. The ease of flying, improvements in batteries and quality of video have really advanced. It will not be long before we’re "jumping" around town in a quadrotor. I […]

The Sony Mobile and ZMP Inc tests their new UAV

| August 25, 2015

After getting a chance to play with a quad copter last week, I’ve been a little more intrigued with the advancements in “drones.” Who knows, this innovation may find its way into the first realistic personal transportation device someday? Sony’s Aerosense drone that takes off and lands vertically but during flight gets most of its […]

What a fun time flying a quad copter or #drone

| August 19, 2015

Well … one of the positive things that happen at funerals (and weddings) is that families get together. Taylor took a funeral day (plus weekend) from his job and Katelyn and Drew drove home from Wayzata (Minneapolis, MN) and brought along his “new toy” … quadcopter with a camera – what a great distraction. We […]

TechFriday: Pre-order a throw-and-shoot camera for $499

| June 5, 2015

Really tempted to pre-order a Lily “non-drone” (company doesn’t like the “drone” term) according to a CNBC article (below). Lily: the world’s first throw-and-shoot camera Deborah Findling | @dfindles For those times when the selfie stick just isn’t good enough, there is now a flying camera. Really. Called the world’s first throw-and-shoot camera, the Lily […]

When pigs (or pugs) fly …

| April 11, 2015

Perhaps there is a little innovative Cincinnati (Porkopolis) marketing inspiration here?

Video: Miami University (Ohio) Aerial Campus Tour

| April 2, 2015

If you are interested in or an alum, you’ll love visiting Miami University in this way …

Will the toy quadcopter be used in the next wave of terrorism

| January 26, 2015

It’s really not a laughing matter, but a drone flying around the White House is unfortunately a sign of the times. Technology has advanced to the point that a person who wants a quadcopter or UAV can probably buy/build and fly them … some more successfully than others, sorry Vice President Biden. WASHINGTON –  A […]

Honey Badger, Richard Jenkin’s high tech sailing drone

| February 22, 2014

A friend of mine sent me a great Wired article  this week that twisted together sailing, aviation and robotic technology … very interesting? There are driverless cars and military drones, but Richard Jenkins has plugged a brain into a high-tech sailboat called Honey Badger, kind of a big high-tech Snoopy Sloop … see my 2012 […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog