digitalimages

Hi Garthwood,

The subject of insurance has come up before. I rang my insurance company (for contents insurance) and they had to ask their head office if I was covered. The response was that yes, I am covered under the public liability section of my policy if I cause damage to persons or property whilst flying a model plane in a public open space such as a park. It seems that, if you have contents insurance, that will cover such an event.

I also believe (unconfirmed) that, if there isn't a notice in a park which specifically prohibits flyimg model (electic) planes, then no legal issue can be brought against someone doing that, other than deliberately endangering life, which is then covered under totally different (assault) laws. Using power (glow) planes in parks is apparently an offence. Probably won't be long before some dog walker complains to the council etc and makes a big deal of it.

Meanwhile, I'll continue armed with that knowledge !!

digitalimages

Hi Paul

Great flight, nice plane, and, good camera person !! I notice a lot of videos suffer from the camera operator trying to find the plane !! Glad it wasn't a bad crash for you !

Cheers

Garthwood

digitalimages..........................the liability laws in Oz, probably not any different than in North America. Of course flying glow the injuries or damage to private property much more serious. In Canada we have MAAC (Model Aeronautics Association of Canada), each club member must have this insurance which at the moment is $70.00 pa. Limits of liability for bodily injury and property damage is $5,000,000.00, for world wide coverage. Without this insurance club members are not allowed to fly. Recent years MAAC has directed clubs and specified safety rules, regarding distances from starting pit to spectators. Safety rules are tighter now, mainly because of serious accidents in the past. We think we are flying toys. Electrics have improved in power and RPMS. So they are no longer toys. I'm sure some of you guys have experienced bad cuts when finger flipping engine props. We become a little bit careless at times. Insurance is insurance to cover ones butt, but the cost of insurance is worth it. Not trying to scare you guys, I'm sure you know that whether you live in Aus or North America you need insurance to cover yourself and your family. Anybody that wants to shoot me down and tell me that I'm full of it, you're quite welcome. Facts are facts. This thread is on RCU, so I'm sure you heard of horror stories. That's why you keep hearing about safety first, for yourself, our fellow flyers and the aircraft. Just my 2 Canadian bit.

Charles.

machette

Carrying false ID can be helpful

......who said that?

Oz, I have the pilots canopy off the XF and just undid the screw on the servo and rolled the wires out of the arm/horn and moved in a hole/slot (holes in aileron servo horn needed drilling/enlarging) .......rudder and tail were done at the flight surface horns as is obvious.....thankyou Ozrcboy, for the warning on the XFs twitchyness

Charles, you could have stood on the deck of that car ferry at Queenscliff and flown your plane while the ferry travelled to Sorrento ......no one would have cared. If fact I think most would have been fascinated.
We aren't a bunch of whingers ....yet!

goopy

Had a nice flight with the new 36mhz gear in the XF this a.m. Very solid link, much improved over the 27mhz. It even actually passed the range test!

Then it started acting a bit funny heading into the wind, not wanting to roll around to the right. I figured the wind was causing a bit of havoc.

Next upwind leg, out of nowhere, spiral dive... 30-40 meters, into the deck No damage though, battery fine, motor fine! Pushed out the nose and she was ready to go again.... it's a tough little bugger.

Then the rudder servo started going nuts, randomly glitching and going full one way. So, I'm thinking my crash was caused by going a little too slowly, CoG still too far rearward, and then the sudden twitch of the rudder has stalled/spun it. I also wonder if this servo is the reason for all the interference i was copping on the 27mhz gear.

Anyhow, gonna swap out all the servos for some better quality ones, and that'll be the end of the original's electronics....

tam popo

Hiya! You say 27mhz - is this AM or FM - if its AM I get the same problem with my cheapo planes but put it down to unseen interference (Taxis, Ambulance, even my TV). Even the motor goes on just missing my fingers. No remedy found, intermittent. My FM stuff is OK. Mr garthwood, I agree totally with you on insurance, but here in sheep worrying land club insurance only covers people on club property. As useful as a donut hole. I have 3 life covers and 2 have disclaimer liabilty - don't want to go that far so only worry the sheep- they can't sue.

digitalimages

I think you'll find that most, if not all, people on this thread, just fly for fun, usually alone, as well as in areas where there are few, if any people. We've spoken, between us, about the insurance thing before and we're covered. The club insurance here is just the same, and I, for one, choose not to join a club, fly usually at 6.30am, in a 40 acre park and seldom see anyone. As Machette says, "We aren't a bunch of whingers ....yet! "

Club fees here are high anyway, too high for me, and I'm blowed if I'm going to be regimented by the inevitable 'sherriff' that seems to belong to clubs.

