Lorenzo Candelpergher

Congratulations @Janarthan!!

Congratulations @Jeandre Bezuidenhout

Dear @syed salman raza, I have almost only flown DJI drones (all types, including bigger ones not mentioned here) so I can advise onky on those, even if there are surely other good ones from other brands. The best small camera drone is certainly DJI Mavic2 Pro (1" CMOS, 10bit color range), but it is an expensive toy and probably a bit too much sophisticated for regular use as a desert aircraft. You may go for a DJI Mavic Air 2 as a 2nd option, great value for money (half the price of the Pro) even if very light (570g vs 910g for the Pro) so not very stable in windy conditions (but when there is wind in fhe desert you are unlikely to be there enjoying the sand in your eyes...). This is probably your best choice. You may also find good 2nd hand DJI Phantom 3 for bargain prices, as it is an old model, now replaced by the Phantom 4. More rugged than the Mavic series (no foldable arms) so better for desert use, slightly heavier (thus a bit more stable and surely better in stronger winds), even if a bit bulky. Obstacle avoidance is limited. The DJI Phantom 4 is a heavy duty all-round drone, very good but equally or more expensive than the Mavic 2 Pro. Not a starter's option. I wouldn't recommend the DJI Mavic Mini: not really a drone for wide range desert spaces, in my opinion Personally I prefer by far the Phantom Series because of the more ergonomic remote control, which allows for more refined maneuvering (Mavic's are too small and light) but I may be biased by my professional needs. In a nutshell: either a Mavic Air 2 (best value for money) or a 2nd hand Phantom 3 (a bit old ans bulky, but rugged and inexpensive). I hope it helps.

Do we refer to THAT historically long drive? Oh, yes.. the naming "Devil's deceit" is perfect, then! With 20 degrees less in temperature, I really look forward to the drive and, above all, to listening to your updated briefing, @Wrangeld.. 😂😂😂

Dear @Wrangeld, What a beautiful drive today! It all started with me flashing @Frederic, who was quietly deflating in the dark, with my headlights when I parked my car behind his. I had the impression he would have probably enjoyed a more discreet "good morning" 😂.. As drivers arrived, everyone quickly deflated (@Derek Fernandes quickly learned how to use his E-Z deflator), and, for those who had it, mounted their flag. With radios configured and tow points diligently checked, we were good to go. It was a pleasure, after several months of aseptic radio briefings, to have a real in person briefing standing in a circle, even if socially distanced. By 7am we were ready to hit the sand and the convoy started moving. Driving in the sand for the 1st time is never an easy experience. The car feels unstable, floats and wobbles, doesn't steer as expected, doesn't accelerate as expected.. wheels keep on spinning with little or no traction. It rolls, pitches and yaws fishtailing in new and unexpected ways. You can't recognise your own car! But, hey! The dunes are beautiful! What a landscape, what a mighty emptiness and how fresh is the air through the open windows... All is going great, then all of a sudden the first refusal happens. A wrong line, too little momentum, too much gas, a moment of hesitation and all the rolling and pitching disappears with your car stuck in the sand, heavy as a rock, inclined in ways you've never seen. The radio squeaks instructions from the Seniors: steer left, steer right, engage 4LO, little gas, more gas, again left and right, reverse, forward... Aaah. Too much all at once, along with the uncomfortable feeling that the rest of the convoy is watching and waiting for you.. Next comes the first tug after a real stuck. Seat belts on, 4LO engaged.. 1, 2.. 3!! And you are out! Damn, it was so easy.. The more you drive the more you feel this off-roading thing has the potential to become addictive, as you crave for the next dune to cross. I guess most of you felt this way today. Everyone did amazingly well today. @Wrangeld's lines weren't always the easiest ones and everyone had a chance to put their car (and themselves) to the test. I had direct eyes on @Arman in front of me: very well driven, with a little more momentum you'll avoid finding yourself high and dry on your way to the top of the next dune. I also frequently looked at my rear mirror to check for @Ken Hüüdma behind me. Our Y62s are huge beasts, with a lot of power to keep under control and a heavy back that fishtails without mercy, but you handled all situations very well. Again, a bit more momentum (which doesn't necessarily mean more power) will get you through the next crest. As I always say, don't be afraid, there is usually sand on the other side of the dune 😂😂... @ALI ALMOUMAR, @Irshad Alam, @varunmehndiratta, @Explored Dubai, @Hisham Masaad, @Hazem Ali, @Derek Fernandes, @Arman, @Ken Hüüdma, you all must be congratulated on your first drive in the sand as you did incredibly well! The best reward for @Wrangeld, @Frederic and myself will be to see you next werk in the sand. Looking forward to it!

Congtatukations @Kailas! Well deserved, from what I could see last weekend.

Congratulations @Vanessa8580. Great achievement! Congratulations @Vanessa8580. Great achievement!

