Heli stuff and fellowship
06-06-2011, 07:16 PM
#4627
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Yellow? EDF??? My God man, what were you thinking? Hahaha. Good luck with that. Our club has a few fanatics who run around with giant bunjee cords launching those things. By the way, the local Scout Troop loves 'em so there's hope for you.
Mack
Mack
06-06-2011, 07:29 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Because of the great reviews by our friend, Choppy here's another installment of the Rat Club Chronicles:
Guess what folks? Yep another record temperature today. Another day with high temp of 105F. Undaunted, Greg, Joel, Scott and his wife, and later a wanna be visitor who will probably join our club were there. Man it was HOT. But so was my Sceadu. We all tore up the sky lemme tell ya. Joel was being a guinea pig for the local LHS, testing his 90 T-Wrecks on new fuel that the LHS was brewing. The deal was that if his engine blew up the LHS would replace it. Sounded like fun so Joel agreed. He might not be so quick if he realized he might totally destroy his aircraft but whatever.
Except for the fact that it was hard to keep flying for a full tank because of the heat, we were grateful for gentle winds to almost calm. Everyone kept their aircraft out of the dirt all afternoon. Scott, who is the new resident newbie flying planks did very well with his trainer and P51 with added lift goobers on the leading edges. I flew the heck out of my Sceadu, feeling completely back in the saddle again. Joel, in a moment of sappyness even said that he regretfully had to admit that my flying had improved significantly!
But Joel left.
Then, it was time for Greg to fly about 4pm. Told him it was his turn so he immediately started up his SDX. I then pointed out to him that he forgot to refuel. Haha. He shut it down and I began refueling, draining my second to last jug of Magnum fuel. As I was switching to my last full jug, the wind suddenly swelled up to 25mph, sustained! I'm not making this up. The thunderstorms began moving in. Greg began unloading his fuel tank as did I. The winds howled and we tucked in our blades as it picked up. Scott started packing in his planks too. The temperature dropped from 105F to 74F. Almost a repeat of yesterday except for the strong winds. Well almost. As I recall, yesterday a microburst almost dashed my Sceadu into little bitty pieces!
But nevermind. We had a ball. I was kinda hoping Greg would go out in the high winds but he wasn't coming out to play. Heh.
Soooo, the end of a great day. We had a great time, and it was great seeing a young new pilot out there with his partner having a good time.
Mack
Guess what folks? Yep another record temperature today. Another day with high temp of 105F. Undaunted, Greg, Joel, Scott and his wife, and later a wanna be visitor who will probably join our club were there. Man it was HOT. But so was my Sceadu. We all tore up the sky lemme tell ya. Joel was being a guinea pig for the local LHS, testing his 90 T-Wrecks on new fuel that the LHS was brewing. The deal was that if his engine blew up the LHS would replace it. Sounded like fun so Joel agreed. He might not be so quick if he realized he might totally destroy his aircraft but whatever.
Except for the fact that it was hard to keep flying for a full tank because of the heat, we were grateful for gentle winds to almost calm. Everyone kept their aircraft out of the dirt all afternoon. Scott, who is the new resident newbie flying planks did very well with his trainer and P51 with added lift goobers on the leading edges. I flew the heck out of my Sceadu, feeling completely back in the saddle again. Joel, in a moment of sappyness even said that he regretfully had to admit that my flying had improved significantly!
But Joel left.
Then, it was time for Greg to fly about 4pm. Told him it was his turn so he immediately started up his SDX. I then pointed out to him that he forgot to refuel. Haha. He shut it down and I began refueling, draining my second to last jug of Magnum fuel. As I was switching to my last full jug, the wind suddenly swelled up to 25mph, sustained! I'm not making this up. The thunderstorms began moving in. Greg began unloading his fuel tank as did I. The winds howled and we tucked in our blades as it picked up. Scott started packing in his planks too. The temperature dropped from 105F to 74F. Almost a repeat of yesterday except for the strong winds. Well almost. As I recall, yesterday a microburst almost dashed my Sceadu into little bitty pieces!
But nevermind. We had a ball. I was kinda hoping Greg would go out in the high winds but he wasn't coming out to play. Heh.
Soooo, the end of a great day. We had a great time, and it was great seeing a young new pilot out there with his partner having a good time.
Mack
06-07-2011, 01:42 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Yep The Yellow Aircraft has always been top shelf stuff. We sell a lot of the small fan aircraft by Venom and folks love them with the F16 and F86 as top sellers... Very fast. Have fun Andy.
Mack. the weather here has been perfect with most of the storms passing north/ south of us. Temp about 95-97. wind about 5-10 mph. I can do hot but not cold.
I have an older Rapter in the car I am taking home for a go through and test flight. It looks like a V2 .50. Lots of metal upgrades and ccpm upgrade with JR high dollar 8717 servos in it with a Hyper .50.. The boss ask me if i would mide taking it and test fly it for him? You have to ask??
Jim
Mack. the weather here has been perfect with most of the storms passing north/ south of us. Temp about 95-97. wind about 5-10 mph. I can do hot but not cold.
