are these blades any good for cp pro?
09-15-2013, 12:37 AM
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Hi guys,
Not much going on RC-wise except that I did an upgrade to my 130x...swapped out the stock plastic pitch slider for a metal one. And I thought the mcpx had some tiny parts. The gears and pins on the 130x tail are super uber small...I have to put a towel down to work on it so I won't spend hours looking for dropped parts in the carpet. Now just need a morning to get out and give her a whirl.
I also thought that maybe I would be able to get through this lawn mowing season with just a single filled gas can but had to fill it half way just last week...guess lawn mowing will continue through this month. Darn!
Nick,
I spent a year living in an apartment complex less than a mile from campus so can relate on walking to school. You did say it was hilly where your campus is located, right? So you get quite a work-out I'm sure!
Sorry to hear about your job laying off people and not refilling the empty position...more with less is todays philosophy. Just remember not to sacrifice school for a current job, not worth it in the end.
JPEE,
I remember an older gentleman at a club I used to fly at that was in a similar situation (long time divorced, not widowed) who had a great deal of hobby related stuff in his house - I believe his garage had boxes upon boxes of unopened plane kits. He eventually began bringing items to be used in club auctions and meeting give-aways just to clear out some space at home.
Hope the weather has started to cool down for some of you now that its September.
Mark
Not much going on RC-wise except that I did an upgrade to my 130x...swapped out the stock plastic pitch slider for a metal one. And I thought the mcpx had some tiny parts. The gears and pins on the 130x tail are super uber small...I have to put a towel down to work on it so I won't spend hours looking for dropped parts in the carpet. Now just need a morning to get out and give her a whirl.
I also thought that maybe I would be able to get through this lawn mowing season with just a single filled gas can but had to fill it half way just last week...guess lawn mowing will continue through this month. Darn!
Nick,
I spent a year living in an apartment complex less than a mile from campus so can relate on walking to school. You did say it was hilly where your campus is located, right? So you get quite a work-out I'm sure!
Sorry to hear about your job laying off people and not refilling the empty position...more with less is todays philosophy. Just remember not to sacrifice school for a current job, not worth it in the end.
JPEE,
I remember an older gentleman at a club I used to fly at that was in a similar situation (long time divorced, not widowed) who had a great deal of hobby related stuff in his house - I believe his garage had boxes upon boxes of unopened plane kits. He eventually began bringing items to be used in club auctions and meeting give-aways just to clear out some space at home.
Hope the weather has started to cool down for some of you now that its September.
Mark
09-18-2013, 08:41 AM
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Mark,
I remember the days working on my Gaui 200 with the tiny screws.
Yeah, there are some good sized hills around school.
The weather was perfect for flying last Thursday. I had only one class and didn't have to go to work, so I finally went flying again. I had the field to myself. I was a little rusty with some of my orientations, so I worked on that most of the time. I got bored doing 3D, so I mainly did some big and fast circuits upright and inverted.
Nick
I remember the days working on my Gaui 200 with the tiny screws.
Yeah, there are some good sized hills around school.
The weather was perfect for flying last Thursday. I had only one class and didn't have to go to work, so I finally went flying again. I had the field to myself. I was a little rusty with some of my orientations, so I worked on that most of the time. I got bored doing 3D, so I mainly did some big and fast circuits upright and inverted.
Nick
09-18-2013, 09:39 AM
Hi Guys,
Nick, I am glad you got out and had some air time, it must have felt pretty good after the load and school and working getting some MY TIME so to speak.
Mark, That's sounds great on the new beefy-er tail slider, I hope that ends your problems.
Sunday I took my grandson to the field after giving him a computer and and SIM last weekend. He took off his Bixler ( I put landing gear on it ) and flew like and Eagle. Then he came in and made his own landing all by himself while teathered to me via the buddy box. Then "I" took off in the T-28 and once up handed that over. He made his first bank and put it into the a downward spiral. I took over and pulled it out, once leveled I gave it back and had him and told him to fly straight out and just rock the wings to get the feel of the plane. After that he did that and could feel the difference from the Bixler I "did not" have to bail him out again. He flew a total of 6 flights today.
After that we started loading up and a Board member came up ( I just knew it ) and said.... Oh John, you know you still have not completed you field flight test as prescribed in the club by laws. I said, lets getter-done. I had to take off and land from both ends of the field. Then do the same with touch and goes from each end, then a flat figure 8 and maintain the same altitude. While this sounds easy and is for the most part, the one end of the field requires and hair pin turn approach which can be tricky. But last week I went out there in the early a.m. and practiced all of this stuff knowing this day would come sooner or later lol.
