9 pack day

I got to fly today.  9 packs.  3 X5, 3 G500, 2 Trex 450 FBL, 1 Trex 450 DFC.  Ugly day....too overcast and grey so I got disoriented several times.  Lots of the time all I see is the dark silhouette in this kind of lighting.  All landed in one piece.  And the Lynx main gear worked fine on the Gobby.

Also good news is that the 450 FBL flew stable at all speeds today, no more wobbling/wallowing.  One or more of my adjustments must have been the solution, but I do not know which one because I did a few things at once since the last time out:

1.  Set the cyclic pulse rate in the BeastX to 65 Hz per spec on BeastX website for the specific Align servo.  It had been set to 50 Hz by the previous owner.

2.  Increased the motor startup from slow to medium in the ESC, and similarly the transition between throttle increases.  I actually think the latter should probably be set at fast.

3.  Increased point #2 on the throttle curve in the xmitter from 50 to 70, so now the normal curve is 0-70-80-90-100 on the five point curve.

4.  There might have been another programming change I made in the BeastX or ESC but I cannot remember!

Field closed OR NOT!

Beautiful day dawned for us, calm, sunny, Sunday, 45F.  Everyone wanted to go flying.  First thing I do is open an e-mail from Al that the field is closed due to workers he saw on the field at 8AM.  RATS!  I decided to go anyhow.  Yup they were there but pretty far to the west, doing their work.  Mike showed up in 5 minutes and we decided the work was far away enough that we could fly, as long as we spotted for each other.  As we prepare, the sod cutter machine rolls past, back to the parking area, all done for the day.  As soon as the semi truck loaded up the pallets, they left, and we could fly with no hindrance from the workers.  Am I glad I went out!

Tad, Quang, and Anthony came today to with their helis, and we had a great time.  Everyone flew smooth, and nobody had any crashes.  Even Tad, hahahaha!  He set up the governor on his Goblin 500, and it worked fine, and he had no power brown outs.  He flew well with all 5 packs.  Hope that solves his power situation.   Quang flew his Trex 600 nitro, as well as his Goblin 700, like the wild man that he is....very impressive flying.  Anthony flew his G500 and flew smooth too, practicing his backwards flying.  I flew my Goblin through 4 packs and the X5 through 2.  I was happy to overhear Quang expressing amazement at how much better I am flying now compared to a few weeks ago, and Tad and Anthony complimented me a few times too.  I must be doing better.  I did a little inverted (very little), and a number of loops and bigger stall turns, with much fast forward flight.  I still like to begin most flights with some sideways hovering and nose-in hovering, just on the other side of the dirt road (perhaps 40' out and 10' high.)

X5 and me.  Thanks Tad for the pic!

I was sure happy today with the company, watching Tad, Quang, and Anthony, and my own flying smoothness.  Great day, and I almost did not go due to the e-mail about field closure!

BTW I had my 450 DFC with plenty of batteries and time to fly, but just did not feel like flying the little guy.  The big ones are so much smoother and more predictable.  Just easier to see too!

Partial happiness

I got in 3 flights on the Goblin 500 and 2 on the 450 FBL when I decided to quit because the monster insecticide sprayer began to spray the North field.  Smelled bad and I packed up and headed home.  The 3 flights on the Gobby were good, solid.  I tried to go inverted once on a less than perfect setup, and bailed out of it when the heli was inverted lopsided.  I think I just pulled a loop out and there was no worries.  It was beginning to gust higher mph as forecasted, and that was affecting my flying for sure.  Still good to get some flights in after only getting one yesterday, and then the JB guys decided to place loaded pallets in our parking area.  Nice guys.  I think they must relish screwing with us.  :P  Anyway, I had good hovering today, good forward flight, stall turns, and loops.  Did some flips in all four directions and they were real decent...my timing is improving.  I try to end them sharp and in a steady hover.  

The 450 FBL has a wobble in the head, so I played with the cyclic dials on the BeastX and did not find a happy setting yet.  Might have to go into the programming to adjust something differently.  Interestingly the 450 DFC (converted from FB) flies better than this FBL now!  All is good though, as I did not have any crashes today!!  :)  OH, I had the X5 and 450 DFC with me but did not get to fly them due to the spraying on the North field.  