I have an older Rapter in the car I am taking home for a go through and test flight. It looks like a V2 .50. Lots of metal upgrades and ccpm upgrade with JR high dollar 8717 servos in it with a Hyper .50.. The boss ask me if i would mide taking it and test fly it for him? You have to ask??
Jim
06-07-2011, 02:33 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
ORIGINAL: BarracudaHockey
I uh.....um....bought a jet....
Well a Yellow Aircraft ducted fan F-16 not a turbine. Yanking out the OS 91 and figuring out an electric conversion.
I uh.....um....bought a jet....
Well a Yellow Aircraft ducted fan F-16 not a turbine. Yanking out the OS 91 and figuring out an electric conversion.
Mike
06-08-2011, 05:30 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Donica and Jay,
Welcome back. Glad you enjoyed your honeymoon.
Thank you all for the warm welcomes back. I'm glad to be back.
I've been way to busy with the dreaded W word lately, plus I've had commitments with my railroad club that have kept me pretty busy. Not much flying on my end. I did, however, find a steal of a deal at one of my local hobby shops (we now have 3, but more on that later). I happened to be rummaging through some of the stuff that he has that is generally mostly junk, until a gem shined out at me. A silver and green P-51 foamy. I asked what was wrong with it and how much he wanted for it. His reply, the motor wasn't working and he'd take $20 for it (everything was there including radio, servos, motor, esc, and battery). The foam was in great shape, so I bought it and took it home. Once home, I looked it over to see what could be wrong with the motor. The ESC is an Electrifly that has jumpers on it. I moved the jumper one pin over and she spun up without issue. Sweet, an RTF airplane with all 4 channels for $20. I've had her up once, but she felt way out of balance and out of trim. I got her down without a hitch and now have the CG set correctly, but haven't had a chance to fly her since.
I had an interesting day a week and a half ago while flying my cub. I pulled an operator headspace error and tip stalled her on a tight landing approach. Nosed her right into the ground. [:@] Luckily, the damage wasn't too bad and most of it is repaired. She should be back in the air this weekend if the winds aren't too high.
I got my new tail boom and frame (I CA'd the old tail boom back together using some plastic strips for support and pretty much ruined the frame, but it flew while I was waiting on a new boom, so it was worth it) for my mCP X. Went to swap everything over, and broke a pin off of the motor wire while plugging it back into the board. She's still sitting in front of me in pieces. I will have her flying this weekend though, even if it's just hovering in the house.
Speaking of repairs, IDK if I ever mentioned that I had "lost" a PZ micro Sukhoi in the woods behind my house or not, but while I was in RC "hibernation", my neighbor came by with it in his hands saying that his daughter had found it in the woods while she was playing (it was high up in a tree that no one could reach when it was "lost") and wanted to give it back to me. Awesome neighbor. To my surprise, after several months of dealing with the rain and weather, the electronics still work well. A new set of tail feathers and she was back in the air.
Now on to the 3rd LHS. About a week ago, a new Hobby Town USA location opened next to my closest Wal Mart. My first thought when they opened up was that this area won't be able to support 3 hobby shops, though they are spread out by a minimum of 10 miles between the closest 2 and Hobby Town determines profitability of the area before they allow a new store to open up (I had looked into what it would take to open a Hobby Town at one point, just as an idea for the future). However, it seems as though my fears are not true, as the owner seems very open to working with the other 2 hobby shops in the area and most of his customers are walk in customers that have never been to or in some cases even heard of the other 2 hobby shops. He had a nice grand opening ceremony that brought out some electric flight, RC car, and model railroad demos as well as a local radio station. They gave away quite a few hobby related prizes (I didn't win anything, but my buddy won an airplane book). It's a well laid out shop (as are most Hobby Town USA locations that I have been to). My only gripe with them (as is the case with most Hobby Town USA shops) is that they cater to the beginner market stocking mostly RTR and RTF equipment. That's not a real problem because that market will likely be the majority of his customers, and I can get the other stuff elsewhere or have them order it if need be.
Well lady and gents, I've got some stuff to work on and information to find.
Happy flying,
Shannon
Welcome back. Glad you enjoyed your honeymoon.
Thank you all for the warm welcomes back. I'm glad to be back.
I've been way to busy with the dreaded W word lately, plus I've had commitments with my railroad club that have kept me pretty busy. Not much flying on my end. I did, however, find a steal of a deal at one of my local hobby shops (we now have 3, but more on that later). I happened to be rummaging through some of the stuff that he has that is generally mostly junk, until a gem shined out at me. A silver and green P-51 foamy. I asked what was wrong with it and how much he wanted for it. His reply, the motor wasn't working and he'd take $20 for it (everything was there including radio, servos, motor, esc, and battery). The foam was in great shape, so I bought it and took it home. Once home, I looked it over to see what could be wrong with the motor. The ESC is an Electrifly that has jumpers on it. I moved the jumper one pin over and she spun up without issue. Sweet, an RTF airplane with all 4 channels for $20. I've had her up once, but she felt way out of balance and out of trim. I got her down without a hitch and now have the CG set correctly, but haven't had a chance to fly her since.
