Hey Nick,

Yep, I used to have a homemade set of bulbs to discharge the NiCads as well...and then we would solder "battery bugs" onto the packs...a little circuit board that put a small constant drain on the pack without totally discharging it, which was a no-no!!

NiCads are a lot more forgiving batteries than our Lipos are. We used to fast charge them in like 20 minutes at like 3 amps or something crazy like that..and you always wanted to "peak" your batteries just before the start of a race, for that extra punch off the line!!

I kinda miss the RC car/truck racing days...had alot of good memories...we had a cool outdoor offroad track behind the LHS, and it had 120 foot straightaway...downhill. We used to get the 1/10 scale gas trucks hauling butt down that straight, and then we had a huge banked right hand berm at the end...go flying around (or sometimes, over LOL) it and hit the next turn...it was a blast.

I guess we're getting a little off topic, but that's OK, it's kinda fun to know where everyone came from, their RC past...

Glenn

Glenn,

I would keep the NiCd's hooked up to the light bulbs until they were almost off then I unplugged the battery very fast.

Have you heard about A123 batteries? They are Li-Ion batteries that you can charge in 15 minutes. I could be wrong on this, but I think you can charges those around 10C's. And they last a lot longer than Lipos. But they are big and heavy for the same capacity.

It sound like you had a lot of fun racing.

Nick

Nick,

Nah, never heard of A123 batts...sounds interesting. I guess they would be too heavy for a heli or plane?

Yeah, the racing was fun, but of course you only remember the good things. It got to the point where people would take it too seriously, and get upset when they lost, crashed, or got accidentally taken out in a race.

I got into the nitro trucks when they first became popular, with the Traxxxas Nitro Hawk. What a piece. It was a good start I guess. Those first nitro engines were so, so, tempremental and hard to get and stay running, it was so frustrating!!

It was a major accomplishment just to get one to idle, much less finish an entire race!!

They eventually got alot better, and I'm sure today's engines are alot better! I would hope so.

So, there were good times...and bad, as with anything, I guess.

Glenn

Evan,

I also have been into the same stuff as you over the years. About 10 years ago, I had a small snake collection, about 14 snakes, all colubrids (king and milk snakes). I even had some success breeding them. Like you said, they can get expensive too. Like feeding them. I used to have to buy like 30 mice a week to feed the snakes. I finally tried breeding mice, and that's terribly smelly!

I went through my MX years too, had a KX 125, CR125, and a CR500. I only really raced one time, scared the hell outta me! I finally gave it up when the 500 put me down pretty hard, and I separated my shoulder (ouch).

So, do you race, or just ride MX bikes? I'll be there are a milliion places in TX to ride, huh?

For me, the dirt bikes were a huge hole to pour money into, they are VERY expensive to maintain!

There are some very cool snakes that are native to Texas, you ever go snake hunting there?

Have fun with the CP, did you get some blades yet?

Glenn

its okay that we are getting off topic thats what i said this thread was for lol because sometimes it gets boring its fun reading and writing about this kinda stuff

Evan,

I agree, it's cool to know what else people have done, or are interested in doing.

The same old heli problems do get boring sometimes, I agree.

Hopefully, more people will join in soon...

Glenn

I guess they are perfect for bigger airplanes and helicopters, but don't fit to well in a 450 sized helicopter.

Nick

hey glenn yeah i have a ball python, bearded dragon. kenyan sand boa, ruff scale sand boa, and a leopard gecko. i have a kx100 and i just sold my xr100 no i havnt raced yet but i ride at the track (three palms) and no new blades yet my parents wont take me

Nick,

Somewhere around here I have a promotional video that I got from GMP, the company that was linked to Hirobo back when I had my first nitro heli. (my GMP Cobra had many Hirobo parts)

At the end of the video, they had a little part on this experimental 1/5 scale Hind D heli that they built for the US Army, for target practice (!!!!!!)...

This thing was HUGE, about 10 feet long, and had a 350cc motorcycle engine in it!

It showed it spooling up, and slowly taking off, it looked very cool, very life like because of it's size and weight, and flew it around, it flew really well... and brought it back in for a smooth landing.

TARGET PRACTICE???!!!! I wonder how many of those cool helis got shot down?

Oh well, the military has plenty of money, I guess!!

Glenn

Glenn,

That 1/5 scale helicopter would be very cool to see.

Nick

Evan,

Very cool snakes! I had a ball python or two over the years. They make great pets, very gentle, as long as you can get them to eat. They like to go on hunger strikes now and then..esp if they aren't kept warm enough.

I didn't have much luck with my Leopard Gecko...didn't make it. I could never get him to eat any crickets...

Ah yes, the XR100...those bikes are practically indestructable, they run and run forever!

That's cool that you haven't raced, it's pretty dangerous, actually. Most of the guys don't care if they run over you, knock you off your bike or anything else, as long as they get ahead of you!!! Especially in the lower "C" class...it's pretty brutal!

