matty_p80

yo Dart boy!

seen ya lots round the houses on the site, good to have yer here!

boo hoo! finally tidied up the garage after making the "Pearson Flyer" for launching ourselves down the snowy hill and thought, 'hmmm, if i shut the garage door with me on the inside i can test out those nice new 150mAh single cells in my mSR!!'

not to be, unfortunately, as when i went to try the longer cells out for size, i found the front spigot that holds the landing gear/battery holder onto the main frame had broken off!!! it's only about 3mm long and i tried to use some loctite gel cyano to no avail![]

what it does mean is that it gave me an excuse to order up the luminous blades, undercarriage and new main frame while i was on that particular web site i thought i'd better get a new pitch gauge (mine broke for the last time a little while ago )

due to the weather i'm still waiting on another order from a company a little closer who offer several delivery options including normal postage through the Royal Mail which i chose to keep the cost down (DOH! [sm=75_75.gif] ) so i haven't received the charger yet to see what it's like but will report back on that as soon as i can (called the LiPro Plus 8 balance charger!!??) also purchased an 'Overlander' 2200, 20C, 11.1V 3S1P LiPo for £17 (GB) , which for here is purty darn good, for the B400 so i'll have another pack ready for when the weather gets nicer!!! let you know how that brand fairs![8D]

s'all fer niay (the Irish will understand that one hee hee )

Matty )}}}}}]@>

mydartswinger

Hey matty,
A bit of a warning on those glow parts. They are quite a bit weaker than the stock parts. I have my mCX upgraded with all of the glow parts. I have problems with the skids in particular. They don't like to be CA'd when they break either. The swashplate guide rod and the balls on the swashplate are also other areas of concern with the glow parts. Granted, I haven't had anything but the skids break from normal flying (the skids will break from storage, maybe even just looking at them wrong , and hard landings, the swashplate parts will break off if mishandled during storage and movement, as well as in a crash other than just a touch). They are very cool though, and I'll be keeping mine on. Just figured I'd give you a heads up in case you haven't heard that yet.

Mail, mail, mail. I guess it's the same wherever you go. Just be glad you don't have to wait 3-6 weeks for parts in the mail [:@]. Kinda gives a new motivation to not crash. At this point, I'd be happy to be back in the States and get my stuff in under a week.

Speaking of mail, my T-Rex 250 just passed through Reno, Nevada yesterday on it's way to Texas. It came from California. Hopefully it'll make delivery in eastern Texas on Monday or Tuesday. Can't wait to get word that it made it (I'm sending it to my wife, who's staying with my parents for the last couple of months I'm here).

On another note:
I've been doing some thinking about my flying skills lately. I can hover in all upright orientations, but not "locked in". I usually drift a couple of feet (a bit more with my E325). I can do full airplane style patterns with my 50 (stuck at hovering and going a few feet one way, turning around in a hover, and going back with the E325), but I can't do a figure 8 to save my life. The rest is all with the 50. I can do greater than 540 stall turns at both ends of the field, rolls, flips, and ugly loops. I've been thinking that maybe I skipped a few steps in working into forward flight . I guess taking 2 years of hovering got me impatient. Since I can't fly a single rotor heli out here, I should probably hit up the G4.5 hover trainer and take it 1 control at a time until I master it. Once they are all mastered one at a time, add in the others one at a time to it until I can get a "locked in" hover. Then I'm thinking I should work back through slow, tight cirlces in both directions and into figure 8's both directions. Of course, to keep it from getting too boring, mix up a little bit of sport flying in each session. Hopefully I can get all of these upright manuevers mastered on the sim before I get back and can transfer it to the real helis when I do.

Maybe, if I practice enough on the sim, I can start working into backwards circles and backwards figure 8's as well, working into full bacwards patterns and inverted flight. Maybe by the end of the year I can work into some basic 3D and close quarters flying (well, close quarters for me anyway, as I'm used to sticking to a full airplane pattern once out of a hover).

Any thoughts on this? I posted a thread on RR about getting more precise. The response I got was just to practice, practice, practice. I know it's gonna take that, but not quite what I was hoping for. I was hoping for some kind of an exercise to do during practice to aid in getting where I wanna be. Maybe I'm just being too much of a perfectionist looking to have an F3C locked in hover like CY does (I know, he's been flying for over 20 years, and is one of the best ever).

Take 'er easy ladies and gents.

