DIJ

Thanks for the advice Rappy, its all welcome. I find side on the worst, but as they say, practice makes perfect.

RappyPilot

I can do most of the basic aerobatics such as loops, rolls, stall turns, while in forward flight and while hovering and I can auto with my eyes closed, but still battle with nose in and side in hover he he he.

Believe me or not, as soon as you are comfortable do forward flight, you will notice that hovering is less forgiving that forward flight.

DIJ

I agree with that one, I find it much easier to maintain orientation while in FF

RappyPilot

Hey DIJ

Just had a look at your clip on Youtube She looks nice, and your flying is not bad at all.... Come one, take off those floats ....

DIJ

Cheers Rappy, and after watching the video a couple of times i can see that I really do need to lose the floats. I guess I just need to take it slow..... Yeah, thats gonna happen.

Oh well, more sim time for me

RappyPilot

When you take them off it will be a bit strange, but before you know it you won't even notice. I used to look at the skids for orientation but for some reason I look at the blades now.

How is your vibration problem going?

DIJ

Still have not tried the 90 since epoxying the spare hole in the fan, will update when I do

I tend to look at the skids to see if the heli is level when side on, and thats where I struggle, as sometimes its hard to see which skid is is closest and so I cant tell which way its leaning. Do people use the skid at all for orientation, or should I learn to focus on the canopy and blades?

elecfly

Canopy blades and tail.

The skids also but not so much as the rest, skids on top = heli upside down...

DIJ

Thanks elecfly, I appreciate all the help

gj1803

he he he, glad I'm not the only one who struggles with the orientation. In forward flight its not too bad, but I do struggle when the heli is maybe 50m + away and is tracking across in front of me. Sometimes I cant tell if the nose is poiting away (at 10 oclock) or towards me ( at 8 oclock). There are 2 ways I solve this: 1. turn the tail so I can see it or 2: the one I like best, but a big steep turn in and power up to climb and sort the orientation from there.

DIJ

Thanks GJ, its nice to know i'n not alone and they are good suggestions

DIJ

Well I finally got the 90 airborne again, and even managed to get a few pictures. Not sure if the vibration has improved, but if it has then it hasn’t improved much. At least I got a couple of flights in before the wind stopped play.
And yes, I have removed the floats for good

Big feet

Hey Rappy,
Well done on the autos, I haven't been on this thread for a while. Great feeling doing your first autos.
I need to get some more stick time with my Titan and do some more but the weather isn't co-operating.
I have been flying my Trex 450 a lot in the colder weather as there is less messing about, just plug in and fly.
So is the 90 ready for flight yet?

RappyPilot

UPDATE!!!!

Today was a glorious day. I finally had the chance to fly my Raptor 90!!!. Had a small glitch where the nut holding the fan on the engine worked its way loose, but after sorting that out. It was time to fly.

I have a 12 Volt starter hooked up to two 7.2 Volt 1900mAh batteries ..... My starter did not last long and then batteries where dead. Damn, that engine has compession.

But finally got her started, obviously had to fiddle with the 2 needles to get a nice idle and throttle transition and thad to fiddle with the pitch and throttle curves to get a nice head and engine speed up for hovering. After that was all tentatively set up I flew her around.

Oh my word. What a stable machine, I made a point of setting up all the links as best I can and it needed 2 clicks of right aeleron and she was trimmed out! It is a monster, punch the throttle up and she shoots away like a rocket. Forward flight is amazing, never knew a heli can fly that fast and solid. It's like a freight train with rotor blades. But the overall experience flying a 90 is mindblowing, it's huge, it's fast, it has loads and loads of power, you cannot but have this amazing feeling of respect for such a beast. She makes my Titan feel like a bus she is so quick and nimble.

I will run through a tanks of fuel this week, get the engine run in and all my curves setup. Can't wait to feel what she flies like when everything has been set up....

Will post some pictures soon.

RappyPilot

Hey Bigfeet

You can say that again, auto's are really a LOT of fun. Love flying around like a hooligan and ending my flight with an auto he he he Seems to impress people...

