Make: Magazine Volume 44 is all about DRONES! Don’t have the issue? Get yours today!
Flying drones may be able to do many jobs in the future, or possibly deliver everything from beer to defibrillators. For now though, it seems that most (non-millitary) drones exist for the entertainment of their owners. Here are a few drones that probably won’t be classified as “useful” anytime soon, but are extremely entertaining!
Flying Reaper Drone
If you think Tom Mabe’s “Flying Reaper” drone is scary, you’re not the only one. It’s hilarious, and probably understandable, to see people’s reactions to this apparition. At first glance you may be wondering where he hid the drone inside of the reaper. How it was done, as explained around 1:30, was actually a little simpler, involving a large hexacopter and fishing line.
Drone Fireworks Launch
Fireworks are fun; drones are fun. Certainly combining the two would be even better! Rene Oudshoorn decided to find out with this experiment “way back” in 2013. It’s an interesting spectacle, and becomes even more so when a “ground target” is attacked at around 0:50.
Rideable Octocopter
Here’s a rideable octocopter that almost caries a Chinese man into the sky. It’s not exactly an RC drone, but is too crazy to ignore. Check out the semi-successful test flight around 3:50. No one appears to get injured, but I definitely wouldn’t willingly pilot this beast!
Drone Target Practice
If drones are allowed to shoot fireworks at cars, it seems only fair that they should be shot at. Actual bullets might not be a fair comparison, but maybe the people’s ears hurt after their “dronocidal” activities. Drone shooting starts around 2:00, and the first drone lasts until around 2:40. Several RC planes are shot down, and there’s a nice damage shot around 3:25.
Space Drone
Although there is some conflicting narration about how high the balloon carrying this glider would reach, the view from around 30,000 meters (about 1/3 of the way to “space”) is incredible. Also incredible is the fact that the operator was able to maintain any kind of control or video feed (even if not totally reliable) during this descent! More info can be found on the RCExplorer site.
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