partisan39

It was late in the day and I had been planning to chase my Dragonflite 95 remote control sailboat on the lake with my DJI Mini drone. My cousin Billy was free but really doesn't know how to sail. I decided to just go for it. We got set up on the lake and I gave him a seconds of pointers on how to sail and then I took off with the drone low over the lake. My DF95 is a pretty quick sailboat and I've sailed at Cerritos many times. You just have to point the boat in the right direction. I think if we tried again, I could get him sailing pretty good. My display on the DJI Mavic Mini was giving me prop speed error notices and I should have landed. Not shown in the clips was the end of the flight, right after my fly away, it would not climb up or maintain altitude but was slowly dropping so I had to clear the make and stay out of the trees and put her down on the other side of the lake. At least I was on the shore. A few tense moments with my $400 aircraft and I was happy to scoop it up out of the grass and we went home. ~ William Flying39

I saw the tall crane down the street and I had my Mavic Air 2S drone ready to go. I powered up and went up there to get a better look. I was up at about 140 feet altitude and I decided to pay my respects and keep her in the center of my view as I circled around and took in the view. With so much going on in our modern day, this made me pause for a bit and smiled as I got the shot that I wanted to take and then I flew home. ~ Flying39 Aviation.

When I was little, a young boy wanted to make my dad proud of me and his approval and admiration was coveted above all things. Whether it's learning to ride my bicycle without training wheels or showing him how fast we can run and even showing him that I could finally fly. Aircraft and Saturn V rocket to the moon and back, Space Shuttle Orbiters and gazing at the heavens above is in my blood as it is in this marvellous little man that is my father. I am blessed above all men to call him my dad. We flew these missions on Father's Day of last year which also happened to be on the same day his birthday. I was flying my DJI FPV with twin sets of FPV video goggles so my copilot was my dad. It was very special to me to do this with him. This year his birthday is actually today and I held off making this little movie until I had to time to make it extra special and convey what I wanted to with this little project. I hope that you all enjoy it. Lord willing, he will get to watch it tonight when I have my folks over for a special Birthday dinner. ~ William Flying39

Have you ever really needed to get out and break away for a little bit and get some fresh air with all the heavy stuff and bad news in our modern day? I was looking forward to testing one of my new eBike projects with a big brand new battery and test the range a bit. I'm all pumped up and ready to ride and enjoy the time and not long after I started, the power cuts out. I'm peddling back home. I get back, hoping it was a bad connection or something else I can remedy. I head out yet a second time. This time even sooner as I hadn't even made it off my street. I had to come up with a Plan B. That was the "pink bike". The Schwinn Drifter 26" Cruiser that I had converted to an electric bike. The brakes aren't great and it's running a modest 250 watt 36 volt front wheel drive hub that I bought second hand and used Ninebot batteries I put into a 3 pack cluster. This thing will do up to 24 miles per hour and run for miles and barely make a dent in the battery unlike my new stuff. I rode it to my folks house in La Palma the back way so some of my Kennedy High School folks will recognize the view. It turns out that I forgot to hit record on the camera as I hit the road. It was nice to see my folks for a little bit without the dog announcing my arrival with the sound of my Tundra pulling up into the driveway. I had the audio track I added to this little project in my head so I added it on the ride home. Childhood friends who grew up on my street might enjoy this little movie. My budget passionate pink electric bike got me there in good time and back in style when my other new 20 inch twin engined let me down. Turns out that it was a defective battery which will end up back at the Amazon seller's shipping table for a refund and I've already ordered a replacement from another seller who sold me a fine big blue 36 v 20 Ah battery which I'm quite happy with. I'll do some speed tests on the twin engined Kent Torpedo 20" conversion soon as see how she does. Once I can determine how much range I really have, I'll risk a Coyote Creek bike trail ride to the beach on one of my electric contraptions. To be continued. ~ Flying39 / Brewing39 William

After my first experience with e-bikes recently and only familiar with pedal assist, I set out to put together another one with a throttle on the cheap. I went with a budget friendly 24" Decathlon Rockrider ST100 mountain bike for $198 from Walmart, an AW electric bicycle front wheel conversion kit with a 36 volt 750 watt motor in the hub and a luggage rack on the back. The 36 volt 10Ah Lithium-Ion battery also came from Walmart. That was also $153.06. The bike is decent on it's own. No suspension though. The battery is marginal for a setup like this. The brakes are nominal for an eBike like this. I achieved a top speed of about 22 MPH on this project. Not bad. Definitely beats pedaling. This is a LONG video and not much commentary from yours truly. I started in the bike trail around the corner from my place in Buena Park and rode through the city of La Palma where I grew up. I rode the trail until it ended at the end of the city limits. Said Hi to my folks and road back until my battery gave out. I believe I got about 6.10 miles at maximum throttle most of the way with having to slow down for pedestrains and admiring a pretty girl walking her big dog. It was a fun day and even though my eBike has its limitations, it's an intriguing form of recreation and I live in the ideal state for that. I am hooked on the prospects. Next time I plan to have one of my DJI drones active track me on my journey. ~ Flying39

