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New Awning for Vanilla

  • Writer: John Nickolls
    John Nickolls
  • Oct 31
  • 3 min read

Updated: Nov 1

“

Fiamma F43 Van
Fiamma F43 Van

🇮🇹 The Shady Italian: Fiamma F43 Van, Maestro of the Motorhome Piazza ☕🚐”
By Nix — espresso drinker, gadget tinkerer, and survivor of both the Italian sun and British drizzle.


🏛️ Ciao, Bella Awning!

Meet The Shady Italian, the Fiamma F43 Van — an awning so charming it could stroll through Rome wearing sunglasses and still pull a crowd.

It’s sleek, unpredictable, and prone to drama if the wind flirts too hard. But when the weather behaves, it’s la dolce vita on wheels — your personal slice of Italian piazza wherever you park Vanilla. 🍦☀️

This isn’t just an awning. It’s a movable trattoria, a canopy of calm, and occasionally, a high-maintenance diva with a taste for good weather and compliments.


🍷 Le Buone Cose — The Good Things

🇮🇹 Born for Vans, Not Buses
Fiamma finally gave the humble campervan some respect. No oversized coach gear here — this one hugs the side of your van like a custom Italian suit.

“It’s a big improvement over the 45 — designed for campers, not buses!”

✅ Perfect for pop-tops
✅ Compact, sleek, bella figura profile
✅ Makes your van look more Via Condotti than B&Q car park

🪶 Light as Tiramisu
That Alu-Lite frame is tough but elegant — like an Alfa Romeo Spider: you know it’s fragile, but you still adore it.
Slides under 2 m car-park barriers smoother than a Vespa past traffic. 🛵

🧲 Smart Like an Italian Waiter

• Magnetic crank handle 🪄 — clicks in with style

• UV-resistant vinyl ☀️ — shade worthy of the Colosseum

• Hidden LED channels ✨ — because ambience is an art form

• Two sizes (270 cm / 300 cm) — for every van, grande or piccolo

💷 Value? Buono!
At roughly £600 – £650, you get real Italian craftsmanship, not bargain-basement chaos. It’s the Ferragamo loafer of awnings — understated, classy, and occasionally temperamental.


😬 Le Cattive Cose — The Naughty Bits

📏 Fitment Fiasco
Some poles turned up 225 mm too long after Fiamma secretly tweaked the design — a very Italian move.
🗣️ Check your version or you’ll be shouting “Mamma Mia!” halfway through fitting.

🪗 Lightweight Drama Queen
The casing feels a bit pasta-al-dente — strong enough, but bend it wrong and it wobbles.

🌬️ Wind? Non Grazie.
When calm, it’s poetry. When gusty, it’s a flying tablecloth from a Roman café.
Retract it before bed or you’ll wake to the sound of flapping fabric and existential regret.

🧩 Accessory Chaos
Fiamma’s part numbers read like the Vatican archives. Too many brackets, too many versions. Bring wine and patience. 🍷

🔩 Installation? Like Building a Fiat Blindfolded
Every van setup needs a different bracket.
Measure twice, pray to Saint Christopher, and drill with faith. 🙏


📜 La Scheda Tecnica

⚙️ Spec 🇮🇹 Detail

📏 Projection 200 – 250 cm

⚖️ Weight ~18 – 20 kg

🧱 Frame Anodised aluminium

🪛 Operation Manual crank (magnetic)

🎨 Colour Deep Black casing / Royal Grey canvas

🌞 Material UV-resistant vinyl

💡 Consigli di Nix — Nix’s Italian Tips

🧽 Mantienilo pulito — brush away dust and leaves like sweeping a Roman courtyard.
🪛 Lubrifica gli snodi — oil the joints once a year; they’ll thank you.
💨 Usa le cinghie anti-vento — anti-flap straps are your best amici.
🌬️ Chiudilo di notte — never trust the Mistral.
✨ Aggiungi le luci LED — turn every pitch into Trastevere at dusk.


🧭 Il Verdetto Finale — The Final Verdict

⭐ Looks: 9/10 — Bellissimo, pure style.
⚙️ Ease of Use: 8/10 — intuitive once you learn the rhythm.
🌪️ Wind Resistance: 6/10 — drama under pressure.
😤 Install Stress: 7/10 — espresso-fuelled patience required.
💬 Overall: 8/10 — a charming rogue with impeccable taste.


❤️ Conclusione

The Fiamma F43 Van, “The Shady Italian”, is like your favourite Roman waiter — efficient, funny, and just a little bit temperamental.

Treat it well, retract it gently, and it’ll serve you faithfully through sun, drizzle, and prosecco-fuelled sunsets.

☀️🚐🍷 Viva La Van Life, Viva La Fiamma!

 
 
 

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🚐 VANILLA — THE ESSENCE OF FREEDOM

​People often ask where my drone footage comes from — how I find those remote beaches, quiet lochs, or golden ridgelines at sunrise.
The answer isn’t just in the air. It’s on four wheels.

Meet Vanilla — my VW Transporter T6.1 campervan, my rolling HQ, my drone command centre, and quite honestly, my partner-in-flight.

She’s not just transport. She’s the bridge between earth and sky — a machine that lets me live the story I capture through my lens.

Where It All Began

Vanilla came to life at Leighton Vans, where form meets finesse. She was sculpted with their LV-R bodykit, an upgrade that gives her those beautifully aggressive lines and that unmistakable road stance.
Her 20-inch black LV alloys anchor her to the tarmac with quiet confidence — purposeful, poised, and just a little bit smug.

The interior conversion came from Rock N Roll Campers, who turned an empty shell into something that felt alive — soft finishes, clever storage, a rock-solid bed, and that rare thing in a van: soul.

