Hello from Vancouver, Canada

[Chris G]

Hello all,
I'm relatively new to Drone racing, but my history comes from 1/10 RC Electric and Gas buggies, My son and I enjoyed these for many years. My son has since advanced to RC Sailboats, currently working on a foiling AC72 replica. I first saw these quadcopters on the web, and fell in lust.
About 1.5 years ago, I purchased a CF iFlight Xbird 250 kit, and a nice new DX6 radio, assembled it with intent to crash, and I excelled at it, for a while. I've named my first 250 racer "Spike"
20+ props, 1 motor, and more than 50 flights later, my skills are now very capable, in acro mode.
No I haven't done any inversions (on purpose), or crazy stunts.
I don't yet have FPV gear, but am eying the 3D camera models with some good quality goggles.

As I have peaked my LoS skills, I plan to jump into the FPV, to get more immersed. And learn new skills.

Spike was built to crash, and he has, during a flight in the woods, I was able to penetrate a nearby dead tree, with my front left CF Arm with motor now gone, about 2 inches deep. Hence the name Spike.

Specs:
250mm Quadcopter - iFlight XBIRD 250 Carbon Fibre Quad
Motors - MultiMate MT1806 x5 ( one spare, always)
ESC's - 20amp ESC Brand?
FC - CC3D
Props - Genfam 5030x3's and mostly 5030x2, I have lots of these, black for the rear, any colour for the front.
FPV Camera - NA, pending
Trans - Spektrum DX6 SPM6700
Receiver - AR610 6 channel DSMX receiver
Optional Payload - Contour HD1080p Camera
Min/Max Weight - 480g/670g, Quad w/o Landing gear, Camera & 1300ma /Quad with Gear & Cam & 1800ma
batteries - 2x Gravity 30c 3s 1300ma & 2x Wild Scorpion 30c 3s 1800ma
Mods- Bicycle spoke landing gear, Contour Camera mount zap strapped to frame, blinking Motion activated LED for finding after crash.

 

[Hebrews12v2]

Spike looks rather handsome! I like how he has landing gear. Does the Gear cause any landing issues?

Thanks for the nice introductory backstory, nice touch!

 

[Chris G]

Thx H12v2, the landing gear is only there when he's carrying the Contour camera, or for photo ops.
The landing wire is very light, and is mainly to keep the camera off the ground, With camera, landing gear helps, Without camera, landing gear assists with cartwheels, but saves it from hard falls.
As you can see in the picture below, the Spoke Wire gear slides into my Contour Bracket nicely, and is secured when camera is placed in bracket.

 

[Michael M]

Hey I'm in North Vancouver canada! I fly a phantom 3 advabced and have an emax nighthawk racer in the mail! Have any good flying spots?

 

[Chris G]

Hmm, in North Van? I'm not familiar with any cool spots there. I tend to head to my local cemetery for some open area clean flying. I use the area with few headstones just ground plaques.
No Live people to hit. lol.

I would also like to try Cypress or Seymour mountain for some flying, have you ventured up the mountains at all?

 

[Michael M]

I got screamed at by cypress for flying near cypress. So lol I guess that is off limits.

 

[Chris G]

Try a few of the spots before you actually get to the Cypress Parking lot.
But its getting hard to find any open space with the weather being so nice, always filled with people.
There used to be a great spot underneath the north side of the Alex Fraser Bridge, I used to race my RC10's there. But its been a while. and I just google earth'd it, and since the construction, it's been taken over.
Any Cemeteries near you? they can be quite good.

 

[Michael M]

None that I know of, are there any other open areas around vancouver away from airports?

 

[Chris G]

I've taken my quad up the Sea to Sky and stopped at a few places along the way, but can't remember any exact spots. I take more chances and fly near water (too much) so I'm a little more flexible.

Porteau Cove has been a good spot, when its empty, but thats a bit of a drive. I pack my quad on my motorcycle and go for a ride, then pull it out when I see some place cool.
If you drive out towards chilliwack, there are open spaces everywhere, it's just the people factor, so weekends are tougher to find free space.

I have driven down a few roads in Richmond, and they have some open fields, and when I see a farmer, I ask if I can fly it over his field, and they usually say yes, and want to try, I'm usually quite eager to let someone try, but only because Gemfan props are cheap. And farm fields are pretty safe.

I'm using the Hover App, but not sure if I can save locations with it, but will look around for a Drone App that lets you save, if Hover doesn't. Then share.