Josh Cook
FPVFC SVP and Board Member
Back when I was a small child, what I wanted to do with my life changed on a daily basis. There were two things that I kept coming back to, the first was a scientist, and the second, was a helicopter pilot. Due to development of poor eyesight early in my youth, my dream of flying got pushed to the side. I never really gave much thought to model RC aircraft when I was young, as no one I knew was doing it, and I was never really introduced to it. However, I did submerge myself in video games and flight simulators based both in the real world and in space, which allowed me to experience the airspace in my own way.
Every piece of electronics I owned throughout my childhood and beyond was disassembled, inspected, and put back together. The scientist in me had to know how things worked. I was constantly building things, creating objects from my imagination. I was blessed with a grandmother who nurtured my creativity and a mother who drove and enabled me to pursue my dreams, no matter what.
Throughout my life, I have pursued knowledge with a passion that has overwhelmed me at times, seeking out new information like it was going to disappear if I didn’t capture it. Part of this passion comes from my attention deficit disorder, and always having to inject new stimuli into my world. I harness it, and use it to my advantage in every part of my life, whether it be art, science, engineering, literature, or anything else. Long ago, I decided that I was going to be a renaissance man, learning everything I can about as many subjects as possible.
Almost 3 years ago, while browsing Facebook, one of my professors from my time at the University of Arizona had posted a video of multirotors ripping through the Miami Dolphins stadium. It was a news reel from the newly created Drone Racing League showcasing what the sport would be about. From that point, every part of my brain exploded. I had heard and seen drones, such as the DJI Phantom, but those held almost no interest for me at the time. It was the speed and the close proximity flying that captured my imagination. I ordered a Hubsan 107L, five extra batteries, and was soon teaching myself to fly LOS around the house.
From there, I found YouTube channels such as FliteTest, and would spend hours watching the backlog of videos that I had never known about before. I explored the internet, reading forums for hours and sometimes days at a time, absorbing all the information I could. I would fall asleep listening to Bruce from RC Model Reviews talk about his latest review and experiences. I bought soldering kits to teach myself to put electronics together, and slowly built up my menagerie of tools that I knew I would need. This was something that held my focus longer than almost anything in my life. Soon, I ordered my first kit multirotor, a ZMR 250, and spent the next week building the multirotor of my dreams. Never really a social person, I forced myself out into the world with my new passion, going to flying events with the local club, flying at the park, or at an indoor go-kart track.
I continued, learning as I went, enjoying the freedom that flight had given me. It brought back that childhood dream of flying, and never has something felt purer in my life than realizing I could set myself free into the sky, even if just for mere minutes at a time. I have made friends I never thought I would have, and experienced things that would have left me scratching my head in my earlier life. Everything that I have done in my life has led me to this. Every skill I have acquired, every moment in school and beyond, has given me the skills to enjoy this hobby to the fullest. Now, I share the knowledge of all I have gained, through helping others, opening my garage to my friends that need a place to repair their gear, giving freely from my parts stash, and writing product reviews and how-to’s in an effort to give back to the community that has given me so much.
I am an artist, a builder, a designer, an engineer, a techie, an educator, a photographer, a writer. I am an FPV pilot.