I had an interesting day a week and a half ago while flying my cub. I pulled an operator headspace error and tip stalled her on a tight landing approach. Nosed her right into the ground. [:@] Luckily, the damage wasn't too bad and most of it is repaired. She should be back in the air this weekend if the winds aren't too high.
I got my new tail boom and frame (I CA'd the old tail boom back together using some plastic strips for support and pretty much ruined the frame, but it flew while I was waiting on a new boom, so it was worth it) for my mCP X. Went to swap everything over, and broke a pin off of the motor wire while plugging it back into the board. She's still sitting in front of me in pieces. I will have her flying this weekend though, even if it's just hovering in the house.
Speaking of repairs, IDK if I ever mentioned that I had "lost" a PZ micro Sukhoi in the woods behind my house or not, but while I was in RC "hibernation", my neighbor came by with it in his hands saying that his daughter had found it in the woods while she was playing (it was high up in a tree that no one could reach when it was "lost") and wanted to give it back to me. Awesome neighbor. To my surprise, after several months of dealing with the rain and weather, the electronics still work well. A new set of tail feathers and she was back in the air.
Now on to the 3rd LHS. About a week ago, a new Hobby Town USA location opened next to my closest Wal Mart. My first thought when they opened up was that this area won't be able to support 3 hobby shops, though they are spread out by a minimum of 10 miles between the closest 2 and Hobby Town determines profitability of the area before they allow a new store to open up (I had looked into what it would take to open a Hobby Town at one point, just as an idea for the future). However, it seems as though my fears are not true, as the owner seems very open to working with the other 2 hobby shops in the area and most of his customers are walk in customers that have never been to or in some cases even heard of the other 2 hobby shops. He had a nice grand opening ceremony that brought out some electric flight, RC car, and model railroad demos as well as a local radio station. They gave away quite a few hobby related prizes (I didn't win anything, but my buddy won an airplane book). It's a well laid out shop (as are most Hobby Town USA locations that I have been to). My only gripe with them (as is the case with most Hobby Town USA shops) is that they cater to the beginner market stocking mostly RTR and RTF equipment. That's not a real problem because that market will likely be the majority of his customers, and I can get the other stuff elsewhere or have them order it if need be.
Well lady and gents, I've got some stuff to work on and information to find.
Happy flying,
Shannon
06-11-2011, 03:14 AM
#4632
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Dart sorry for your bump up.
Most shops do not carry hard core stuff because we can order it and have it in two days rather than sitting on the shelf for over a year. You have to stock what you sell the most and in most cases it is the folks starting off in a hobby.
I had a grand day flying Friday morning. I flew my mcpx and the Yak.. Speaking of the Yak... nice airplane lots of power.
Jim
Most shops do not carry hard core stuff because we can order it and have it in two days rather than sitting on the shelf for over a year. You have to stock what you sell the most and in most cases it is the folks starting off in a hobby.
I had a grand day flying Friday morning. I flew my mcpx and the Yak.. Speaking of the Yak... nice airplane lots of power.
Jim
06-11-2011, 06:42 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Yes folks, it's time for yet another episode of the Rat Club Chronicles! I only do this because of my huge fan club of 1 (Choppy).
Anyway, over the last couple days I have been trying to install and set up a governor on my Sceadu. The radio I'm using is a Spektrum DX7 and AR7000 Rx. I bought a Model Avionics Throttle Jockey Pro, since that was what the other pilots are using at the club. Although simple in concept, it is a bit tedious putting this thing together. For example, you need to glue the magnet into the engine's fan. There's even a hole provided on the Hirobo, so no sweat right? But noooo, there is a polarity issue and no specification as to whether that might be North up or down. Nope. You gotta set up the whole thing and get it working with your Rx so you can wave the sensor over the magnet on either side to see which side is supposed to be up (or down, I guess). So you hook everything up, play with the Tx a bit, then wave the sensor over the magnet. Good, then you can tip the heli over on its head and epoxy the little teeny thing in the hole. No WAIT! As soon as you try to put the magnet on the back of the fan and let it loose, it shoots off and affixes itself to the engine bearing. Haha. Well anyway you get the picture. This goes on and on and the instructions are clear as mud. And the instructions don't match what actually works for the DX7. I can detail that later.
Anyway, today I was off to the Rat Club with my Sceadu needing programming. But, since Ronnie was coming today, and since he is using a DX7 on his SDX with the same governor, I figured I could copy his programming. I did and it worked. So Ronnie and I were sitting out there and along came Alex from Germany. Alex had arrived this morning and was eager to fly his SDX. But wait! Greg has his SDX and Greg wasn't there yet. No problem, Greg came along shortly after that. Meanwhile Ronnie was breaking in a new engine and I was getting used to my governor. Alex had a tachometer "Ap" on his phone so measured my RPM at 1846. No wait, it was 2054. Well never mind. Greg has a real tach, but we never got around to using Greg's tach.
And then along came Quentin, who had to go home to baby sit. He came back to show us his new mSR teensy helicopter and darned if it didn't fly very well in our winds (10-17mph). He then proceeded to fly his T-Wrecks 600, but cut the flight short and announced it was too windy. We all looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and proceeded to fly anyway. We have decided that since it's so windy this year we may as well get used to it and fly anyway. We're getting pretty good a flying in strong winds.