Shannon

cajungirl

Hidee doodles everybody,
It's a day off for me and guess what I did. Yep, you're right[sm=thumbs_up.gif]. I went and blew dust around that big ol' room at the hospital. Ran out all three packs for the 520 and that little thang acted just like it always does. Smooth as silk. Got a little irresponsible on the last pack and ran it lower than I should've. Charged it first when I got back to the hotel though and it cooked right up to perfection, so I must not have hurt it. I promise to get better at payin' attention to flight times y'all. I'm still fightin' one of the 'newbie' syndromes of havin' so much fun I lose track of time. I had the T Rex 450 with me today too and kept lookin' at how much room I had in there and thinkin' "heck, I could do some hoverin' and easy flyin' with the bigger heli". Well, y'all know how that goes. Once you think about flyin' it mushrooms into a have to kinda thing. Got out the 450 and hovered it out in the middle of the space. It was runnin' perfect and beggin' for exercise. I kept it a good three feet from that ten foot ceilin' and moved it around real easy for a bit. On the second pack I got a little braver. Had some good flyin' time in there without any incidents. I think the flyin' in the hangar with Jay got me used to staying away from ceilings and walls. I quit after the second pack on the 450 for the day. Aaaahhhh-felt so good to satisfy my 'jones' some. I plan to fly the 520 in there again tomorrow evening and probably will have a little audience made up of fellow workers. I won't fly the 450 in there with other folks around. Only when it's just me. Don't want to take the chance of something happenin' to somebody else. I'm only ten seconds from the ER though if I get heli bit. Just joshin' there but it's good to know. I had no problem maneuverin' the T Rex around in there and still kept it at least 30 ft. away. Plenty of room for the itty bitty 520 though and it was a ton of fun.

Shadow Sarge,
I can't really offer a lot of advice but for me the simming is what got me flyin' past hoverin'. I simmed for a long time before I ever flew for real. Yeah, some of it gets boring but the 'practice, practice, practice' advice you got has worked for me. I got impatient a lot on the sim and would take off tryin' harder stuff too. Crashed a lot of simulated helis. That, to me is okay though. Push a button and fix 'em and nothin' wrong with bein' adventurous. Then I would go back to basics and make myself work them to the best I could do. Then practice them until I could do them without havin' to hardly think about it. My hoverin' isn't rock steady either as from what I've been told on here isn't true for too many folks. Most everybody drifts in a hover some. After all you're floatin' something on air which moves like a fluid. I never could get my rubber duckie to sit still in the tub either. Same kind thing with air. Sure there are some pros that seem to hover in one spot, but I think they only show the videos when they manage to do that on a nice calm day and after the camera is off they drift like the rest of us. My mentor, partner and fellow flyer (flyachopper1) can hover real good and still has a little drift. Hey Jay, not tryin' to say your drifty now[sm=wink_smile.gif], just your helis. He always tells me to just relax and let it drift a little. Nothing wrong with that. When you try to be too perfect you tense up, concentrate too hard on just one thing and that's when things get difficult. I've found that to be real true. I'm learning to just relax, not expect perfection and fly the dickens outta the helis. Works for me. I still, like all the others here, spend a lot of time simming to stay sharp. Every session I start all over with basics, warm up with those and then get into the flyin'. I can only do sport flyin' at this point. I haven't gotten good enough to do 3D. I'm in no hurry for that though. I really enjoy the realistic look of the long swooping sport moves.

Hay hi Matty,
So sorry to hear of your broken stuff. Sounds like you did 'xactly what we heli heads do though. Turned it into a chance to get something new and work the ol' brain cells figurin' out how to fix things. What kind of sled did you come up with?

Been fun to yikky yak as always. I'm headed out to eat and satisfy my shopping jones a little.

Please be healthy, happy and have all the fun you can.

Love,

Donica

matty_p80

hey ho

Shannon, no i did not know about the strength issues with the g-i-d parts! something to bear in mind certainly! it has annoyed me a tad that i'm having to replace the main frame aswell as the skids haven't got a round spigot but a flat edge on it, making it rather difficult to drill out the bit left inside!!![&o]

Donica, attached a 'Paint' rough drawing (not to scale obviously) of the "Pearson Flyer"!!! the light grey square bits on the top are bits of foam i covered in Duck tape - only the best for my ladies' bums!!! doesn't go quite as fast as i'd like even though i put strips of alyy angle along the bottom of the runners but it was the first attempt so i already am schemeing the new revised version(s)

okay guys gonna make this one short and i'll be sitting by the front door waiting for me bits to arrive tomorrow!!

