ran a few batteries outside in very gentle winds. having a place to fly without obstacles (ceilings, walls) is immensely better for training as you're not constantly having to adjust for your adjustments to avoid them. but e011 cannot handle wind.. i'd say 3-5 mph is enough to cancel out thrust and lose your drone. but i'm finding that experience flying in wind helps.
deserts aren't the best place to learn to fly. when it goes down it hits sand, cactus or creosote, acacia et c. and everything snags. anyway, i think i'm a better flyer than i was giving myself credit for after that, and not having to deal with "omg not the ceiling/floor" yoyo all the time.
anyway. my enthusiasm for the e011 was borne by various indoor and outdoor videos, and i can now see that they must have had windless days. my ambition to have a small uav that can patrol outdoors supercedes the e011. at present, i'm looking at the lt105 as it handles wind better and has altitude functions. given the price, it may be a better package than building from parts. not sure yet. maybe something between there and the arfun 95, i'd prefer to sacrifice some speed for flight time and manoeuverability. and now that i'm out of the e011 modding concept, i'm going to need a transmitter. lt105 + transmitter and monitor = easily over $200 already. sadly this 119f heatwave has cost me my $ for a while so i'm LOS for the time being.
i found an old casio 2.5" "pocket television" which is kind of cool, the lcd screen can be backlit by the sun (or a removeable backlight) and the display is viewed on a mirror, so a little better in super bright sunlight than a bare lcd. it has continuous (seeking) digital tuning so not stuck on uhf channel freqs. i've seen someone mention using an old tv for fpv but no information on how.
iirc i think the lt105 can be set for 25mw or 100mw (no exp. with tx/rx yet) so that would be good for patrolling the property and checking out high caves in canyons. any recs on comparable models appreciated.