Today was a frackin' beautiful day - 61 degrees, and light just enough breeze to be pleasant - a perfect day a maiden flight! We packed up the new Inspire 1 and the Phantom and headed to the north trail head of the Blue River Trace Trail. All the pre-flight firmware updates have been done, leaving only the compass calibration to do - so the drone knows which is north, south, etc. Even though it "talks" to GPS satellites, it still has to 'know' which way it's pointing at any given time. The calibration procedure is commonly called the "drone dance" as you have to spin around 360 degrees with the drone horizontal, and then again with the nose pointing down. I could hear Jo giggling at me as I performed this ritual..... Anyway, the Inspire flew beautifully, and is every bit as easy to fly as the Phantom. Very responsive, and when hovering, she's steady as a rock. It's a tripod in the sky. I started off in 'beginner mode' just to get a feel for the controls, and getting familiar with all the functions on the Ipad app. I didn't take her very high for this first flight, but she performed perfectly. And it IS a 'she' by the way...... I know, because she 'talks' to me via the app - she says things like "Home point locked, ready for take-off," Gear going up," Maximum altitude reached" in this sultry, sexy female voice... :-D The photos are sharp, well exposed, and there is no Go-Pro style fisheye distortion. These photos aren't all that spectacular, but it's a good indication of what this machine is capable of. The video (which I'll be posting in the next couple of days) is so smooth. I flew just a few feet over a field of prairie grass, and the video was awesome. Anyway, I just wanted to give you all a quick look, and I'll be posting more photos and videos from both the Inspire and the Phantom. Top photo by my wife, Jo - nice shot, hon! Now, it's time to get back to the Girls' adventures before they strap a rocket pack to me and send me into orbit with Dan..... Thanks for dropping by, and I hope everyone has a great weekend! And thanks as always for your wonderful comments and support!