LOL Chuck! 
I think the drones in use down there make mine look like a paper airplane! I hope to make some more videos with some better, more exciting shots. I have to get some more practice so I can be a better quadcopter pilot first! Which is fine with me, 'cause it’s a real hoot flying this thing! 
-Woody
Woody. Found the spot on Google earth. Simmons Hwy crosses over the S.bound due West of Chino.
Good spot for photo work.
What would be cool would be to pace the lead engine just off the engineers window.
Nice video.
Is that last Santa Fe sign in Arizona? It looks just like the sign on the San Diego depot.
Oh and whenever I hear that song (Ready to Go) I think of the movie Vegas Vacation.
Matt, the bronze Santa Fe in concrete at the beginning, and the Santa Fe sign at the end are both at the San Diego depot. Good eye! I get into San Diego on occasion with my work and
I like to go down to the depot and take pictures. Last time I was there, there were two old ATSF Super Chief passenger cars there. They were on a charter and were waiting to be cut in to a northbound Amtrak train. The owners were there and were great guys! They even gave me a tour! It was very cool.
-Woody
Dave Taylor said:
Woody. Found the spot on Google earth. Simmons Hwy crosses over the S.bound due West of Chino.
Good spot for photo work.
What would be cool would be to pace the lead engine just off the engineers window.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking of all kinds of cool possibilities for shots with this thing. That would be a fun shot! I need more practice before I try that one!
Sounds like you found the right spot on Google Earth.
I see you’re up there in NM. I used to live in Taos when I was a kid and I rode the C+TSRR a couple of times back in the '70’s. I need to get up there and ride again! It’s been far too long!
-Woody
Woody Carter said:
Last time I was there, there were two old ATSF Super Chief passenger cars there. They were on a charter and were waiting to be cut in to a northbound Amtrak train. The owners were there and were great guys! They even gave me a tour! It was very cool.
-Woody
I bet the cars were the Acoma and Palm Leaf. Acoma (a lounge car) is from the original 1939 Super Chief consist. Palm Leaf (a sleeping car) is from the 1951 Super Chief
I saw the two at Winslow AZ this past summer. Great guys. They gave my dad and I a tour of the cars. Being big Santa Fe enthusiasts it was a super treat for us.
Great video and awesome flying. Woody. You were just a few miles from me. We’re just east of Preskitt in Dewey.
Woody,
Which quad copter did you get?
A quad has been in my plans for some time. Just haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
Ralph
Dave Taylor said:.
What would be cool would be to pace the lead engine just off the engineers window.
I was thinking that too, but it would probably get the engineer a little spooked, if not worse!
Ralph Berg said:
Woody,
Which quad copter did you get?
A quad has been in my plans for some time. Just haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
Ralph
Was browsing YouTube last night and found this promo video for a 6 blade copter with three axis camera gimbals and retractable gear. Probably way to spendy for us non-professionals but very cool.
This was the first website that popped up, might be a tad cheaper elsewhere.
Course, I’m wondering how would you know what the lens is aimed at when it’s 500-1000’ feet away from you?..
Some cameras can send the viewfinder view back to base via bluetooth or an RF link.
Ken, I’ve been fooling around with an inexpensive Parrot quad-copter… It’s controlled with an iPhone or iPad, has it’s own WiFi connection , has 2 cameras on board and when the camera is on, it streams the image to the phone and directly to the Internet… You can actually point the camera using the copter…
The one Woody is using is much more sophisticated and manageable. I have a hard time controlling the Parrot…
Ah… the world of technology…
I kinda figgered there’s some way to do it, I just hadn’t thought that far ahead yet…
That is amazing.
What kind of wind are those supposed to handle?
Howdy everyone! Wow, woke up to a flurry of posts on the thread! Thanks for all the interest!
I’ll try to answer some of the questions that have been asked.
The rig I am using is a Walkera QR X350. I bought it on ebay for $650.00 fully equipped for FPV flying. FPV means “first person view” and it allows the camera view to be streamed in real time back to a screen on the R/C controller. This allows a feller to fly the bird even when he can’t see it. It has made the difference between keeping and loosing my copter on a couple of occasions! These things will fly completely out of sight and out of ear shot! The only way I got them back was to use the camera view to navigate back visually! You can also hook the “video out” to a pair of video glasses and fly only with reference to the camera view. Some guys really like this. I have a pair of video goggles arriving today. I’ll let you know how that goes. Sounds a little scary though. There are some goggles out there called “Fat Sharks” that are pricey and very cool. Kinda the state of the art for FPV flying right now. Anyway, the rig I bought comes with a camera that will record what you shoot to a micro SD card. It records sound too, so if you like hearing the motors and wind noise that’s fun. I just mute that sound track in editing because most people don’t care to listen to that. I think it sounds cool though! The GoPro also records sound, and the angle and quality of the GoPro video is MUCH better than the stock camera! You WILL want a GoPro, or other high def camera for your video setup. The stock camera is fun at first, and honestly is OK, but the GoPro simply blows it away.
I posted a picture of two of my quadcopters in my photo album. You can check the picture out to get an idea of what the setup looks like. The little copter on the left in the picture is a Hubsan X4 H107d. It also has a camera that streams video to the controller screen. A micro SD card in the controller, not the camera itself records what you shoot. In both of these setups, you can turn off and on recording with the R/C controller. The copter and controller on the right are the Walkera QR X350 with GoPro camera slung underneath. Oh and I also just bought a cable that will allow the GoPro to be the camera that streams the video to the R/C controller as well. That way you see with your FPV exactly what the GoPro is shooting. By the way, I bought the GoPro on ebay also for $216.00.
The Walkera has a couple of nice features. It has GPS that enables it to know where it is both vertically and horizontally. Therefore, it has rudimentary autopilot functions like altitude hold and position hold. It also has a “go home” function. If the copter flys out of transmitter range, it will automatically fly back to the take off point and land. Also, if the pilot looses situational awareness he can hit a switch and the copter will return to home and land automatically.
I hope this answers some questions. Sorry for the long post!
-Woody
That was informative, thanks.
These machines in the hands of a good pilot / cinematographer produce some awesome results. I look forward to seeing more from Woody.
Ok, I just added the picture of the quadcopters to the last post to make it easier to see 'em.
I just finished my first trials with the video goggles. Definitely gonna take some getting used to! I SO lost situational awareness with the small copter that I was pretty sure I lost it! Thankfully, I just hiked around till I could receive the video picture again and, thanks be to God was able to home in on it. I’ve been using the small copter to experiment with the goggles because it was alot cheaper than the big one. Also, a good idea if your looking to learn to fly these things. Get a cheapy for $60.00 that you can fly indoors to get the hang of it before you go big. The big ones are easy to fly once you do that. The blade nano QX is a great one to learn with. They’re about $60-$70 on ebay.
Doug, you asked about wind earlier. Well, wind is a complication for sure. Just a slight breeze will tend to make the craft drift and mean constant adjustment. The stronger the wind, the harder it is to get a nice steady picture. Gusts make it almost impossible. That just covers the photography aspect, and does not even consider the challenges of just flying it safely. The key to good photography with these is being smooth on the controls. Also, there are gimbals available to steady the camera in flight. These can be really pricey, but if your serious about great photography they are almost a must.
You may notice some waviness in the video at times. There are certain PRM ranges that interact with the camera to produce distortion in the image. Some higher-end editing software will allow you to correct for that. I believe Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 has that ability. Microsoft moviemaker does not, and that was what I used to make that movie with. A nice little program, especially since it was free, but it is limited.
-Woody