Zoe Stumbaugh, aka ZoeFPV, took Airvuz out to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The Queen of 3 Dimensional Flying showed us the inverted moves that have made her famous. The 25 year old native of Santa Cruz, CA talked with Airvuz’s Kendall Mark at the number one seaside amusement park in the world. It is a fun interview and a fun video as she shows off her trademark upside down flying.
Zoe Stumbaugh, aka ZoeFPV, took Airvuz out to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The Queen of 3 Dimensional Flying showed us the inverted moves that have made her famous. She’s lived next to the Santa Cruz boardwalk her whole life and is lucky enough to get to fly there almost whenever she wants. Zoe is known for 3D Flying. She says she was inspired to break the mold by watching fixed-wing planes that can fly upside-down.
She started flying after complications from surgery kept her away from her first passion, motorcycle riding. She still deals with chronic pain and depression from the incident that took place almost three years ago, but she says flying has been her release. Zoe says she was craving that adrenaline rush and flow state when she wasn’t able to
bike anymore. Now she gets those same feelings when flying her quad.
Thanks for hanging out with us, Zoe!
Catch up with all of your favorite FPV Freestyle and Drone Racing pilots on www.airvuz.com/user/behindthegoggles.
Here is a transcript of the interview. Enjoy…
ZS “This is actually rated I think the number 1 seaside amusement park in the world. It’s pretty prestigious.”
KM “Yeah and you get to fly around here.”
ZS “I get to fly around here!”
KM “What’s it like seeing it from above? I mean, nobody else really gets to.”
ZS “It’s pretty cool; I’ve lived here for years, for 10 years, and it’s only been a year that I’ve been flying in this spot. You know what it looks like from the ground but as soon as you go up in the air it’s like ‘woah.’ Everything looks small, you can see much further, you can see into the rides, you can see into the amusement park in a way you’ve never done it before. It’s really neat, it’s eye opening.”
Zoe is known for 3D Flying. She says she was inspired to break the mold by watching fixed-wing planes that can fly upside-down.
KM “Why do you like flying that way when other people might not?”
ZS “It opens up a new realm of tricks.” “It allows you to line up lines you wouldn’t be able to otherwise. And it’s also like defying gravity.” “And then there’s still the technical aspect of it. As a pilot, flying really fast, flying over cool objects, that’s fun but I like the technical aspect. I like getting in there, tinkering with my machines and doing stuff I haven’t seen other people do. Just because I want to see what happens, it’s kind of like this backyard scientist mentality where in my own little lab and in the lab with the people I work with I’m able to do some really fun stuff.”
VO Zoe started flying after complications from surgery kept her away from her first passion, motorcycle riding. She still deals with chronic pain and depression from the incident that took place almost three years ago, but she says flying has been her release.
ZS “For me this is therapy, being able to walk down from my house, which is physical therapy, being able to sit on the beach, which is nice, and then not having people around and being able to fly my quadcopter around, it’s a very spiritual experience for me.”
ZS “In some ways it’s more fun than a motorcycle.”
KM “Oh yeah?” ZS “Cuz you don’t have to obey the street laws. Technically you can only go so fast. With a quadcopter it’s so much more freestyle, if you have an open space it’s just this canvas that you can fly in, that you can make your own.”
ZS “Cuz you don’t have to obey the street laws. Technically you can only go so fast. With a quadcopter it’s so much more freestyle, if you have an open space it’s just this canvas that you can fly in, that you can make your own.”
“It’s a nice release for a hobby.”
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