Yesterday I got a feather you know where and charged every battery I own (except the Hexa packs) and loaded my Bixler, T-28, 500e, 700e and P-51 and headed for the field. I got there and I was all alone YIPPEE. The big disappointment was, I forgot I put a BEC in the 51 with a small 2S and had not charged that battery...crap! I flew everything else however. I have not had the 500 out in nearly a year if I recall correctly. Man the sucker flies baby she flies. I can't not imagine every giving her up. Oh, yes I would like a 550 but, I am not ready to sell the 500 for $300.00 the markets going price and spend over a grand for a 550, nope.
SURPRISE: I have 10-12 old Rhino 2200 3S batteries I have had them stored in my safe for at least two years. They are circa April 13, 2009 and July 7, 2009. They have all held their storage charge which I refresh about once to twice a year. When I got my 450 Quad I tried them there and the fly time was greatly diminished, their C rating had dropped, but all cells were perfect but I still bought some new Nanos. But now with the Bixler and the new T-28 I pulled these all out and charged them and guess what....................... they will fly the T-28 for 10 minutes at 3/4 throttle and the Bixler I kept up yesterday flying under power and take on thermals and I stayed up for 28 minutes and still came in at 3.7 per cell! How do you like those apples? So the lesson here is to take care of you batteries and store them properly, oh I forgot to say...... after I come from flying the next day I "storage charge" all of the flown packs, for two reasons. First, it is good for the battery, two if I want to go flying their re-charge time is really much shorter. Because they are old I can charge a bunch and then use them from weekend to weekend with my Joe and never have to drag a charger to the field.
Finally today it is cooling off a bit here to a tolerable 88 degrees.
Take care all
Nick, I am glad you got out and had some air time, it must have felt pretty good after the load and school and working getting some MY TIME so to speak.
Mark, That's sounds great on the new beefy-er tail slider, I hope that ends your problems.
Sunday I took my grandson to the field after giving him a computer and and SIM last weekend. He took off his Bixler ( I put landing gear on it ) and flew like and Eagle. Then he came in and made his own landing all by himself while teathered to me via the buddy box. Then "I" took off in the T-28 and once up handed that over. He made his first bank and put it into the a downward spiral. I took over and pulled it out, once leveled I gave it back and had him and told him to fly straight out and just rock the wings to get the feel of the plane. After that he did that and could feel the difference from the Bixler I "did not" have to bail him out again. He flew a total of 6 flights today.
After that we started loading up and a Board member came up ( I just knew it ) and said.... Oh John, you know you still have not completed you field flight test as prescribed in the club by laws. I said, lets getter-done. I had to take off and land from both ends of the field. Then do the same with touch and goes from each end, then a flat figure 8 and maintain the same altitude. While this sounds easy and is for the most part, the one end of the field requires and hair pin turn approach which can be tricky. But last week I went out there in the early a.m. and practiced all of this stuff knowing this day would come sooner or later lol.
Yesterday I got a feather you know where and charged every battery I own (except the Hexa packs) and loaded my Bixler, T-28, 500e, 700e and P-51 and headed for the field. I got there and I was all alone YIPPEE. The big disappointment was, I forgot I put a BEC in the 51 with a small 2S and had not charged that battery...crap! I flew everything else however. I have not had the 500 out in nearly a year if I recall correctly. Man the sucker flies baby she flies. I can't not imagine every giving her up. Oh, yes I would like a 550 but, I am not ready to sell the 500 for $300.00 the markets going price and spend over a grand for a 550, nope.
SURPRISE: I have 10-12 old Rhino 2200 3S batteries I have had them stored in my safe for at least two years. They are circa April 13, 2009 and July 7, 2009. They have all held their storage charge which I refresh about once to twice a year. When I got my 450 Quad I tried them there and the fly time was greatly diminished, their C rating had dropped, but all cells were perfect but I still bought some new Nanos. But now with the Bixler and the new T-28 I pulled these all out and charged them and guess what....................... they will fly the T-28 for 10 minutes at 3/4 throttle and the Bixler I kept up yesterday flying under power and take on thermals and I stayed up for 28 minutes and still came in at 3.7 per cell! How do you like those apples? So the lesson here is to take care of you batteries and store them properly, oh I forgot to say...... after I come from flying the next day I "storage charge" all of the flown packs, for two reasons. First, it is good for the battery, two if I want to go flying their re-charge time is really much shorter. Because they are old I can charge a bunch and then use them from weekend to weekend with my Joe and never have to drag a charger to the field.