Makes flying a bit more relaxing knowing that you can bring a heli down in the event of an engine failure.

DIJ

I had a feeling you wouldn't be dissapointed Rappy [)]
I was also impressed with the shear power the thing has, not to mention how stable it is. I had to buy a Dynatron starter as my TT one just wouldn't turn at all.

Big feet

Hi,
Yeah, those Dynatron starters are the business. My mate has a big biplane with a 45cc up front. My Dynatron running on 24v is the only thing that will swing it fast enough to start.

Well done Rappy, she sounds amazing. I was looking at a 90 Rappy for sale eariler tonight and trying to talk myself out of it. I have three nitro helis and a trex450 as it is. But after reading your post, AAAgggghhh, the temptation. It is a really nice looking bird too, custom paint job.

Post pics Rappy. Post, post.
In fact, a video would be better.

RappyPilot

Hey

Ha ha ha, It's tempting hey I am not disappointed. Now that my 90 is flying, my 50 is getting a Thunder Tiger MD-530 fuselage (The one with the rocket pods, going to start building today)

But don't worry, pitures and a video coming soon.

One thing, I must say DIJ, she does not vibrate at all... So my guess is that it might be your governor that's off balance, why not try flying without it for a while and see if it makes a difference.

DIJ

Rappy, do you mean the magnet for the governor, as I have filled in the other hole on the fan?

Big feet

DIJ,
Pull the whole head as a unit (if you have a spare main shaft you can just take the upper head off) and check the ballance on a ballancer, you may find that while the blades are spot on, the flybar may be out and a couple of wheel collets can be used to get the ballance right. You need a top ballancer like the DU BRO one, but it may sort out your problem. You can also check the ballance of your fan too, but I have never done this.

May help.

Big feet

Rappy,
That MD-530 is a nice looking heli. Hope that goes well for you.
I test flew my first scale heli today, a 30 size 222. I found it on Ebay a couple of months ago, professionally built and setup, and only one hover by the owner. I got it for well under half price, including the boat ticket and 810 miles worth of fuel I spent to go and collect it.
Nothing fancy today, just a low hover as the engine is new and I was afraid of the engine cutting. It was nice to cycle the gear though. My mate got a short video of it, I haven't even watched it yet.

Bad day at our site today for some of the other guys, one twister and two trex 450's went in hard. One Trex is wrote off totally, a loop that went wrong, disorientated pilot and a high speed loop under that hit the runway, splat.

On the up side it was the best weather we have had this year so far, could it be a sign of things to come???

jmbell

My Feedback: (22)

what mufler do guys recommend for the os91sz-h w/pump&reg

RappyPilot

Hey

Don't think wether you have the pumped version or not will make a major difference, I have a Hatori 938 on mine. Very very quiet, and I heard it should give you about 15% more power. That is always welcome when you live 4000 odd feet above sea level.

Bigfeet, it happens, some days everyone flies like loons and you pack up for the day and you realise no one crashed, other days you will have the same guy crash both his heli's ... Because a bug went and sat on his nose ... Twice ...

Well, today is a public holiday here in SA, weather could not be better, batteries charged, can of fuel, going to take my 90 for a few flights today ....

Will report back tonight with some pictures.

DIJ

Thanks for the help Big Feet, but the my vibration occurs as soon as I start up the OS91, which narrows it down to engine, fan and clutch. Unless you can think of anything else that might be causing it?
I dial gauged the clutch during the build, and have now put some epoxy in the second fan hole to counter the governor magnet.

Big feet

DIJ,
Every once in a while I have come across a rogue engine, you know, a Friday engine. My mate had one in a plane that would not run past 1/3rd of a flight before going rich and cutting. Turned out to be the exhaust exit whole in the silencer had not been drilled out to the right diameter. Could you possibly have an engine that is poorly ballanced? You could bench mount it and put a prop on it and run it up. At least it would eliminate the engine as a source of the problem.
While the engine is out you could put the fan on a ballancer and see how that works out with the glue now added. How you check a clutch I have no idea, clueless.
Hope you figure this out, it would bug me. If you sort it out will you post the answer please?