Hot times!

Flew today early before 8AM and it was already 80F at home.  Luckily it did not rise fast while I was at the field, so I could take my time and utilize my packs.  Flew the 450 helis for a change, putting 3 packs through both of them.  They used to be squirrely to me, and not too fun, but today they were very manageable and I even did some back and forward flips, stall turns, and a little high inverted hovering and rollouts.  They also did not seem as super high RPM as I recall they were.  All in all, I can take them again and enjoy them too.  I think flying big ones has just given me lots of stick time to where the small 450 size is not so daunting anymore.

I also flew two DS planes, the miniStar and the Aerostar 40.  Got in 2 packs on the mini and 3 on the 40.  I had two more Turnigy packs for the mini but forgot they don't fit the battery compartment in the plane.  I was supposed to reserve the two Hobby People packs for the mini but in the excitement, haha, I used those early in the 450FBL heli.

Finished up by mowing most of the runway.  Could not mow east end due to irrigation pipes on our runway.

More 7HV delight!

Started the flying with 4 packs through the X5, then 2 flights on the 7HV, next 3 on the G500, and finally one on the TREX 450 DFC.   All were good, but due to JB watering the helipad, i had to take off from a small dry corner of the pad and land on the grass runway.  Fortunately the grass is short, dry, hard, and easy to land on.    The 7HV flew very well but it still has a small tail wag.  So I came home and decreased the tail gain from 43 to 41.  I also raised the integral tail gain back up to 25, the default value.  It seems like reducing it to 23 did not improve the tail wag at all for today's flights.   All in all though, the 7HV is going to be a really fun helicopter to fly on a regular basis!

Not quite mayhem yet!

Quang brought his friend Dan down, and both brought Battlewings to do air combat with Alex and me.  Great fun, but not as many hits as one might expect.  There might have been 6 hits at most in 6 sorties.  Nobody incurred significant damage.  Worst damage was done by rough landings on the north field, haha.  It's exciting and I think we got Brandon/Bruce interested, lol.  My personal highlight of the sorties was one of my hand catches.  I had to stretch as high as I could with my right hand, caught the wing, then lost my balance as I came down on the dirt road.  Almost fell flat in the dirt with xmitter in the left hand and wing in the right, but I regained my balance and footing.  Whew, lol.

Alex flew his Trex 450 DFC twice and I got in 4 packs on the Goblin 500.  I had the X5 and as many packs but did not get to fly it.  I think Battlewings tires us out!

Flight log: 08/06/2014

I flew my two 450 helis today, along with the Factor 3D and Apache DLG.  All went well.  The helis were pleasantly easier to fly than usual, and I think I am just getting better with more and more stick time.  The bigger helis are easier to fly, and I was surprised the little ones were not as squirrely as I tend to complain about.  Flew the FBL twice and the DFC twice.  The FBL is smoother but the DFC is very acceptable.  I was able to flip them and loop them both easily.  Never lost orientation with them today.

The Factor flew better owing in all likelihood to additional 1/2oz of nose weight, and more expo dialed into the ailerons, elevator, and rudder.  It was still easy to hover though. Ran 4 packs through it today.

The Apache flew fine but I did not find any big thermals.  I found some small ones but never rode them more than about a 100' high.  On the best one, the mower was approaching, so I left the area and lost the lift.

Quang arrived after I had several flights on the Factor and 450's.  I got to see his new Toyota RAV!  Very pretty car in dark grey metallic.  Anyway, he brought his Goblin 500, and I told him about my catastrophy with the swashplate.  So we checked the swash on his and found it is the old design with one retainer screw on the ring.  Further inspection showed the assembly sitting slightly cockeyed in the ring, but Quang took a flight anyhow, crazy guy.  He had a great flight but stated that while inverted the heli tends to drift to the tail.  Anyway, I surmised maybe the loose swash is the cause, and it sounds like he will get a new swash since his is coming apart, and it just might correct that inverted drift.  Hope I saved him his heli!

Alex went flying with me today, and Tad met us there at the field.  Quang and Anthony flew too, and we had a good time with lots of heli action.  This was Tad's 2nd day with his new Goblin 700, plus he brought his 500.  I flew my 500, both 450s and the Star.  Alex flew his MCPX and also for the first time took the sticks on both 450s.  Star was enjoyed by all of us as pilots, even Quang for a brief shot, lol.

In all, I flew the G500 for 6 packs, and maybe one pack on the Star, and one on the 450 FBL.  Alex really did well, as I thought he would, in control of the 450 DFC and FBL.  Like me, he seems to prefer the FBL more.  He also handled the Star well in the air and in takeoff and landing.

Tad's new 700 seems great...easy to see since it is bigger and the color stands out.  Flies nice and graceful.

The lineup...MCPX, 450's, my G500, Star in back

Tad's new G700 and old G500.

Taking off on another satisfying flight over the North field.