Soooo the rest of the afternoon we flew hard and fast. A new member came by with his family (plank pilot reenergized to restart back into the hobby), and became our audience. They had lots of questions and Greg briefed them. It was hot and windy, 98F. But we all perservered. Alex was still suffering from jet lag, plus hadn't flown since February at our club. I guess the weather in Germany was absolutely rotten (rain, wind, etc.) plus things at work kept him away from his club.
Ah, one more flight for me. Struggled flying into the wind but thought nothing of it. Seemed to me I ought to be doing better than what I saw, but whatever. Parked and took it back to the bench and started cleaning it up, getting ready to go home when I noticed that my seesaw was loose, giving significant play in the stabilizer. Looked closer and found that the 2.6 X 8 capscrew had backed out and disappeared from one side of the seesaw! What was really wierd was that the bearing was still in there!
Looking closer, we extracted the opposing bolt and the bearing came out with it. The bearing was pretty close to seized, so my guess is that the other one was too, and the back and forth motion of the seesaw "walked" the bolt out. Now...this head assembly was one I bought from Ronnie. I noticed that there was no evidence of any Locktite on the threads...doh!
Oh well. I've got an old head here, and if the parts aren't good on it, I'll just replace both bearings and the errant capscrew and washer and be done with it.
Still, it was fun relearning to fly with a governor (didn't take long).
Tomorrow, we'll all be back out there again. I'm getting very close to flying my first loop, so stay tuned!
Mack
PS I'll write more on the DX7 setup for the Model Avionics in due time, if y'all are interested. It involved cooking skills...
Anyway, over the last couple days I have been trying to install and set up a governor on my Sceadu. The radio I'm using is a Spektrum DX7 and AR7000 Rx. I bought a Model Avionics Throttle Jockey Pro, since that was what the other pilots are using at the club. Although simple in concept, it is a bit tedious putting this thing together. For example, you need to glue the magnet into the engine's fan. There's even a hole provided on the Hirobo, so no sweat right? But noooo, there is a polarity issue and no specification as to whether that might be North up or down. Nope. You gotta set up the whole thing and get it working with your Rx so you can wave the sensor over the magnet on either side to see which side is supposed to be up (or down, I guess). So you hook everything up, play with the Tx a bit, then wave the sensor over the magnet. Good, then you can tip the heli over on its head and epoxy the little teeny thing in the hole. No WAIT! As soon as you try to put the magnet on the back of the fan and let it loose, it shoots off and affixes itself to the engine bearing. Haha. Well anyway you get the picture. This goes on and on and the instructions are clear as mud. And the instructions don't match what actually works for the DX7. I can detail that later.
Anyway, today I was off to the Rat Club with my Sceadu needing programming. But, since Ronnie was coming today, and since he is using a DX7 on his SDX with the same governor, I figured I could copy his programming. I did and it worked. So Ronnie and I were sitting out there and along came Alex from Germany. Alex had arrived this morning and was eager to fly his SDX. But wait! Greg has his SDX and Greg wasn't there yet. No problem, Greg came along shortly after that. Meanwhile Ronnie was breaking in a new engine and I was getting used to my governor. Alex had a tachometer "Ap" on his phone so measured my RPM at 1846. No wait, it was 2054. Well never mind. Greg has a real tach, but we never got around to using Greg's tach.
And then along came Quentin, who had to go home to baby sit. He came back to show us his new mSR teensy helicopter and darned if it didn't fly very well in our winds (10-17mph). He then proceeded to fly his T-Wrecks 600, but cut the flight short and announced it was too windy. We all looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and proceeded to fly anyway. We have decided that since it's so windy this year we may as well get used to it and fly anyway. We're getting pretty good a flying in strong winds.
Soooo the rest of the afternoon we flew hard and fast. A new member came by with his family (plank pilot reenergized to restart back into the hobby), and became our audience. They had lots of questions and Greg briefed them. It was hot and windy, 98F. But we all perservered. Alex was still suffering from jet lag, plus hadn't flown since February at our club. I guess the weather in Germany was absolutely rotten (rain, wind, etc.) plus things at work kept him away from his club.
Ah, one more flight for me. Struggled flying into the wind but thought nothing of it. Seemed to me I ought to be doing better than what I saw, but whatever. Parked and took it back to the bench and started cleaning it up, getting ready to go home when I noticed that my seesaw was loose, giving significant play in the stabilizer. Looked closer and found that the 2.6 X 8 capscrew had backed out and disappeared from one side of the seesaw! What was really wierd was that the bearing was still in there!
Looking closer, we extracted the opposing bolt and the bearing came out with it. The bearing was pretty close to seized, so my guess is that the other one was too, and the back and forth motion of the seesaw "walked" the bolt out. Now...this head assembly was one I bought from Ronnie. I noticed that there was no evidence of any Locktite on the threads...doh!
Oh well. I've got an old head here, and if the parts aren't good on it, I'll just replace both bearings and the errant capscrew and washer and be done with it.
