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The Sky Surfer X8 Figure 1: Sky Surfer X8 ready for take off I got into RC aviation in my mid‑20s. It was a lot of fun — but also filled with frustration and countless hours spent repairing airplanes I had crashed somewhere. About 30 years later, I decided to pick up the hobby again. This time I started with FPV drones. I bought a PNP version of a 3-inch drone (DarwinFPV Baby Ape II 4S). After some learning time, I decided to build my next drone from scratch, carefully selecting the parts and assembling everything myself (iFlight AOS 3v5). ...

The 200 hour theory Experiencing and learning within your hobby—trying new things, picking up new skills, diving into new areas—requires a substantial amount of time. It is often said that it takes around 200 hours of doing something before you reach a certain level of proficiency. Whether that number is 100% accurate or not is actually not up for debate (see side notes at the bottom). What truly matters is the differentiation of skills and how you spend hours with your hobby. However, the truth is - you’ll get better by actually doing things - but does it improve your flying skills. ...

EdgeTX Log Analyzer - Flight Log Analyzer for RC Models and Drones I developed a tool to analyze flight data from my RC gliders and drones. My main motivation was to create an easy‑to‑use solution that allows me to quickly review recent flights. For example, I wanted to understand whether the reception quality of the two diversity antennas on my receiver differs, whether the antenna placement needs improvement, how high my throttle position was during flight, how much throttle was required to achieve a certain climb rate, how fast the RX battery voltage dropped, and much more. ...

HELI-X RC Simulator - for planes The idea was straightforward: focus on drones and steadily push my personal limits at my own learning pace. I joined a local club in my area that primarily focuses on RC planes and helicopters. There, I made initial contact with several fixed-wing pilots. Some of them also owned drones, though most used DJI drones mainly to locate their planes after emergency landings. As is often the case, there was one individual who seems capable of flying almost anything—give him a broomstick and he would probably get it airborne. He also flies a 3-inch drone and was very supportive, sharing broad knowledge about RC flying in general. He eventually pointed me to a specific aircraft, the Sky Surfer X8, which he knew could be an excellent entry point into fixed-wing flying. And crashing it would’t cost me a fortune. ...

AOS 3v5 Build