It seemed windy at home, but I went to the field anyhow, and it was indeed a little breezy and gusty there too.  Not that comfortable with it, I flew just 3 packs through the Goblin 500, one on the 450DFC, and 3 on the Star.  The single flight on the 450DFC was not fun.  The little heli got tossed about pretty easily in the wind.  I had the FBL version there too, but decided to leave it in the truck.  Didn't take out the X5 either.  The Goblin handled the wind pretty nicely, but it is just not as positive like in winds under 5mph.  The Star was fine in the wind, with takeoffs and landings on the N/S "runway".

Wed, May 7 report

Flew 10 packs today, with 4 on the Goblin, 2 on the X5, 2 on the 450 DFC and 2 on the 450 FBL.  All good, but of the 450's, I prefer the FBL feel and might sell the DFC.

14 Packs!

It didn't feel like so many, but I ran 14 battery packs through my aircraft today.  One on the Goblin, 5 on the X5, 4 on the Trex 450 FBL, and 4 on the Star plane.  Good fun in great conditions.  After an hour, I was able to shed the jacket and wear just a long sleeve flannel with T underneath.  Sky conditions were good too, with mostly sunny skies making visibility of the helicopters good.  I had only a single flight on the Goblin because it just sounds abnormal.  I landed once to loosen the tail rotor belt, and it sounded different but still not normal.  I think I will have to closely inspect every nut and bolt for looseness. Thus, I flew the X5 more since it shares the same packs with the Goblin.  It did feel great to finally get to fly again after being down with bad weather and a bad cold for two weeks!

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!

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!

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.

Goblin Gaggle!

Today was a Goblin day with 4 at the field.  Tad, Anthony and I brought our 500's while Quang brought his 700.  I only got two flights on mine, two on the X5, and another two on the 450's (one each) due to the need to take turns flying.  It was inspiring to see Tad and Anthony fly sport big sky while Quang did extreme 3D and big sky.  I have to accelerate my progress to try to catch up a little bit to Anthony and Tad.  Those guys are flying/improving on inverted and backwards (upright), so I need to grow some cajones and try those too.  So scary with a big expensive heli!  I can do some on the sim, but it is a completely different ballgame with the real thing due to the high value of the helis.  I demonstrated the shudder in the X5, and Quang recommended reducing the tail gain, so I will try that.  They seem to like the X5 enough to be talking about the range of sizes offered by Gaui wowee.  Good fun, should be a great Summer coming up as we get to fly our gaggle of helis more often.

Goblin Gaggle.  Pic by TAD!
L to R:  Anthony's 500, Tad's 500, Jon's 500, Quang's 700

UPDATE on tail gain:  I hooked up the laptop to the mini VBar unit on the X5, and also did some research on the HF forum.  As a result I learned that I had set tail gain to 70 on my Futaba transmitter...this was a setting that lots of folks reported was typical for the X5.  When I opened up the VBar software on the laptop, which was hooked up to the VBar, with battery power to the unit on, the slider image on the laptop showed some crazy high gain number like 115 in the VBar unit itself. My research confirmed that the slider is supposed to be set around 70, with the number on the transmitter being whatever it has to be to get the slider in the right spot.  Turns out the number on my Futaba transmitter is around 20 when the slider is at 70!  Since I have a 3-position switch on the transmitter for gain, I set it for 20, 33, and 60 on the transmitter, yielding about 70, 80, and 100 on the VBar slider image.  This way, I can switch among those gain settings in the air, decide what one works best, then later at home again reset the settings to what I have concluded works best.  Live and learn.

Another great day for flying!

I got to fly for the 2nd day in a row!  Once again I got in 3 packs with the X5, 3 with the Goblin, but just one with the 450 DFC, one with the 450 FBL, and 6 flights on the Star.  I did not do any flips with the helis today, just tried to fly steady.  Never got disoriented today, a good thing.  One issue arose as I flew the X5 in fast forward flight...the heli shuddered like when a plane has a loose aileron that causes flutter.  Not sure what it is, but I did some research in HF and found that some pilots think the mini Vbar does not handle fast forward flight well and allows the heli to flutter, so to speak.  I might try it again tomorrow in front of Quang to see what he thinks.  Other than that, it was a great day of flying.

Finally Flew!

Geez, nearly 3 weeks of not flying due to the weather, made me stir crazy, and I was very happy to get out today!  I flew 3 packs in the 450 DFC, 2 in the 450 FBL, 3 in the Goblin 500, and 3 in the X5.  I also had 3 flights with the Star.  Conditions were good with over 45F, light wind, grey skies turning partly sunny.  I did not do much other than get used to the helis again.  I managed a few flips on the Goblin, but just wanted to feel steady and confident with each heli.  I never lost orientation on any of the helis, so that was a big plus.  Did a lot of hovering in all different directions, plus lots of slow forward flight mixed with fast forward.  Threw in some stall turns here and there.  All went well, with good landings to finish each flight.  Note that today there were two tall stacks of pallets off the south edge of the runway, and bare dirt/mud starting to surround the runway as the sod harvest continues.  UG!