keep it tight

Matty )}}}}}]@>

flyachopper1

Hello all,
Whew, for a retired guy I sure am working a lot lately. Been out with Ames in the black beauty trying our best to GPS map some preserve land 72 miles east and 23 miles south of No. Platte. Started out to be just a border mapping and has morphed into a complete grid chart of about 4450 sq. miles. The state game and parks have teamed up with the feds to reintroduce elk back into Nebraska on a big scale. This will bring elk hunting back and as a side effect help to feed the mountain lions that have reintroduced themselves on their own. Lots of sightings of big cats in the state the last few years. Anyway, we flew out and did the border chart. Got back in time for Ames wife Debi to tell us the phone had been ringing off the hook at Ames' office. The project has taken on a new scale due to an elderly rancher that owned a huge spread adjacent to the preserve land passing away and willing his property to the project. Almost doubled the size and now the feds require a complete gridding of the area. We flew back out to start that today. It is a two man job to do this so I am sticking it out to help. Not a bad deal. I sell my full scale and then get to work from her anyway. This contract is a big payday for Ames and he is paying me a salary to help. Oh yessss, back to work doing what I always loved for awhile. I am enjoying being the passenger instead of the pilot more than I expected. Kind of relaxing to just run the GPS and cameras and not have to run the stick too. I still itch to fly that beautiful black bird again but am loving just being in her and off the planet again. We are going out every day for about six hours actual flight time with fuel stops in Kearney, NE and another town called Lexington. We leave here at 7AM and get back in the early evening. It looks like the job will take about another 9 days or so to complete.

Got to fly the 500 for about three packs worth yesterday evening before we had to put the black beauty back in the hangar. Still feels real limited flying that big bird inside. The weather here is turning nice rapidly starting today and I hope to get it outside for some real stuff soon. Looks like our Arctic blast is over and we will be going back to upper 40s to lower 50s for awhile. Ooh-yah, maybe a ride on the newly souped Harley is near also. These times are when I realize life is good.

Must go and get some sleep so I can be a good employee tomorrow morning.

Later me friends and thanks for keeping my Cajun Beauty company in my absence.

dooleyje

Hey Dart, You have to set your heli up for fine hovering such as F3C. I used to compete in that. You need some heavy paddles and heavier blades and you slow your cyclic way down. You have the heli perfectly balanced for/aft side to side. I know CY very well and he is not a F3C guy. I have not seen his heli stand in one spot more than a few seconds it takes to hit the idle up switch.
LOL. In F3c we used a couple of idle up modes one for the hovering scedule and 2 for ide up. You will note if you ever see a competition that the helis are super fast in forward flight with the full bodies and other than no wings they look just like an airplane down the runway. The new electric F3C helis sound lioke INDY car screaminmg past,very impressive but different than 3D. That is why I love the Evo so.. Very smooth and precise. Also you need to up grade your servos to some digital precision types. As far as sport flying,, just slow the cyclic down a bit and practise hovering over a spot perficly still and piro in both directions, nose in, each side. Go to AMA and download the F3C scedule and see what skills aree needed. The sim is always a place to start. Program some wind in the sim to simulate field conditions. Remember, the heli must be perfectly setup for what you are trying to do with it. 3D blades tend to be stiffer and lighter than FAI tpye blades. If your heli pitchs up in forward flight you may need to try different paddles and maybe some ballest in the nose or move some stuff around. On a calm day my Evo will hover by it self while I hold the transmitter up in the air not touching the sticks. Your smaller helis need a little bit more work. Yes they are correct practise, practise. I used to burn 5-6 gallons of fuel every week when I competed just for practise... back then the sims were not very good...stick figue type helisLOL so we burn the fuel.

Hello Donica and Jay, I too am a bit busy with 2 jobs and my music scedule. I work at a LHS a couple of days a week to mhelp out. The owner has a health issue and need me to give him a break in the shop. Well you know me, working in a hobby shop????? what terrible dutyLOL. I all ready hang out there anyway. I am a bit burned out with the music scedule and I may take a break from it for a while. Getting harder to receive payment and taking 2 months to get pay.

Matty have fun in the snow.

Jim

mydartswinger

Jim,
I know, CY is more of a 3d guy, but you haven't seen CY's heli hover more than long enough to hit the idle up switch? Understandable though, his heli's usually flipping, rolling, and pirouetting during most of his demo flights. I saw him fly at this year's Southern Rotary Classic in Mt. Pleasant, TX (about a 6 hour or so drive from his home town of College Station, TX). That was an AMAZING flight. I loved watching his autos, but then again, who wouldn't with the way he does them. Blade stops, flips, and sliding into the pits. NICE. Check out [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS6X97tkA]this video[/link] on YouTube of CY doing some F3C.

Thank you for the tips everybody. I'm not looking for an F3C winning hover, though that would be great to get there. I'm just looking for one that'll make the transition from sport flying to 3D a bit easier in the somewhat near future. To give you an idea of where I'm at in hovering, check out my video of me hovering my Shuttle (this was done about a year ago, before I got to forward flight with it). [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXEKpfVv5FA]Here it is.[/link] Fair warning, though, the tuning was a bit off that day (not to mention that it's nothing BUT hovering, so gets kinda boring after a minute or so of me hovering it). That's something I'll be working with before I do to much more with that heli.

Sounds like there's some busy times on ya'lls end. Enjoy them to the fullest. Make you appreciate the down time to fly your helis that much more.