ECSTATIC!

Wow, gorgeous weather today, calm, sunny, over 50F, and no workers on the field while I was there.  I got in a couple hours of flying, and then around noon the JB harvester and forklift started their work south of the runway, and I quit and put the "closed" sign back up across the pit entrance.

I flew 4 packs through the Goblin, 4 through the Trex 450 DFC, and 2 through the X5.  The Goblin felt fantastic so I got in my first two inverted hovers with it.  I only held inverted about 10 seconds once and 5 seconds the other, but it felt steady and wonderful, haha.  Coming along!  I also did a number of forward loops...not just back flips...but loops in forward flight with some air between top and bottom, and some speed coming out.  Looks like a small loop with a plane basically.  Thus...ecstatic!

Outstanding Weather

Perhaps it was coolish around 45F when I went to the field, but with winds under 5pmh and the sun out, it felt very mild and it was very flyable.  Anthony showed up today so that was fun to have heli company.  He brought his G500 with 3 packs.  I flew my G500 with 4 packs, and the X5 with 2.  Also got in 4 flights on the Star.  Talk about a fun day of flying.  Did a number of flips with the Goblin and felt very comfortable.  Anthony is doing great...he flew circles in reverse, both upright AND inverted!  All under control, and I did not see any bailouts!  Gives me something to aim for.  I want to try inverted with the Goblin very soon.  BTW basically the runway is encircled by mud/dirt with the sod harvest just about complete around the perimeter of the runway.  Oh, I brought the 450 DFC but did not fly it due to the slight wind.  Just easier to fly the bigger ones.  With wind, the 450's tend to dart around too much.

Springlike Flying Weather!

I guess it should be Springlike weather since it is early March, but here in the PNW our Winters sometimes last till June, so I was very happy today to have this weather to fly in!  Arrived to see the field almost encircled by mud as JB continues the sod harvest.  We have mud on the east end, south side, and half of the west end of the runway.  The JB mower was running on the west end, seemingly to prepare for harvesting more sod today.  One thing good about flying helis at this time is that I don't fly over the sod farm and don't care about the mud out there now.  I will however be flying planes and will be at risk over the sodless sod farm in the event of deadsticks, short landings, long landings.

Ran 4 packs through the Goblin 500 with much delight, doing some flips here and there, and just feeling comfortable.  Flew just one pack through the 450 FBL as it continues to have a wobble in the cyclics.  Reducing the gain on the cyclics did not help.  And lastly, I flew one pack through the X5 with more delight.  I had more batteries to fly in the X5 and 450 DFC but elected to pack up and go home as the JB mower worked near the west end of the runway, at least to me.  I envisioned the sod cutting machine and forklifts working there soon.  Mike and Dick stayed.

Flying between SUCKY WEATHER!

Finally got to fly but only momentarily today, between rain and wind storms.  Helluva deal.  Glad anyhow, to have got in 3 packs on the Goblin 500, one on the X5, and one on the SNAFU.   All 3 were lots of fun.  I think the G500 rolled faster as it should with the increased cyclic pitch that I programmed after the last flying day.  The X5 seemed fine with the new gain settings, which I wondered might be too low.   Response was fine, but I did not get up to higher speeds to see if the tail wag is still there.  Visibility was poor due to heavy overcast and rain spritzing on and off, so I stayed close and safe after losing orientation slightly on one short occasion.  The SNAFU was as lively as ever and I enjoyed the single flight with several touch and go's in it, and landing from the North on the short runway.  More sod has been harvested surrounding the runway, making the runway more and more an aircraft carrier in a sea of mud.

Unfortunately Tad crashed his Goblin 500 again today, when the motor would not respond coming out of a stall turn.  HECK!  I missed the flight as I was prepping my plane or hiding the heli from the rain.  I heard the thud and was saddened to see the Gobby about 50' into the North field.  At least the damage looks very limited and minor, but now Tad has to figure out just what caused the motor outage, but retained servo control.  Dang it.