Congratulations dear @Ahab Shamaa for your fast promotion to Fewbie, certainly much deserved. Just a word of advice: with this desert off-roading thing you got yourself in.. be careful, as the more you go forward the more it gets addictive.. So be prepared: you'll be craving for intermediate drives sooner than you expect! 😂 See you soon in the next Fewbie drive!!

Dear @Wrangeld, This was really a nice newbie drive, with most of the time spent driving and fairly limited idle time due to stucks or recoveries. We started quickly as everyone diligently and timely deflated and mounted their flag, so we could enjoy the sunset in our faces as we marched east. For the better part of the drive the convoy did pretty well with no stucks and very few refusals, which were promptly recovered, so we had a very good driving pace and made it quickly to the Long Dune play area. It was only then, as we started approaching Fossil Rock, that things started to get challenging. First we found ourselves with @syed salman raza and @Luca Bregni (mind the flag!!!) trapped in a nasty bowl which required multiple attempts and a heavy foot to climb out, not forgetting to disengage traction control in the 1st place.. I could closely watch the last few cars in the convoy: @Sharooq Fassul, @Nithin Vaidir and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ. All three had a few refusals but stayed cool enough to correctly follow my instructions, eventually self-recovering brilliantly. To all three my advice is to be less hesitant and maintain more momentum until you have reached the top (and sometimes event then, if needed). Then, just when adrenaline was starting to pump in the anticipation of the final ascent to Fossil Rock, the convoy split in two parts as we had to deal with the recovery of @Sai Baskaran whose car was stuck in a nasty pocket. After rerouting to join the first cars in the convoy we spent a couple of awkward minutes counting and recounting our cars to make sure no one had been missed, then we floored our throttle pedal on the way up to Fossil Rock. My first descent from thr rock, as a Newbie, was on May 29th. It sounds like ages ago when @Wrangeldchecked if I was in 4LO and 1st gear with my seatbelt on.. I can't quite believe just 5 months later I was the one carrying out the same check while sending the cars down one by one as the convoy's sweep. @Ahab Shamaa broke the ice, being the 1st to descend after the Lead, but kept himself toghether and went down as if on silk. All the others who followed (and especially the intrepid @Magdy Zahran, @Ranjan Das, @Federico Galbieri and @Sandeep Padhi) did very well and I'm sure enjoyed every bit of the experience. Kudos to all and see you next time in the sand.

Dear @Frederic, Congratulations! Your super detailed posts about almost every possibile subject are a goldmine of information for any off-roader hungry to learn, and more than once I was truly amazed by the accuracy and completeness of your work, which is - quite evidently - pure distilled passion. While I have already enjoyed a few drives together, I have just started to see the amount of activity you do behind the scenes, but I can tell already it is equally impressive. I look forward to many other posts.. and drives.. and more...

Dear @Gaurav, @Rahimdad, @Srikumar, @Frederic, @Jeepie, @Brette, @Wrangeld, @Emmanuel, @Ale Vallecchi,@Chaitanya D it was great to learn from Absolute Newbie to Advance by driving following your lead and to enjoy your warm support and true contagious passion for off-roading. In Carnity I found much more than just an off-roading club and the more I proceed in this journey the more I am convinced it was the best choice I could make. Until March 2020 I had spent 12 full years in Dubai and had gone in the desert off-roading only twice, having seen the sunrise only while in a taxi to the airport for one of my hundreds of pre-covid era flights... Now, 7 months later I have driven almost 2000km in the sand in more than 40 drives.. 😂😂 (and no flights!!). Desert off-roading has been the perfect anti-stress medicine during the last difficult months, ensuring every weekend a mental reset (either you disconnect from your phone emails / calls or you crash your car), a full energy top-up (almost literally delivered by sunbeams at dawn) and granting a constantly renewed sense of peace, mindfulness and gratitude that I had somehow lost in my workaholic life. In this 1st chapter of my personal off-roading book, I loved every pop-out, as each time it was reason for my son's greatest excitement, every refusal, every stuck and every recovery. I avidly looked at every landscape and defiantly listened to the roaring of my Y62's 400hp engine. I was thrilled at every deflating and hungry for more driving just after switching off my compressor, while I felt the excitement of a child every time I added a new piece to my off-roading gear, from hat to boots, from flag to floor jack. Above all, however, I especially enjoyed and I am truly thankful for @Wrangeld's constant encouragement, guidance and support, which was the closest thing I can think of to off-roading mentoring. I was amazed by the game-changing impact of some of the advice I received, which transformed my driving performance drastically one week after the other, and amused by Richard's the joyful enthousiasm and infinite patience, which - I must say - is a distinctive trait of all Carnity Seniors. I must also thank @Luca Palanca Falsini, who is the real culprit for my initiation to off-roading. It was him, who first took me to a family off-road drive, after which I signed up with Carnity. Now a new chapter in my off-roading book can be inked: I truly look forward to learning the art of leading in the desert, hoping - one day - to be able to give back as much as I have received so far.