Take care ladies and gents.
Shannon

ShadowFox

Calungirl- AK is fun to shoot and if taken care of can be very acurate. I guess that is a good thing guys down range don't take very good care of theirs. But if you think that one is fun you really gota get behind a 300 win mag, bolt action with a good scope on it. Hitting targets up close is fun to watch but watching em through a scope is even better. My best so far is 975 yards, playing card on a string so it would move around in the wind. THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN. next time you go to the range though take a stack of saltine crackers. at any range when you hit them they explode into a cloud of dust as long as you hit close to center. If you hit anywhere else they just chip off, clay pigeons work well to because you can track and shoot the remainder of what is left after the hit so this works great for follow up shots. What nice now is that I can use my heli with the cam to go down range and check targets instead of walking down there and leaving some one on gaurd. I learned this the hard way. I took off my range vest and hung it on the target board thinking some one would see it and know there was someone down range. It didn't work, i had to call the range house from my cell while I ducked into a ditch to let them know to stop shooting. Now my spoter has to stand there kicking around rocks while I am checking targets. Now I just send the heli out, this ought to work until some punk decides to take pock shots at her. I wonder if any one has perfected model rockets for the helis yet? I know people have played with it but it seemed to be playful or novelty at best. I would love to see the guys face when he takes pock shots at the heli then the heli returns fire.....well I think it would be funny and of course he would think twice about shooting at the heli.

Speaking of my girl I have finally installed the new CNC parts. I have heard guys talking about how ggod CNC is but until I got to handle it I had no idea. The CNC feels lighter (I have not weighed the parts to see) and moves so much more smoothly. As I said in one of my other post the only thing that sucks is that the parts are designed differently. So for some of us on allowance we can't get this part this month and that part next month and just work slowly on the upgrading it seems more like you have to replace the entire assembly at once.

flyachopper1 i see the games are as good in here as anywhere else. I am always good for a joke or so but I do owe you one for the nightpuppy one. I will have to think about it though for some one so high on the ladder it will have to be good.

Well guys have to cut sling load on this as there are fires to put out here at the office. You guys take care and get some solid flight time in. Take care and don't forget that if your are not having fun it just isn't worth getting out of bed.

Mack66

Hey Shannon, I went to the CY video link and it said The URL contained a malformed video ID. Eeeepeeepeeep! Hahaha. Pretty scary!

I also went to your hover video and I'd say you're doing very well in some pretty strong wind/gusts! I wouldn't feel too bad about what you're doing that's about where I am. I'm about to break out into forward flight any time now, cuz I'm getting pretty tired of hovering around and I know I can do in on the sim. At least with a Raptor 60 model on RF 4.5

Anybody know where I can get a Sceadu EVO model for RF 4.5? JD, what do you use?

Mack

cajungirl

Helooo y'all,
Ooooooweeee, got to fly my 450 outside today. So much more fun than indoors. The weather here has mellowed a lot and warmed up too. Went to a park I've been to before here and the ground was clear. I set up and let my 'Jessica' run loose. She flew real smooth and fast. I had one close call when I got a little too close to the ground out about fifty feet. I was bringing the heli out of a hard right turn into level flight. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but lost a lot of altitude real quick. Got it into it's own rotor wash and started losing stability. It was far enough away I couldn't tell how close to the ground it actually was. Thought I was gonna lose it that time. When it started wanting to stick the tail in the dirt I just reacted without thinking (thanks to sim training), gave it some throttle and when it climbed a little I went directly to hard forward. It continued to climb a little and took off forward going to my left. I let it go until it gained about twenty feet of altitude, turned it nose in and flew it back toward me. I have no idea if that's the accepted thing to do but it worked. After that I had to land it and let the ol' heart slow down and the rubbery leg thing abate. Whoosh, I learned a lesson today. Don't try to swoop the ground when the distance is too far to judge height. The only other time I've experienced rotor wash effects is a few times lifting off too slow and it would get a little jumpy on me. Those times though the throttle got me out of trouble. Only flew out three packs total today as it was getting dark and chilly. That was enough to put a smile on my face for the rest of the evening though. Spent two hours inspecting and cleaning the heli tonight after dinner. Had Jay on the phone with me for the inspecting part and he helped me remember everything to check. so far no problems are showing up on that T Rex. If it turns out to be as dependable as Jays it's gonna be a good one.

Hay Sarge,
Now now theah. Don't let Jays teasin' get your dander up. He don't mean anything personal. But, if y'all insist on pushin' out your chests and snappin' your suspenders at each other keep it friendly. I don't know you but I do Jay and if ya get him started he doesn't give up easy. I know it's all for fun, just lettin' you know. Oh yeah, I have shot some of those long guns with my daddy and brothers before. My daddys favorite deer rifle is his 300 Winchester. He uses it for deer, elk and bear. Got one of those scopes on it that has all kinds of settings and can let ya see for a long ways. I'm no sniper but with equipment like that even a little girl like me can hit something a ways off. "Sides, my AK can stick 'em out there a purty good distance. Jay has some fancy shooters too and we've played with them some. He has one rifle that's really cool. It's all black and military lookin'. It's set up with some fancy optics and shoots a real long ways. I don't know the caliber but the ammo looks real big sitting on the bench at the range. It makes a real big noise too. He belongs to a gun club in Nebr. and they have a real nice range out in the hills south of No. Platte. Lots of former military like Jay are members and they bring out some real fancy shooters. It's fun to go out there as they all share and shoot each others stuff. The rules are real strict. There's always one member acting as range officer and if someone is going downrange they tell him and he gives the "range is cold" order over a PA system, walks the shooting line to be sure everyone heard it and then gives permission to go downrange. Everybody is good about cooperating and we use the downtime to visit and admire whatever new toys are there.

