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.

Only a 6 pack today!

Got in all 5 packs on the Trex 450 FBL today.  I tried the 450 FB too, with more expo and a little DR to tone down the touchiness, but it's still a touchy beast, then gets more unresponsive with the expo.  That ends its days as FB.  Will decide on what path to make it FBL.  Flew the 130X just a single flight, and crashed out of control in a roll.  Just fractured the CF tail boom again.  I CA'd it on all four sides aft of the support and it is good enough.  I have a replacement boom which will go in as soon as this existing boom breaks enough, haha.  Really digging the 450 FBL and am getting tempted to flip that sucker!

Another 14 packs!

Had a good time flying the helis at the field today, in beautiful conditions.  Got in 5 packs on the 450FBL, 5 on the MCPX, and 4 on the 130X.  Did my first back flips, left flips/rolls, and right flips/rolls with the MCPX.  Did not have the cajones to do them with the 130X, but I think they will be much easier then.  The MCPX just is lazy and slow.  Did not crash at all on these attempts.  Felt very comfortable with the 450 FBL today, wow, such a pleasure!  Lots of slow and medium speed forward flight, lots of circles, some not vertical stall turns, and lots of nose in hovering.  Very fun all 5 packs.  Did try the 450 FB, and it was uber sensitive to me.  I should have tried expo and some forward trim, but did not.  I was so happy to get it down in one piece on the mat, after being all over the sky for two minutes.  Felt way too sensitive for me.  I just put it away after landing, haha.  Thought for sure it would be pranged when I was in the air with it.  I think I am going to convert it to FBL!

14 packs!!

Holy moly, I went through 14 battery packs today.  It was foggy at first but visibility extended about 100' out so I flew the new MCPX and 130X first.  MCPX had 4 packs, and the 130X had 5.  After about 90 minutes, the fog was burning off and the sun was shining through.  I had taken two flights with the Trex 450 FBL by then, and thought I would just go home, but with the sun shining , that allowed me to see well and burn up the other three packs for the 450.  It flew well.  Just did more of the same as I simply need lots of stick time.  I tried to hold better hovers in different attitudes...tail in, nose in, facing right, facing left.  I did them about 15' off the deck and also maybe 30' up.  Got to do a few more stall turns and moderate speed passes and turns.  Great fun.  On one stall turn, I had some negative pitch and that sure got my attention!  Quickly neutralized and went to positive as the chopper dove downwards.  No emergencies today, all landings on the mat, all in one piece.

Flight Log: 10/17/13

Flew the Trex 450 FBL twice today.  Only twice because I did not know I was going flying till early this AM.  Tad wanted to go later in the day, but I was going out to SM with San.  Only able to charge two packs before going out.  Flew well enough to impress Tad with my progress.  He flew his Goblin 500 very well, lots of speed and grooviness like a pattern plane, haha.  Took her to high stall turns, inverted hover up high, and a lot of stationery rolls and tiny loops.  Good stuff.  Showing much comfort and confidence with the high quality heli.  Also flew our 130X heli's.  Mine blew out the tail again due to the crazy slider going beyond its normal limits.  Dunno why, but I have a new aluminum tail unit coming, so maybe that will solve the issue.  Tad ran 3 batts through his and did well.

Bravata, 130X, and MCPX

What began as a foggy morning turned into a gorgeous, sunny Fall day by 11AM.  When the fog burned off, the JB sod cutters were revealed working on the south end of the farm.  They had been working the whole time but we just could not see them.  Luckily they worked just till about noon and then we were free to fly as usual over the JB acreage.  Tad was able to fly early as the fog allowed perhaps 50 yards visibility, so he got in 3 packs on this Goblin 500.  The fog was light by the time he did his 4th pack and he was able to turn loose a bit, flying stall turns, loops, and some inverted.  Great flying heli.  I flew my MCPX a few times, and the 130X a few times too, both without incident today.  After the fog and workers were gone, I had two nice flights with the Bravata.   It started and ran flawlessly.  Flew gracefully.  The down elevator that I mixed with flaps worked quite well, needing only a little more down to counter any ballooning.  I will leave it as set for now as it is predictable.  Landings were both from the West and were pleasing since the plane lands so slow and lightly.  Great fun today.

Yak it up!

Had 3 flights with the Yak 54 yesterday.  All landings were from the west due to workers on the east end of the field to harvest sod, and luckily a light breeze came from the east to make landings easier!  The OS 120 ran fine, and the Yak flew well.  I was a bit rusty due to flying too many electric planes and choppers recently, but all went well.  Speaking of choppers, I flew the 130X just once and was downed by a bee!  Yes, as impossible and unbelievable as it sounds, a bee kept flying around my face and lid of my cap, continually getting in my vision!  I ended up moving around to lose it, but could not, and finally lost concentration and crashed from about 20' high.  Ended up stripping a main gear and the D gear.  Luckily I had just got a new main gear in the mail the day before, and had several extra D gears in the parts bag.  I repaired the 130X and tested it in the back yard...good to go again!

