Ready, set…WAIT!

Standing here on the cliff ready to fly like the pelican is the expected outcome of completing many tasks back at home base. First, all this technology takes batteries and dead or dying batteries trump bad weather every time in the failure column.  Kinda that rock-paper-scissors game you played in the fifth grade. For my setup, I need four Phantom LiPo fully charged batteries and in good condition. The radio transmitter requires 4 AA batteries plus back ups. The GoPro has its own battery. And, the First Person Video (FPV) goggles requires their own fully charged LiPo battery plus back up. Your checklist must include  ‘charge all batteries and test the system before getting into the car’.

 

At the edge of the cliff, one reoccurring nightmare ebbs and tides just like the Pacific. ‘What if this gear doesn’t come back to terra firma today?’ On about the thirty-fifth time that you loop on that nightmare in the middle of the night you should get a grip on your emotions and return to the checklist. In fact, it would be a great idea to constantly ponder, “what have I done to minimize that chance of failure for this flight?’

Reflect back to that moment when you first decided to buy your quadcopter after viewing 23 YouTube videos that were quite breathtaking. “Shit, if that dweeb-ass can do it, so can I.” There was that day when you first opened the box with your little multi-motor darling snuggled into the impossible to open clear wrap with a user manual that must have made sense to someone far-far away but makes no sense to you. (More on User Manuals from Hell later.)

Day One. At some point we all finally build up the courage to launch our first flight. We look at the ‘how to fly’ drawings on page 8 and 9. The drawings look familiar though the accompanying words seem to explain something quite different. “Advantage the mode 1 fight lever to ascend sky.” You will also notice that pages 10, 11 and 12 show the various replacement parts and how they can be ordered. You’ll figure it out somehow.

Don’t overthink this puppy Grasshopper. Arm and go.