Just wanted to thank everyone on this forum for all the great advice and tips I've picked up the last several months. I got my Corona for Christmas and have been waiting for a decent day to try her out [&o] With the temps in the mid 40's and no wind, yesterday seemed like just the day. I can't say enough good things about the Corona. Easy to build, setup and fly ! I only got one flight as my new Astro Flight 20 gave up on me [&o]. I sure hope Astro Flight has good service. Very little trim was needed to achieve a stable hover. Just a bit of right tail rotor trim and a bit of forward cyclic. The flight consisted of short hops and some hovering and lasted about 12 minutes overall. But boy what a fun 12 minutes it was Anyway here are a few shots my wife took [8D]


What a great forum this is ! Don't know what I would have done without it []

Woofer

Congrats on the hover/hops. These things are a blast aren't they? Great pictures.
Mark

GOOD GOIN', ROTORWING!!

Isn't it a rush when you finally get up off the ground for the first time, even if for only a few seconds??

I agree with you on how marvelous these forums are. I see you did a good deal of "investigating", as you have a nice setup there, and "all the right stuff". Nice layout, too, and looks to be balanced nicely.

I wonder if you really have motor trouble, or maybe a bad ESC?? There isn't a whole lot to go wrong in a brushless motor, although, as with anything new, anything's possible I suppose.

Good luck on finding the problem, and once again, CONGRATULATIONS!

Russ

Congrads ! Don't it feel Goood

Mando .

Thanks guys for all the great comments.

Mini Boy: I am pretty sure it is the motor. The motor used to have a click to it when you turned it and I could spin the main rotor pretty easy with the motor mounted. Now the main rotor is very hard to turn. I removed the motor and the click is gone and the shaft is very hard to turn.
Also it looks like the shaft has dropped down some how, maybe by about .25 inch. I can not see the shaft end on the motor top. Can not remember if I could before or not. When I switched out the battery pack for the second flight, the main rotor would not spin up. Even at full throttle it would not lift off. Anyone have experience with the Astro 20 for the Corona ????

And yes I am addicted to this It's the second most fun thing I've ever done [X(]
Can't wait to get the motor fixed and start flying again.

RotorWing......

Hi Rotorwing:

Yea .. it sounds like a bearing moved, or failed, or sumpthin'! I don't like what you said about the "tick" in the motor. Although I am not familiar with the Astro motors, all brushless motors have nothing that contacts / touches / rubs against the stator or rotor. With the exception of the bearings, and most are ball raced bearings. My best guess (and it IS a guess) is that there was a defective ball bearing with a nick in a ball or a race, that failed during the first flight.

hope you get it repaired replaced soon,

Russ

I have heard of Astro20s throwing magnets and overheating in coronas. I remember a review in Ezone where the guys A20 failed also.

So Rotorwing ......

How you makin' out, dude ??

Any assistance from Astro Flite???

Russ []

Hi Russ,

Got through to them on Tuesday (2-17-2004) and they said write them a letter explaining what happend and send it back. I asked her what the warranty period was and she couldn't even tell me [X(]. Said they would have to determine if it had been crashed or not. Not a good sign[>:]
I don't want to make quick judgments but I'm not getting a warm fuzzy feeling [&o]

Anyway I sent it priority mail on Tuesday. Should get there today (Friday) or Monday.
I did ask them to email me and let me know what's going on so we will see how good their customer service is [sm=confused.gif].

The motor was only flown once and definitly not crashed They better not tell me they won't fix or replace it or there will be xxxx to pay [>:]

I hope this isn't one of those $100 lessons in life you learn [&o]

If it is, I guess I will go with the Mega 16/15/3 motor. HobbyLobby in Nashville Tn. has them in stock, so I guess I could get one in a day or two (I live in upper East Tn.)

I would think my Phonix 35 ESC would be ok with this motor [sm=confused.gif]
If I went with the Hacker, would I need to upgrade my ESC and or batteries ?
I am using Sanyo HRS2600 Nimh packs now. I sure don't want to have to spend $300 to $400
more to get back up and flying [sm=eek.gif]

I'll let everyone know how it turns out.....