Forgeting the Flight Log!

I flew on Sat Sept 21, and Th Sept 19.  On Th, I think I flew the Stinger II, 130X and MCPX.  On Sat, I flew only the 130X and MCPX, all 9 packs, before it began to rain.  I assembled the SNAFU to fly, but heard the tune of the slowly increasing pitter patter twack on the covering of the wings.  At that point, I put the assembled SNAFU into the truck bed and headed home.  On Th, all went well with a couple flights of the Stinger II.  On both days, the small helis were great, no crashes  and it is getting to be more and more fun, still very challenging, and requiring full and constant attention while in the air.

Bravo Bravata!

Oh yeah, I cured my engine running probs with a new RCEXL optokill switch in the Bravata.  The first (new) one is defective and deserves a hammer death, or at least being returned to the vendor for replacement.  The dummy light for the ignition did not blink an iota today, which if I did not see, I would have known via a dying engine.  Where I got max of two flights per day on each of the first three days of flying this bird, today I got in 4 flights with nary an issue.  I am loving this big bird.  So graceful and impressive in the air.  It looks real up there and creates instant nostalgia on low slow flybys!

I landed twice with no flaps, and twice with half flaps.  Due to a sprinkler on the West end of the runway, I made my landings on the sod farm.  The Bravata loves landings, holding its tail feathers up after the main landing gear have touched terra firma.  The mix of down elevator with half flaps at low throttle seems to be about right.  With this mix, the plane has almost no pitch up when the half flap is deployed.  Takeoffs are easy too, leaving ground in about 25' with very little throttle.  The rolls are a little faster now, but still slow and easy, after I maxed out the upward movements against the hinges AND decreased the aileron differential on the down aileron.  The Bravata loves to loop, and inverted flight requires surprisingly small down elevator input.  And it's pretty awesome seeing this huge plane do knife edge pretty effortlessly, with the nose slightly high.  Stall turns are easy peasy.

LOVING IT!

Also flew 2 packs through the 130X!

Gloomy Day but Fun Flying!

It was a pretty ugly day that seemed like a good day in the middle of Winter rather than a late Summer day!  Cool in the 60's, grey, damp, but winds under 3mph.  Tad, Quang, and I flew...where was everyone.  Stephen flew for a little bit till he totalled a foamy, and Ken came a little later.  I flew my MCPX twice, 130X four times, and Star four times.  While I had my Stinger II, I did not unpack it due to the threatening rain in the distance that never came over the field.  Tad had four packs through his new Red Goblin 500, and it looked smooth and pretty.  Also flew his Kaos Two.  Quang flew his glow 700 and also Trex 700, what a great chopper pilot.  Also flew his very fast Revolver on 8 cells...easily quicker than the Kaos Two.

Flight Log: 09/12/13

Got in one flight with the Sbach but the JB boys were vacuuming the farm intensely at the north end where our runway is.  So I flew 4 packs through the 130X and 3 packs through the MCPX.   Just one low intensity crash with the 130X when I got disoriented once, but no harm done.  Did not put the MCPX in the ground at all, but it is vibrating a lot and needs a new main shaft or something else to calm it down again.  At least it still flies.  Beautiful weather, nobody from the club there.  Two non-KRCA guys were there but they had AMA so I let them fly as my guest.  One says he has the KRCA membership form and just has to get it in to me.  Both are apparently members of the FlyAways up in Hillsboro, but one moved to Salem and he intends to join our club.  Both are full scale pilots!

All Electrics Today

I went to mow the field but it was already done, so I just flew, flew, flew.  Went through all my packs for the Star, 130X and MCPX.  That is 14 packs of at least 4 minutes each.  Had a couple crashes of the MCPX and 130X.  Craziness overcame me and I tried a loop with the MCPX.  My timing was bad, I did not hit reverse pitch at inverted, more like on the way down.  Should have hit full up or full down while aiming vertically down, but did not think fast enough.  All I did was shut throttle.  I think I bent or split the main CF shaft.  I took it out at home and tried to wick in CA to strengthen it, but there is still a good vibration in the chopper.  Still flyable though.  For the 130X, I got behind me and lost perspective down very low.  It landed skidding with no direct impact, and I took off again with no apparent ill effects!  Getting better and better with choppers, as I was doing many many circles and 8's and fairly low passes.  Might need a bigger chopper to see it better!

