Stairway to Heaven Top to Bottom Drone Shot | The ULTIMATE Long Range FPV Shot

Oh no, I'm about to lose connection. Everyone always has that one dream shot that they can't stop thinking about. For me, that shot takes place here in Hawaii, just 15 minutes away from my house. This is the Stairway to Heaven, also known as the Haiku Stairs. In my opinion, it is the coolest hike in the entire world. It's a two-mile long, 2,630 vertical foot tall climb to the top of the Ko'olau Mountain Range. It straddles a ridgeline with vertical cliffs on either side and overlooks one of the most beautiful valleys on the island. Since the first time I did it back in 2018, I had this dream shot in my head where you basically start at the top, fly around the satellite dish that's at the top, and just follow the entire hike all the way down to the bottom. The only way that you can get a shot like that is with an FPV drone, and I just didn't have the confidence in my drone's range in the past to get that far, until now. But gear isn't the only issue. You also need perfect weather on the top of the stairs and at the bottom, which here in Hawaii, where the weather is super unpredictable, is really hard to get. And then the next issue is actually getting a good flying position without getting arrested. I'll explain why it's illegal later on, but the entire stairway and the surrounding area is all pretty much off-limits. If you do trespass, you can get arrested and get a $1,000 fine. But with a bit of research and talking to a friend, I was able to find a legal spot to fly from that's in direct line of sight with most of the stairs. And on top of that, I don't have that much time to get this shot because, unfortunately, recently Honolulu City Council elected to take the stairway down. But first, you're probably wondering why someone would even build a staircase like that in the first place. And the history of the stairs is so fascinating to me, and that's part of the reason why I want to get this shot so bad. But the story of the Haiku Stairs starts on December 7th, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Flash, Washington. The White House announces Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked. It was one of the darkest days in U.S. history. So, Pearl Harbor happens and the U.S. declares war. And we're in need of a high-tech radio station in close proximity to Tokyo. Hawaii fit the bill, specifically one valley in particular, the Haiku Valley. The valley itself just happened to have the perfect topography to build one of these stations, where basically you need two high peaks roughly about the same height, and then flat land between them to build the transmitter station. So, in 1942, the U.S. Navy started construction on a top-secret radio station that they would use to communicate with ships all across the Pacific. It took 21 days for the first people to trudge up to the summit, clearing the jungle and putting in place ropes where the stairs lie today. They then added wooden stairs and eventually the metal ones that are still there to this day. When it was first constructed, it was the most high-tech radio station in the entire world. After the war, the radio station was decommissioned and the stairs were abandoned. However, the stairs remained in place, and over time, they became a popular spot for hikers. In the 1980s, the city of Honolulu started charging for people to go up the stairs, but still tons of people came to do the climb. Then, in 2002, the city closed the stairs to the public. And basically since then, the small group of neighbors who live at the base of the stairs have been campaigning to have them removed permanently. And unfortunately, the fate of the stairs seemingly has been decided as of June 1st, 2022, because Honolulu City Council has officially decided that they're going to take them down. Which, in my opinion, would be tragic, because in addition to being incredibly beautiful, the history of the stairs highlights a really pivotal time in world history. I felt it was important to share a little bit of the history and backstory on why I want to get this shot so much. Because this shot might not be possible much longer. But, tomorrow is officially the day we're going to give it a shot at sunrise. We got coffee and a bunch of drones. I guess that's all you need in life to be happy. I'm up the stairway, and as of right now, there's a huge rainstorm right next to the mountain. And then the top of the mountain itself is socked in with clouds. So, as predicted, the weather isn't perfect. But, hopefully, kind of as the sun comes out and it warms up the mountains and stuff, the clouds will blow away. I also just want to talk quickly about the drones and gear that I'm using for this shot. I basically brought three drones with me, three strings. My first string is my Chimera 7. And then, if that doesn't work, I'll switch over to my Nazgul F6. And then, lastly, I just have a custom-built 5-inch quad. So, hopefully, with the three different drones, we should be able to get