Finally today it is cooling off a bit here to a tolerable 88 degrees.
Take care all
09-19-2013, 10:14 AM
Hi Guy's,
I took the 51 out today without much luck. First, she flies like a heavy stone at anything less than near full throttle. I brought all of my rates back up to 100% to see if that would help, nope! Landing was hell too.................. and there was a stiff breeze with small gusts. I never really flew the plane around much, but rather worked on landings. It took near 3/4 pack for me to get her down because of the nose lifting and she'd start to stall when the wind would get under the nose about 12 off of the ground. No broken bones but it was a very hard bounce landing. I waited a bit and on the same pack I was determined to fly her again, so I went up. Did the same thing, flew around and tried to land about 5 times and the same things happened. She would come in nice and I flew her in under power and elevator-ed her down near the runway to over power the wind, and then the wind would lift the nose still again, and she would want to stall and cartwheel to the left. But I know how to pull her out of that condition and would go around again. I finally got her down still on the same first pack and a harder bounce this time. I was pissed and frustrated. The last time out with this plane she flew like a T-28, controllable but still needed that faster speed to perform, and my landing's and touch and goes were like glass. But if there is wind, then this plane is a no go. I have a theory, I went back and did a review again on the battery recommended by Motion RC where I bought it. Presently, I do have perfect CG but........... the CG is not where is should be because this 4000 mAh battery is 130 grams more than the specified pack from Motion. I really think that is a major contributor of the plane not handling well. With my 4000 slid back 2" into the canopy area, it is not right by design. Oh she balances upside down on the wing designation points, but I feel there has been a fateful trade off for sliding the battery back so far. So I just ordered a battery from Motion fitted for the plane so this should be interesting. "IF" the plane flies better with its designed pack I will be tickled, if not....................... you don't want to go there.
09-20-2013, 03:28 AM
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Hi all,
JPEE,
I think you and I are finding out why the plane guys watch the wind so carefully and won't fly in even the slightest breeze, while we have gotten spoiled by FBL units and large heli's (well, some of us have much bigger heli's then others
).
It really does stink that the planes are so affected that flying becomes a chore. I do think though that it is the nature of the warbirds and the wing airfoil that makes them so dang hard to handle and prone to wing overs during landings.
At least on the lighter side you have been having great success with your 'protoge'...he sounds to be really taking to the hobby and listening to your advice.
Good advice on the storage charging of your batts after the days flying, esp. since you really don't know when you'll be using them again. They can sit for days at whatever charge they were left with before you get the chance to attend to them. I started doing that several months ago and I know that it will extend the life-expentancy of them. Now with your 'research' it has been proven!
BTW, I finally pulled the trigger on a charger...got myself an ICharger 306B from ProgressiveRC several hours ago. Now I can finish wiring my 2 PS that I got per your suggested and using your diagrams build myself a nifty carrying case to house it all.
Nick,
Glad you were able to find some time to take your Whiplash out for a spin and that you are enjoying some nice cool weather again...can you send some down my way please? Nice big circuits...now your talking my language!
Mark
JPEE,
I think you and I are finding out why the plane guys watch the wind so carefully and won't fly in even the slightest breeze, while we have gotten spoiled by FBL units and large heli's (well, some of us have much bigger heli's then others
). It really does stink that the planes are so affected that flying becomes a chore. I do think though that it is the nature of the warbirds and the wing airfoil that makes them so dang hard to handle and prone to wing overs during landings.
At least on the lighter side you have been having great success with your 'protoge'...he sounds to be really taking to the hobby and listening to your advice.
Good advice on the storage charging of your batts after the days flying, esp. since you really don't know when you'll be using them again. They can sit for days at whatever charge they were left with before you get the chance to attend to them. I started doing that several months ago and I know that it will extend the life-expentancy of them. Now with your 'research' it has been proven!
BTW, I finally pulled the trigger on a charger...got myself an ICharger 306B from ProgressiveRC several hours ago. Now I can finish wiring my 2 PS that I got per your suggested and using your diagrams build myself a nifty carrying case to house it all.
Nick,
Glad you were able to find some time to take your Whiplash out for a spin and that you are enjoying some nice cool weather again...can you send some down my way please?