Shannon,
Checked out the video links you posted. One didn't work. Said it was malformed. Watched your hovering one. Doesn't look like you do so bad at all. I can't hover that good in the wind yet. I'm practicin' on the sim with some winds programed in and gradually getting better. Nice heli you have there[sm=thumbs_up.gif].

Mr. JD,
I'm so glad to hear 'bout you gettin' paid to hang out at your HS. Cool deal there mistah. Do you take any of your flyin' wonders to work with you? It seems you're feelin' better and that's good news too. How 'bout Deb? Is she better too? Hope so.

Matty matey,
Looks like a nice sled (sledge) you're workin' on there. Bet the lady and sproglet are gonna love it. Glow in the dark stuff on your heli eh? That sounds kinda cool. Wonder if there's paints like that that would work on helis. For some reason when I read about the GID stuff my 'magination saw a heli painted like a ghost. Looked cool in my head.

Oh my, it's late. I need to sleep. Gotta be at work and ready to go by 8:30 AM.

Please be healthy and happy.

Donica

mydartswinger

I don't knokw what happened with the CY video link, I watched it yesterday before I posted the link. Sorry for the bad link, I probably should've checked it twice before posting. If you want to see it, just search on YouTube for Curtis Youngblood F3C. It should be the first result.

Shadow,
Watch out at the range with a heli. I personally know some guys that, if they had their guns and see a heli, WOULD shoot it. I would be kinda leery of taking it where it will be in the line of fire.

Mack,
Have you checked out the Knife Edge Forum Swap Pages? They have all kinds of helicopter and plane models as well as flying fields and color schemes. Check it out [link=http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/downloads.php]here.[/link] Use the Swap's search function to find one. If there happens to be one for G3, G3.5, G4, or G4.5 it should work. Some of the ones for G3 and G3.5 may give some alignment issues and/or violent tail wag, especially on the helis meant to be flown more aggressive.

Donica,
Sounds like you lost orientation for a second and possibly left the roll in from the turn, then recovered in just enough time to save it. Don't worry, it happens to me when I get even my Raptor 50 at a distance. The important thing is no one was hurt and you saved it to fly another day. At least you're out flying. Thanks for the props on my Shuttle. Since I got my Raptor, my Shuttle has slipped to second favorite, though.

Thanks for the props on my hovering. I have improved since then (like I said, that was almost a year ago, and it was a month or so before I started into forward flight). I still feel like I'm a bit drifty though. Just need more practice to refine it, I guess.

Git 'er done.
Shannon

dooleyje

Hay hay hay,, Whats the deal here? Everyone shooting smoke poles and thunder sticks?. I have a Smith and Wesson 30.06, floated barrel, bolt action thunder stick. Ruger red hawk 44mag. I bet I haven't put 2 rounds through either in 3 years. I love to shoot though. I love to go to the range with everyone shooting 9mm,357,380.. pop pop pop pop pop pop pop______ BOOOM and everyone jumps from the concussion of the 44mag.

No flying hee way tooo cold did warm up yeaterday to 32. I even had hot water freezing up and the pump house. You have to "drip" the water to keep it from freezing LOL

Hanging at thr HS and getting paid is pretty cool. I repaired 2 helis and set one up for some customers.

As far as an EVO in the sim.... I simply pick something the same size and adjust the parameters to match what I have.. I use a Xcell Strata and it flies closet to the EVO.


Gottas go to the HS for a few hours so I will hollar later,,

Jim

matty_p80

all right all youse oily I.C. heads!

been doing a bit more fiddling with the Moskito as i have just received the radio power pack! was making sure everything was working radio wise and switched everything i could on the Tx[X(]

when i first turned on the TH was on but as i moved the left stick fwd the throttle servo also moved! now, in my mind, the esc's stop the motor from going electronically but with an I.C. heli the servo should be prevented from moving so as not to engage the clutch!!!??

any feed back (i know i'll get loads) before i try and start the dinosaur would be great

also started stripping the mSR down in preparation for the new bits arriving (think it's going to be delayed again as it's been snowing all evening[]) got to removing the main shaft from the main frame and was soooo scared of tugging on that itty bitty little thing!! when you see the Horizon Hobby vid on Youtube, he makes it look so easy[:@]

well peeps, hope everyone is good, glad some of us are getting some outside air time in

lots of sledging tomorrow, yippee!!!

