The autopilot Pitlab is one of the most widely used in Spain by those who practice the FPV Long Range, in earnest and so were his first steps in Spain.
Unfortunately, I will have to speak in the past tense, because with the new regulations affecting aeromodelling there are fewer and fewer people practising this modality and FPV flights, as a rule, are now short distance flights.
How Pitlab started in Spain
LA MIGADA - MANCHEGO MEETING OF THE FPV
To start talking about Pitlab's first steps in Spain, I'll have to talk first about "La Migada".
"La Migada is a FPV aeromodelling meeting that takes place every year in Daimiel (Ciudad Real) where, during a weekend, many FPV enthusiasts come from all over Spain and get together to fly together, chat and have a good time.
It is a consolidated event where many of the attendees, the real ones, are FPV supportersThey have already known each other for years and have become genuine friendships that transcend beyond model flying (which is helped by the close socialising and, why not say it, the late-night drinking). Everyone is welcome at this event, and every year new participants join in, who, as a rule, will become regulars in the following years.
La Migada" is also a essential information point because it allows you to see what's new on the market and to keep up to date with what's happening.
VI Migada Manchega 2017
In 2017, a large number of long-range FPV model aircraft were using the autopilot. MyFlyDream. It was a very reliable autopilot and that he didn't do a lot of things but the things he did he did do very well.
A few months before, I had seen in the forum of RC Groups a new pilot who did a lot of things that MyFlyDream did not do and I ordered a Pitlab to test it.
The truth is that the first steps were not good. I installed it in a FPV2600, a 2.6 metre wingspan motorglider, and on the third flight, when I tried to get Pitlab to land it automatically, the truth is that it didn't control the altitude well, and what it did was to put it in the ground. against a tree at 80 km/hWhat can I tell you? The poor plane was pretty badly damaged.
It doesn't come down, I took it out of the FPV2600 and installed it in the my favourite Long Range aircraft, the My Twin Dreama twin-engine aircraft with a wingspan of 1.8 metres and a super-noble flight.
I have never seen such a combination!
The super noble flight of the My Twin Dream with the peace of mind and almost absolute safety provided by the Pitlab.
What can I say? I fell in love with him…
Well, back to Daimiel and La Migada.
The truth is that the flight of the My Twin Dream caused a sensation. See for yourself how people react when they see a radio-controlled aircraft like the My Twin Dream, making a automatic flight and landing on its own on the track:
As you can see, people found it amazing what they had just seen and thought of only one thing: I want to buy a Pitlab for my aircraft.
I spent the rest of the day talking to colleagues who asked about prices, how to buy it, functionalities, configuration...
There were so many people interested that...
Pitlab joint purchasing
Since at least 10 people wanted to buy a Pitlab and I had some contact with the owners of the company (having talked to them about the problems I had with the first plane I rode in, more than anything else), I said,
Hey, and why not talk to them and see if they'll give us a special price for buying several?
So I did, I spoke to them and they thought it was great. They offered us a 25% discount as long as it was a group order of at least 5 units.
The reality is that it was a real craze. Word spread, and what started out as a planned order of five to ten units, ended up being five to ten units:
- 30 Autopilots
- 18 Ground Stations
- 18 BuddyFlights
- 7 Trackers
- A few more things...
In total, more than 7,500 in ordersall organised by geographical areas in five WhatsAppp groups, not bad, right?
The Pitlab parody
And, like everything else, when something goes viral, there is no shortage of humour:
In my Youtube channel you can see some additional videos about this fantastic autopilot.
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