I wanted to do something special for my Mom for Mother's Day. Life has been bumpy this last year for our family so I went shopping for a nice dinner for my folks but also wanted to something fun before dinner so we went to the park first. To the woman who has put up with me all these 53 years, loved me and been my number #1 fan ... built up my faith since I was a kid and navigated the storms and headwinds with me with grace and a smile on her face. She is like a little hurricane, a force of nature just like her sisters and it was my joy to take to the skies and have her see the view from above. Words fail me to express how much I love her. Papi didn't feel like going flying yesterday. He just chilled out. The DJI FPV quadcopter with two sets of goggles never disappoints. It was tough to edit and trim all the cool footage I shot yesterday to fit my audio clip. I hope you folks enjoy this little project. ~ William - Flying39 Aviation

On Sunday, I drove up to my friend's Airbnb in Los Angeles California and brought my DJI FPV and Mavic Air 2S drones with me, along with 2 sets of FPV goggles to take my friend up to show him the view. I have long wanted to fly in L.A. and I finally got my chance. People interested in my friend's place, let me know. There is a nice park right next to his place and it made for some great flying. ~ Flying39 Aviation.

I had to take a little road trip today to meet up with a friend from out of state who received a little mini bike for me. Another dear friend of mine was driving to California so she smuggled my "can't ship to CA addresses" 40cc 4 stroke mini bike into my state. It was fun to get on the road today and I brought my DJI Osmo Action camera but did not bring any dash mount or windshield mount with so it just bounced on my dash which I had to point facing ahead more times than I could count. I apologize for the video quality of this little clip. The shape on the windshield that looks like a parachute jumper cruising alongside me is actually a nice big chip from a rock from almost a year ago when I took the bubbly blonde back to get her car on the I-5 and I was rewarded with a nice big rock smacking my windshield. Long story that I will sapre you. It was nice to see my dear friend and have a nice lunch at the ariport, chatting up on life and greater things. I forgot about my bix box in the back of my truck with my black mini bike, still unopened. After we had to part company, I had to drive back to the OC. This little clip made the drive today go by quicker. I got my little 40cc 4 Stroke thumper home OK, wiped off the leaking oil from being laid down on its side on the box for a day, tightened the handlebar and fired it up and went for a little ride. I chatted with a neighbor and his son who was admiring the tiny motorcycle and I rode my new cherished little posession home and back into the garage. Product review video to follow. ~ William Flying39 Aviation / Brewing39

The last of my birthday presents was this little Kent Torpedo eBike that showed up delivered from Walmart.com. It's 20" like a BMX or kid's bike and is a pedal assist with a 24 volt 180 watt motor in the rear hub with a 5.2amp removeable battery. After some helpful video reviews online, I opted to pick this up. It's supposed to be for riders up to 100 lbs, I'm 158 lbs but another reviewer was my size and height and he really liked it so decided to put my money on the table. I downloaded a speedomer app for the iPhone and mounted the DJI Osmo Action camera on the handlebars. I wanted something fun so I set the DJI for a Time Lapsed mode at 3 second intervals. Looks like my top speed was 16.89 mph and I did an effortless 10.18 miles that just seems to fly by. It was fun to put this together and I had to slow down the DJI footage by 50% so I coiuld enjoy it. I really like this Ebike. Good quality for the $298 it cost me. Now I want a spare battery to double my range. This little machine will be my future ground support for some drone flying projects that I have planned. Stay tuned! William ~ Flying39 Aviation

Since I used my GoPro Session 5 camera on my Mototec V2 Mini Bike on my helmet, I had to find a lower place to mount the camera on my 49cc two stroke GP Pocket Bike yesterday. You have to pay attention to your footpegs when you're cornering on this thing. It is a hoot to ride though. The GoPro video footage is bumpy due to the windshield and fairing vibrating but it was fun to shoot. At least it doesn't move as much as mounted on my helmet as I look around. ~ William / Flying39 Aviation

I ordered this little Mototec mini bike recently and was pleasantly surprised with the quality. I couldn't find any video reviews of it online so i decided to put a little something together. I've been on a two stroke kick lately and these little putters are fun! With all the chaos going on in the world at the moment, it's nice to break away for a little bit and unlike my drones and rc aircraft and sailboats, this is one you can ride. This isn't a detailed product review of this bike, but enough for others to see what you get should you be looking getting one. As a kid of 52 years of age ... almost 53, I approve of this 49cc gas scooter! I did my best to stitch together a combination of the video from my GoPro Session 5 camera and a DJI Osmo action camera to make this movie. The GoPro had to be mounted to my helmet as my handlebar mount failed and I had to improvise a bit. ~ Flying39 Aviation.