Later, the wizards at Supreme Conversions joined the journey, fitting the awning rail, upgrading her with Transporter HQ headlights and rear lights, and, most recently, installing the stunning Fiamma F43 Van awning.
It’s the kind of awning that unfurls with elegance, like a curtain revealing a stage — the stage where I plan flights, sip coffee, and wait for the light to get just right.

Inside the Machine

Vanilla’s interior is less “campervan” and more “creative sanctuary.”
Every inch is refined: Crib 5 insulation, full sound-deadening, soft carpet lining, and commercial LVT flooring over solid birch ply.
Her Egger HPL furniture gleams softly under warm LED lighting, and her Rusty Lee ¾ bed folds out like a promise of rest after a long day’s flying.

The Skyline pop-top opens to the sky — the same sky my drones inhabit — a seamless link between my ground base and my flying machines.

Outside, the Fiamma F43 Van awning rolls out to create an outdoor workspace: laptop on the table, controller in hand, the hum of the inverter behind me, and the quiet ticking of a cooling drone on the table beside a steaming mug of ginger tea.

It’s not camping. It’s creative engineering in motion.

Powering Creativity

Drone photography isn’t a 9-to-5 hobby. It’s early starts, late edits, and always chasing the right light.
That means Vanilla has to be completely self-sufficient — and she is.

Her power system is rock solid: an Exide EZ850 100 Ah AGM battery managed by a Victron Orion Smart DC-DC charger and Eco-Worthy solar controller, topped up by her XINGCO 120 W solar panel bonded to the pop-top.
It means while I’m flying over coastal cliffs, Vanilla’s quietly charging batteries, cameras, laptops, and the occasional air fryer.

Add in a Victron SmartShunt (so I can track every watt in real time), a Jackery Explorer 1000, a Jackery 240, an Anker 165 W power bank, and a YABER jump starter pack, and you’ve got enough power for a week’s expedition.

Every drone, every camera, every edit — charged, logged, and uploaded before the next take-off.

Fuel for the Pilot

You can’t create on an empty stomach, and Vanilla’s kitchen is a masterpiece of compact design.
A CAN twin hob and marine sink, powered by Campingaz 907, forms the core of her galley.
A 50 L compressor fridge keeps everything crisp, while a toaster, kettle, and Cadac BBQ handle the rest.

But here’s where the magic happens — the Cosori air fryer and Vango Sizzle Double induction hob.
The air fryer is perfect for hot chips at midnight or golden toasties on misty mornings. The induction hob? It’s quiet, precise, and efficient, perfect for cooking while editing the day’s footage in cinematic silence.

When the Fiamma awning is out and the Vango Faro Air III awning is set up alongside, Vanilla transforms into mission control.
Power. Food. Shelter. Wi-Fi. Everything I need to capture the world from above — all in one parked masterpiece.

Warm Nights, Cool Days

Vanilla handles Britain like a pro.
A Webasto diesel heater keeps her toasty on winter shoots, and the factory air-con cools her down when summer edits stretch into the evening.

Her Transporter HQ 69 mm dimmable LEDs light up the interior like a studio set, while BioLite and Vango lanterns add soft ambience — perfect for working late or simply reflecting on the day’s adventures.

Outside, those Transporter HQ Audi-style headlights — installed by Supreme Conversions — slice cleanly through darkness. Her rear lights gleam like runway markers. Her LV-R bodykit and alloys catch the glow of twilight like a film reel catching fire.

She’s not a van. She’s a silhouette of intent.

Connected Everywhere

Vanilla runs her own internet.
Her ZTE Link mobile Wi-Fi router keeps me online for live drone tracking, software updates, uploads, and the occasional cheeky YouTube binge.
She’s a digital basecamp — blending travel, work, and creativity into one smooth system.

After the flights, I unwind with the Nebula Capsule 3 Laser projector (Beamy) and Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (“Blazey”), projecting straight onto the pop-top.
A Bose Bluetooth speaker fills the cabin with music — sometimes Depeche Mode, sometimes silence, depending on the edit.

Vanilla doesn’t just take me to my subjects — she lets me stay there long enough to fall in love with them.

Safety and Smarts

She’s fitted with a Scorpion Tracker, adaptive cruise control, crosswind assist, and parking sensors — because adventures are better when you can relax behind the wheel.
Her systems talk to my phone via Victron Smart apps, and her power integrates perfectly with Apple HomeKit, giving me complete control even from the driver’s seat.

Out There, in the Light

Vanilla has been everywhere my drones have flown — the NC500, Cornwall’s cliffs, the Welsh mountains, the Lake District, and countless nameless lanes that all lead somewhere unforgettable.

She averages a reliable 35 mpg, purrs happily on long drives, and provides the calm between flights.
When I’m parked under her awning, the kettle bubbling, batteries on charge, and the drone footage downloading, there’s this moment — stillness, satisfaction, and gratitude.

Vanilla isn’t just part of the Nix Drones setup.
She is the setup.
Without her, half my story wouldn’t exist.

Her Signature

Her logo says it all — a clean white silhouette with her pop-top raised, VAN in orange, ILLA in white, and below it, her creed:
“THE ESSENCE OF FREEDOM.”

That’s what it’s all about — the freedom to chase light, to capture beauty, and to live unhurried in a world that’s always rushing.

VANILLA — The Essence of Freedom.
The road half of Nix Drones.
A creative base on wheels.
A companion built for the horizon.

Would you like me to finish this with a short homepage hero caption (like “My mobile flight deck — the campervan that powers every Nix Drones journey”) and a perfect SEO snippet to link Vanilla’s story directly to your site’s drone photography focus?

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