I got a chance to try out my Phantom carrying case and it worked great.  I just carried it right on the airplane.  TSA did not hassle me about it or really show much concern at all.  Pacific Grove is one of the more amazing I have been in my life.  There were seals and sea lions all over the place but I didn't want to harass them.  I did chase a few sea gulls around.  

Maybe you are new to remote control drones or have not yet aquired all the necessary tools to keep them running and do all the fun modifications that are possible.  Well, I wanted to make a quick list of all the tools that I have that make flying quadcopters and really any kind of RC stuff much more fun.  Having the right tools really makes a huge difference!  You can see all of these in the new DroneAbove Store under Drone Tools.

AOYUE 936 Soldering Station  - This is one of the most important tools you can have to work on stuff and make modifications.  I used soldering irons for years until I finally bought a station.  I was always a terrible solder'er until I got a station.  It really changed everything for me!  Spend the extra money, but a soldering station.  I like and use the Ayoue 936 and it is less than $50.  

Dubro Prop Balancer - At $30 bucks, this is an easy way to eliminate vibrations from your copters.  Once you have this, you will likely balance every prop you have because it just makes a big difference when you are recording HD on your aircraft.  You can prob find cheaper ones, but you might want to buy the name brand one because tolerances are important for balancing.

Wiha Hex Screwdriver Set - These will save you so much time but do yourself a favor and buy a nice set.  I bought some cheaper turnigy ones but I can't recommend them much because they seem to be oxidizing.  Not sure what is causing the rust, but I can't recommend them.  These Wiha ones are my next purchase.  For multicopters, the most important size is the 2.0mm, but its important to have a 1.5, 2.5, and 3.0mm as well.  This set includes all of these.

Heat Shrink Tubing Set - Soldering wires together requires either black electrical tape or these.  These look awesome and work much better than tape.  I use a lighter to shrink them around my connections.

Wire Stripper for Large Gauge Wire - I used to not have one of these and I feel so stupid for going without.  They make life so much easier, you could easily spring for a cheaper pair, just make sure they go all the way to 20 gauge wire if you can find them.

Solder Hands - When you are soldering, sometimes (or in my case, always) wish you had more hands.  This nifty tool really helps.  My only complaint is that the alligator clips are a little tough on smaller wires.

If you have some other tools you would like to recommend, please let me know.  I have learned from years of tinkering that the right tool makes a huge difference!  

This was one of the most enjoyable flights I have had FPVing - it was so fun.  I had my wife drive the golf cart while I wore the fat shark goggles.  The sea gulls on the beach did not know what to think.  

One of the better uses of drone tech is driving interest in technology. There are so many things to learn about when you are interested in this hobby so it just naturally drives people to learn! Here is a picture of my 2.5 year old wearing my Fpv goggles - he loves this stuff!

I was not sure how the DJI phantom would handle the steady 15-20mph winds.. but it did pretty well.  There is no post editing on this so at times it can be a bumpy ride and sometimes I felt like I was 15 degrees tilted into the wind and not going anywhere but it still did great!  This is the perfect FPV copter 

I love immersion rc and fat shark stuff because it makes everything pretty easy. Here I am using a 600mw immersion 5.8 video transmitter and a go pro live out cable from readymaderc.com.

After removing the shell of the phantom, you look for some auxiliary power wires and just poke them out so you can solder a JST battery lead onto it. If you have never soldered, buy a soldering station and get started - it's a great skill to have and this is the perfect first project.

I used a dremel tool to cut out a hole in the gopro hd case but you can do it many different ways. Remember to set you go pro on "Upd" so it flips the picture.

If you have any questions or need some help, please feel free to contact me!

Here is a link to the LCD monitor I showed a picture of (confirm you are ordering the right frequencies for your video tx before you order).  It has a built in 5.8ghz rx that works with the same frequencies Fat Shark and Immersion RC work on.  This little screen is for my video down link when I am flying the s800, but I use it to test my FPV gear as well.  When I am flying FPV, I always use my Fat Shark Dominator goggles with the 5.8ghz receiver module, but that is just personal preference. 

http://www.foxoffer.com/2012-latest-5-inch-hd-portable-24g-58g-wireless-mini-dvr-p-119.html#.UTyiT9ac5IE

If you are having issues with rolling shutter / jello in your HD video, try screwing this moongel between your gopro case and the phantom.

Why not take your Phantom out at night and film it with a slow shutter speed time lapse.. ?  Don't have one of these amazing ships yet.. head to the DroneAbove store and grab one!

I flew the s800 around Austin for this music video for Leah Nobel from KE Films.  The s800 was setup as a one man rig and I worked closely with the director to get the right shots.  Having now used the s800 as a two man rig to film Boosted Boards, I am convinced it is the best way to fly!  If you are working on cool indie projects around Austin I would love to help - Please contact me!

To celebrate the launch of the DroneAbove Store, here is a video Gavin shot while I was filming the bike test video.  There is a little jello, but it is easy to get rid of with a simple fix (Check out the second video from Gavin).  There is so much you can do with the Phantom and really shows how far everything has come from the beginning days of quadcopters.  I highly recommend this little bird 

I took the s800 to the skate park to get some practice filming action with a one man setup on the s800.  It was challenging, and anytime I got low and close the guys would just jump out of frame.   I come from an FPV background so I am comfortable flying like this (with a spotter of course) but keeping fast moving bikes in frame is tough!  I really liked the way the footage looked from above, the cement looked incredible.  Lessons learned:  For action shots a two man system is ideal.