I'll say no more

machette

I'm a payed up member with a club where I'm learning about glow flying A$165/year insurance and $50 membership (junior/not in the way member)
.....but away from the club fields when I use my electric stuff I'm not insured and therefore I wouldn't mention my insurance nor membership and would (and have to) wear the responsibility
....then again I just sent my grandson 10 off down the creek on his motor bike (windy here) and that ain't kosher neither

Main thing is staying within the rules of our local communities.

Now would somebody recommend how I can retrieve some life out of this NMH that spent a few weeks in the missing plane and has come back confused. I have this new Swallow2 and wondered if someone would recommend a strategy of disch/charge as this Swallow is new to me. (I've combed the threads and get more confused) The NMH after a discharge at 0.5amp (down to 7v) went down to 8.838v with a score of 00011 I think

Bin it?? .....or is there hope?

dabvid

hiya guys ges wat me and my dad got a picooz i now its not a plane but thought id tell you anyway. well first of my dad previously didnt even care for rc lol( but when we got there he absolutely loved the look of the twister medivac so he said he would get a picoozz to see if he likes it and now he loves it. we both fly it it is a blast you can even ask maiden he was over here when me and my dad and him flew back to flying piccoz while ef ariel is brocken lol
regards,
dave

inflex

Hey everyone,

Two new videos of the Microseether up... one of me bouncing the poor thing off mother-earth...3 times... another of me catching a tree

http://www.pldaniels.com/flying/vide...s-tree-360x288


http://www.pldaniels.com/flying/vide...uncing-360x288

Garthwood

machette.....................the deck was long enough for short take offs. Could have flown it back just by following the boat, that would have been something.

Garthwood

machette.......................yes mate, that insurance is quite high, your membership fee is similar to what I pay. But if you are still learning glow that's a different story. Just like somebody else said, you have to fly from an approved flying field. That's the catch.

We have farmers complain about noise because once in a blue moon some flyer gets a little bit too close overhead where cows are grazing. We are now being checked for engine noise. I have checked out INFLEX video (good job, love the way it flys) the noise pitch is a bit high for an electric. I belong to two clubs, one of them the months are numbered because of new home construction, near by, cripe these people complain about noise, but it is ok for them to run noisy lawnmowers (grass cutters) and leaf blowers early week-end mornings. These lawn mowers are so noisy (8 HP and more) that the operator has to wear ear protection. The other field is the humbug farmer who has to complain that we are disturbing his cows.

Our hobby is a big investment, it is our enjoyment, we are a crazy bunch, odd balls, who enjoy the smell of fuel, and push the envelope. Against all odds we still manage to enjoy ourselves. Just my 2 cdn. cents.

Charles.

maiden-crash

Hiiya guys, hope everyone is doing well. I will have my stryker ready to go sooner than I expeced, I will paint the bottom today just to finish the looks part of it. All I need now is some balsa, some music wire and servos, and she's ready to go.

I may aswell do what David did and get my self a picooz, by careful sucking up to my parents The little heli is a lot of fun and flies easily in any living room, or any room for that matter.

ozrcboy

Hi Guys,

I am in the middle of a model aviation binge - 4th day in a row flyign with two more to go (Monday is public holiday in ACT and Tuesday is our regular flying day).

Flew some rough conditions on Friday, but I love warbirds in the wind - they are so good, and so much more manageable landing speed.

A mate flew his spitfire through a tree last week - we have a photo of it passing through the tree which then evilly snatched the wings from the plane... [:@]. Photos on the blog for those that are interested.

Hope you are all getting in plenty of flying.

Garthwood - sorry to hear your neighbours are such sticklers about peace and quiet. Still most of my electrics are quieter than a motor car so I don't get into much trouble (excluding maybe the elebee).

Oz.

Crawf_

Hey MC - Stryker's lookin good!

Here's a status update on my Stryker rebuild - photos attached.

