Back in January I piloted a Lily Ball III 30′ up into a tree in the backyard. Several weeks later while grilling on the back deck I looked up in the tree and didn’t see it anymore. It was on the ground!
It had rained pretty hard a couple days before, I bet that it must have been knocked out by the wind. I brought it inside and plugged the copter into the USB port. After dinner I found the Lily Ball’s tiny switch and turned it on. The white “head” light shone bright and the two fiber optic light strips started alternating between red and blue. Hot Dang!
I loaded up the controller with its eight double-a batteries, ran through the start up procedure, pushed the throttle forward aaaaand nothing. So I pulled out the batteries, threw the ball and the controller in the box and set it aside.
Fast forward to now. Tired of the box taunting me as I walked by it everyday, I figured it was time toss the thing out. The box could go in the recycle bin, but I doubt the plastic cage and body of the copter was recyclable. Plus the circuit board and battery probably shouldn’t end up in the land fill. The controller has got a circuit board too… I’m sure if I put in a regular opaque trash bag with a bunch of other kitchen trash no one will be the wiser.
I hate to throw it out though. Maybe I should try one more time to see it it will work. I loaded up the controller with its eight double-a batteries, ran through the start up procedure, pushed the throttle forward aaaaand it lifted off!
Lily Ball III is alive. Now I just have to not fly it into a tree again.
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