Sux on the blades, is the heli flyable at all, or just vibrates alot?

Have you ever tried flat bottom blades on the CP?

I think they tend to make it a little more stable...

Glenn

Nick,

Yeah, the vid of it is cool. The whole vid is pretty neat, shows all the current helis that GMP sold at the time, including an flybarless head one.

It shows Robert Gorham, the owner's son, flying various helis around. They really didn't do 3D back in those days, but he did do some inverted flight, and alot of pretty advanced aerobatic stuff.

He is shown doing a very difficult manuver (according to the vid)....a 360 degree nose-in hover.... goes very slowly around in a circle, keeping the nose pointed at the center of the circle the whole time....also some perfect 4 point pirouettes, where he stops the heli at 4 points in the pirouette, absolutely still hovering...pretty good pilot for his time, I guess. That vid is also where I saw him doing one of my favorites, a slow pirouette while in forward flight, going past the camera...looks very cool!!

It's on VHS, shame I can't post it on here somehow...

Glenn

My first buggy predated rheostats! My speed control worked by turning a disk that connected big square power resistors in series with the battery pack. Of course at less than full power, the battery energy was warming up the resistors! Talk about a waste of power! Anyhow, that buggy was a Hirobo Zerda. It was among the first -if not the first - of the belt drive buggies. It ran all 4 wheels, or front drive or rear drive only.

My first remote control car actually used a wand connected to the steering wheel and to the gear shift. By rotating the handles on the end of the wand I could steer and work the gear shift. It actually had 3 speeds forward and reverse + neutral! The car was a 356 Porsche cabriolet. It was made by the Distler corporation in Germany. That's a $1000 toy in the condition that it was in when I had it. Wonder where it went. Buggers.

man i want to see that video lol it sounds awesome. hey soloboss that sounds awesome to bad you dont have those anymore they might of been boring back then but hey would be awesome now we need to start keeping things i guess lol cause we no that they are gonna change in the future lol this is starting to get fun now we need more people though

Hey Solo,

Yeah, maybe my description was inaccurate...I used the term rheostat...it was just as crude as you are describing, very similar setup... a large, long block resistor, with a "wiper arm" that had a contact on the end of it that made connection with the windings on the resistor block, all driven by a servo!! Yes, what a huge waste of battery power, probably could have used the heat off of the thing to toast marshmallows!!

I still remember that gold anodized tub chassis, and the white, nylon suspension parts....ARRGGHH!!! If you weren't careful with your wiring, you could have a major short circuit on the aluminum tub chassis!!

Never knew that Hirobo made any RC cars...interesting.

My first belt driven 4 wheel drive buggy was made by Yokomo...dual belts, front and rear, driven off of a center drive hub/sprocket.

Ahh, those were the days...ONE servo to worry about !! LOL

Glenn

hey guys watch this you will be amazed!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=RGu45s1_Q...eature=related

hey guys watch this you will be amazed!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=RGu45s1_Q...eature=related


this is really cool

hey guys watch this you will be amazed!!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RGu45s1_Q...eature=related


this is really cool

Hey Solo,

Yeah, maybe my description was inaccurate...I used the term rheostat...it was just as crude as you are describing, very similar setup... a large, long block resistor, with a "wiper arm" that had a contact on the end of it that made connection with the windings on the resistor block, all driven by a servo!! Yes, what a huge waste of battery power, probably could have used the heat off of the thing to toast marshmallows!!

I still remember that gold anodized tub chassis, and the white, nylon suspension parts....ARRGGHH!!! If you weren't careful with your wiring, you could have a major short circuit on the aluminum tub chassis!!

Never knew that Hirobo made any RC cars...interesting.

My first belt driven 4 wheel drive buggy was made by Yokomo...dual belts, front and rear, driven off of a center drive hub/sprocket.

Ahh, those were the days...ONE servo to worry about !! LOL

Glenn

Evan,

Thanks for the cool link! I didn't know a real helicopter could do that!


Neat stuff!!

Glenn

yeah I didnt know I posted so many of those lol gosh that looks anoying anyways yeah I though it was pretty cool

man i miss the old days when my dad and i would go find some where to go run my t-maxx and then go home and make a batch of 409 mixed with denatured alcohal and spray it down real good then spray it down with the water hose and then dry it with the air compressor oh good days good days now all we do on sundays is sit around and sometimes do stuff lol most of the time we do stuff but alot of the time we dont idk lol

"so what is new with everybody" a quote by (deftones123) lol

Evan,

I am down one helicopter from a loop gone bad and the battery was destroyed, but I might get 50% money back from flightpower. I haven't got around to calling them yet. Hopefully the picture doesn't turn out huge like the one on Glenn's thread.

Nick

man that sucks are you gonna fix it or what