Still, it was fun relearning to fly with a governor (didn't take long).
Tomorrow, we'll all be back out there again. I'm getting very close to flying my first loop, so stay tuned!
Mack
PS I'll write more on the DX7 setup for the Model Avionics in due time, if y'all are interested. It involved cooking skills...
06-13-2011, 11:17 AM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Hi everybody,
I'm safely back in Farmerville and just lazing around till I go back to work in Albany. Jay stayed on in Nebraska to continue helping with the flood. It's not looking very good there. I took the truck and trailer and left him the Harley. He has his car there too. Right now the plan is he'll ride the Harley back out here when he's done in Nebraska. He'll get to do some flying with Ames to survey flood damage and work out on the levees where needed. I have all the small helis with me so he'll be RCless for a while. Not much opportunity to fly them out there anyway.
Nothing much to yak about right now. I hope to fly my 500 some before going back to work. I'll be taking the truck and trailer to Albany so I'll have all the stuff with me there and it'll all be there when Jay comes.
I'm faithfully reading the thread and keeping up.
See y'all later. Please be safe, healthy and happy.
Donica
I'm safely back in Farmerville and just lazing around till I go back to work in Albany. Jay stayed on in Nebraska to continue helping with the flood. It's not looking very good there. I took the truck and trailer and left him the Harley. He has his car there too. Right now the plan is he'll ride the Harley back out here when he's done in Nebraska. He'll get to do some flying with Ames to survey flood damage and work out on the levees where needed. I have all the small helis with me so he'll be RCless for a while. Not much opportunity to fly them out there anyway.
Nothing much to yak about right now. I hope to fly my 500 some before going back to work. I'll be taking the truck and trailer to Albany so I'll have all the stuff with me there and it'll all be there when Jay comes.
I'm faithfully reading the thread and keeping up.
See y'all later. Please be safe, healthy and happy.
Donica
06-13-2011, 07:20 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Donica,
Glad to see you arrived safely. You know Jay will show up soon you got all his helicopters!
Mike,
Right. What WERE you thinking???? I mean...what is THAT? Sheesh. I mean, how do you set up that thing?
All,
More Rat Club Chronicles. Well, yesterday we were all out there again. Richard with his Radical Century gasser, Alex, Greg, Ronnie, Fred (our newest pilot), and me. I arrived right after Ronnie. Ronnie was sitting there by himself looking a little beaten. I soon learned that he was! Apparently he was hovering at the end of his flight when a large dust devil attacked his SDX and litererally threw it to the ground. Took him a while to figure out to power his way out of it. Now when he told me this I thought...weeeell okay. After I had set up my stuff another dust devil swept through shaking up all of our equipment. Hmmm. Okay but no biggee, just a "gust" so to speak. A strong one though. Then as we talked another one swept through that was strong enough to send us both to holding down our aircraft. The wind was strong enough to hurl one of the plastic chairs out into the parking lot!
OK I was convinced: I put my Sceadu back into the back of the truck and closed the lid.
Soon after that, Alex and Greg showed up. Things settled down again until Richard showed up and we saw another thermal (dust devil) roar through the area on the East side of the field. You could see it having its way with the trees. After that, we weren't bothered again.
Everyone began flying, but I was concerned with my Sceadu. I needed to check out it's ability to fly upside down and do aerobatics. I started looking at pitch and found it was +9/-4 in Norm, and not much better in ST1/2. Got Alex's view on it and we started fiddling. Soon we decided we didn't know what to do, since Aileron wasn't right either. Consulted with our Master Pilot, Greg and he was hooked. Long story short we adjusted a lot of things (control rods, end points, and sub trim) to finally get her back into top flying condition. The afternoon ended for me with Greg flipping the Sceadu upside down and hovering and saying (while hovering upside down) that it "practically hovered hands free". Good enough for me. I flew it around a bit (another pilot was on the active so I couldn't go to far on the apron assigned to me) and it felt really really good. Didn't realize I was flying so far out of shape, but then I've learned to adjust...
Put my Sceadu in the truck and went home.
TODAY
Went back out expecting a number of pilots, only to find Greg. No others showed up. Just Greg and I. Suited me fine as I was anxious to try out my new setup. The governor was working fine and I was ready to tear up the skies.
Winds were manageable 8-17mph. Greg flew his usual routine. Then I went out and started tearing up the skies. I flew the tail off the Sceadu, making tight "pylon turns". Rotor blades were buzzing. It looked good and it felt good. Came in on a nice looking approach and hovered. Tank was nearing empty and I decided it was time. There are three maneuvers I have been preparing for: roll to inverted hover, roll in forward flight, and loop. I brought her up to a hover fairly high off the ground. Paused. Then rolled to inverted and hovered for a few seconds. Held her steady then rolled back over. Flew off and circled tightly back in and hovered back into the pits and landed with about 1/8 of a tank left.
Greg was pleased (after all he's been teaching me all this stuff). He said most people start with a loop or roll, not the inverted hover. I told him I thought the inverted hover was the simplest one to start with, based on my experiences with the simulator. Haha. Whatever, I'm pumped. It was a great feeling to move to new stuff, and it went well.