Nice big circuits...now your talking my language! Mark
09-20-2013, 07:05 AM
Hello Mark,
Congratulations on the new charger, your gonna love it! You should have no problems making your PS but if in doubt somewhere ask for help, mail or call me if you like, don't burn those babies up and be sure they they do-not touch each-other...case to case. Funny story, last night after I arrived at the field I left my lights on in the diesel for 45 min until I was told they were on. I went back to the truck, "dead" not enough power to start that big pig. My buddy Jason brought over his 1000i Honda gen and we put the 24 power supply on and his iCharger! Because we had to jimmy a connection to the battery from the charger we could not kick the full 30 amps of charge, the wires were to small, but we did do 10 amps! In 30 min we checked the charger and you could see that it had put thousands of mAh into the one truck battery and the voltage was up. I disconnected the set up and started the diesel and then let it idle for 10 min to top both batteries as I have two alternators too. The power of the mighty iCharger spoke last night, this should be a TV Commercial!! PS: to this charger story, another guy had a dead battery in his van last week, you know when I say van, it's like what soccer moms drive. So he took an 5000 mAh 3S 30C pack and put it to his car battery and just started this van............ really! Some of the guys bring 12 vt soldering irons too and just hook them to a 3S pack! It is pretty wild out there I tell ya.
It was Warbird afternoon at the field! A guy came in that I know just a bit and he loaded a fleet of planes. He had a Parkzone ThunderBolt. It is about the size of a T-28 and has the same flying electronics. So I watched him fly it and he has seen me struggle with the P-51B and as he flew his plane it was glass like from take off to roll maneuvers and then landing (with a small breeze) he just dead stick-ed it and held the radio with thumbs off and the plane landed itself! It was then he said... it was his favorite plane. I noted that I might get one, he replied..........I have two more in the garage because he has an "IN" somewhere to get them cheap! With that all said, he was selling PNP NIB for 130.00 so I took one, he is bringing it to the field today.
Take care all
Congratulations on the new charger, your gonna love it! You should have no problems making your PS but if in doubt somewhere ask for help, mail or call me if you like, don't burn those babies up and be sure they they do-not touch each-other...case to case. Funny story, last night after I arrived at the field I left my lights on in the diesel for 45 min until I was told they were on. I went back to the truck, "dead" not enough power to start that big pig. My buddy Jason brought over his 1000i Honda gen and we put the 24 power supply on and his iCharger! Because we had to jimmy a connection to the battery from the charger we could not kick the full 30 amps of charge, the wires were to small, but we did do 10 amps! In 30 min we checked the charger and you could see that it had put thousands of mAh into the one truck battery and the voltage was up. I disconnected the set up and started the diesel and then let it idle for 10 min to top both batteries as I have two alternators too. The power of the mighty iCharger spoke last night, this should be a TV Commercial!! PS: to this charger story, another guy had a dead battery in his van last week, you know when I say van, it's like what soccer moms drive. So he took an 5000 mAh 3S 30C pack and put it to his car battery and just started this van............ really! Some of the guys bring 12 vt soldering irons too and just hook them to a 3S pack! It is pretty wild out there I tell ya.
It was Warbird afternoon at the field! A guy came in that I know just a bit and he loaded a fleet of planes. He had a Parkzone ThunderBolt. It is about the size of a T-28 and has the same flying electronics. So I watched him fly it and he has seen me struggle with the P-51B and as he flew his plane it was glass like from take off to roll maneuvers and then landing (with a small breeze) he just dead stick-ed it and held the radio with thumbs off and the plane landed itself! It was then he said... it was his favorite plane. I noted that I might get one, he replied..........I have two more in the garage because he has an "IN" somewhere to get them cheap! With that all said, he was selling PNP NIB for 130.00 so I took one, he is bringing it to the field today.
Take care all
Last edited by JPEE; 09-20-2013 at 07:34 AM. Reason: addition of photos
09-20-2013, 08:34 PM
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JPEE,
That is an amazing story, a new Jug for you for a great price! Definitely show pics when you get it.
On a side note, did you ever watch those Dogfight shows on Discovery Channel? There is one that showcases Jugs and P51's battling the Luftwaffe and I think the commentary by one of the pilots (Bob Brulle) was absolutely hilarious, he really had me cracking up. It's 45 minutes but well worth the watch if you haven't seen it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5nEYQpN5M
I never imagined you could charge up a car battery with the icharger, or start a car with a 3s batt...that is too funny.
Mark
That is an amazing story, a new Jug for you for a great price! Definitely show pics when you get it.