Test flight earlier today didn't go so well... think I may have reversed some servo wires or something as it was uncontrollable - crashed and broke the motor mount.
Good news though is that the carbon reinforced sections held strong - nothing else broke despite several hard nose-in's....

inflex

Seems like the trees are winning a lot of battles at the moment

My Microseether is ready to go again but I think I'll go for the big-guns and pull out the full size Seether this time

Paul.

maiden-crash

Hey Crawf, your stryker is looking awesome aswell! Did you check the controls previous to flight? Maybe somethings up with the rx?

Crawf_

MC - thanks!

Found I'd accidentally plugged the servos into the wrong socket... got that working now (one servo still seems pretty dodgy though.. do yours make a noise when not moving the controls?)


Also am in the process of attempting an epoxy job on the motor mount which is currently in several bits....


The EF did not fare so well.... serious glitching problems today and then the motor started going from full power to about 30% and it makes a clicking sound when I run it - like something inside is catching.
So I think a new motor is prob in order for the EF....

maiden-crash

I dont think its the motor thats the problem, Im almost 100% sure its the receiver, as Ive had the exact problem happen to me and as soon as I swapped out the receiver everything worked fine. As for the stryker, the parkzone servos are pretty dodgy, mine would always chatter for no reason. There is a possibility you stripped that servos when you crashed, and Id hate for you to find ou during flight. Try holding the elevon and moving the control surfaces, if the servo makes a creaking sound, its stripped. I would replace those servos for better ones, hs81's being your best coice, but then you would have to swap out everything[] Im replacing my servos for 81s, I simply cant trust the parkzone ones any more, Im starting to think their gears are made off candle wax.

digitalimages

Must be the time for servos - I had an issue with the EF servos - chattering after I'd used one or the other, making noises and so on.
I changed one for one of the new servos I got with my DX 6 and, not only did it seem to have more travel, but there was no sign of chattering or over travel. The original EF ones seem to go past their full travel and then back again slightly, at which point they buzz - not every time though.

Looks like I should change mine too !

Crawf - your Stryker looks excellent - very visible too ! Hope you get your control issues sorted out.

How's the T Rex ?

Crawf_

Has anyone flown the Multiplex Easy Star? It sells for about $90 for body and 400 motor.... seems pretty well made....

digitalimages

Check out Bleary's posts - even has some pics of it a few pages back.

He reckons it's a great plane.

Cheers

bleary

Ha funny you should mention the EZ* and HS81 servos as well....It is Karma I think.Gotta make dinner,but got a story about both yet to come...
Bleary.

bleary

Firstly,I have had a heap of flights over the last week or so,the weather has been good,and I have made sure that I have had RTF planes in my wagon...(gotta help yerself eh?)
Just had the most sublime evening flight tonight with the EZ*.The weather was hot all day,I had been following the missus around to this and that,been at a food fair next to the river,seen the wind completely still with a glassy finish on the water....and thought yeeha!
Steered the missus home with the idea that we would take the dog for a walk as the sun went down,and packed the car..
It was one of those Indian Summer arvos,still and hot.
Got down to the park,which is huge,and had a bagpipe band playing of all things...(driven to the fringes of society,bit like us flyboys..)
The missus took the mad dog,which is only a pup,for chasing the ball type things,and I gave the EZ* a toss....awesome fun without any wind,loops and rolls and weird ascending and descending type manoevers,and heaps of time just working into the light upstairs wind,back and forth,catching updrafts and every now and again giving some throttle to get the height back again.
Got about 30 mins with the 2150 3S,had another in my pocket,but was told to "come on".
It was one of those sessions where every control from the hand happened in the air....
Using HS81mg servos though,having to work them a bit to stay within the "zone",9gram servos are too small IMHO,the airframe can handle the weight no worries...have used lots of different sorts of 9g servos,the best for me are the JR ones,but if you have a larger plane like the EZ*,go for bigger 81 size I reckon.
Awesome fun plane,can fly it up high and see it easily,
Cheers lads!
Bleary.

Garthwood

Sorry about your mishap..........not much damage by the looks of it. Here's my E-flit. The take anywhere Delta Wing, always sits in my truck with the glow stuff. On board eqpt. hitec servos/rx. Thunder Power LiPolymer 2100mah 11.1v 3cell. When I get around it I have another speed controller 30A and an upgrade brushless motor.

Charles.