But oh my it was so hot out there. We flew a few more times, and I could see that Greg was almost panting after his second flight. 98F out there. No he was panting, almost out of breath from just flying. This was not good. Didn't take much encouragement from me to call it a day. After all we had a good time, and no sense having Greg pass out while flying, right?
Tomorrow will not be a flying day for me, but Greg and I will be going up to his friend's business to pick up a palette of Magnum 30 we ordered for everyone. It will involve Mexican food for lunch so should be fun.
Sure is quiet in here. Everyone must be either working (bad) or playing outdoors and away from their computers!
Be safe,
Mack
Glad to see you arrived safely. You know Jay will show up soon you got all his helicopters!
Mike,
Right. What WERE you thinking???? I mean...what is THAT? Sheesh. I mean, how do you set up that thing?
All,
More Rat Club Chronicles. Well, yesterday we were all out there again. Richard with his Radical Century gasser, Alex, Greg, Ronnie, Fred (our newest pilot), and me. I arrived right after Ronnie. Ronnie was sitting there by himself looking a little beaten. I soon learned that he was! Apparently he was hovering at the end of his flight when a large dust devil attacked his SDX and litererally threw it to the ground. Took him a while to figure out to power his way out of it. Now when he told me this I thought...weeeell okay. After I had set up my stuff another dust devil swept through shaking up all of our equipment. Hmmm. Okay but no biggee, just a "gust" so to speak. A strong one though. Then as we talked another one swept through that was strong enough to send us both to holding down our aircraft. The wind was strong enough to hurl one of the plastic chairs out into the parking lot!
OK I was convinced: I put my Sceadu back into the back of the truck and closed the lid.
Soon after that, Alex and Greg showed up. Things settled down again until Richard showed up and we saw another thermal (dust devil) roar through the area on the East side of the field. You could see it having its way with the trees. After that, we weren't bothered again.
Everyone began flying, but I was concerned with my Sceadu. I needed to check out it's ability to fly upside down and do aerobatics. I started looking at pitch and found it was +9/-4 in Norm, and not much better in ST1/2. Got Alex's view on it and we started fiddling. Soon we decided we didn't know what to do, since Aileron wasn't right either. Consulted with our Master Pilot, Greg and he was hooked. Long story short we adjusted a lot of things (control rods, end points, and sub trim) to finally get her back into top flying condition. The afternoon ended for me with Greg flipping the Sceadu upside down and hovering and saying (while hovering upside down) that it "practically hovered hands free". Good enough for me. I flew it around a bit (another pilot was on the active so I couldn't go to far on the apron assigned to me) and it felt really really good. Didn't realize I was flying so far out of shape, but then I've learned to adjust...
Put my Sceadu in the truck and went home.
TODAY
Went back out expecting a number of pilots, only to find Greg. No others showed up. Just Greg and I. Suited me fine as I was anxious to try out my new setup. The governor was working fine and I was ready to tear up the skies.
Winds were manageable 8-17mph. Greg flew his usual routine. Then I went out and started tearing up the skies. I flew the tail off the Sceadu, making tight "pylon turns". Rotor blades were buzzing. It looked good and it felt good. Came in on a nice looking approach and hovered. Tank was nearing empty and I decided it was time. There are three maneuvers I have been preparing for: roll to inverted hover, roll in forward flight, and loop. I brought her up to a hover fairly high off the ground. Paused. Then rolled to inverted and hovered for a few seconds. Held her steady then rolled back over. Flew off and circled tightly back in and hovered back into the pits and landed with about 1/8 of a tank left.
Greg was pleased (after all he's been teaching me all this stuff). He said most people start with a loop or roll, not the inverted hover. I told him I thought the inverted hover was the simplest one to start with, based on my experiences with the simulator. Haha. Whatever, I'm pumped. It was a great feeling to move to new stuff, and it went well.
But oh my it was so hot out there. We flew a few more times, and I could see that Greg was almost panting after his second flight. 98F out there. No he was panting, almost out of breath from just flying. This was not good. Didn't take much encouragement from me to call it a day. After all we had a good time, and no sense having Greg pass out while flying, right?
Tomorrow will not be a flying day for me, but Greg and I will be going up to his friend's business to pick up a palette of Magnum 30 we ordered for everyone. It will involve Mexican food for lunch so should be fun.
Sure is quiet in here. Everyone must be either working (bad) or playing outdoors and away from their computers!
Be safe,
Mack
06-14-2011, 03:39 AM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
"Right. What WERE you thinking???? I mean...what is THAT? Sheesh. I mean, how do you set up that thing? "
The guy that builds them is a "geek" ( I mean that in a good way). Not only does he design these things, he cuts the parts on a CNC in his garage, solders up the boards and makes some sort of stabilization units out of WII controllers. He sells kits and build up ones and does fairly well with them . Not only that he's our resident computer repair guy, club webmaster he's a good freind and building partner. Now who doesn't need a freind like that? He flies heli's also but has this thing about designing stuff like the Quads and Tri copters. I wanted to learn a bit about them so I worked with him on this one. Programing is done though computer software actually very cool,although I have no clue how it works. It flies like a heli but doesn't. That sounds like a smart statement huh ? Enough screwing around I have a Seahawk to build. It's been 102 here with the winds still hovering at 20+. Sunday morning I actually got out early flew the Seahawk mechanics and put a couple of packs though one of my EDF's. The night flying has been great though.
