darkfa8

My Feedback: (19)

my friend Brent had my Hawk Sport all trimmed out and hovering perfectly last weekend. I didn't get chance to get my hands on the controls since day light was fleeting and there were some other small odds and ends to tidy up.

So I was anxious all week to get out this weekend and get it up in the air under my own control. Through the process of getting it going I found that my hex-adapter on the start shaft was spinning and not cranking over the motor, fixed that... my remote glow starter thing seems to have a problem and I was running so pig rich that I had to keep the glow ignitor on the plug for all my flying.. =\

Anyhow, I had the machine tie-wrapped down to dowels on a large hula hoop. I'm glad I put the thing on, saved my butt several times.

I thought I had enough room in my back yard to practice hovering. It became abruptly aparent, despite several attempts at getting airborne and gaining stable control that my back yard is NOT the place to practice.

After setting the machine down several times and trying to keep it level with the ground I had some run ins with a small plant at the back of the yard, cutting a few inches off it. Also took out some blades of a tall grass plant...

From there on when I touched the machine down too close to plants, I went over and stopped the blades, picked it up and brought it back to the center of the yard to start over.

This worked well for a while, but I got a bit of altitude and it drifted over near a 50+foot oak tree, and I quickly worked the sticks to get it away and plant it on the ground. In the process of doing that the rear rotor caught some bark and once I had the machine on the ground and stopped I could see my tail rotor blades were snapped off and there was a ding in the top of the tail boom. Nothing too devastating, but without another set of blades, my mains having their shrink wrap ripped up and a dented tail book, I decided to call it a day.

I did get a tank of fuel through it and learned that I need more space and to get together with Brent to coach me along.

I took everything apart, cleaned everything and set aside the good stuff from the broke stuff. All in all, my lil mishap cost me about $45 (main woodies, tail boom, 2 sets of tail rotor blades).

Brent called me a while after and I told him about my experience and he just hoped I wasn't going to pitch the whole heli into the garbage. I'm not discouraged at all, just a lil more wise.

Despite all this, hearing the blades come upto speed, actually getting it off the ground, smelling the nitro, having my neighbors peeking over the fence and the challenge to get this thing under my exacting command is worth the small price in parts and waiting at least another week to try at it again.

okw

I'm glad you've realized that the backyard isn't a good place to fly (and definitely not to learn!) with only minor damage to heli and foliage. It could have been much worse.

Don't forget to check the spindle and main shaft to make sure they're straight. While it doesn't sound like the impact was enough to bend them, it doesn't hurt to take it apart and roll them on a mirror just to be certain. Even minor boom strikes can bend a spindle. A bent shaft or spindle can cause all sorts of problems that you may end up chasing for days before finding the cause.

Do you have a simulator? If not, get one! It will save you big time $$$ in the long run. Plus, it gives you something to fly when you're waiting for parts or the weather doesn't cooperate.

Good luck ... now go find yourself a good flying field and burn some fuel!! [8D][8D]

Keith