Thanks for asking

RotorWing

Hi Rotorwing!

Well ..... Astroflight has been around for quite a while, so I certainly don't think their quality can be bad. I can honestly say that I have never read any complaints about their customer service. All manufacturers have issues from time to time, especially if they have to depend on outside vendors.

Although I have never held one in my paw, I think the construction of the Astro looks better than the Megas, but that's just a visual observation. Many have used the Maga series and they seem to work well.

If you were to replace the Astro, I don't know if I'd go crazy with a Hacker ... almost $200.00 (fabulously smooth and quiet motor, though). I think a Mega would be fine. Anyway, my hunch is that Astro is gonna replace that motor, and you won't have to worry about it.

In any case, below is a link to the FXAeromodels site, and the Phoenix CC-35 is listed for the Mega that fits the Corona, along with some other motors. I think it would work with a Hacker also.

http://www.fxaeromodels.com/Motors/escs.htm

The HRSC-2600 packs you are using are fine, and will work with any of the motors we are discussing. Those are the packs I run with my Hacker C-40-12 ... 10 to 11 minute flights. No need to change them.

Phone .... Gotta Run,

Russ

A Ph 35 controller works well with a 16/15/3. In fact if anything its overkill, a Ph 25 does the job happily in my LMH. The current capability of the Mega is 30A max.

Mossie:

Thanks for the info.

What flight times are you getting with the Mega / LiPo's?

Russ

keep the info coming. I want to buy a brushless setup for my corona and this is great info.

Just a quick update on my Astroflight quest. I did receive the motor back today and all seems to be well so far. I haven't had a chance to fly it yet as the weather here is really bad, high today was only 32 and windy [:'(] I talked to their phone person on the 27th of Feb. She checked on my return and informed me they had replaced the rotor and it should go out that day. She said they had gotten a batch of bad rotors in [X(] and there would be no charge. So round trip there and back was 4 weeks [] and wouldn't you know it last week we had beautiful weather, almost reached 75 and no wind [8D]. Anyway I'll post back when I get a chance to fly again and let everyone know the outcome

RotorWing out !

Hi Rotor:

Glad that Astroflite came through for you, although it certainly wasn't an overnite affair. Hope the weather improves for you and you can get some flight time in soon.

Happy and SAFE flying ,

Russ

Thanks Russ,

I was able to sneak away from work today a little early and had two flights (well almost flights) this afternoon. Mostly hover a few seconds, land, hover a few seconds land, you get the picture . The AstroFlight is performing again as expected, yea
The first battery lasted almost 24 minuets, but I was on the ground a lot more than in the air. The second battery lasted 18 minuets so I must be getting better[>:] Boy it sure is hard to hover in a driveway thats only 8 feet wide. Anyway I had a blast, just wish I had more time before it got dark. Come on daylight savings time

Rotor out !

Hi Rotor!

Glad that Astroflight came through for you, and glad you're back in the "groove"!

Can you get a little early A. M. flight time into your busy schedule??

Nice and calm in the morning (usually), and daybreak on the East Coast is now occurring at 5:30 A. M. or so ...?!?!!?

Just a thought.

And ... do you feel that the machine is trimmed O.K. ?? Yes, it IS tough to hover in an 8ft. wide driveway .. do you feel comfortable with the machine, or is it getting the best of you ... or do you think you just need more time on it (my best guess!). I have to tell you, that my best day was when I could fly through a whole pack (10 - 11 min.) without touching down. BUT ... that was indoors .... no wind, no observers, no intrusions, no abstractions, etc.

Happy and SAFE hovers / flights,

Russ

I wonder what the wife would do if I poked her in the morning around 4:00 am and said "Honey, it's time to get up and fix me breakfast" [X(] "I've got to go flying [&:]"

Don't think I want to go there[]

Great idea though, maybe on the weekend

Rotor out [8D]

Rotor:

O.K., bad idea!

