(Google translate from Czech)

Dobýt hrad. To se lehko řekne. Ani s dnešní moderní technikou (zde dron Potensic Atom) to není nic jednoduchého :-). Chce to plán a hlavně štěstí. Plán byl a štěstí nakonec také :-)

Conquering the castle. That's easy to say. Even with today's modern technology (here the Potensic Atom drone) it's not easy :-). It takes a plan and, above all, luck. There was a plan and luck in the end :-)

--- ![linka1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23swXQgUNzHCUaoqVQ7xJsMWUUjSApjCzgkGyzcvzGpiGuHbnAkuDqrzatb2oYeGtHJ15.png)

V sobotu dopoledne jsem s Tomem (dron) vyrazil k jihočeskému městečku Bavorov. Asi dva kilometry západně od města se pne kopec a na něm zřícenina hradu Helfenburk ze 14 století.

On Saturday morning, Tom (the drone) and I set off for the South Bohemian town of Bavorov. About two kilometers west of the town, there is a hill with the ruins of the 14th century Helfenburk castle on it.

![mapa hrad.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23tw5bDgRntL1oHbxXSfzeRRH9zm9mhSrnhSMS5DPmAu7aKJCea75neXSBF6EBp6VcTtP.png)

Vyškrábat se na kopec byla ta jednodušší část dobytí hradu. Vede sem totiž pohodlná asfaltová cesta (trochu do kopce, jak už to tak bývá) lemovaná po jedné straně spoustou mravenišť.

Climbing up the hill was the easier part of conquering the castle. There is a comfortable asphalt road leading here (a bit uphill, as is often the case) lined on one side with lots of anthills.

![IMG_20260228_084514.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23w2qS8M2RuGiZK8qGgQgtkZkEQp7LmnYcviXinV7XqLcPAv7DcmCcFPpfbeLrfHEYtoc.jpg)

Hrad byl samozřejmě zavřený. Byl poslední únor a otevírali až v neděli, prvního března. Jak se tedy dostat dovnitř? S tím mi měl pomoci Tom. A tady nastal první zádrhel v plánu. Celý kopec s hradem obklopovala mlha a to není pro Toma zrovna ideální. Nezbylo než „obklíčit“ hrad kolem dokola pěšky a doufat, že se mlha aspoň trochu rozplyne.

The castle was of course closed. It was the last of February and they didn't open until Sunday, the first of March. So how do you get inside? Tom was supposed to help me with that. And here came the first snag in the plan. The entire hill with the castle was surrounded by fog, which is not ideal for Tom. All that was left was to "circle" the castle on foot and hope that the fog would at least dissipate a little.

![IMG_20260228_085113.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23qrGGLxYif2qGqtm4F8zL1MWaGjCoVe7EzDG9UVWz3VrbVRpcoFoWyBv8kMVZWYDrkQU.jpg)
![IMG_20260228_085602.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/242Nd1vpVWppynD1MXMppEbsFSeW5MyoERCVDojGK528fiLLmEdF7ALRxYgyu5JtVaQzu.jpg)
![IMG_20260228_085747.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/245cUKs8eDv7KLYKDRnMEAGNf4rppLJK2Cf4BcPHPL9agZ5hEvXR7bxEhJUWw2rvhWssW.jpg)
![IMG_20260228_090305.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/24329WahaRqMooJsMEEhyNGmXzBoKUa2vN9GsNieELzbgJwaWwXAJUio3isdQ3yqKFK6w.jpg)
![IMG_20260228_090539.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/245wFMkZ9zfg1Jw2ygph9QDDDnwRcUwMWgc4cNxwMEmUPhWYQBJnmkj8ACaxBQiT4QrCz.jpg) ---

Byla to spíš nízká oblačnost než mlha. Nezbylo než vypustit Toma do oblak. Následovalo více než dvacetiminutové „bloudění“ nad hradem. Až na konci letu se oblačnost rozplynula.
Některé fotografie ale vypadají zajímavě :-)

It was more of a low cloud than a fog. All that was left was to release Tom into the clouds. This was followed by more than twenty minutes of "wandering" over the castle. Only at the end of the flight did the clouds dissipate.
Some of the photos look interesting :-)