Weekend Flying

I flew on Sat and Sun, with the Bravata, MCPX, and 130X.  On both days, I only got 2 flights each with the Bravata due to some malfunction of the ignition.  After two flights, I start the engine up and it dies.  Thinking it is just a low idle, I up the idle and the engine dies again.  Then I view the dummy ignition light, and see that it once again is randomly flickering off momentarily, which of course kills power to the ignition, and then the engine dies.  After this happened the first day last week, I thought it was programming of the xmitter that was the cause...I had not input an EPA for the kill switch channel.  So I did that and thought I had the cure.  Then yesterday it happened again after two flights.  Came home and scratched my head, and decided to assign the kill to the landing gear channel instead of Aux 1.  This is how it is assigned on my Sbach, so I thought this indeed would be the cure.  Happy after two flights today, the problem reared its ugly head yet again.  Mike thinks I need a bigger battery on the ignition since I said I am using a Nicad at 4.8V and only 600mah.  At home after flying today, I took that batt out and installed a 2500 mah 6V NiMh battery on ignition instead.  Let's see if that does the trick.

On the chopper side, I had a bunch of packs through both the 130X and MCPX this weekend, and am feeling pretty good about flying around in forward flight.  I made quantum strides ever since owning the MCPX that Tad gave me.  Soon who knows, maybe I will try flying backwards!

BTW Jer came out today/Sun and flew his choppers, Hyper Taxi, and the Showtime.  Great fun!

5X *, 4X 130X, 5X MCPX

Ok who deciphered that title?  I went flying today and had 5 flights/packs on the Star, 4 flights/packs on the Blade 130X, and 5 on the Blade MCPX, haha!  Fourteen packs in all, and I was at the field around 9:30 till noon.  Only Ken was there, the whole time.  With all those packs through the choppers, I am proud to announce that I did not crash even once today...quite a feat, lol!  I did lose orientation on the 130X a couple times, but managed to right the ship so to speak, and did not meet terra firma.  I had lots of passes back and forth in front of me, as well as many circles both clockwise and counter.  I also flew directly towards me quite a few times.  Great fun and maybe I should eventually get a larger chopper since I might actually be able to not crash it!  I like my yellow overglasses that block blue and UV, and sure brighten and clarify the plane and chopper in both grey skies as well as partly cloudy.

NOTE: by 1:30 the skies darkened with thunderstorms bringing rain, lighting, and thunder for the rest of the day!  I was so lucky to get all that flying in.

Stinger has a Stinger Again

Last time out the Stinger II stinked due to YS 63 problems.  I thought about it a lot...the first YS 63 had the same prob as the replacement I installed.  So that meant a tank or fuel line issue, or a check valve issue.  When I had the tank out for the engine switch, all the lines and stopper looked good.   I decided to switch the check valve with the one that came with my used YS 110.  I did this the other day and ran the engine yesterday at home, and it ran well.  Took the Stinger to the field today, and it was awesome.  It ran so well that I could again hear the plane whistle on low flyby's...music to my ears!  I was able to take 4 flights with great enjoyment.  After the first flight, I moved the elevator control rod one hole closer on the control horn to get a little more responsiveness.  Also reduced the expo from 70% to 40%.  Feels more reactive and positive now.

Before flying the Stinger, I got in all 5 batt packs on the MCPX and all 4 packs on the 130X.  Both flew well.  I dumped the 130X a few times due to disorientation, and knocked off most of one tooth on the beveled gear on the main rotor.  Still flies fine, and I will get a replacement, or ask Jer to get one for me.  It hardly sounds different with most of that tooth missing, lol.  I was able to do many circles, figure 8's, and much flying towards myself.  Pretty much a quantum step forward today.  Some circles were the tiny level ones and others were the fast forward  and banked big ones!

Dean came today and flew his Star MkII with great delight.  We both enjoy our purchases from Dick!

UPDATE: Found genuine YS check valves online so I ordered a couple.  Geesh it works out to about $10.50 each, including the shipping!  Talk about a ripoff.

Day of Perfection

What a gorgeous day, starting with coolish 65F and warming to 88F, with blue sky and sunshine all the while.  Light winds up to 5mph early and up to 9mph after noon were variable in direction (wind speeds based on my new mini anemometer!)  I flew the Toledo Special four times, the Star for all four packs, the MCPX thrice, and the 130X once.  I left the house around 7:30PM and got home around 2PM, haha.  It was just lots of fun.  Delivered the NIB RV-8 to Joe and met a new member Ralph.  Got him introduced to those present, and he learned a lot by talking to all of us as a group and also individually.  I think he will suspend his work-in-progress, a scratch Cessna 182, in favor of a cheaper ARF to get him in the air faster.  Looks like he will arrange training from Mike with the club trainer plane.  John DiG came with a nice clipped wing Cub that he made full span and later reworked to the current clip wing config.  Powered with a Saito 120 it was just a real nice flying plane.  John has a way with flying at low speeds in a very realistic manner.  My TS flew like a charm, and I had fun with the Star in both the early calm air and the later windier crosswinds.  Loved the time at the field today.

