Spring is here. Finally a day of warm, dry, and not too windy weather. The last time I flew was several months ago, but since then my vision has deteriorated to a point where I can no longer see well enough to drive, and feared my flying days were over too. 
I did buy a large 18" portable monitor and hoped the size would allow me to see better. That did not turn out well, immediately smashed straight into a wall, its like my brain/hands had absolutely no reaction. The next few attempts landed me on the roof. For the heck of it, I thought I'd give my goggles a try even though I knew I'd struggle with the smaller FOV.
Well surprise, surprise - maybe it was the immersion but everything just seemed to click, kind of like riding a bicycle. I still struggled to make out details, but I knew my backyard well enough to make my way around albeit with a lot more crashing. I was so ecstatic that I could still fly. That feeling is just amazing.

Ran through a bunch of drones. Some sloppy but very treasured flying. It was in the 20s that day, unfortunately temps have dropped back to 8 again 

Happy spring flying!!

Wow, sorry to hear about your predicament! Great start to a hopefully long season. The budding trees lit by the low sun look amazing.

Practice makes perfect with the 18" screen. It's not impossible to fly that way, but as ever you will need to do it a few times to get the hang of it. People trying to do it the other way around have the same issue. Rotor Riot had a video of one of their support staff guys flying using a computer screen instead of goggles and he had no issue on the screen, but when drib tried it he crashed.

Great to see you in the air mstc. Looking forward to getting some flights in together as the weather turns nice again.

Thanks guys. @drumgod, yeah I thought the budding trees were beautiful too. This year it also seems like all the trees are budding at the same time, in past springs it was just kind of here and there at different times. And definitely hope I have a few more seasons of flying.

Sadly I've had my favorite drone (Crux35 with a naked vista) stuck up in my neighbors very tall tree for several months. On many mornings, I'd wake and check the tree, somehow hoping the drone had fallen down (as this happened in the past), but alas no. Despite some torrential rains, gale force winds, and a good foot or two of snow, it remained wedged in the tree branch. Its pictured at the end of the above video
https://youtu.be/1f-RWtu9jUQ?t=600

@fpvme was very kind, and we made a rescue attempt at the end of winter, using his composite bow and some string tied to an arrow. The idea was to snag the string onto the branch and shake it down. We got very close and snagged the branch to the right of it, as well as the one in front of it, but with a string tied to the front of the arrow, it didn't fly straight enough to nail the exact branch. After losing 3 arrows, we called it a day and I had to reset my expectations.

I still had my analog Crux, which I was flying yesterday. It tumbled into a pool of muddy rain water, and the video cut out as well as losing RX link. I thought the battery got disconnected, but when I got to the drone, the battery was still secure and I could see blobs of water and wet grass on the electronics. None of my setups are conformal coated

Well today brought an incredible surprise. @fpvme dropped by to check out some gear and bring me some more $3 CNHL 3S packs 
He showed up at my door with my HD Crux in his hand!!! He had casually? scaled what must have been a 60? foot tree to retrieve my drone. I really wish I say him perform the amazing feat, but then again I probably would have had a heart attack. Thank you so much @fpvme, that was really amazing... 

And of course the drone powered up like nothing had happened, and just flew it this evening swapping in some clean props with zero issues!! And as for the analog Crux, that powered up without any issue as well.

As for the digital Crux, after spending months exposed to the elements in a tree, the electronics looked suprisingly clean. There was some oxidation on the screws I used for the naked vista (I quickly replaced them with some stainless steel screws) and some slight oxidation along the vistas exposed ground traces, but that cleaned off easily. There was a very light layer of dirt (dried dirty water) on the frame/wires, and the red of the silicone wires were somewhatl faded, but other than that it looks pretty indistinguishable from any other drone. 
Thanks, thanks, thanks @fpvme

After trying to help you get it down with the bow, I just couldn't rest knowing it was up there and that a quick scramble would have it back. Love a good tree climb, and thrilled to be able to get the crux back in your hands after all this time. I cannot believe it still works after and all of those withering winter storms. Pretty incredible, and glad you got it airborne today!

That's just awesome.

Nice! Glad you got your drone back. I have two functioning Crux35s now and a third for parts.

(26-Mar-2024, 02:19 PM)drumgod Wrote: Nice! Glad you got your drone back. I have two functioning Crux35s now and a third for parts.

Thanks, and great you got your fleet of Crux's up. If you ever decide to go digital, HM has a new 20x20 digital Crux board. I didn't even realize this was out, and stocked stateside for a decent price. Both @fpvme and I have ordered one to try, it looks promising. I think the 20x20 board sits nicer in the frame, like the V1 did.

https://www.racedayquads.com/products/ha...hz-elrs-rx