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Drone the tenth - every flight is a crash

11.11.2020

Translation: machine translated

I now have my racing drone under control - at least I think I do. But my impression is misleading, as I realise when I visit an indoor course.

It's 6.00 pm. I drive through a residential neighbourhood and then a small industrial area. A dead end. There is a somewhat run-down car garage here. Vehicles are parked wildly around the old stable next to it. Am I really in the right place? I'm looking for Mike Husarik, racing drone pilot. One call later, he comes running out of the barn. I have found the (racing) stable in Suhr. Excited and a little nervous, I enter the hall. What awaits me there? Am I already good enough to control my drone inside?

Racing pilot by chance

My host Mike is a computer scientist and has been flying racing drones for three and a half years. He found his hobby by chance: "I occasionally took architectural photos of buildings for clients and was looking for a lightweight drone that I could fly without a licence. There was nothing on the market and I decided to build one myself". Today, Mike is one of the top athletes in Switzerland and regularly takes part in races at home and abroad. An expensive hobby that costs Mike around 1000 francs every month. To finance at least part of this, he runs a small online shop. He uses it to sell FPV parts that he has flown and tested himself.

Before my first indoor flight, we connect my copter to the computer to check the settings. On Mike's recommendation, we change the values so that the drone turns less quickly on its own axis. We are ready to go.

Crashes en masse

"If you can memorise a course well and quickly, you have an advantage in a race," says Mike as he runs through the course. He shows me where my drone should fly. Memorising the course is the least of my problems. I'm more worried about the complicated manoeuvres in confined spaces and I remember the words of my first mentor Till when I first tried flying: "Practice flying slowly and manoeuvring the drone through tight spaces. For example, in an empty playground". I wish I'd put his tips into practice. I'd be more confident now.

My first indoor flight is about to begin. Steering the drone through the narrow gates proves to be quite difficult. After a few gates, it's over. The drone crashes onto the hard concrete floor. It has not yet sustained any damage. The second flight is not much better than the first. However, the fall is more violent: once shot up a little too quickly, the ceiling brings the flight to an abrupt end. It crashes to the ground from a height of ten metres. The propeller is broken and a screw is also missing. The repair takes a little longer. Too bad, but I quickly forget my frustration when Mike shows me his skills.

Mike's nimble fingers send the drone flying through the hall at breakneck speed.

Mike masters the course at a hell of a pace. He needs around ten seconds for one lap. I barely flew through the first gate in that time. These skills are no coincidence. Mike practises on the simulator practically every day. He flies outside at regular intervals. "A mix of simulator and real life is important. If you only fly on the simulator, you'll never win a race. If you only fly in real life, you won't gain enough practical experience to become a good racing pilot," says Mike. An hour on the simulator is like flying outside for a whole day. That's right, I never have to repair anything on the simulator, I don't have to run to the crash site and the battery doesn't run down. My verdict on the simulator: efficient and practical.

I make a few more flights. In the end, I even manage to complete a whole lap with difficulty. I still have countless hours ahead of me to fly anywhere near as well, quickly and precisely as Mike.

I'm going to hit the simulator then.

Have you missed any of my articles? Not so bad - they're all available to read and look up.

Drone the ninth - tips and tricks for building your drone
Drone the eighth - I mount a 360° camera
Drone the seventh - The drone flies, but crashes are part of it
Drone the sixth - Finally
Drone the fifth - I'm finally flying, just not with my drone
Drone the fourth - time to fly
Drone the third - Nothing to take off yet
Drone the second - An excursion into prototyping with a crash landing
Drone the First - Oh you burnt thing

Follow my author profile if you want to keep up to date with what I'm doing with my drone

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Manuel Wenk

Communications Manager

Manuel.Wenk@digitecgalaxus.ch

As a Multimedia Producer, preparing multimedia content and knowing about cutting-edge technology is my business. My main focus at digitec is producing videos. I can’t wait to try out new products such as cameras, drones or smartphones as soon as they’re launched. This is where being at the source comes in rather handy. When I’m not working, I’m probably skiing, biking or hiking – the mountains are my place to be.

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