People have asked me if I have abandoned my idea of flying to Santa Cruz from Campbell.
The answer is NO!
I have found that things are harder than I first imagined, but every day I learn something more. That knowledge will help me get there - rather than crash 3/4 of the way on the journey.
I have been doing extensive tests on the power consumed by the craft while going up straight, going up at an angle, moving horizontally and coming down. These numbers are not closely related to the "hover time" that you see listed in most posts by others.
I have a spreadsheet that - if given the characteristics of the aircraft (current during climb, climb rate, current during travel, travel speed, current during descent, descent rate), will give me the maximum distance I can fly. So far, I'm getting about 15 miles of travel distance, and I need 18. During the journey to Santa Cruz, the craft will have to climb gradually to 2400', and then gradually descend to 328' (100Meters) before landing gracefully in Santa Cruz.
So, I can't quite get there yet.
But it won't be long.