Date: Friday, 17th November 2023
Author: Oliver Zhu
Hello World!
Attention to all rookie teams that are taking a trip overseas.
For those teams who are going to state finals and or national and international finals, there are a few tips to warn you about taking a flight. We will recount our experience with Jetstar and how they made a normal flight departing at 6:25pm to Brisbane to a painful and unplanned stopover at many hotels.
To recap, we had bad weather that prevented us from going to Brisbane on Friday so we had to leave early Saturday morning and after the VRC competitions, our flight back was delayed 4 hrs because of more bad weather. This is an occurrence that could happen to you.
So, in order to steer clear, the strategies that we have now learnt from this experience will help you plan out your next flight, they are:
- Always expect the unexpected: There will need to be many plans, Plan A, Plan B and even Plan C as flights can be delayed and or canceled so plan ahead. If you don’t have these plans, your experience in FLL will be disastrous and ruined to say the least.
- Have spare parts on you at all times: Especially if your team travels on a cheap airline, always have spare parts that you can use to repair the robot where it is damaged from the turbulence.
If you don’t have spare parts, that can also be an issue in FLL, spending time to search other teams for parts.
- Be calm at all times: The most important thing before an important match like FLL, is to be calm and to always smile and show positivity, even if your situation is dire. Do not shout, point, assault or accuse people of certain accidents. So with the issue of a broken robot, everyone should understand and fix it together.
By following these simple steps, you can avoid the numerous problems we have dealt with our airliner like damaged parts on our robot, cancellations and delays and being unable to organize a properly equal system, which is crucial for overall success and learning for everyone, which is what FLL is all about!
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