Estes Proto-Z

My Sixth Micro Quadcopter Drone

     I bought my sixth micro quadcopter, the Estes Proto-Z, on August 17, 2016, from Entertrainment Junction in West Chester, Ohio, for $29.99.  I was very familiar with Estes, having flown model rockets in the late 1960's when Estes was a leading supplier to the hobby.  I have flown the drone 19 times and found it to be one of the simplest ones I have to fly.  That might be because it has very few options to learn.  It has only one speed and no trim buttons, but you can recalibrate the sensors.  With no prop guards, crashes are to be avoided.  There is a right flip button, a left flip button and a headless mode option, and that is it.  The LiPo battery is not intended to be removalable, so replacing it will require taking the drone apart to see if it can even be replaced.  A special charging connection means I cannot use my multi-port charger to recharge it, but have to use the USB charger that comes with it.

Estes Proto-Z

     After a recent crash, the drone developed a severe roll to the left.  So severe, that I could no longer control the quad.  Since there are no trim functions and recalibration did not fix the problem, I thought I would have to scrap my Proto-Z.  Then, I read in my Hubsan X4 H107L operating manual that you could overcome a severe drift by shimming the unit upon startup.  I tried this by slipping a Lego brick under the right side of the Proto-Z while linking and arming, and it took care of the problem well enough so I could fly it again!
     I have notice that when the Proto-Z slightly touches a wall or the carpet it will yaw a small amount in either direction, and then in a second or two it will self correct this yaw and fly straight.  None of my other drones will do this.  If the contact is more than "slight", it will not self correct!