Status Update - Shipping Woes

I have decided that international shipping is not my thing. When I first received the plane, I had no idea what I would have to put into this project. The first thing I had to do was purchase the batteries. These are LiPo batteries 1300 mah, 11.1 v. The same as the last students used (I would have used theirs, except for the fact that they charged the batteries while they were still warm, thus bloating and destroying the batteries). These batteries and charger took a few weeks to arrive due to issues with billing and Hobby King. Hobby King has a US warehouse, where i try to order from when possible (1 of 3 orders, but more on that later). 

After the batteries arrived, I charged them up and plugged them in.  The power allowed me to use the ArduPilot Mega (APM) to 'stabilize' the aircraft (it reacted to how I twisted and turned the aircraft). At this point, I went back to my professor to get the props for the plane from him, as he had about half a dozen. As it turns out, they were all the wrong size and had no hope of even remotely lifting the UAV. So it was back to ordering for me.

This time, I ordered from a different company, nitroplanes.com. They had a relatively inexpensive transmitter/receiver combo and the right size props. I also ordered servo extensions to connect the receiver to the APM. So a week later, I had a fancy new controller and props in my hand. As I unpacked the box, I discovered that i had ordered the wrong servo extensions.  I had believed that I had ordered male-to-male extensions, when in reality i ordered true extensions, male-to-female. This was a major 'good feeling gone' moment. 

At the same time I ordered from nitroplanes.com, i also ordered a telemetry transmitter receiver from hobbyking.com. I ordered this to allow me to update the autopilot from my laptop in the field.  With the telemetry set, I don't need a cable to update the APM. This is currently being shipped from Hong Kong and has not yet arrived. More updates to follow on that.

After I discovered that I had the wrong servo extensions, I found the correct ones on hobbyking.com. Unfortunately, the only ones that were suitable were in their international warehouse (Hong Kong). So, that has not yet arrived either. For now, I am looking for an opportunity to practice my manual flying in case the autopilot fails.  Not only that, but it's so much more fun to fly it myself (just don't tell my professor. It's supposed to be work =P) 

So the lesson for this post is "Investigate twice, order once" or at least, it should be. If only I had realized how many things i would have to order, perhaps I could have saved some shipping costs. Well, live and learn right? 

'Till Next Time.