On Saturday, we hosted a little get together at my place with friends and family, John F. Kennedy high school classmates and other precious souls I've met along the way to Barbeque and beer sampling and spending time together. My Pastor Dave manned the BBQ with great skill and attention. A true servant and a rock solid friend. We had two teams create their own custom beers and we brewed them and had a great time. Once the beer wort was ready to go into the fermenters, I took over. I'll keg and bottle them up for the teams when they are ready and we will meet up again and find out how they turned out. A huge thank you to all of you who supported me and my efforts. Thank you Chien for believing in my endeavor. I am blessed beyond measure. Salud! ~ William Brewing39

My Pops worked on the Apollo Moon Missions and then The Space Shuttle Orbiter programs. He's long since retired and I told him about this idea I had to brew a simple beer without many of the modern tools and equipment I normally use. I imagined a simple beer if I only had one type of malted barley to use, whole hops, yeast and charcoal fired to make it boil. I called the project Rustic Frontier Blonde Ale. We had a few challenges. My Pops is a trooper. It wasn't as much drama as Apollo 13 was for him, but just like those eventful days in 1970, my Pops was on the job. It was great to spend the time together with him. This was filmed on January 20 2022. The last pic of the beer poured in my glass was from tonight, March 14th 2022. I thought it was fitting to have one while putting this together. I will try this again in the future with better old school equipment.

After a busy week of low valleys and high mountain tops, grieving and joy, being a grown-up, thinking of another birthday just around the corner .... I took a few minutes just to be a 52 year old kid. My MotoTec GT 49cc Pocket Bike needed to be tested out after my household chores were done. Before I rode Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles, the smell of 2 stroke oil was a staple to me. ~ Flying39 Aviation

I had been meaning to share one of my passions ... the weather was sketchy but the rain had stopped so I got my DJI FPV and both sets of my goggles and we went for a little ride over the neighborhood. ~ Flying39 Aviation

It was a warm afternoon, a nice breeze was blowing and I could not resist. After a quick check of the battery on my DF95 sailboat and the remote control, I loaded up and headed out to the park. My plan was to sail for an hour and pack it up. Then I thought to myself "just one more pass across the lake. Then another one. It was really nice sailing and did my soul well. ~ Wm ~ Flying39 Aviation

My neighbor is a good sport and I was just having a little fun with him as I saw him on the roof before the rains came back. I was inspecting his work with the Mavic Mini and having a good time at his expense! ;-) ~ Flying39 Aviation

For those who were not able to attend, I was able to live broadcast the 2nd half of the service. This was the first part.

My friends know that I have a passion for home brewing beers and I opened my place for lots of food, dozens of varieties of my bottled beers and 9 kegs to choose from. Dear friends from my own John F. Kennedy high school in La Palma CA, Walker Jr. High and even Steve Luther elementary other friends and my neighbors were there. Zero chance that I would run out. The firewood pile was stacked high as it was a chilly night. We had a great time! I had my DJI FPV with two sets of goggles and briefly took a few people up get a view of the neighborhood Christmas lights. My first Brewing39 get together was a blast!

I was too busy to make it to Silverado Days in my home town this year but I flew my DJI Mavic 2 on over for a little bit ... a song came to my mind. ~ Flying Aviation

It was a bit windy but very nice in Southern California. I charged up my batteries and packed up my gear to finally go flying with a buddy of mine. I was telling my friend, Cory, a fellow drone pilot about my DJI FPV and I finally got a chance to take him for a few flights at El Dorado park in Long Beach. The first flight was in Normal mode. On the second flight, I switched it into Sport mode and it really gets up and goes! You can cover a lot of ground in a hurry. ~ Flying39 Aviation

My friend brought his son and daughter with him to take their first flights with me flying the DJI FPV drone at El Dorado Park in Long Beach California. I have 2 sets of FPV goggles for this drone and the drone transmits to both sets of goggles. The last flight was piloted by Taylor and I was the co-pilot. The weather was very nice that day, just a bit windy. We also flew the DJI Mavic Air and they all did great on their solo flights.Taylor did fantastic piloting the FPV drone and I just went for the ride! He also flew the Mavic Air in Sport mode from the very get go. ~ Flying39 Aviation

This was a few years ago flying my new drone in a challenging environment in Azusa Canyon, over the San Gabriel river. My flying was still a little notchy but it was a great day to fly the place. I gotta back again soon! ~ Flying39 Aviation

As amazing as it can be, it's hard to explain the experience to folks on the ground of what I see when I'm in the air. I picked up a second set of DJI FPV V2 goggles and now I can bring someone else with me as I fly. There was a lot going on during the week and the day was a little windy but perfect. There were a few challenges getting there, but once we left the ground, my friend understood what I tried to express to her. it was a lot of fun. ~ Flying39 Aviation

My friend had asked me to come and visit. I brought my DJI FPV drone just in case I had a chance to break away for a bit and fly. I was almost flying blind, I wasn't wearing my FPV goggles. I only glanced down at my iPad Mini once in a while to make sure there was no trouble ahead and was given coordinates and altitude. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken. ~ Flying39 Aviation