On a side note, did you ever watch those Dogfight shows on Discovery Channel? There is one that showcases Jugs and P51's battling the Luftwaffe and I think the commentary by one of the pilots (Bob Brulle) was absolutely hilarious, he really had me cracking up. It's 45 minutes but well worth the watch if you haven't seen it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5nEYQpN5M
I never imagined you could charge up a car battery with the icharger, or start a car with a 3s batt...that is too funny.
Mark
Last edited by Aframomum; 09-20-2013 at 08:45 PM.
09-21-2013, 07:49 PM
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Didn't know if you got an email notice but it seems Gens Ace batteries have created thier own website: www.gensaceusa.com
Right now it seems they are having a 10% off any order and free S/H on over $100 orders - same as Hobbypartz.
I want to get 2 more batts for my not-yet-maidened 550 ( ) but will need to wait until payday for the funds as I did just get a charger, at least the sale goes until the end of this month.
Happy flying!
Mark
Right now it seems they are having a 10% off any order and free S/H on over $100 orders - same as Hobbypartz.
I want to get 2 more batts for my not-yet-maidened 550 (
) but will need to wait until payday for the funds as I did just get a charger, at least the sale goes until the end of this month. Happy flying!
Mark
09-22-2013, 07:03 PM
Thank Mark for the heads up.
I too got the email on the Gens, thank you. Fortunately I am still set on all pack for all planes and copters.........thank goodness. BTW Joe flew 6 of the old Rhinos today and everything flew well and came in safe. They also come in pretty well balanced after a flight too. OMG I watched video on the Jugs and the 51 vs the Wolfs and holy cow ...... some of our pilots really had foresight to sit and idle on the tarmac because he listened to that all important "little voice" saying this was coming, and it did. Great video!!
Have a good week!
I too got the email on the Gens, thank you. Fortunately I am still set on all pack for all planes and copters.........thank goodness. BTW Joe flew 6 of the old Rhinos today and everything flew well and came in safe. They also come in pretty well balanced after a flight too. OMG I watched video on the Jugs and the 51 vs the Wolfs and holy cow ...... some of our pilots really had foresight to sit and idle on the tarmac because he listened to that all important "little voice" saying this was coming, and it did. Great video!!
Have a good week!
09-23-2013, 02:01 PM
Hey Guys,
To bring you up to date, I have cart-wheeled my P-51 twice while trying to land her. The battery I tried to use was a 4000 HK Nano because that is what Fast Phil flies in his P-51 Bubble Canopy. I came to find later that the size and shape of the two 51s is different!!
I had to mode the tray to make the battery fit
So now after I think 5 flights I went back to Motion RC and bought the prescribed battery a 3600 mAh pack to see if putting that in and putting the battery tray where it should be in the plane will make her handle right. Before I forget, my CG is dead on, she will stand on my fingers upside down all day, but I think it is the added weight and that the battery is slid back 1 1/2" to meet that needed CG that makes the plane touchy on landings and a bit sluggish in the air. I forgot, but its like 120 grams or so between packs. I just went to weigh the new pack and my scale's batteries are dead, CRAP.
Here is a pic or two to show you the difference in size they are beyond their weights.
To bring you up to date, I have cart-wheeled my P-51 twice while trying to land her. The battery I tried to use was a 4000 HK Nano because that is what Fast Phil flies in his P-51 Bubble Canopy. I came to find later that the size and shape of the two 51s is different!!
I had to mode the tray to make the battery fit
So now after I think 5 flights I went back to Motion RC and bought the prescribed battery a 3600 mAh pack to see if putting that in and putting the battery tray where it should be in the plane will make her handle right. Before I forget, my CG is dead on, she will stand on my fingers upside down all day, but I think it is the added weight and that the battery is slid back 1 1/2" to meet that needed CG that makes the plane touchy on landings and a bit sluggish in the air. I forgot, but its like 120 grams or so between packs. I just went to weigh the new pack and my scale's batteries are dead, CRAP. Here is a pic or two to show you the difference in size they are beyond their weights.
Last edited by JPEE; 09-23-2013 at 02:05 PM.
09-23-2013, 11:36 PM
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JPEE,
Sorry to hear about your P-51 landings, hopefully not too much damage besides the ego dent. Been there and done similar.
Any word on what some of the guys on RCG fly with in their P-51's (your version aircraft)? That seems to be a very large difference in weight and size between the 2 you showed, plus with your motor needing the prop mod for extra 'bite' I bet it was a lot lugging that extra weight around.