Great Fam Reunion Flying Weekend!

Cousin Ron drove up from San Jose on Wednesday and went back home on Monday.  We flew with my 3 sons on Saturday and Sunday at the club field, and many times just in the house or in the back yards at Jeremy's and my house with the QX quads and nano and MCPX choppers.  Fun, fun, fun.  On Sat and Sun we flew basically starting at 8 or 8:30AM till about 1 or 1:30PM both days.  Wow!  Ron had his 130X, Warp 360, Goblin 500, and electric Katana and Slick planes.  He gave Alex his foam 540QQ.  Also, he introduced us to the little QX quad, so Jer bought one for me on Friday and I love flying the durn thing for chopper training inside the house.   Actually everyone enjoyed flying Ron's and my Quads in the house, and there is talk of purchasing their own, lol.

Let's see, Tad had his 50cc Extra 300, foam Mig, and nano Blade on Sat, then this red Goblin 500 and nano on Sun.  He successfully maidened the Goblin, the had two more flights...very smooth and impressive chopper.  Jer had his Carbon Z Yak for both days, foam Mig, and also his BL Blade.  Alex flew the Star, as well as his nano Blade, and then the 540QQ on Sunday.

I had my Sbach on Sat, with the Star.  On Sunday I flew the Yak 54 and the Star.  Also flew my MCPX Blade both days.  Tried to fly Ron's 130X on Sun and it just seemed way touchier than my MCPX so I hopefully did not damage it badly on a lopsided low crash landing.  Sounds like I grinded the main or pinion gear though!  Tried his Katana on Sat, which I did not like too much, but Ron says it likes calmer air.  Flew his Slick on Sun, which I really was impressed with, as was Jer.  It can fly on rails or do 3D, very wide performance range, big or small window.  My Yak 54 and Sbach flew fine both days, and the MCPX is getting to be a ball of fun at the field or in the backyard.

Ron fixed my 130X by the way, with replacement parts he thought were the culprit of the wild tail control.  Turns out he replaced the tail boom which was invisibly fractured, the tail rotor housing and the tail servo.  Jer nicely picked those up for me at Hobbytown, just a $26 repair job.  Ron also added tape to one tail rotor blade, and that greatly reduced tail vibration, so it looks like the 130X is good to go again.  While he wanted me to try it in the backyard, I elected to keep it for the wider spaces of the flying field.  He thought I should just forget the Blade 400 and get a new flybarless chopper if I want something that size again in the future, and I agree.  Choppers are lots of fun and very challenging.  I am making good progress due to the MCPX first from Tad, and now the QX from Jer.  The little vehicles reduce stress and cost of repairs, in prep for a larger airframe at some point!

It was a really enjoyable visit from Ron, and having all 3 sons at the field on both Sat and Sun!

Electrics

Flew just my electrics today...Star for two packs and 130X for two packs.  I thought I charged my 4 battery packs for the Star but was mistaken.  I got almost a 4.5 minute first flight when I noticed I did not have power for a go around to try another landing.  Landed just off the west end of the runway.  With my battery checker, the pack was down to zero remaining capacity, ouch.  I checked the other batts and they were around 30% so I evidently had not charged them, but put them in the tin for charged packs by mistake.  On to the 130X.  It had one good flight, then I noticed it was starting to want to just twirl around again, so I quit on the 2nd pack.  When I got home I checked the gears on both ends of the tail rotor rod.  The one at the tail that Tad replaced the other day still had a good D slot.  The one on the nose end did too, but with a little slop.  I had a new one that seemed snugger so I installed it.  Hovering inside the house, it seems ok.  I will take it to the field again and see if it is normal now.

I've come to the conclusion that my glow and gas planes are as reliable as my electrics, plus they sound nice and smell good, so I like them better.  For me, the electrics have their place as a filler or when I want to make a really quick trip to the field.

Flight Log: 06/22/2013

I flew yesterday but forgot to post about it, and I also flew today.  Yesterday I flew the Star for all 4 battery packs, the RV-8 for two flights, and the Blade 130X for two packs.  All flew well, but I broke the tail skid on the 130X with just a light backwards hit on the mat.  The RV-8 was dialed in and on rails like a pattern plane, really scooting well, then slowing good with full flaps for touchdowns.

Today I flew the Star for all 4 of my packs as well as 3 more packs that Joe had with him!  I also let Anthony fly the Star for most of one my packs in between his flights of his Goblin 500.  He liked it.  Tried to fly my 130X but the tail would rotate around and I could not get it to hold still.  I think the rotor servo might be ill.  Also flew my Toledo Special 3 or 4 times; all is well with it.  In fact the Saito 82a was running very sweet today so the TS was quick.