Drone the sixth - at last!

I can hardly believe it. I'm finally flying my own drone. After a few failed attempts, I'm already steering it through a gate - okay, it's also a lot of luck.

In the meantime, I no longer believed that I would ever get the drone into the air. The many comments, emails and personal encouragement kept motivating me. There was often a lot of understanding because practically every FPV pilot had to deal with broken flight controllers, ESCs, burning parts and so on. One or two propellers cut large wounds into the hands. Fortunately, I have (still) been spared that. Despite all this - thanks to Till's help, an experienced FPV pilot, my drone is finally flying.

LEDs serve as cable protection

After the trip with Till and Marvin, I'm back in my living room this time. Screwing, soldering and programming is the order of the day - once again. Till is with me to help. The work is now routine: remove all the parts and fit the new FC and ESC from Hobbywing. Then solder the motors to the appropriate places, connect the cables of the air unit to the flight controller and fit the new LED strips on the arms.

Last time I glued propellers to the motor cables to protect them from the spinning propellers. In the new build, we use LED strips for this. A 2-in-1 solution: we also use the PCB of the LEDs as a connecting link between the motors and the ESC. This protects them and the copter lights up at the same time.

The whole thing takes three hours.

Even a professional needs help sometimes

Setting up Betaflight is a matter of a few minutes. If you know how it works. Till knows the programme inside out. But not the DJI Air-Unit. So everything takes a little longer. The remote control, for example, sends strange signals. Till is well connected in the scene and his colleague Mike knows all about DJI products. One phone call later, we are smarter. We have to re-solder some cables and change a setting in Betaflight. After that it works. The drone is ready for its first flight.

Before we go to the field to fly, Till wants to try something that you shouldn't really do: an indoor flight to see if the drone actually flies. I'm sceptical and worried about the furniture. Nevertheless, Till takes off. The drone flies. The furniture remains intact. Off to the field.

The search for a suitable launch site

We drive for a few minutes until we find the perfect place to launch our devices safely. A suitable launch site is an open field that is not within a no-fly zone. We check this in the app Swiss Drone Maps and also on the website of the Bazl. Our colleague David recently wrote about the new laws that will apply from 1 January 2021.

Like last time, Till brings a huge arsenal of different drones with him. Eight in total. After we have set up a few gates, he first flies a few batteries empty. I am amazed at his skills. For FPV flights, someone without goggles must always be present to keep an eye on the surroundings and the drone for safety reasons.

RC helicopter accessories

Spektrum FPV Race Gate 244x152cm

RC helicopter accessories

Spektrum FPV Race Gate 244x152cm

Drone pilots are not always well received by the public. Till is insulted time and again. Once, an angry gentleman called on Till to land and threatened to call the police and jammers. It didn't come to that, Till didn't do anything illegal. He strictly observes the law. He would appreciate a little more understanding from the non-flying population.

Fly, replace the propeller, fly

Finally, I "poor" my copter. Nothing works. What's going on again? I'm so nervous that I forget to switch on my remote control. Now it's definitely on - not a second later, I make my first crash landing. One of my cheap propellers has already broken in this mini crash. The next flight goes further and longer. I fly through the gate once. I can hardly show the joy of my first real flight. I am totally focussed and concentrate on the movements of my fingers and those of the drone. The feeling of gliding through the air is indescribable. The joy is short-lived. Two more propellers have to die on the next crash landing.

My flights look better over time and I feel more confident. I let Till explain to me how a flip works. Shoot upwards, release the throttle and give a short impulse with the right PITCH lever. The drone is already turning. My first attempt fails because the altitude is too low. The second one works perfectly. That was my first trick and my heart was beating even faster than before. Unfortunately, another propeller breaks during the landing. I definitely need to practise the landings. Six more broken propellers follow. The cheap Mega-Pack didn't pay off. On Till's recommendation, I order some from HQProps.

A unique adventure that I will continue to follow

While I'm constantly replacing propellers, Till is doing his laps. He flies the drone back and forth between the gates at breathtaking speed. How he can keep a clear head and still control the drone so calmly is a mystery to me. He captured his stunts from the "digitec Flightday" in a video.

About two months ago, I published the first part of my drone series. Back then with a huge misadventure. I spend countless more hours soldering, reassembling the copter over and over again and troubleshooting. Troubleshooting is probably the longest and most tedious part of the hobby. Google and YouTube have been a great help. And Marvin and Till, of course. But also everyone else who wrote to me and offered their help. It was definitely a very instructive time for me. I would recommend anyone who has ever toyed with the idea of building their own drone to give it a try. The feeling of flying makes up for all the effort and hassle. My many videos and texts are not intended to put you off. Rather to encourage you - because I did it without any prior knowledge. I'm out there now. Practising, practising, practising.