I haven't even taken out my Zero...she stays in closet storage until I feel up to flying her again. Right now the weathers been still rather warm (and humid) and I've been busy with other obligations. Right now I need to finish my 550 and get her maidened. I did take advantage of GensAce sale and must have hit it just right as they were having a 20% sale running for just one day, so I snagged 2 of them for $168 plus free S/H. Not too bad I must say.
I also saw ExperienceRC is having a 75% sale on all their KBDD stuff for the next 6 days. I wonder if they are planning to not carry their products anymore?
BTW, did you get the Jug yet?
Take it easy everyone,
Mark
Sorry to hear about your P-51 landings, hopefully not too much damage besides the ego dent.
Been there and done similar. Any word on what some of the guys on RCG fly with in their P-51's (your version aircraft)? That seems to be a very large difference in weight and size between the 2 you showed, plus with your motor needing the prop mod for extra 'bite' I bet it was a lot lugging that extra weight around.
I haven't even taken out my Zero...she stays in closet storage until I feel up to flying her again. Right now the weathers been still rather warm (and humid) and I've been busy with other obligations. Right now I need to finish my 550 and get her maidened. I did take advantage of GensAce sale and must have hit it just right as they were having a 20% sale running for just one day, so I snagged 2 of them for $168 plus free S/H. Not too bad I must say.
I also saw ExperienceRC is having a 75% sale on all their KBDD stuff for the next 6 days. I wonder if they are planning to not carry their products anymore?
BTW, did you get the Jug yet?
Take it easy everyone,
Mark
09-28-2013, 07:17 PM
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Hi guys,
I think I finally got all my stuff together for my charging station, now all I need to finish is the wiring.
I contacted Progressive to change my original order (the Icharger 306b) to get the PowerLab 6 instead - figured it would do me better in the long run and it wasn't that much more so really a no-brainer. Time to get out the soldering iron soon! JPEE, I will call out your knowledge when I run into issues as I'm sure I will 
, so thank you for your offer.
Hope everyone's having a good weekend, we finally started to get some nice Fall weather in and it feels great.
Mark
I think I finally got all my stuff together for my charging station, now all I need to finish is the wiring.
I contacted Progressive to change my original order (the Icharger 306b) to get the PowerLab 6 instead - figured it would do me better in the long run and it wasn't that much more so really a no-brainer.
Time to get out the soldering iron soon! JPEE, I will call out your knowledge when I run into issues as I'm sure I will , so thank you for your offer. Hope everyone's having a good weekend, we finally started to get some nice Fall weather in and it feels great.
Mark
10-05-2013, 04:07 PM
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It sounds like you guys are keeping busy with the planes.
The weather has been swinging all over the place. A few days ago it was really hot and today it was in the 50's. There was a tornado south of Lincoln and the west part of Nebraska was getting a lot of snow.
I had 3 exams last week and that was stressful. I am struggling with my signals and systems class. I am hoping just to pass the class. I am doing pretty good in my digital and circuits class. So far my electromagnetics class has been pretty easy. It just requires knowing where to apply all the formulas. I got a tour of the laser research labs at school. They have multi-thousand dollar lasers. One laser was being used to machine micro structures on metal. That was cool.
There was a guy who was interested in buying my Velocity. I left him a message to try and setup a time to meet a few days ago, but he never responded.
Other than that I have been busy with school and work.
Nick
The weather has been swinging all over the place. A few days ago it was really hot and today it was in the 50's. There was a tornado south of Lincoln and the west part of Nebraska was getting a lot of snow.
I had 3 exams last week and that was stressful. I am struggling with my signals and systems class. I am hoping just to pass the class. I am doing pretty good in my digital and circuits class. So far my electromagnetics class has been pretty easy. It just requires knowing where to apply all the formulas. I got a tour of the laser research labs at school. They have multi-thousand dollar lasers. One laser was being used to machine micro structures on metal. That was cool.
There was a guy who was interested in buying my Velocity. I left him a message to try and setup a time to meet a few days ago, but he never responded.
Other than that I have been busy with school and work.
Nick
10-05-2013, 09:14 PM
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Hi guys,
Nick, not busy with planes...but an electrical project of wiring up these PS to get them to produce 24 volts. Which, BTW isn't happening. Very frustrating to say the least. More on that later...
Sorry to hear your weather is flip flopping all around on you. Ours has been very constant for the most part with lows in the lower 70's and highs in the low 90's. Yeah, and this is October right?
It sounds like you have quite a bit going on between school and work. I hope things calm down for you, maybe the job?
That laser lab I bet was a cool tour...I've seen on How Its Made the use of laser cutters to cut sheet metal parts for vehicles, really amazing and powerful technology.