Mike
The guy that builds them is a "geek" ( I mean that in a good way). Not only does he design these things, he cuts the parts on a CNC in his garage, solders up the boards and makes some sort of stabilization units out of WII controllers. He sells kits and build up ones and does fairly well with them . Not only that he's our resident computer repair guy, club webmaster he's a good freind and building partner. Now who doesn't need a freind like that? He flies heli's also but has this thing about designing stuff like the Quads and Tri copters. I wanted to learn a bit about them so I worked with him on this one. Programing is done though computer software actually very cool,although I have no clue how it works. It flies like a heli but doesn't. That sounds like a smart statement huh ? Enough screwing around I have a Seahawk to build. It's been 102 here with the winds still hovering at 20+. Sunday morning I actually got out early flew the Seahawk mechanics and put a couple of packs though one of my EDF's. The night flying has been great though.
Mike
06-14-2011, 01:03 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Hey everybody.. Sorry for not being here as much. I have repaired or built and tested at least 10 helis last week and this is the first night I have nothing in the shop.... Word of advice to everyone...Learn to fix your own!!! I had a B400 that was a basket case and I started to just tell him to buy another. Most of the damage was do with him trying to repair it..Lots of missing parts such as main bearings and thrust bearings,,,no dampers! and he tried to fly it. It is a wonder it did not explode on him. Cost him 150 buck in labor!! 60 bucks in parts.
If you don't know how... ASK and I will Help you fix it...
I have had a lot of flying lately but not anything I own.
Mack Con Grasious on you acrobatics!!!
Mike them is cool...
Donica, I hope Jay gets home soon.
Jim
If you don't know how... ASK and I will Help you fix it...
I have had a lot of flying lately but not anything I own.
Mack Con Grasious on you acrobatics!!!
Mike them is cool...
Donica, I hope Jay gets home soon.
Jim
06-14-2011, 06:36 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Mike,
Our weather is looking more and more alike. 102 here today when I was mowing what is left of our parched lawn. I actually know what you were thinking: FUN! That quad ought to be real interesting to fly around. Makes me think of the Terminator...
Jim,
I agree with you. Fixing and building is part of the hobby. The more you learn, the better off you are. Greg helps us with ours but WE have to do the work unless/until we are clearly not getting it then he intervenes. Final setup and tuning is the toughest for this greenhorn, so that's where I still need help. Mainly because you have to have the flying skills to thoroughly check it out and make final adjustments. I've watched him several times and he patiently explains some of what he's doing but it's hard to see the display LCD when he has the transmitter and we're out in the bright sun.
But the work in the trenches is no problem for me, and I thoroughly enjoy learning how to build and rebuild. Oh yeah I still make misteaks. Usually someone helps me find them before spooling up. We've got a great bunch of pilots and everyone is quick to drop what they're doing and help out where they can. And for the most part everyone knows the limits of their skill. Most of the time.
All,
Went with Greg today to his friend's warehouse (Jeff) where our shipment of fuel was delivered. 16 cases of Magnum 30. We went to lunch with Jeff and he reminisced of the days when he was flying RC helicopters. Because of the economy he had to lay of a dozen employees and do the work of three people to keep his business afloat. No time for fun for him. The fuel comes out to $72/case (5 gallons/case in four 1-1/4 gallon jugs). As best Greg can tell, performance of Magnum 30 is pretty close to off the shelf nitro. Of course I couldn't tell because it's all I've ever used. We didn't fly today, since I had to mow de grass, and frankly Greg looked like he needed to stay indoors and stay cool for a change.
Winds are up again still windy now and it's 9:30pm! Looks like it will continue to be windy for the remainder of the week, getting up to the 15-20mph range. Oh well, just have to get used to it I guess. I recall Cuda saying it's the way of life in Jacksonville, so I guess I should stop whining and get on with it. Actually, I have. I just go with it and take it into account. Kinda cool when you make an aggressive turn into the wind and your baby takes off like it was shot from a slingshot.
Well tomorrow is another day. I'm sure we'll be out there with Alex trying to do something anything. I think Alex still wants to practice hovering nose in. Good time to do it with this wind. He can stand upwind and hover away. I plan to loop tomorrow. I think.
Mack
Our weather is looking more and more alike. 102 here today when I was mowing what is left of our parched lawn. I actually know what you were thinking: FUN! That quad ought to be real interesting to fly around. Makes me think of the Terminator...
Jim,
I agree with you. Fixing and building is part of the hobby. The more you learn, the better off you are. Greg helps us with ours but WE have to do the work unless/until we are clearly not getting it then he intervenes. Final setup and tuning is the toughest for this greenhorn, so that's where I still need help. Mainly because you have to have the flying skills to thoroughly check it out and make final adjustments. I've watched him several times and he patiently explains some of what he's doing but it's hard to see the display LCD when he has the transmitter and we're out in the bright sun.
