(Photo) Metcalf South Mall demolition underway in Overland Park, KS.

A major part of planning safe UAV/drone launches and landings is having a proper location. I scouted around earlier in the week, and then realized after launching from a somewhat tucked away spot (a dead parking lot behind the adjacent dead K-Mart due north of the dead mall and almost-dead Sears) was too far away to send my bird from that location and still manage to get a decent picture.

I later went to a closer spot – the periphery of the Sears parking lot right next to the massive mall parking lot – which I’m sure was the same parking lot until the demolition fence went up.  The Sears store seems to be on life support. When I drove onto the property, it was unclear as to whether the store was even open. The SUVs and minivans ahead of me moved about in a slow and unsure manner. I thought nothing of it at first because that’s usually just the way people drive in Overland Park.

Word has it that Sears could go insolvent almost any time. No doubt the property developers wish they could get a volume discount with the demolition contractors and just raze the entire parcel rather than recalling the crews back to the site at a later date.  According to this Fox4 link, it does not appear that the Sears location next to Metcalf South is immediately planned for closure.