Hope your deal with the Velocity works out and that guy gets back with you. I'm sure he'd be missing out on a hellaov deal.
JPEE...are you getting another heli? Been quite for a while!
These past few weeks have been loads of fun hobby-wise.
First - the 130X is a great flying heli. Does exactly what you want it to do. I was able to do huge loops, semi-backwards flight (well, my level of backwards flight ), inverted, even tail slides without worrying about the tail blowing out. BUT...it was a bear on high maintenance. Most times I couldn't get through 3 batts before something needed attention. So its going on the sale section to ease my nerves with it. I do not have that kind of time to spend going over a heli that often. Back to my trusty mcpx (that I'm glad I never sold ).
Next, my 550...got most everything set up and ready to go but didn't like the way the motor stuttered on start up. I messed around with the settings in the Castle software but no avail. Sent Castle a maintenance quere since I do not need a maiden crash b/c of a messed up ESC. Decided to suck it up and get a Castle Edge 100 and separate BEC Pro just to be safe. Have not heard anything but good about the new Edge series they released, whereas the Talon with its integrated bullet connectors for the motor I've heard mixed reviews and with mine already not 100% - not taking that chance.
Strike 2 right?
And finally my Powersupply dilema...I think I must have gotten picky PS as Johns seem to be the same model and his works but mine don't want to play nice.
I wired both up but found that one PS goes into safe mode (not producing any volts) while the other continues to run normally. And the one runs producing 12.8V.
I messed around with different configurations and found one wiring scheme where both units run in normal mode (green lite on the front of unit instead of yellow) but each produces 12.8V. I tested the neg from one unit and pos from the other and it was also producing 12.8V.
I also discovered in my testing that the plates (pos and neg) seem to differ from one side to the other (I designated them top and bottom). For now I'll wire one PS up so I can get my charger up and running - 480 watts isn't all that bad to start off with considering all I've been playing around so far has been 80 watts (current Xheli charger). lol
Maybe we can figure out this wiring mystery to get my PS to give me my 24V, but for now I'm happy that they both work and I can start playing around with my new charger. At least I finally learned how to use my multimeter! Some guy from South Africa has some youtube video's (3 parts I believe) that he goes over how to use your multimeter. Really informative and helpful to an electrical defunct like me.
That's all from sunny Florida! Have a good weekend,
Mark
Nick, not busy with planes...but an electrical project of wiring up these PS to get them to produce 24 volts. Which, BTW isn't happening. Very frustrating to say the least. More on that later...
Sorry to hear your weather is flip flopping all around on you. Ours has been very constant for the most part with lows in the lower 70's and highs in the low 90's. Yeah, and this is October right?
It sounds like you have quite a bit going on between school and work. I hope things calm down for you, maybe the job?
That laser lab I bet was a cool tour...I've seen on How Its Made the use of laser cutters to cut sheet metal parts for vehicles, really amazing and powerful technology.
Hope your deal with the Velocity works out and that guy gets back with you. I'm sure he'd be missing out on a hellaov deal.
JPEE...are you getting another heli? Been quite for a while!
These past few weeks have been loads of fun hobby-wise.
First - the 130X is a great flying heli. Does exactly what you want it to do. I was able to do huge loops, semi-backwards flight (well, my level of backwards flight
), inverted, even tail slides without worrying about the tail blowing out. BUT...it was a bear on high maintenance. Most times I couldn't get through 3 batts before something needed attention. So its going on the sale section to ease my nerves with it. I do not have that kind of time to spend going over a heli that often. Back to my trusty mcpx (that I'm glad I never sold ). Next, my 550...got most everything set up and ready to go but didn't like the way the motor stuttered on start up. I messed around with the settings in the Castle software but no avail. Sent Castle a maintenance quere since I do not need a maiden crash b/c of a messed up ESC. Decided to suck it up and get a Castle Edge 100 and separate BEC Pro just to be safe. Have not heard anything but good about the new Edge series they released, whereas the Talon with its integrated bullet connectors for the motor I've heard mixed reviews and with mine already not 100% - not taking that chance.
Strike 2 right?
And finally my Powersupply dilema...I think I must have gotten picky PS as Johns seem to be the same model and his works but mine don't want to play nice.
I wired both up but found that one PS goes into safe mode (not producing any volts) while the other continues to run normally. And the one runs producing 12.8V.
I messed around with different configurations and found one wiring scheme where both units run in normal mode (green lite on the front of unit instead of yellow) but each produces 12.8V. I tested the neg from one unit and pos from the other and it was also producing 12.8V.
