How I Got Started Flying Quads/Drones and FPV

My story starts with my husband Reagan (OutkastFPV). When we first met, he was riding in the AMA  pro motorcycle roadracing circuit and traveling the U.S. He was always an adrenaline junkie having competed in skateboarding and wake boarding . After injuring his back and undergoing multiple surgeries, his career on motorcycles was over. Chronic pain began keeping him at home more and more and depression set in.

The Syma X11

He first discovered quads when a friend purchased a cheap little Syma X11 from Amazon. He had to have one too.  Our friend lost his drone within days of  getting it and my husband got his stuck about 75ft in the tallest tree on our street within five minutes of flying it. Luckily, high winds blew it down to about 30 feet and a ladder, broom, and shoe got it down the rest of the way. From that point on, he was hooked and quickly moved up to larger quads. He had found that rush again, the adrenaline, the fun. He began leaving the house more often and meeting new people in our local fpv community. It was a pretty small group two years ago. I am extremely supportive of him flying because I feel it has improved his well being. You can find Reagan's freestyle videos on Youtube.

For a year and a half I would accompany him to the field or go to community events. And for a year and a half, I never once saw another woman. Not even any wives or girlfriends would show up. It was a total boys club. Although I was bored just watching, and was interested in flying, it was very intimidating. The terminology was out of my knowledge range and my husband would get frustrated if I started asking him questions. Besides, he felt that it was his hobby and his opportunity to hang with his guy friends. I understood where he was coming from but I found that the more he pushed back, the harder I pushed forward. I’m hard headed and like a good challenge. I found it. I was raised by my father, and I have four brothers. I wasn’t going to be told I couldn’t do something because...boys.

I flew the Syma for about two weeks before flying the Vortex 250 FPV. I started on horizon mode and picked it up quickly. I was flying back and forth down the field and landing it right in front of us. About my fifth time flying it, we went to a Fun Fly event put on by Dallas Drone in Grand Prairie, Texas. Lots of people were there, but more importantly, there were 40 mile an hour wind gusts. I went up and went too high. I started getting blown sideways and didn’t yet have the skills to recover. I panicked, accidentally hit the throttle, and next thing I know, I’m hundreds of feet up and completely lost and disoriented. They yelled out, “Just aim for the field!”. Which field?!! There were three from my point of view. After doing some pretty spectacular rolls and flips that were completely unintended, I crashed two blocks away into a backyard cookout.

It was a humbling experience. I could have seriously injured someone or caused property damage. As the quad came down in a death spiral, I felt like I was on a plane that was going down. My husband tried to encourage me to get back on the horse, but I never flew the same again. As soon as I’d take off, I’d get an overwhelming feeling of being out of control and I would just ditch it. I decided I needed to move to something I couldn’t lose or hurt anyone with. I got a Tiny Whoop and it was a game changer.

That dreadful day at the Dallas Drone Fun Fly. Only smiling because we found the quad.

I got more comfortable flying and began to prefer flying it outdoors. I even participated in my first MultiGP Tiny Whoop race. I flew the Whoop all winter, got my own goggles and radio, and became more comfortable with the equipment. I also got a DJI Spark and flew that over the winter as well. But, after awhile, I was longing for more powerful motors than what a Tiny Whoop had to offer.  I decided to dust off the Vortex again and give it a try. I can say the nervousness is gone, however I’m flying in acro now and that is a bit challenging. I’ve recently got the Velocidrone SIM up and going and look forward to practicing acro without fear of breaking my quad. The Vortex lost video signal last flight and needs some troubleshooting. The simulator will be a nice alternative for when the quads are down for repairs. You can find my videos on Youtube.

Cowgirl boots and tacosaurus knee socks. Best way to keep away fire ants.

I’m a teacher at my day job. I teach preschool at a museum of science and history and I also teach 8th graders once a week in my local school district. I formerly was a full time 3rd grade science teacher and I taught at one of the poorest rated schools in the state of Texas. Our school demographic was 99% African American and about 20% immigrants. Most of our immigrants were African, and predominantly Somali. As a teacher, one of the things we are taught is that children are more likely to try something and believe they can achieve it, when they see someone who looks like themselves doing it. We had pictures of successful Africans and African Americans hanging throughout our school so these kids could see role models that they could see themselves in and relate to.

This philosophy led me to create a girls drone class at the middle school I taught at once a week. I created curriculum that I felt was appropriate for the age group and approached the after-school program director with my idea. They were thrilled with the idea but warned me that I would be responsible for finding girls interested in participating. I put a sign up sheet in the library and was hoping to get maybe five or six girls and was worried I’d get none. When I returned the following week, I nervously went to the library to see the results. Thirteen girls had signed up for my class that had twelve spots. Success!

My "Fly Girls Who Fly"

Can these girls build a quad or show up ready to race? No. Honestly, there isn't the funding needed to sustain a project like that. My time with them was limited to once a week and my skill set wasn't there for anything that in depth. What these girls can do is tell you what the FAA is and what they do. They can tell you where to find information on the Part 107 and who needs one. They launched, flew. and landed a DJI and learned about aerial photography. They know who the major drone racing leagues are and what freestyle is. They experienced FPV via Tiny Whoops and flew a Syma LOS. They know the basic components of a drone and how they work. They know who Charpu is!

I don't think I was prepared for the response I got from the girls. They were fully aware that this was a special opportunity. I also wasn't prepared for the response I'd get from the FPV community. It was overwhelmingly positive and this endeavor was only made possible after the generous support of Chad Kapper from Rotor Riot and Jesse Perkins from Tiny Whoop. However, I recieved some pushback as well. I was called a "racist", "feminist", who was pushing "social justice bullshit". If putting myself out there open to criticism helps more women and girls get interested in quads and FPV, call me whatever you want.