rktboy
Posts: 11
Joined: 1/11/2005
From: , ON, CANADA
Status: offline
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Well, I guess this was technically my second day of flying, but since I only got in about 30 seconds of flight time the first time, I'm calling it my first full day of flying.
After my first experience (and crash) I had to order a replacement TR Gearbox (Went with one of Bret's 'Indestructible' ones which arrived promptly. Thanks Bret!). I also ordered a CF Tail Fin from Matt but it hasn't yet arrived. I went down to the workshop on Saturday to effect repairs. Disassembled what was left of my old TR Gearbox and ran a length of dowel down the Tail Boom to straighten out a slight dent. Reassembled the tail boom and TR assembly (I did want to mention that Bret's gearbox is a really nicely machined piece of hardware. I highly recommend it as a replacement for the stock one). All in all the repairs went very smoothly. In the absence of my new CF Tail Fin, I fabricated one out of some aircraft grade plywood. I also decided to cannibalize a GY401 gyro that was mounted on our Kyosho Caliber 30 for temporary mounting in the Corona. Overkill, perhaps, but I figured I might as well make use of it as the Caliber won't be taking off until I learn how to fly this heli.
Sunday afternoon, my father and I carted the heli over to a local gymnasium. The first flight was a little rough as, during programming the transmitter to operate the sensitivity on the GY401 gyro, I managed to reverse the throttle controls. An excellent lesson for me though. Always do an electronics check before flying! After some quick adjustments and a moment to bend the landing gear back into shape, we were back flying again. This bird flies like a dream. I was, admittedly, a bit nervous for the first couple of minutes, but quickly grew to thoroughly enjoy the experience. By the end of the day, I was able to maneuver the heli in slow squares and even pulled off a couple of flashy looking pirouettes. Also, by the end of the day, I was able to hover the aircraft almost rock steady.
Only a couple of down notes to the day. The first was that I encountered some radio interference that cut out the throttle a couple of times (maybe 3 total all day). No serous damage on any of the crashes (with the exception of, once again, bending the landing gear back into shape  ). The second was that our number of flights throughout the day was limited. We're still waiting on 2 more battery packs to arrive and so, our 7-9 minute flights were interspersed with 45 minute periods of dullness while waiting for our only battery pack to charge. I think we got in 5 or 6 flights in total though.
All told, it was a great day. Great flying and some good laughs. The Corona weathered any of the abuse that it took and came out swinging (or spinning, as the case may be). The only damage was a mark on the Tail Boom from a boom strike, a slight chip on the trailing edge of one of the rotor blades and, of course, a well exercised landing gear. It's so neat to be able to take such a complex piece of machinery out flying and have little to no repairs to make at the end of the day. Thanks Lite Machines!
< Message edited by rktboy -- 3/7/2005 6:26:26 PM >
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Successful first day of flying - Corona - 