Matty )}}}}]@>

Mack66

JD

Where did you find the Xcell Strata in RF 4.5?? I don't see it in the main module or any of the add-ons. Not that it's a big deal or anything. Just wanted to see what you were using...

Mack

starcop

Hello Gents, Gals, Just poped in to say hello! Hope the heli fliing is going great. I'm working on a 500 GT from Hobbypartz! What a screaming deal they have on parts and batteries! starcop

Mack66

Now I don't want y'all to get jealous, but I was out flying this afternoon at the North West Houston RC Club. 60 degrees, sunny, maybe 5 mph breeze. Needed a jacket but other than that it was great. There were four of us out there. Two retirees, one in from the North Slope Alaska, and one playing hookey from work.

Leave it to me to cause some excitement. I was checking out the controls before start-up and checked Idle ups to make sure they were'nt set up to go inverted in case I accidentally hit the switch. So everything was good and put the transmitter down. Now I'm not sure how, but the throttle ended up at full rather than idle when I started the Sceadu up. WOW! Nothing like a hot start to get the old heart thumpin! Nothing like having a handfull of very strong rotor blades wanting to tear my hand off while trying to put down the starter motor and find the transmitter/throttle! The boys came running and pulled the fuel line while I found the throttle. Whew. Lucky for me it didn't last for long just a few seconds so we let the clutch cool down and hoped for the best. Didn't overheat the clutch so everything was ok. Well that was special.

Today again I flew without training gear and have begun flying back and forth and circling around me. Yay. Finally decided I was getting too comfortable just hovering in different orientations. Time to get uncomfortable. Things worked out well for me. I'm confident now that I can extend to fly figure 8's soon. To you experts this probably sounds funny, but to me it's a big deal to do this without crashing.

Anyway it was fun and at the end of the day while driving home I was thinking about those of you who are snowbound or cold-bound waiting for better weather. Life...is good. Tomorrow the weather is going to be about the same, so will likely go out again tomorrow afternoon before the thunderstorms roll in. I'll be thinking about y'all. Come on down to the club and fly here! (The weather's fine! Hahaha).

Mack

dooleyje

Hey Matty me buddy... the throttle servo is suppose to move. You do not have a ESC with a nitro machine. Hence and this is also for Mack... ALways use your throtttle hold when you are handling the heli. All my helis electric or nitro have a hold button. I have made a habit of using it when starting, plugging the battery in and or turning off. In a nitro machine your hold will be a throttle position that allows for a good idle. In an electric you set it to OFF. Actually it is the first thing I program on a heli.

Mack: I do not use a G4 I use a Clearview sim. Just as good as the G3/G4 and at 1/4 the price. You can down load models instead of purchasing the packs and I have a couple of Trex450's, Trex500, Trex600, B400, Outrage 450 and about 100 more helis and airplanes. The scenery is actual photo quality and not drawn as the G sims.

Starcop, So good to hear from you how bout popping in from time to time and gicing the lowdown of whats happening in your area. OR stay for a while. We have missed you.

Shannon I would have to agree about the Hirobo helis. In the old days there was not much to choose from and the TT Rapter was not heard of yet and the TT motors were trash at the time. TT has come a long way in helis and became a leader in the 30-50 size helis.They have feel to the way side however due to lack if followinbg the market trends for hot popping 3D helis msuch as the Trex600. Kyosho had the Concept helis and later on the Nexus and have always been fine machines, JR came out with the ERGO .30 and was a really fine heli especially with a .46 motor. But none were as refined as the Shuttle. MRC always gets the kinks out of the machine before marketing and you can be sure of a nice machine with no problems. I am interested in the new .50 and will save for. I do have say the Miniture Aircraft put about the best machine out there. Expensive! Parts are also EXpensive.

Nuff jawing so I am out of here to work in the shop, after I wash the dishes lol

Jim

mydartswinger

Mack,
There is a Miniature Aircraft X-Cell Stratus in one of the RF Expansion Packs (either 1, 2, or 3 that are compatible with G3-G5).

Jim,
I'm not gonna get into an argument over which sim is better. I do agree that the 3D sites on RealFlight still leave quite a bit to be desired on realism. However, RealFlight G3-G5 now have photofields that look better than the blocky "3D" sites and provide better performance on lower end computers to boot. The float flying feature added to G4-G5 is pretty cool, and if you go to a photofield and set the water graphics up, it looks pretty good. Also, Knife Edge Software (developers of Real Flight) have "Swap Pages" on their forum where you can download user created models for free. There are hundreds of models available, plus variants on many models to make even more aircraft. I've never tried Clearview, so I don't know particular differences and, like I side, I'm not trying to say RF is better or Clearview is better.

