7-7-7

Oh yeah, another great day at the field.  Temps were still chilly but not as bad as yesterday and not as good as Monday.  Best thing is it was mostly sunny skies with light winds to none.  Why 7-7-7?  Because it was the third day in a row to run all SEVEN packs through my two Trex 450 helis.  Both flew well today.  I did my first inverted flying, but I cannot call it flying for real.  It was momentary and only lasted till I could bail out and roll upright again.  The first attempt nearly made me shit myself. I actually unintentionally executed forward inverted flight at high speed, haha.  Headed for the walnut trees, I was able to roll out and not get close to hitting them.  I did a bunch of rolls, backflips, and forward flips, all of which are getting more comfortable and a little more axial.  All landings were on the mat and under control, many of which today were made in IU mode rather than normal.  It's easier to do that than to flip the switch and account for lower headspeed all at once.  Pretty thrilling day!

Lucky 7 again, plus Toledo Special

I got another 7 packs through the 450's today.  It was much chillier than yesterday though, so not as much fun.  Still the helis both flew well, no probs again.  I did my very first forward flip with one of them, can't remember which.  They fly so similar that I just do what I want with either.  Next time I intend to pause upside down and try a little inverted hovering, at least momentarily!  No dumb errors today, but I did get disoriented at a distance a couple times due to overcast skies and therefore less clarity in what I see.  Other tasks again were rolls, back flips, stall turns, FFF, slow circles, hovering.  Great fun.

Also flew the Toledo Special either 4 or 5 flights.  It is sounding like a tractor again as the bearings go out yet again in a Saito 82a.  Still flew great though.

7 Up

FBL on left, DFC on right, BOTH GREAT FLYERS

On a rare gorgeous day of 45-50F, today was my best ever day for flying helis.  Ran all my 7 packs through the two 450's.  Four through the DFC and 3 through the FBL.  The FBL is vibe free due to tightening the bolts that hold the blade holders to the feathering shaft.  AWESOME...it felt as great as before the motor was replaced (bearings went out in the Viper motor) and before I reset all the linkages and servo setups to be as true, centered, and equal as possible!  The DFC might be even better.  Like em both.  Used each battery to the 4 min timer, then typically took 30 secs to come down and land.  Did right rolls, left rolls, and back flips (stationery loops) with both.  No cajones to do the forward flip, but that comes next time, haha.  Also did a bunch of stall turns, fast forward flight, and threw in hovering in various attitudes and altitudes.  It is satisfying to say that I did not suffer even one instance of disorientation today, but sunny bright conditions can be thanked for that!

Only other guy there was Chad, whom I think Tad and Jer met...30 ish age too.  Good flyer, had glow, electric (Kadett from Joe), hotliner (also from Joe), and glider.  Good young man, easy to talk to, good addition to the club, and he is trying to get a friend to join KRCA too.  

Successful Maiden!

Yay, the conversion of the FB to DFC head on the Trex 450 Pro is a complete success.  I managed to fly between fog banks and misty air this AM, and of course nobody else was nutty enough to be there.  It was actually quite mild but the sun never broke through.  I took one 4 minute flight with the DFC and it was very exciting just because I did not know what would happen.  It was uneventful as the heli flew smooth and steady.  The BeastX setup worked fine for initial flights, and now I can change some settings if really needed.  

I also flew the FBL version again, but with a couple minor adjustments to linkages.  Never realized how it was not setup "correctly" till I got involved with the DFC.  More adjustments are needed since in normal mode at zero throttle, the pitch is significantly negative!  And then the heli does not get off the ground till around 2/3 of throttle stick movement!  I found some cyclic servos uncentered and one using a different hole on the servo arm than the other two.  All should be identical!

Also flew the 130X and it seems ok, but the tail blew out once.

Indian Summer Day!

Tad and I had a great morning of flying at the field under perfect conditions.  It was not even cold.  He flew his Goblin 500 with much flair and confidence....getting too good.  I will never catch up with these boys.  As I take a step forward, they take two!  Tad liked my flying of the Trex 450 though.  I am flying faster at times, did some stall turns, had my first back flip, then right flip with that heli.  In all I ran 5 packs through the 450, another 3 through the 130X, and I had two flights with the Bravata.  Tad had never seen that fly, so he enjoyed seeing it this time.  That plane is really a ball of fun AND relaxation.  Just a great day.

Blah

Felt good doing the sky, mountains, and distant tree lines.  Fell apart after that.  Failure to launch!  I think the prob was not using enough thinner to get the paint to stick when doing the Fall colored trees.  2 steps backward.  Better luck next time.  #80 overall, 9th for 2013.

You're Next!

2 New Paintings

This is my 78th painting, 7th for 2013, been a slow year for painting!  My other hobbies and new grand daughters keep me busy too.  This one I painted yesterday:

Winter Blush

And here is my 79th painting that I just finished today, 8th for 2013:

Seclusion by the Pond

The first one came easy yesterday, and I finished in a few hours.  Today's was a struggle towards the end, and I think I took 6 hours!  Oh well, still enjoyable either way.