Super Bowl Sunday

Jon and the SAB Goblin 500, snapped by Jeremy

This is not about the Super Bowl, but it is about what I did that morning before the SB!  Got to fly my 4 helis with Tad and Quang, with Jer spectating.  Flew 5 packs through the 450's, 2 through the Goblin 500, and 2 through the X5.  All so satisfying.  Tad, Jer, and Quang were happy to see my X5 fly, and they thought it looks like a good heli.  Tad did a fine job with his Goblin 500, getting lower and lower while inverted, and faster in big sky circuits.  Quang wowed us with his Trex 700e, and Goblin 500.  His 700e was crazy with all the LED lights illuminated for night flying.  He flies so well.

Jon and the Gaui X5, again snapped by Jeremy

X5 Maiden Day!

I maidened the X5 today.   I was down to two big packs after flying the G500 first, and all the 450 packs.  As it got windier, I hesitated, but went ahead and maidened the X5. Seems good.  A bit more sensitive to the sticks but that could be Vbar vs iKon.  I did notice before today that when playing with the cyclics on the X5, they don't act mooshy going back to neutral like they do on the Gobby and the 450's.  Could be  a simple setting in the Vbar to change that, but to tell the truth it still feels good.  First flight was all in normal mode.  2nd flight I went in and out of IU1 and 2.  Sounds heap big powerful when changing into IU.  I guess I set everything up OK in the X5 because it flew well with no cuckoo behaviors, so yay! 

Glad to report the X5 is highly visible in the air, but then again I did not get far away.  I stayed low and flew different sides facing me, and some small circles and 8's.  It is a good heli and will be fun splitting time with the other helis.  Makes me want to get more big batteries so that I can take just the Gobby and X5 to the field!  Yike$!  Sad to report I did not take a camera to capture some maiden day pics.

Flew 7 packs through the 450's with no issues.  Both DFC and FBL are doing fine, the FBL now with the Dominator motor and a 14T Pinion.  Seems a little better (less cyclic wobble) than the 13T pinion after adjusting the gains on the BeastX.  One pack (from Anthony, an old one) will be trashed, as it made the DFC motor run high and low, and the tail twitched a little.  After changing to a new pack, those issues were gone.

Tied the record of the day before!

Yes, I had another 15 flights today on a day that duplicated yesterday's weather.  I had the same three helis, but today the plane was my Intruder, and it had 4 flights.  Tad was able to fly today, and his repaired Goblin 500 flew great.  Looked just about as good as new, but he sensed a slight backward drift that was not there before, so he'll check that out in the IKON programming.  My helis all flew well except for one weird episode where both 450's would not respond to throttle after plugging in their batteries for flights.  I can only guess I did something different on the transmitter, but soon they were both working again, and off they went for more flights.  The Goblin was sublime again, and I had another 10 or so flips on it.  No cajones to stop it inverted and try to hover yet...Tad did that lots today with his and looked very steady.  The Intruder was still on rails and had many rolls, fast and slow and 4 point.  Good plane.  Good helis.  Good Day!

I'm not even tired!

I think I set a record today of 15 flights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  4xFBL, 3xDFC, 4x G500, 4x Toledo Special.  Geez it was chilly first, then real decent, whisper of wind, and sunny.  I love the Gobby, flies so much easier than a 450.  Still fun to fly em all though.  I did my first flips with the Gobby...2 right, 2 left, 2 back, 2 forward!  Also did a lot of tight figure 8's with it.  I tell ya, over confidence can take hold like this, haha.  Geez, really do LOVE it!  Did not take the X5, maybe tomorrow.  At this rate I am going to need more 6s packs so that I can fly both the Gobby and the X5 more on the same day.  Oh the FBL with the new Dominator motor worked out fine at first, but then I noticed a funny wallowing in cyclic, like it wants to go right, then left, and back and forth again and again.  Weird.  I need to inspect the head closely for something coming loose.  Flyable, but I notice the behavior and have to get rid of it.

2x2x2

It was 44F and clearing when I left the house, but down in the lowlands where the field is, it was still foggy.  Not foggy enough however, to stop me from flying the helis!  I stayed in close and practiced orientations, and low slow flying.  The ceiling was low, visibility perhaps 200 yards.  I could not see the cars on 99W at first.  No probs staying in close today though since the wind was just a breath.  I got in 2 packs with the 450 FBL, 2 with the 450 DFC, and 2 with the Goblin.  Saved the Gobby for last, and gosh it is much easier to fly than the 450's.  Did go into IU today and it was no problemo.  I learned that I need to change my normal throttle curve since when I go into IU the Gobby shoots up, and when I go back down to normal mode, it drops too much.  I will raise the midpoints of the curve about 10 units.

One negative issue occurred with the FBL today.  At the end of the second flight, I just sensed some goofiness appearing.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I found the Viper motor loose again, the bearing gone in this the 2nd motor.  I will not be getting another Viper, that is certain.  Ron thinks maybe it is the type of motor that needs oiling for each flight, but I have not found any info online confirming that.  I am going to get a plain old Align motor.  $50 down the drain for that Viper I bought to replace the first one that came on the heli when Anthony sold it to me.  Bah humbug, lol!