Git 'er done.
Shannon

Mack66

Thanks for the help. The sim debate is already over: I own Real Flight whether I like it or not. I'd rather spend any more money on the real thing! It works fine, and I'm sure the others do to. Just sorta wanting a model that looks and feels like my Sceadu at least until the day comes that I move to something new!

Mack

Mack66

Jim,

Thanks for the sage advice! The hot start was pretty fun though. Haha. I'll keep simming away with the Raptor 60 'til I located something better it still helps a lot.

Oh, by the way wouldn't it be better to wash the dishes after working in the shop? Then you could get a free hand-cleaning outta the deal!

Mack (heading out to the Club in a couple hours with Tx on Throttle Hold)

dooleyje

Hey I'm a house husband so I will get a whoop-un if I do not do the chores for "She who must be obeyed". I like the Real Flight just fine. All I was saying is that for $39 the Clearveiw is a nice sim for the money. If I had my druthers I would go for the Phonex.( Or how everr you spell i) Better background and better models and not a mem hog as the G4. About $169-179. I have not seen the G5 yet. Oh yes I have., the HS has it loaded and yes it runs a lot better and fastest than the G4 and is Win 7 capable. Still the Phonex looks better,,,,,really But for $39 you can get the Clearveiw, depends on how deep is you pocket. Besides if you change machines alll you have to do is E-mail Steve and he will give you a new Security code. G5 still does not have Trex's, Rapters and the only current popular heli I have seen is the Furion (really nice) Strata ,, no I do not think I have seen it or I have not dug far enough. I guess the down load will have them for the G series. great info about Knife edge,,,, hows bout posting the site address for us. We learn stuff every day!!!

Off to the shop,, house work is done.... really nice day today but I do not have time to head to the field I have to get on the phone at three pm.

Jim

mydartswinger

The Knife Edge Swap Pages are at

[link=http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/downloads.php]http://www.knifeedge.com/forums/downloads.php[/link]

I've downloaded 250, 450, 500, and 600N T-Rexes, a Vibe 50, and many other helis and planes from there. They also have different color schemes for the aircraft (like all of the factory schemes for the original AXE CP) Some models are really good, others not so much, while others still can be tweaked using the aircraft editor to be really good (the Vibe 50 needs "springiness" removed from the skids to keep it from jumping all over the place while on the ground, for example).

cajungirl

Hay theah hopper herders,
Just in from work and settlin' down. Got a nice roast beef dinner ordered and it should be at the door shortly. I haven't done any flyin' today. Work was real busy, stayed a little late and didn't take a lunch. The small group of nursies I'm training here this time are advanced practitioners and that means I get involved in a lot of more intense things than most of my jobs. Lots of surgery room work and the more serious ER cases. Lots of pre-surgery work in the ER and then rushing into surgery to finish the job. I'm enjoying this a lot. I get to apply the schoolin' and training I have behind me and I always learn something new everyday. Me and my group get to work with some of the best doctors in this area and even some that fly in for special cases. Two of my nursies and I got to assist a cardio surgeon this morning doing emergency bypasses on a 40 year old man that came into the ER. He had barely any vitals by the time the EMTs got him to us and it was simply amazing how everyone in the ER sprung into action as a team, got his vitals back to where surgery could be considered. We rushed him into surgery and that surgeon was fascinating to watch. I've been involved in some heart work before, but nothing this intense. The docs got the guy all replumbed and his heart working good. We were in there for 7 hours and I'm real proud of how my nursies performed their parts. We clicked like a fine timepiece. I can now claim that I have actually touched a live beating heart. The surgeon saw me leaning in to take a close look and let me help him hold the heart up about two inches out of the chest so he could do some work on the Aorta. Whew, that gave me a real strange feelin'. I'm quite tired tonight so I'm going to take a break from everything, eat, watch some TV and sleep.

Been readin' all the discussion on here about the sims and enjoyin' it a lot. I don't know anything about most of them. I have the G4 that Jay got me and it's the only one I've ever used. Jay has done all the setting up on it for me so I can't even begin to tell what the settings are. He and I both use the controllers that came with our G4s instead of our Futaba radios. My flyin' isn't advanced enough to need anything but the basic controls. I don't really have any idea how different the graphics are with other sims. The ones on mine are pretty realistic to me. Once I'm flying one of the simmed helis I don't really notice how precise the graphics are anyway. I'm concentrating on the heli. I'm actually a better flyer on the sim than at the field. Some of the stuff I do on the 'puter I haven't translated to reality yet. With time I'll get more to work at the field and I'll know that Futaba TX better.

Looks like the weather is gonna be real nice here on Sunday, my day off. So, I plan to take my 450 out then for sure. I've been taking the 520 to work everyday and if I get time I'll use that big room again. Several of the people at the hospital have been buggin' me to fly for them. Y'all know me, I love an audience.