But the work in the trenches is no problem for me, and I thoroughly enjoy learning how to build and rebuild. Oh yeah I still make misteaks. Usually someone helps me find them before spooling up. We've got a great bunch of pilots and everyone is quick to drop what they're doing and help out where they can. And for the most part everyone knows the limits of their skill. Most of the time.
All,
Went with Greg today to his friend's warehouse (Jeff) where our shipment of fuel was delivered. 16 cases of Magnum 30. We went to lunch with Jeff and he reminisced of the days when he was flying RC helicopters. Because of the economy he had to lay of a dozen employees and do the work of three people to keep his business afloat. No time for fun for him. The fuel comes out to $72/case (5 gallons/case in four 1-1/4 gallon jugs). As best Greg can tell, performance of Magnum 30 is pretty close to off the shelf nitro. Of course I couldn't tell because it's all I've ever used. We didn't fly today, since I had to mow de grass, and frankly Greg looked like he needed to stay indoors and stay cool for a change.
Winds are up again still windy now and it's 9:30pm! Looks like it will continue to be windy for the remainder of the week, getting up to the 15-20mph range. Oh well, just have to get used to it I guess. I recall Cuda saying it's the way of life in Jacksonville, so I guess I should stop whining and get on with it. Actually, I have. I just go with it and take it into account. Kinda cool when you make an aggressive turn into the wind and your baby takes off like it was shot from a slingshot.
Well tomorrow is another day. I'm sure we'll be out there with Alex trying to do something anything. I think Alex still wants to practice hovering nose in. Good time to do it with this wind. He can stand upwind and hover away. I plan to loop tomorrow. I think.
Mack
06-14-2011, 09:24 PM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
I was reminded of an incedent a while back after posting some pictures on this thread. Some folks have to cause trouble and make our friends and loved ones feel uncomfortable with nasty e-mails. We need to be careful and mindful of what we ask others to post and anything personal as pictures is just that ....personal.
Jim
Jim
06-15-2011, 06:38 AM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Congratulations on the progression Mack! Ever forward...
Jim: As is evident within some of my typically mundane posts, I love to tweak, tinker, mod, improve and even repair helis and mostly anything for that matter. I'd kill for a gig that involves heli work and I be fine if every case was a basket case! You are a lucky man.
Chuck
Jim: As is evident within some of my typically mundane posts, I love to tweak, tinker, mod, improve and even repair helis and mostly anything for that matter. I'd kill for a gig that involves heli work and I be fine if every case was a basket case! You are a lucky man.
Chuck
06-15-2011, 08:34 AM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
OK this is weird. Got a notification that JD posted a message here, but it's not here. Hmmm.
Here's what it said:
Subscription: RE: Heli stuff and fellowship - by dooleyje | RC Helicopter Beginners Forum
dooleyje at 6/15/2011 3:24 PM
RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
The message can be located at:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10574734
...but it's not in here! At least I can't see it.
Mack
Here's what it said:
Subscription: RE: Heli stuff and fellowship - by dooleyje | RC Helicopter Beginners Forum
dooleyje at 6/15/2011 3:24 PM
RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
The message can be located at:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10574734
...but it's not in here! At least I can't see it.
Mack
06-16-2011, 10:02 AM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Hi y'all,
Just a short note to check in. I'm safely back in Albany as of yesterday mornin' and back to work. Rolled into Henrys place at around 5 AM yesterday, caught two hours sleep and headed to work. Had to be there at 9 AM. I'm feelin' fine and am back in the 'groove' of work. Jay'll be headin' this way tomorrow and will be here soon. I brought the truck and trailer with all the heli toys aboard so we'll have our flyin' stuff all here to play with.
Lunch is over so I gotta get back to work for now.
Talk with ya later,
Donica
Just a short note to check in. I'm safely back in Albany as of yesterday mornin' and back to work. Rolled into Henrys place at around 5 AM yesterday, caught two hours sleep and headed to work. Had to be there at 9 AM. I'm feelin' fine and am back in the 'groove' of work. Jay'll be headin' this way tomorrow and will be here soon. I brought the truck and trailer with all the heli toys aboard so we'll have our flyin' stuff all here to play with.
Lunch is over so I gotta get back to work for now.
Talk with ya later,
Donica
06-17-2011, 05:08 AM
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RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
G-mor-nun heli flitters. I am off from the store today but I have to spend time in the shop building a new Christen Eagle biplane for the store to show at our fly-in 25 June. There are a lot of new products coming and Trex has a new 600 E. Speaking of 600, I am now the owner of a almost new Trex600ESP airframe, 2 canopies, 2 bec's and Scorpion motor. Would you give $250 bucks for it? You darn toot-un I did. Sometimes you get a deal you can't refuse.
Some good news and I am looking forward to it... Karl is driving down Monday for a visit. He is on a road trip and is passing through. I will see if he can handle the Mcpx.
Off to the shop,
Jim
Some good news and I am looking forward to it...
Karl is driving down Monday for a visit. He is on a road trip and is passing through. I will see if he can handle the Mcpx.Off to the shop,
Jim