Second Flight...

A beautiful Black Hills morning: mid-60s to start the day, sunshine, low humidity, and no wind.  I was able to take Rufus for a walk, then get out on my bike (bicycle).  When I got back from my ride, Joan and Rufus were sitting out on the patio...

Yes, he's a good boy.  ;-)

With the calm wind conditions (forecast to be gusting above 30mph by noon), I decided to get in a second flight with the Mavic Mini.  I set the flight maneuvering to normal (up from the slowest setting I first used), then tried out the QuickShot maneuvers built into this model: circle (around a selected spot or subject), helix (circle and climb), dronie (pull away and climb), and rocket (straight overhead, climbing)... yep, they all worked  like they were supposed to.  I flew higher and further today, tried the "Return to Home" function (worked fine, but I did turn it off when it got close and landed by hand), and then intentionally ran the battery down to where the "low battery warning" comes on (it isn't quiet) and let the drone bring itself back.  It all works slick!

I flew higher, further, and faster than my first flight; still in the learning stages.  If you engage one of the QuickShot modes, the Mini automatically shoots a video of that; then, turns off the video camera and returns to where it started.  Not as automated as other larger, more expensive drones, but the fun of this little aircraft is in hand flying.  It is also much quieter than its larger siblings.  At 50 feet high and 100 feet away, I could barely hear it.  Joan was listening intently from about 100 yards away and said she could hear it "most of the time."  With any background noise at all, I can't imagine the sound would offend anyone.

The video it shoots is 2.7k maximum, and 12mp still photos; again, not state of the art, but very capable...