Speaker Robin Sutton

Meeting of Stirling Rotary club 13.7.18

President Sandy Farquharson greeted members; there were no visitors.
The funeral of Helen Morrison, late wife of Sandy Morrison, will take
place at Larbert Crematorium on Monday, 16th, at 14.30.

Our speaker was member Robin Sutton, who chose to talk on the subject
of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, otherwise known as drones. In particular,
he described his application of them in the field of photography. Robin
has long been involved in model aircraft flying and, as drones became
more viable, principally due to improved batteries, he migrated to them.
Mostly, drones have 4 horizontal propellers, one at each corner, with an
electric motor powering each.
Control is via a transmitter with joysticks, although a lot of the
complication of piloting the craft is eliminated due to the high degree of
automation and computer flight control incorporated within the device.
For example, the machine can be set up to return to a pre-selected spot
and will also fly home when it detects that its battery is getting low. In
this regard, wind direction and strength have still to be considered by the
pilot and it is safer to fly upwind rather than downwind, to avoid the craft
landing short on the homeward leg. Robin exhibited a number of
fascinating still and moving images, acquired via the drone and these
demonstrated high quality and impressive stability.

The Vote of Thanks was offered by Alan Rankin and enthusiastically
supported. This week's Speakers Host is Frank Kelly, who will talk on
the subject of golf.
Visitors Host will be Philip Allison. More information on the club can be found on our website
www,stirling.rotary1010.org
Ranald Ross-Watt
Communications Committee.