![IMG_20260228_095749.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/243WK8uKj8Zf2mzugXRzVUpmu59ErqAtGMnHuGGX9nruWGL8GMYPrsWSCcyB88u2bRMe4.jpg)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h31m17s610.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/243BcUeDNzemdxknbkoc1BDHKB7qgY9NNuo6pZu4GUgPvY5kPxj4zNhp2m25nnCqZeRm6.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h34m14s933.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/244UmZF5MoTthe9bDGF19RH2Uhp8b1srbrGjo7zYdshZkJeJ2t5hs7VzzwsLAaagCCvhj.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h36m54s660.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/243M14bzoG5svsUqrNBaJk1WuKF9LmMVsKJpkvxtgeu5kyCgwEu3dzLVmsmoAcGtrTnox.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h37m39s487.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23xVGnoZhmzjB2X1jneSTinE1WNQXNdfZqaRuwfzAGS52tk2WoMsYhafiyUdt9SnhNnCz.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h38m45s644.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/243LzVNDtf2twgxaBMY8GMME6tzskAofPeXyvuxeN4WMP1htJnHfyo3MLeADLPEDNf8UY.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h40m48s215.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23wqZpsJndbLzFadS9SwPzUrqqTBPYxeZsoxvBPx4PimxzXmf8q6WxVkMQtYUbBqA6UbD.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h42m36s003.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23vsLEmHfx1mxSbnATW1ZCAGXeEbjQFWsn7tUtcyphF7ynpNL4f6JEHhSWKoHQsf6WGpB.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h43m01s760.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23uQi7HdzQtPWfZLnBEUFJrwTmicun6mXdKvoAhH9QMkDu66gPKTMV1HXXT8puqi5QWpu.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h48m01s685.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23uQrDjDzTYSs9HhRpXGogR54EDRFY6pFcTdEKtcp1SzHcKraMH9tX5TPfodKcTo4eDzH.png)
![vlcsnap-2026-02-28-16h51m10s340.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23u5tBB4ynoZFwBJT4j6cqQX1ox4oe2hzr6avBeS8jZ4Z7uKTRX9D4MV49JuGLTvEFX9z.png) ![linka1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23swXQgUNzHCUaoqVQ7xJsMWUUjSApjCzgkGyzcvzGpiGuHbnAkuDqrzatb2oYeGtHJ15.png)

Mírně sestříhaný záznam (asi na dvacet minut) si můžete prohlédnout na přiloženém videu.

To, co se mi zdálo složité, by zkušený pilot zvládl během několika minut. Jsem si jistý, že třeba @thelogicaldude by s jeho „mazlíkem“ prolétl každou dírou ve zdi a ještě by zvládl „krkolomné triky“ :-)

Během letu se tam ukázala obsluha hradu. Chystali nějaké věci na otevření v neděli. Že létáme nad hradem jim nevadilo, ale dovnitř nás nepustili.

You can watch a slightly edited recording (about twenty minutes) in the attached video.

What seemed complicated to me, an experienced pilot would have mastered in a few minutes. I'm sure that @thelogicaldude would fly through every hole in the wall with his "pet" and would also be able to do "breakneck tricks" :-)

During the flight, the castle staff showed up. They were preparing some things for the opening on Sunday. They didn't mind us flying over the castle, but they didn't let us inside.

--- https://youtu.be/p2zr90SqPAQ ![linka1.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/bucipuci/23swXQgUNzHCUaoqVQ7xJsMWUUjSApjCzgkGyzcvzGpiGuHbnAkuDqrzatb2oYeGtHJ15.png)

Pokud máte naplánovanou cestu do jižních Čech, doporučuji vám hrad navštívit. Dostanete se tam na kole, pěšky a taky s kočárkem. Jen auto budete muset nechat na záchytném parkovišti u hájovny.

If you have a trip planned to South Bohemia, I recommend you visit the castle. You can get there by bike, on foot, and also with a stroller. You will just have to leave your car in the parking lot by the gamekeeper's office.

--- Official website of the castle: http://www.helfenburk.com/ --- [//]:# (!pinmapple 49.13576 lat 14.00794 long d3scr)

Without conquering