JPEE

Hey Guys,

I have had a great few days. I got out to fly the last two days in a row. The weather her is purrrrfect, it is in the high 80s with Montana blue skies.

No real news beyond that accept a guy lost two new planes at the field yesterday. A brand new one was taking off and then three feet off the ground a loud bang noise came out of it, it had a violent throb and then the canopy flew off and she tipped left and went in. Over all the plane will survive but what we think happened is, the firewall tore off and that stopped the motor. Then just after I left his P-40 went in. I asked my buddy who was still there what happend and while he did not see the crash itself he heard the pilot ( a good one too ) yell........ OH SHEET! And when he turned his head the plane was already down. The guy left the field extremely sad.

We are heading out for the desert this fri, sat and sun and going quad riding and just kind of getting out of Dodge as it were. Oh YES my Heli's and plane are coming along too. As they say, a man cannot live by bread alone!

evdreamer

John,

That is great you have been having nice weather and been getting some flights in.

That is too bad that guy's plane crashed.

Have fun out in the desert.

Well I flew at the golf course for the first time today. It was a pretty cool experience not too many people will get to do. We only had enough time to get two holes in. We tried a few different ways of filming it. One I just stood at the tee box and flew as far as I could see. Then one I walked while I flew. Then the last I rode in a golf cart and followed the heli. It was fun flying while riding in the golf cart, but it was difficult keeping the heli stable while going over hills and hanging halfway out of the cart. We also finally found a good mounting spot for the camera. I had to move my receiver battery below the main batteries and put the camera where the receiver battery normally sits. We still have some issues to work out like how high to fly and avoid filming us and the shadow of the heli. The first few videos weren't too bad for the first time doing this. It didn't help that it was windy and pretty cold outside.

Glenn,

Sorry you are getting some hot weather.

Nick

JPEE

Nick,

Cool set up. I just tried this a week ago but the vid was full of jello! No workie[] I would love to see your video and see what quality your getting?

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi everyone,

I had too close a call with the Protos a few weeks ago...I actually did get hit with it but luckily not too bad...a few gashes just above my feet. A static hit caused it to come right at me. Throttle hold and a high jump backwards saved me. Needless to say I no longer have that heli...sold it with a warning about the static issue. In the meantime been taking time to give my foot a rest and staying away from anything with a spinning prop or blade. Just wanted to check in and give you guys an update.

Mark

evdreamer

John,

I don't have access to the videos I have filmed. They are on the computer of the guys that I am working with.

Mark,

That is good you weren't injured as bad as it could have been. I hope you still enjoy flying your plane.

I have been working on my Voltmeter some more. I designed two circuits that do the same thing, but accomplish it in a different way. All three have their pros and cons. I have been leaning towards the one that is more accurate and more efficient. The main component in all three have been giving me some grief trying to keep the Voltage accurate. In my tech school they only talked about the ideal component, so they never talked about one property that causes the accuracy to decrease. It will probably be another year before I learn about them at my current school. So for awhile I have been reading articles online about them and made a big break through on my electronic simulator. On the simulator I was able to get the exact Voltage I wanted out. I will have to order some parts to see if it works in real life. I only have one week left of this semester, so I hope to have a prototype on a circuit board sometime next month.

Nick

JPEE

Hi Nick,

That voltmeter of yours is coming along step by step. That will be great if your project on the simulator will work in real time

Today, April 30 I flew 3-700 flights and 1-450 Pro as kind of a maiden after having to replace the head. So there was a bunch of set up but she flew fine "except" without a FBL they are twitchy!!!! Unfortunately I brought home 2-500 packs and 1-450 pack that were still fully charged. So just minutes ago I flew them all out here at the house in yard because I don't know when I'll be able to fly again, weather is looking poor for the next few days.


Mark,
I hope your recovering well from your accident. When your up to it, if you could give more of a blow by blow of what happened that day I would appreciate it. My "wonder" is, there in Florida where it is always muggy with dampness in the air, how did you get static?

Take care

evdreamer

John,

Sorry your weather isn't the best. It has been hot and humid here.

My semester is finally over!!! Now I will have plenty of time to get out and fly.

Nick

JPEE

Great news Nick! Summer vacation is now on baby!

I cranked up my 700 to what should be 21 to 22 hundred rpms. I was supposed to go giver her a try today but time ran out doing errands before I could get up to the field. Perhaps tomorrow I can squeeze in a few flights and tune her up.

