Hi Nick, one simple question. On your VolBiv ftrips in Europe did you only used a Powerbank ? Capacity ? For how many days did it last (charging phone and Vario only) bevore re-charge ? Did you ever used a Solar panel for re-charging the Powerbank ? Power and Brand of the panel ? Thank you very much 👍👌👍
Hi, good question. It varied - I have used a solar panel (something I found on AliExpress or eBay) which worked well until it didn't. But that's really more important for longer trips, NZ - in Europe you can usually find a power point easily enough.. I would usually charge everything on its own and use the powerbank for phone (if needed) and it wasn't huge but I was careful not to use it too much - eg always screen off when flying. And lots of commenters on my crash video are complaining that I "cut" the crash but of course I only video short clips from time to time to save battery and space and editing time.
The other issue with solar panel is when it's shaded it can drop out which causes your phone screen to come on which uses more battery - that has been an annoyance before. But if it's sunny it's great to land with full battery power. And maybe possible to put a power bank in between to stop that
Hi Nick, ...thank you so much for your very fast response and suggestions. * Until now my phone did not last with out a power bank for longer 5..6 hrs. flights. * Phone screen in general off and switch it on only when needed, I will try it out for sure. * For long (none EU trips), I found a power bank, which you can use as buffer between solar panel and phone. So you can charge and use it as energy source in the same time. I will try it out with a small solar panel (10W.), which will produce slightly more power than the energy consumption of my phone is. There for I hope, that the power bank will by all ways fully charged during daytime (10..12hrs.), so I can charge the Vario, headlamp at night if needed... Will see, if my fantasy power system will work :-) By the way, I personally did not missed it at all, that you did not showed the crash video till the very end. What difference should it make ? and it would not prevent any other pilot from crashing as well. by only watching it... The consequences I took from your crash as well are, to Fly more, do regular SIV, basic Acro and have always a cuter knives on my shoulder strap at hand... Thank you so much Nick for all your videos, sharing your tremendous experience and stay as positive as you always have been. Cheers, Andreas Falkenburg :-)