Talked with Jay just before getting on here. He and Ames are hard at work out there in Nebr. They ran real late today so they're staying over in Grand Island instead of flying back to North Platte. They'll Work out of there tomorrow. Jay seems real pleased to be doin' something productive again. When they're done tomorrow Ames has to take a coupla days away from that job to do some previously scheduled work for some other customers. Jay will take those days off. Looks like the weather in Nebr. is bein' nice too and he says he's gonna get the newly reassembled Harley out for some cruisin'. Now I'm jealous. Wish I could go with him. He plans on takin' the 500 out for some flyin' too. He says to tell y'all 'hello'.

I really gotta go. My dinner is here now and I'm famished.

See y'all later. Please stay healthy, safe and happy

Donica

dooleyje

Dart, nice site for the down loads. I also like the discussion on the various models and feedback.

Donica no we are not slashing any of the current sims just a friendly discussion that MACK STARTED lol. I was simply saying that for 39 bucks the Clearveiw does a nice job. The background is actual photos of several flying sites such ad parks and gyms and flying clubs. I use a G3 controller with mine. The down side of using the Clearview is that it does not have the "see what I have" factor of G5, Phonex or Trex, Furion, CY or in other words bragging rights. Dare to be different. I would rather by good radio eq and gyros and govenors and heli than the 200 bucks for the G5. Good to know about the free downloads though,,, that would make it worth the money. Tell Jay hello. Yum roast Beef.......carrots and taters, green beans home made Biscuits or cornbread and an ICE cold ice tea. Peach cobbler n Ice cream. Yum Yum later a Dos-Xs or 12.

I am almost finished with the EVO just need to hook the throttle up and nail the muffler on. The radio programming from my other EVO is working very well with this one so far. All I did was to match the links and the pitch and cyclic was right on the money. Throttle will be easy also because I always mark the throttle barrel with marks so I will know where the great idle, mid and high throttle position of the arm. I also write down all the link lengths and so forth in case of a mishap. I document all my programing in case I accidently erase the model program. Yes I have done that.
That is one of the first thing I taught Matty when he came to see me. Document, document. The installation manual is a great place to write it all down as you program during set up. I will post pictures when I can find some batteries for the camera.

Later folks,

Jim

Mack66

OK Jim, I'll take the heat for STARTING the sim discussion although really all I wanted to know was if you knew of a Sceadu model for GF 4.5. LOL. I had already downloaded the 600N T-Rex model from Knifeedge. Knifeedge has a Sceadu model but not for GF 4.5, but rather an earlier version (3.5). I'm going to try importing it and see how bad it loads one of these days.

Since I'm retired I get to help around the house. I'm not trusted with much, but did successfully clean the bathrooms the other day that passed inspection. Most times I get the dishes done and stored in approximately the right places.

Well I went out to the club this afternoon and joined my pal Greg, who is my mentor and the club heli expert. He flies an Hirobo SDX. I fly the Sceadu EVO of course that I bought from another friend through Greg. Anyway, it was pretty windy so I continued to practice moving around, keeping the tail in when I lost confidence. Making a box pattern around me or a circular pattern. Almost lost it once the first time out but quickly brought the tail back toward me and straightened it out. What happened was I was working on moving with right side to me and suddenly lost orientation (it was overcast and light fading). Leaned to far away from me and it started going down. Thanks to practising on the sim, I knew how to get out of it by MOVING the heli so I could regain orientation, then lots of collective to get away from the DIRT then reorient the heli with its tail toward me. Once there of course I could then reposition it back where it belonged. To you experts out there this must sound funny, or at least give you flashbacks back to when y'all were just noobs!

But then Greg went out and did all his fancy stuff. He's been working on flying inverted and has that going very well. He's also working on multiple flips while staying stationary. Of all the times to look away, I decided to go open my engine up to check the bearing for corrosion. Just as I was tipping my Sceadu over on the bench I heard a WUMP! Yep. The guru, Greg augured in. Apparently he was working on multiple flips and lost orientation. He was a good distance out there I'd say about 50 yards or more. When I looked up, his SDX was in its last throws and still running. Took him a while to get it shut down but finally got it killed. Damage report: cracked frame, bent tail boom and struts, rotor head plastic parts gone, main shaft bent, spindle bent, CF blades toast, canopy damaged, servo tray broken. Possibly clutch is toast from running too long on the ground. Oh yeah the stabilizer bar was wrapped around the mainshaft like a pretzel, and one of the paddles was torn! My guess is that he'll total the aircraft and build a new kit. He does have another SDX ready to go so it's not like he was grounded. He didn't fly any more today though. And here's the best part it's his 62nd birthday! LOL. His wife told him to get him something he wanted. I guess he'll want a new kit!

Moral to the story is that even after you've flown for 25 years, things still happen when you fly these large eggbeaters!

Best flying advice to me to date is "Stay out of the dirt."

Mack