[SNAP]
All right, here we go.
Smile!
Oh, hold on, I'm having a little bit of problem just getting
the frame right.
Has this ever happened to you?
Your arm just isn't long enough to get everyone in the shot.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, you know what?
I have an idea that could solve this problem.
Give me a second.
A drone in the sky leads me to Bernie Dietrich, a senior test
program leader for Consumer Reports, who
may just have a solution.
Hey, Bernie.
The sound of the drones brought me here.
Hey, Jack, how are you doing?
So what you got going on here?
Well, I'm checking out some of the video drones that we've
tested here from very big ones that
are almost professional models to very small ones
that almost look like toys.
The one thing that they all have in common
is that they take video or pictures.
And they allow you to do all sorts of fun things.
Drones, or unmanned aircraft systems,
to give them their proper name, have long
been used by our military.
But they've exploded in popularity in recent years.
They've become more affordable, lightweight, and user friendly.
So Bernie, how does the testing here help consumers?
Well, we look at a lot of the features.
We look at the video quality.
We look at battery life.
We look at how easy it is to control.
We look at how safe it is.
Then we bring it all together and give them an overall score.
Of course, that helps you choose.
But you really have to decide what you
want-- what's important to you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And there's a lot to choose from.
Some drones come with a headset.
This allows you to see what the drone sees as you're flying it.
They come in all sizes.
Drones over 0.55 of a pound, have
to be registered with the Federal Aviation
Administration, while some are small enough
to be operated indoors.
What is this?
This is not a drone is it?
It is a drone.
Get out of here.
All the propellers are shielded, so it's
safe for flying indoors.
You're actually control this, you
have it take off from your hand.
And when you retrieve it, you just reach out and grab it
and the blades turn off.
So tell me about safety, because that's one thing
that I want to make sure that if I fly one of these,
that I'm doing everything that I need to do to be safe.
The first thing is, you have to know your device.
So read the instructions.
Get familiar with the controls.
So something like this, you have to know what each motion does,
what every button does.
OK.
OK, you also have to know what to do in an emergency.
A lot of them have a Stop button where it drop out of the sky
as soon as you press that button.
Get in a big field, OK.
I think we got one.
Exactly.
You don't want to be in an area where you could actually
run into something.
Like a tree.
It would damage your drone.
And it would damage the tree.
And you could have possibly damaged somebody else too.
Oh, yeah.
But perhaps the most time proven safety tip of all--
Practice, practice, practice.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Is today a good day to fly a drone?
Today is an excellent day to fly a drone.
And in fact I think you should fly a drone.
I thought you'd never ask.
All right, let's go.
All right, Jack, what you're going
to do is you're going to take off, hover.
OK.
Go down this course.
Stop before you hit the trees.
OK.
All right, you're going to turn around, come back, hover,
and land.
You think I can do it?
I know you can do it.
I like the way you think.
All right, let's have some fun.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
How am I doing?
Beautiful.
Nice.
You're a pro.
Yeah.
Very smooth.
So now I'm just going to bring it back.
All right, so come back down.
Oh, you're drifting a little bit.
There you go.
Now, I just have to avoid a crash landing.
You can do it.
Hold on.
All right.
The other way.
Uh oh, I think I can do it.
Here we go.
I did it, Bernie!
All right. beautiful.
Excellent job.
And after all these tips, there's one last thing to do.
Now I can get all my friends in the picture!
[CHEERING]
And the moral of the story, if you have too many people
to fit in the selfie, take a dronie.
[CHEERING]
[SNAP]