I've been browsing the forum here and there, but I thought I should give an update about what I've been up to. Plus there is a new forum look I want to try out.
Earlier this month, six of us from my university's drone club drove out to Purdue university in Indiana to participate in the collegiate drone racing national competition. We spent our weekends in February trying to qualify for the event, and our days off in March practicing in the wet and cold. That is one reason I have not posted many videos or pictures lately (other than being too lazy to edit something). Since all of us except one member had no prior racing experience before February, we did not expect to do very well at the nationals. Overall, we actually did pretty respectably. We did not make finals, which was the best 16 pilots out of 67, but we got spots in the 20s which we are proud of.
I have attached a video of my best 3 laps for your enjoyment. A crash in the 2nd lap deteriorated my video in the 3rd lap, so bear through the static. For the competition, I decided to fly my martian 6" quad with biblades, mostly because that quad feels really responsive, but also because I am a 6" biblade fan from yesteryear. Out of 67 pilots I was the only one flying 6" and biblades so I had that going. I broke a motor, two martian arms, and maybe a vtx and esc by the end of the competition. I don't really want to repair the martian so I have been looking at new frames like the Armattan Rooster.
Other than racing, I have been doing some freestyle here and there, as well as working on my PID tuning. Ever since upgrading my HD camera to a GoPro Session, I have not filmed much because I don't have a good mounting solution just yet. It has made me focus on flying freestyle for my own enjoyment instead of focusing on making a video.
I have been having a lot of fun flying with members of my school's club, and it has really challenged my skill level and brought my understanding of miniquads back up to date (I was behind after taking almost a year off). I will be graduating from college in just a few weeks, and it hurts me to think I will be leaving these guys behind. Prior to the past few months I was a solo flier, but I don't think I can go back to that life. I've got some big life changes coming up, but I'll continue flying and posting here as always.
Sam
Earlier this month, six of us from my university's drone club drove out to Purdue university in Indiana to participate in the collegiate drone racing national competition. We spent our weekends in February trying to qualify for the event, and our days off in March practicing in the wet and cold. That is one reason I have not posted many videos or pictures lately (other than being too lazy to edit something). Since all of us except one member had no prior racing experience before February, we did not expect to do very well at the nationals. Overall, we actually did pretty respectably. We did not make finals, which was the best 16 pilots out of 67, but we got spots in the 20s which we are proud of.
I have attached a video of my best 3 laps for your enjoyment. A crash in the 2nd lap deteriorated my video in the 3rd lap, so bear through the static. For the competition, I decided to fly my martian 6" quad with biblades, mostly because that quad feels really responsive, but also because I am a 6" biblade fan from yesteryear. Out of 67 pilots I was the only one flying 6" and biblades so I had that going. I broke a motor, two martian arms, and maybe a vtx and esc by the end of the competition. I don't really want to repair the martian so I have been looking at new frames like the Armattan Rooster.
Other than racing, I have been doing some freestyle here and there, as well as working on my PID tuning. Ever since upgrading my HD camera to a GoPro Session, I have not filmed much because I don't have a good mounting solution just yet. It has made me focus on flying freestyle for my own enjoyment instead of focusing on making a video.
I have been having a lot of fun flying with members of my school's club, and it has really challenged my skill level and brought my understanding of miniquads back up to date (I was behind after taking almost a year off). I will be graduating from college in just a few weeks, and it hurts me to think I will be leaving these guys behind. Prior to the past few months I was a solo flier, but I don't think I can go back to that life. I've got some big life changes coming up, but I'll continue flying and posting here as always.
Sam
