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.

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.

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.

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!

Flight Log: Aug 19, 2013

Took the RV-8 for a spin on Monday but it just would not run right.  The engine won't idle down smoothly from full throttle...it goes down to a high idle, then after a few seconds goes to low idle, basically hesitating to get to low idle when I move the throttle stick down all the way.  I tried a slew of low idle screw adjustments, and probably ended up close to where I was at the start of the day.  Ended up getting only 2 flights on the RV-8.  I took the Star up for all four batt packs, and also flew the MCPX once.

Stinger II and Star and MCPX

Nobody was there and the wind was calm so I ran most of batts through the MCPX first.  Not as good as yesterday, but no damage was incurred.  I did manage a few circles and some zoomy flying without crashing, so it's all good.  Later, Ken and Dave W arrived.  Then I tried the Stinger II today and after fighting the engine tuning, I remembered why I have not been flying it much.  First off it sounds like a tractor, so I think bearings are shot, and secondly it won't lean out nor idle well anymore.  Needs an overhaul, which for me is to remove it and stick the other YS63 that I have into the plane, haha.  Hmmm, I kinda wonder if my OS46LA would fit into this plane?  Also flew my Star for 4 packs and it did well.  I still cannot get the hop and stop down pat, so I think I shall give up and let whatever happens happen on Sat.  Too much depends on wind conditions and luck!

Practice

Took the SNAFU and Star out to practice for the VC finals this Sat.  Turned the high needle out just a click, and the low needle out just an 1/8th turn to avert a flameout like I had today, while on the ground.  Seemed better after that, but more practice days this week will tell the tale.  In a quandary which plane to use for the narrowing runway task.  The SNAFU is slightly more predictable on landings but the low wings makes it much easier to pop balloons, which I want to avoid.  The Star has the high wing to avoid balloons, but then has the sloppier handling in the air, and I need to make it through the entry gate without penalty.  The Star does lift off quicker on takeoff which  will be a benefit on lifting off the narrow end of the obstacle and hopefully avoiding balloons.  Hmmmmmm, what to do!  Anyway, I ran 4 batts through the Star and had 3 flights with the SNAFU.  Oh, also had only one batt for the MCPX but had a great flight and was able to fly the figure 8 circuit and some counterclockwise circles.

Sbach 342 and MCPX

Took 3 flights with the Sbach today.  DLE-30 started and ran well, and the plane flew great.  Had one of those days where I could feel the plane in the air really well.  Also flew the MCPX for two batteries and it seems fine.  Made one full left circle on the 2nd flight and did not crash during that attempt, lol.  Felt good to get it in the air again after repairs left it side lined for a few weeks.  My Blade 130X and 400 are both still laid up for reasons not fully determined.

Good Switch!

I fixed the Intruder last night by switching the entire cylinder head, with the valve springs, etc, from a spare engine to the OS 91 Surpass II on this plane.  While at it, I gapped the valves, and put in a new OS Type F glow plug.  The repaired engine ran MOST EXCELLENTLY today, and the Intruder even had its familiar whistle back, from whence it was brand new!  YES!!!  I had one short test hop, then a full flight, and it is back on fast rails again.  I decided to not fly it anymore and save it for this Saturday's event.

Instead I flew the Star for my 3 packs, and also flew the MCPX Blade for 3 flights.  I tried my first full circle with the MCPX and crashed...too much bank, not enough rudder, full throttle into the grass, but there was NO damage.  Gotta love it.  Took off again immediately and I executed a full turn, but it was 50' away so too hard to even tell.  I did another with smaller diameter and just 25' away, most pleasing to do so!

Early on, Ashton and I hammered in at least a hundred 6" staples to hold edges and overlaps of the new mat down and to prevent tripping hazards.  Looks good and I am surprised we were able to do it in about an hour.  It was just the two of us till Dean arrived and helped for perhaps 10 minutes.

BTW Ashton totaled his Uproar out on the sod farm grass today.  Something happened to aileron control and he went in full bore.  He thinks maybe it was mechanical failure of the control rod keepers on the servo arm...in other words the allen screw might not have been tight enough.  Rudy had a couple flights then tore up his LG on landing the big Osiris...came in too slow.  He says it should be an easy repair.  Dean  flew his Corby Starlet with great success today, finally.  Mike brought his Pawnee to practice for Sat.

It was a great day at the field, having fun and accomplishing needed maintenance.