Mike "Hucker" Clark is a Better Drone Pilot an You

Mike "Hucker" Clark is a Better Drone Pilot Than You

Huntington Beach local Mike Hucker Clark goes big. A force in BMX dirt, Hucker has more than earned the nickname for which hes known, and his natural talent complements his fearlessness, on and off the bike. And although he is a BMX pro by trade, Hucker is most comfortable in the ocean. Born into a family of watermen, Hucker is at home in the sea, whether it is surfing, fishing, or free diving. And when he isnt in the water or on a trip with his bike, you might find him on his skateboard at a local Orange County skate park. A Jack of All Trades, Hucker is the newest addition to the GoPro team, and we couldnt be happier to have him officially on board. We caught up with him recently during a visit to the SoCal GoPro office to see how 2015 is shaping up and to share a few laughs, and we learned a lot; perhaps most importantly that he is a legend with a drone...

GoPro: What's does 2015 look like for Hucker?

Hucker: Just trying to go as big as possible, do as many contests as I can, film, produce, and play with the GoPro as much as possible. It's already been pretty busy so far. I've already been on a couple trips. Went to Florida for a week, New Zealand for three-and-a-half weeks, then shot over to Australia. I've been home for a week, and I go to Colombia in 10 days. There are three events going on out there; going go do a couple contests, and my buddy's opening up a new skate park and dirt jumping park, so I'm going go over there for the grand opening and hang out.

GoPro: So is there a balance between filming and contests for you? Or do you just take it as it comes?

Hucker: Ya know, to tell you the truth, I never really was into filming up until about a couple years ago. I won a GoPro in a contest and it just changed my whole outlook; I just wanted to point it at everything. Yeah, it's definitely addicting. I feel like half the time I'm filming just as much, if not more, than I actually ride because I get so distracted and just wanna film my friends and hang out. It's so sick just to kind of take your mind off things. It's almost therapeutic, I feel like.

GoPro: Now, that said, some of the content you have been sharing has been, shall we say

Hucker: Too close? [laughs]. Yeah, so I just got put on the [GoPro] team officially, and was just trying to film as much as possible. I was at the trails with my buddies, and I did this transfer where you transfer back into the main line and I landed side-by-side with my buddy Pedro (his real name is Jonathan Kakawa, but we all call him Pedro) and it freaked me out so I pulled out. We came back to the roll-in to the top of it and I was like, Hey man, let's do that again. We totally got this. We had more than enough room, I just got scared because I wasn't expecting to land right beside you. He had actually 360'd the jump that I transferred into, so we do it, land perfect again, and then the jump after the jump we transfer into, he 360s, spinning directly into my face [laughs]. Actually, he gave me a big ole' cut on my ear, smacked the camera, and he fell from probably close to 15 feet to flat. He missed the whole landing. My buddy Robbie Crawford was there filming (he shoots for GoPro as well), and it went pretty much all over the internet. I don't know if it's viral or not, but it got shared by a lot of people. So he basically 360'd into my face, making us both eject off the bike. He screamed I thought I'd killed him. Turned out, he was fine and we all walked away.

GoPro: What's your favorite camera setup right now?

Hucker: I've been using the Hero4 Silver with just the head mount at the trails quite a bit, and also with the GoPole just filming stuff. I've actually been using my drone quite a bit at the trails, and just places that it's just beautiful. I just used it quite a bit in New Zealand and got some of the best drone footage I've ever had. I grew up flying remote control airplanes and helicopters and stuff, so I love flying stuff.

A video posted by Mike Hucker Clark (@mikehucker) on Mar 24, 2015 at 7:22pm PDT

GoPro: You probably picked it up quickly due to your background with R/C planes...

Hucker: Yeah. I grew up flying planes and helicopters and stuff, but I was really anti-drone because I knew how easy they were to fly and I knew I'd just get bored. And then I started seeing all the footage that everybody was getting with them and I thought it could be so much better. Most the guys were filming super far away they weren't close to anything, and that's because most of these people that have drones have video or photography skills, but no flying skills. And so I incorporated my flying skills and showed my film buddies the footage. They were blown away because I was getting shots that they would never try to get because it was so close. However, there's a fine line between close and too close . And I've found both of em [laughs].

I did this one where I was circling this guy playing a guitar, and the guy is a professional drone pilot, and he said, Wow, I can't believe you got that. That circle is so hard to do smoothly, the way you filmed it.

I'm thinking, No, you just have to be gentle with the controls and understand what does what and how to fly it.

All that drone footage from Raditudes was mine, and I got footage at Wedge. There were six dudes flying the Phantoms, and they were all super high up. I was down below the wave filming it, almost getting taken out, but I was the only guy that wasn't 20 feet above the wave.

GoPro: Obviously, BMX is your primary focus, but your breadth of enthusiast activities is pretty widespread. What else are you doing when you're off the bike?

Hucker: Yeah, I grew up right next to the beach in Huntington B

LINK:	http://gopro.com/news/mike-hucker-clark-is-a-better-drone-pilot-than-y...
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