Through The Goggles: Boss Hat’s FPV Musings - Parallels
They are everywhere, and they are ruining the hobby. Whether they are being chased away from office buildings, or terrifying citizens in the street, they need to be stopped. It is the bad action of a few individuals that are making the rest of us look bad…..
Does this sound familiar? I am not talking about FPV pilots, diving everything in site, I am talking about what they used to say about skateboarding. From its birth in the 70’s, right up until it got legitimized in the mainstream by the X-Games, skateboarding saw this very same battle. This fight took place between the public and skateboarders, the public viewing these hooligans as destructive malcontents, determined to destroy property and their own bodies.
But, there was also an internal struggle, between fellow skateboarders. For the most part, the guys who competed saw this new breed of skateboarder, who went looking for empty pools in backyards to carve, with even more contempt than the general public. They saw the Z-Boys as bums who were going to tear down everything they had built…..
When I used to ride, back in the 80’s and 90’s, I was most certainly guilty of going to office complexes with my friends, in search of rails, dropoffs, stairs, and anything we could grind. Running from security was commonplace. Some of these guys I knew went on to have careers in the X-Games, and some got their own video games, but they all started out as delinquents with a passion for what they loved to do. The same scenario is playing out in our FPV culture right now. Our modern day urban FPV commandos are just following in the footsteps of others before them.
I am not taking sides, I am merely reminding everyone of a little history. We are in the Season of “Peace on Earth” and “Goodwill Toward Man”, so let’s be calm, slow-pulsed, and reasonable. Our FPV culture is so strong that nobody can “ruin” it. Our passion for flight is stronger than that.
Put aside these petty grievances, these feelings of being offended by the actions of others, and let’s FLY! The one thing everyone agrees with is that FPV is Freedom; go exercise yours.