Russ[]

It seems to be trimmed ok. I need to adjust the gain on the gyro a little as the tail was hunting on me a little this evening. Does this mean it is too sensitive ??? Do I need to decrease the gain ??? Since this was only my second and third flight I felt pretty good about them. Sometimes the Corona had control and sometimes I had control. I think I just need more time [sm=thumbup.gif]. I feel pretty comfortable with it. At least I didn't crash it yet. On the last flight I had two or three hovers that lasted about 30 or 40 seconds in pretty much the same place. Boy were my fingers busy [X(] A couple of times I was able to back it up toward me when it got to far away. I think it's just going to take a lot of practice ! Any tips or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated

Rotor out[8D]

Rotor:

How windy / breezy were the weather conditions?

Was the tail really "hunting", or getting blown around by the breezes?

Based on your not crashing yet, and your feeling pretty comfortable with the heli, AND with the degree of difficulty in controlling these confounded things, I'd fathom a guess that you're doing just fine!!!

Russ

Well, I guess I spoke a little too soon about not crashing [&o] Last Saturday (3-13) it was a beautiful day in the mid 60’s, but the wind was above 5 mph. Being the “expert” flyer I was, I thought I should be able to handle a measly 5 mph wind [>:] I did OK for a few minutes, but then the wind decided to take over. My Corona started drifting to the left over my yard and away from the safety of my driveway. What I should have done was land, retrieve it and started over in my driveway again. But no [X(] I wasn’t going to let the wind get the best of me [>:] As I fed in right cyclic to bring it back, the wind gusted again and down I went [] My pride took the most damage of all. Total damage to my Corona was only around $12.00, except for the stripped nylon gears that should have been metal ones in the first place. I had to buy a new tail rotor fin, and tail rotor gearbox. For any potential Corona flyers out there, BUY THE METAL GEAR SERVOS !!!! I thought I would save a few bucks and get the nylon geared servos. It’ll be OK, I’ll never crash, I’ll be real careful ! I only saved $10.00 on the two servos, but two metal gear sets cost me $36.00 at my LHS [X(] Ouch [:'(]

Anyway I think I’ve learned my lesson (I hope) and plan on not taking chances above my skill level. It was a pretty cheap lesson and am grateful the Corona is so rugged. Anyway she’s back and ready to go now and I am just waiting for a “calm” day to have a go at it again.

RotorWing out

Rotor:

Sorry to hear about your mishap, but in this business, it more than likely won't be the last. I wonder if you had a chance to notice if you still have tail "wag"? My Corona is at home so I can't look, but I'm pretty sure the gyro gain is set at 70%. Hunting usually is a result of too much sensitivty.

Russ

Hi Russ,

Yes, actually I did decrease the gain a little and it did seem to help. The GY401 is a little funky to set up. Any gain above 50% puts it in heading hold mode. The Eclipse 7 I have, has a three position switch or flight mode switch, that controls the gain to the gyro when in heli mode. In the hover mode, the gain is set at 75%, at flight mode 1 and 2 I have them both set at 35% bearing in mind anything above 50% puts the gyro into heading hold mode. I really like the Eclipse 7 so far Man do these computer radios sure have a lot of features [X(]
I used to fly nitro planks about 100 years ago and I thought a Kraft 7 channel was the thing I'm taking a "yard" day off from work today (at least that's what I told my wife) I'm hoping the wind will calm down a little so I can take the Corona up again Sure don't want a repeat of my last "wind" experience though

Rotor out[8D]

Rotorwing:

I thought (well actually assumed) you had a Futaba GY-240 gyro, which is what I have, so my settings probably will be different than yours.

Hope you can get some "calm time" to fly. I actually started in a 50 ft. X 50 ft. X 14 ft. high garage here at work, and that certainly made life a lot easier, especially in February and March ('03), when it snowed and blowed and freezed ALL the time.

Happy and SAFE hovering,

Russ