I can say that my 700 is running well as is my 500. I just replaced the HK head on my 450 with a true Align and what a difference! So my small little fleet is good to go.

Mark, I hope you are healing.

Glenn, home to hear from you soon.

John

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi guys,

My foot and shin have healed but its going to take a bit longer to get comfortable flying again.

JPEE...I too thought that I had cleared up all the static issues and was safe to fly. We had a cool front come through so the day it happened it was a cool and dry morning, so I think that helped contribute to it. I was about 2 minutes into the flight doing some front flips when I noticed the tail jerk so I took it to a close hover to land when the tail and the cyclic servo's jerked. The heli tilted backwards...almost as if starting a backwards flip with a bit of right tilt thrown in...too low and way to close to me to keep power on...so throttle hold it was.

Nick,

I really haven't taken my planes up since the accident...plus with the weather getting hotter I just don't have the desire to fly or be outside.

I'm glad to hear that your semester is finally over and you have some time to spend on yourself. Sorry for the late congrats on your honor society induction...did you get your picture on the wall?

Glenn,

How did your Gaui auction go...were you able to sell it?

JPEE,

Looks like your doing some major flying between the 450, 500, and 700...and in multiple states too. Hope your adjustments to the 700 work well. Do you plan to go FBL on your 450?

Take care everyone,

Mark

JPEE

Hi Mark,


I am glad to hear your feeling better and healing. That whole incident must have scared the BAH-JEEBERS out of you[X(] I don't blame you at all taking a break.



No, no FBL for the 450. I have to much money it as it is and just buying the new/used FB head on HF I can't go anywhere now. I am a dyed in the wool VBAR and Kontronik guy. And I sure am not putting that kind of money into a 450. On occasion I meet at guy at 6:00 am. at the park and we fly a bit. It is close quarters so the 450 is just the guy for the job.


me

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi JPEE,

I hear ya on the 450...a Vbar would be a high dollar item for that size heli. Plus your 500 and 700 sound like your major flyers.

Well, I went to the hobby store yesterday to pick up a pack of rocket engines (my son loves to watch 'his' rocket blast off) and wouldn't you know it...passed by the counter and saw it sitting there looking pretty and all (Had that yearning in the gut sensation), so...yep, got myself another mcpx. Guess my break is over.

Took it out to the local ball park this morning and actually had a really fun time. A bit nervous at first but quickly calmed down and had fun. It was a nice start to the day.

Mark

evdreamer

John,

That is good your 450 is flying better with the Align head.

Mark,

There isn't a wall that I am aware of that has pictures of people in the honor society.

That is good you are enjoying flying helis again.

The weather here is perfect, so I might go out flying today. It has been a long time since I have been able to do 3D with the Whiplash.

Nick

JPEE

Hi Nick,

It is the most beautiful summer day here in California supposed to be in the high 80s blue skies just getting ready to leave for the field with a friend.
I hope you have a good time flying to.

evdreamer

John,

I hope you had a fun day flying.

I spent 6 hours at the field. A lot of people came out to enjoy the weather. I almost crashed on my first flight doing something I was a little rusty at. Everything came back pretty quick. I spent a lot of time working on my traveling tic tocs. I got pretty good at those. Then the last flight of the day I was just messing around and tried to make as much noise as possible. I think I found the limit of the Gens Ace batteries. After doing flight after flight of tic tocs the batteries started to puff. Luckily when I let them cool off they went back to normal.

Nick

JPEE

WOW Nick, puff a GENs WOW[X(][X(][X(][X(][X(][X(][X(][X(] I close call you, that sounds impossible but I guess even the best have their days right. I hope those packs come back and don't puff on your next time out. Perhaps you need their new 120C packs! And they are only $120.00 compared to the 30C for $95.00


http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-60c-5300-6s1p-6666.html
code 98P-60C-5300-6S1P-6666
Weight (g) 797.9
capacity (mAh) 5300
max cont discharge rate ( C ) 60
max burst discharge rate ( C ) 120
max cont current (Amp) 318
max burst current (Amp)? 636
Series (S)? Parallel (P) 6S1P
Length(mm) 137.18
width (mm) 42.42
Thickness(mm) 62.89
Wire Gauge 10
balance connector type JST XH
connector type N/A
Vol. Gap <0.01V
IR(mohm) <20mohm
Wire length(C/D) 45MM/100mm




I am glad you had a nice. We got to the field and while it was clear and warm there was that nasty haze (moisture) in the air making it hard for me to see the heli. I flew two trays that I had three days ago so I ran them through and had to call it for safety reasons. I might have time to try again this Friday, we'll see how the schedule and weather looks. But they are forecasting this haze for several days.


JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys!

Wow, I had lost track of time, and how long it's been since I checked in!

I'm not really flying yet, so I don't think about the helis as much....and not much to report from my end...[&o]

JPEE,

Hope the weather has been good, sounds like a great summer forecast for you Cali guys!

Mark,

Sorry about your close call/hit...glad it wasn't any worse...it certainly could have been..don't blame ya for taking a break...

I still remember very well my B400-into-my-shin accident from 2008...and still have my scar to prove it!

Nick,

I know you gotta be happy with your semester being over!!

Hope you can get a lot of flying in, and have a great time, you deserve it!


I sold the Gaui on eBay...at first the auction was rather boring, it hung at $91 for like the last 3 days....then...at the 35 second mark, it took off...in a big way...and half a minute later, I was in shock, at the final selling price....$283.00 !! I think it was more all the parts, than the heli that helped...

I also just sold my newer (summer, 2010) Trex 450...it had maybe 25 flights...perfect, never crashed....I was a tad bit disappointed that it only brought $296.00...but, hey, that's about half of what I paid new, so I guess in the RC Heli world, that's not too bad...

I'll try to check in more often from now on, I do miss chatting with you guys!!

Take care,

Glenn

JPEE

It is always great to hear from you Glenn! The chatter doesn't have to be about Heli's you know man cannot live by bread alone.

John

evdreamer

John,

Thanks for letting me know about their 120C packs. I won't be able to get those anytime soon. My hours have been cut at work, since we are over staffed.

I hope your weather has cleared up.

I have changed my design for my Voltmeter a lot in the past few days. I decided to go towards high accuracy, so I am going to see where that leads me.

Glenn,

That is good your Gaui sale turned out better than it started.

Nick

JPEE

Hello Mr. Nick,

It is so nice to hear from you. Sorry about the cut in hours[] that is never a good thing. Well you made money when the hours were there and I have to assume you put some in a sock for a rainy day.................. well its here my friend.

Going for accuracy is better than not! It is like the other old saying, do you want quality or quantity............. unless it is at the dinner table "quality" wins for me everytime.

Sad news for my buddy. He didnt listen to his little voice. Today jusy hours ago we were at the field and he was flying his 600e. Well the top motor bearing DEEcintagrated and left the pinon so floppy it would not make contact with the main gear. Well down he comes and he autos that puppy in lke a pro and........... he has never done an auto or even tried. A bit later a senior pilot was showing him this move where you fly across and then pull up like you starting a loop but when you get completely verticle you let off and come back down backwards like a pendulum. Well even I know enough not try a move like that with a new 6 flighted 700e. One his third try as he came backwards and came in low and he moved the elevator backwards and got crossed up and tanks the new 700e. He has a few hundred dollars of damage at field review. It made me sick and I still had one more pack to fly out. Well let me tell you, I flew my 700 pack out like a little old lady from Lincoln Nebraska LOL. I put that puppy in the truck and came home "whole" to fly another day. As an aside, I am really loving my Honda generator for charging at the field. I charged 4 ea 5,300 Gens packs in 32 min........... me likie! I just bought another tray and a set of new GENs this week. I have 38 flights "each" on my other two trays. So my heli is coming up on a 100 flights................ dang who would have thought, not me for sure.

I cant tell you how happy I am after selling off most of my fleet. Keep it simple I saw. I flew my 450 Pro last week for the first time in like a year and she flew so nice but I found it a bit hard to fly without my trusty VBAR.


Take care Nick and enjoy your summer off.

evdreamer

John,

That is a sad sight to see a 700 like that.

One of my other hobbies is investing, so most of my spare cash went towards that. Then the rest of it is for tuition. So that didn't leave any money for a rainy day, except for my cheap electronic parts.

That is good you didn't become the third person with a problem at the field. That is cool you are near the 100 flight mark. I stopped counting how many flights I have done.