this shot. Now, it's just a waiting game to see when these clouds clear. So, the light is freaking popping off right now. So, we are going to at least take one battery, fly up, even if the top isn't totally unclouded, and get some shots. Because it's freaking epic right now. So, as far as goggles and radio for this, I'm using the DJI FPV Radio 2 and then the DJI Goggles 2 as well. Wow. This is so epic. Dude, this is insane. I'm bringing this battery back. It's kind of dicey, though. When you get close to clouds, the freaking connection gets worse. Smell that? Hm? You smell that? Smells like we got skunk. How do you feel about it, Kyle? You know, you know what they say. Do you? Hell yeah. So, we waited around for about an hour and it just doesn't look like it's clearing. So, we're going to come back another morning and try again. Before we continue, I want to take a quick second to thank the sponsor of this video, Away. If you haven't heard of Away, they make cutting-edge, next-level luggage for travel. For years and years, I've always traveled with just a normal suitcase where it's just basically two sides. But Away has completely rethought the suitcase and integrated some features that make it way better than anything else out on the market. Like I mentioned before, I'm heading out on a trip. So, I just kind of wanted to talk about what I pack on a normal trip and show you why this bag is so freaking unique. And the first thing that I always pack on my trips is my espresso machine. The actual first thing that I always bring on trips is my duck. That can't be right. The actual first thing that I pack is clothes. But before we get to the clothes, I want to talk about this TSA-approved lock, which honestly just makes me feel way better about traveling with all my expensive camera gear. And something that I wish I discovered years ago are these packing cubes, which basically allows you to turn your suitcase into a dresser where everything is organized neatly. Drones go on top. And then genuinely, one of my favorite things about this bag is this compression pad. So, you basically just fold it over and then cinch it down and it just holds everything tight and kind of compresses all your clothes in there. And then on this other side, you have the zipper pocket, shoes, miscellaneous camera gear, and then, honestly, more drones. Away also has this little tech organizer that's super nice for just a bunch of cords and just little miscellaneous things that you don't want to get lost. Finally, one of the absolute coolest features about this bag, and it's so simple but so freaking dope, it is a zippable laundry bag. I also love this everyday zip bag that integrates perfectly with the suitcase and sits right on top just for like my laptop, snacks, stuff like that. As you can tell, Away has pretty much thought of every detail with their bags. And using their bags have genuinely made life better when I'm traveling. If you want to check them out, there's a link down in the description. And again, thank you, Away, for sponsoring this video. These videos would not be possible without them. Now back to the video. This is morning number, I think, four of waking up at 5 a.m., getting in the car, and checking to see if the summit is clouded out. Honestly, it's getting pretty freaking tiring at this point. I just want one clear day. That is the mountain, and you can see the clouds right there. So it seems like yet another morning. We are being skunked. So I'm leaving for a trip in a couple days, so we really need to get this shot today or tomorrow. It's not perfect, but I think it's good enough to warrant a try, so I'm heading back home. I'm going to grab Kyle, and then we're going to send it, and hopefully, please, please let the clouds at the summit clear. So unfortunately, again, we got freaking skunked out of a good sunrise, and the top is completely clouded in. So I think, honestly, the only move right now with how this weather has been is to try to get it midday or for sunset, so we'll see how the conditions change throughout the day, but it's starting to rain right now, so we should go. Like I mentioned this morning, we're going to try to do it just in not-sunrise light because we've had such bad luck for sunrise, but we're rolling up to it, and you can actually see the satellite for once. You can see it all the way at the top. This is definitely our best shot we've had yet. It's the first time we can actually see the satellite from here. I just have to stay high and not get behind the ridge, or else I probably won't see this again. Good? Yeah. I'm just going to follow the ridge line all the way up. Dude, my heart is pumping. All right, I'm at the notch. It's still looking pretty good. We're getting some yellow bars on the goggle feed. All right, I'm up at the clouds. I'm up at the satellite now. Wrapping around the satellite, and I'm coming down. I can't believe it. Dude, no freaking way. Let's go. I'm so freaking relieved right now. Dude, you know what they say. What happened? Swallowed a fly.