Drones

2023 - Present

Two hobbies that happen to share a word. The first is buying crashed DJI drones, fixing them, flying them for a while, and selling them. The second is FPV.

DJI drones

Nine or ten of them so far. The first one was a DJI Mini SE that I paid $100 for. It flew itself into a tree over a river near Dardanelle. I fixed the leg and the cracked glass on the gimbal, got it flying again, and sold it to a construction company that wanted it for AC repair work.

DJI Mini SE in its case

Next was a bundle I drove to Sacramento to pick up: a smashed Air 2S and a Mini 2. The Air 2S came apart and went back together.

Air 2S bundle laid out on the floor DJI Air 2S Air 2S with the shell off, showing the internals

A couple more came and went after that, including a sealed DJI Mini 5 Pro that I sold for double what I paid. The one I fly now is a Mini 3 Pro I paid a few hundred dollars for, then replaced an arm and the broken gimbal.

Sealed DJI Mini 5 Pro box DJI Mini 3 Pro disassembled on a workbench DJI Mini 3 Pro with its controller

FPV

After the DJI drones I got into FPV. 40+ hours in the simulator first, then real flying. The first one was a BetaFPV Pavo20 Nightfire: goggles, radio, a pile of batteries, and a lot of crashing. It has been apart more than once.

Pavo20 with goggles, radio, batteries, and chargers Pavo20 flight controller board held in a hand Pavo20 stripped down to the frame and motors

There is a second Pavo20 now, along with a Pavo Pico 2, a Meteor 75 Pro, and three DJI FPVs.

Second Pavo20 with a blue frame, held in a hand

Everything I have owned

DJI, over the years:

FPV:

Lots of tuning, crashing, repairing, and tinkering.