One of my flying buddys called today and wanted to buy all my Spektrum gear. I ended up getting $225 for everything. It was about half of what I invested in it, so I was a happy camper. There was a fun fly at my club today and he and I were the only ones who flew while I was there. It was really windy, so we enjoyed having the field to our selves. I am getting more comfortable with the Whiplash, so I have been trying some new moves. I have been getting in a habit of doing the same stuff every flight. One is like a touch and go with a plane. I fly into the run way and then I slide on the front part of the skids and take off again. It is kind of scary since the blades are pretty close to the run way. I had a scary moment when I was doing some inverted stuff and it sounded like the motor shut off for a bit. I was thinking the wind might have contributed and the govenor had to lower the throttle too much to maintain the headspeed. I also met another miniature aircraft pilot. He had an older Nitro X-Cell helicopter. It would have been cool if he brought it, so I could see it in person.

Nick

JPEE

Hello Nick,

I am impressed your are investor. A good skill to develop.

Pretty neat landing on the front tip of your skids. I saw that on a video at an inside big like gym and they were doing that and spinning on one front skid leg in circles, like figure 8s on the floor.

I am glad the Whiplash is getting to feel better in your fingers....cool.

Take care

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Work is a bit slow today, so I have a few minutes to catch up...

JPEE,

Sorry to see that 700 in pieces like that...always a sinking feeling in the stomach when you see something like that happen...hope he can get it back together and in the air soon.

Glad you are enjoying your trimmed down fleet, I'm headed the same way, I'm now down to the original 450 Pro, the SDX, and the 500, plus the Quark, if you want to count that...

I'll probably be selling the SDX soon...they have not yet found a new field for MHA, so I really don't have anywhere to fly it now.

Nick,

Sounds like you are having fun with the Whiplash and your new moves...the one about the skids reminded me of the Jason Krause video of "walking the dog"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8YkCpJ2sM

That is good that you have a hobby investing...sure beats throwing tons of money at the helis with little or no return on your investment...hopefully, at least..

I did manage to get out last weekend, and flew about 4 packs on the MCPX. I was amazed, it didn't take much time at all to get back in the swing of things...I stuck with mostly upright flight this time, learned my lesson last year...I did get a few short inverted hovers in though..


Other that that, just been playing with some gadgets. I bought an older Android phone used on eBay, and learned how to root it, and install a custom ROM....pretty neat stuff to play around with, and pretty cheap too..

Hope you guys have some good flying weather and have fun flying!

Talk to ya later...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

That is good you got some flights in with the mcpx.

That is cool you are having fun with the new phone.

The weather is perfect here. I couldn't get out to the field today, so I decided to dust off the 450. Well it ended up eating dirt.[&o] I wasn't doing anything power intensive with it and the motor cut off about 2min in while I was low and inverted. My transmitter said the battery got down to 8.9V. I thought I was taking care of it by checking the Voltage every month, but I guess it needed to be used some more. For now it is going to be a shelf queen, since I don't fly it that much.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Ouch, sorry to hear about the 450...that's a shame, even though you don't fly it...I hate having broken helis laying around..[&o]

I didn't do any flying this past weekend, was busy with other projects...

The phone actually isn't new, it's new to me, it's about 2 years old, and can't even be activated on Verizon, I got it for a project, to learn re-flashing, rooting Android, and installing different ROM's (like a different operating system).

It only cost about $60 on eBay, and has been a lot of fun.

Hopefully, I'll get out flying the MCPX again soon. I'm not even sure how my batteries are on the 450's and 500, haven't gotten them out and checked yet

Hope you are enjoying your time off from school, and not working too much.

JPEE,

How have you been...? Doing any flying lately?

Glenn

JPEE

Hello Glenn,

As a matter of fact yes! we have been busy but we haven't been flying much like you. I had a project in the works that has taken a lot of my time. For months now I have been working a deal on a POLARIS RAZOR 800 dirt off road vehicle. We drove to AZ last Thursday and picked it up. Then came home on Friday because it was 118 DEGREES there in Parker and Havasu AZ. I NEVER WANT OT EXPERIENCE THAT KIND OF HEAT IN AGAIN IN MY LIFE TIME. [X(][X(][X(]. We had hoped when we came back into Calif we could stop somewhere in the Mojave Desert for a few days of trail driving. But as fate would have it..... the wind started blowing in Calif and it blew 30 mph all of the way home until we were 20 miles out. Further, the iphone said that the windy conditions would continue for two more days. So we made the 700 mile round trip Thursday and Friday and "pooped" won't begin to cover how beat I was. It is one thing to drive a car that distance, a real no brainer, but towing a 27 ft. Toy Hauler is stressful!

Glad your well