I also discovered in my testing that the plates (pos and neg) seem to differ from one side to the other (I designated them top and bottom). For now I'll wire one PS up so I can get my charger up and running - 480 watts isn't all that bad to start off with considering all I've been playing around so far has been 80 watts (current Xheli charger). lol
Maybe we can figure out this wiring mystery to get my PS to give me my 24V, but for now I'm happy that they both work and I can start playing around with my new charger. At least I finally learned how to use my multimeter! Some guy from South Africa has some youtube video's (3 parts I believe) that he goes over how to use your multimeter. Really informative and helpful to an electrical defunct like me.
That's all from sunny Florida! Have a good weekend,
Mark
10-10-2013, 12:40 PM
Hello Nick,
Sorry to hear about the cold weather the tornados coming close to home. Do you have the “A” typical basement back there for shelter if the need comes up? That signals class must be a bear because I consider you extremely bright and if you are having a tough time with it, the data, terms and sucj must be “heavy”. Hang in there for the passing grade and move on. If you tried your hardest that is all a man can do. Man….. I’ll bet seeing those lasers eat up the metal was really neat! Perhaps the guy didn’t have the $$$ for your heli. Better that he didn’t waste your time in the end. You’ll sell it when the time it right, I just know it!
Mark,
I am in contact with a guy in NY and he flies like most of us both Heli as his main and planes as a second. He works a lot and wanted to fly at home around the yard. He tried with a 450 Pro and it was just to big. Then he got two “2” 130s because he had read about their issues and he wanted to keep one in the air. Like you he is quite the 3der. He flies a 700e and nitro which he moved up to from a 550. Like you recently he was fed up with the upgrades and all of the work to keep just one of them flying, so he sold them off and got a new TREX 250. He managed to squeeze in a mini VBR and it just did fly worth a danged either, so he is relegated to just flying the big stuff when he can and gave up on the small fries and sold off the 250
Here are a few questions...........but please review my email I sent.
1. If I am reading you right one unit standing alone will not produce 12 vts?
2. I hope you were going to isolate them for safety on a plastic tool box?
3. Did you cut the ground pole off “one” of the black power cords?
4. Did you test them without letting them touch each other?
5. You said, your getting 480 watts with one but if you bought the ones (PS) like mine they are 750 watts each?? Hummmm
Good deal on learning the use of a multi meter, my use is limited. I am good with read OHMS and resistance and overall voltage. My experience is more in the 120-240 world of construction.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sorry to hear about the cold weather the tornados coming close to home. Do you have the “A” typical basement back there for shelter if the need comes up? That signals class must be a bear because I consider you extremely bright and if you are having a tough time with it, the data, terms and sucj must be “heavy”. Hang in there for the passing grade and move on. If you tried your hardest that is all a man can do. Man….. I’ll bet seeing those lasers eat up the metal was really neat! Perhaps the guy didn’t have the $$$ for your heli. Better that he didn’t waste your time in the end. You’ll sell it when the time it right, I just know it!
Mark,
I am in contact with a guy in NY and he flies like most of us both Heli as his main and planes as a second. He works a lot and wanted to fly at home around the yard. He tried with a 450 Pro and it was just to big. Then he got two “2” 130s because he had read about their issues and he wanted to keep one in the air. Like you he is quite the 3der. He flies a 700e and nitro which he moved up to from a 550. Like you recently he was fed up with the upgrades and all of the work to keep just one of them flying, so he sold them off and got a new TREX 250. He managed to squeeze in a mini VBR and it just did fly worth a danged either, so he is relegated to just flying the big stuff when he can and gave up on the small fries and sold off the 250
Here are a few questions...........but please review my email I sent.
1. If I am reading you right one unit standing alone will not produce 12 vts?
2. I hope you were going to isolate them for safety on a plastic tool box?
3. Did you cut the ground pole off “one” of the black power cords?
4. Did you test them without letting them touch each other?
5. You said, your getting 480 watts with one but if you bought the ones (PS) like mine they are 750 watts each?? Hummmm
Good deal on learning the use of a multi meter, my use is limited. I am good with read OHMS and resistance and overall voltage. My experience is more in the 120-240 world of construction.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Last edited by JPEE; 10-10-2013 at 12:43 PM.
10-12-2013, 12:16 AM
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Hey JPEE,
I didn't want to distract from your lil'missus B-day so wanted to wait a day before replying...BUT, you NAILED it perfectly with this:
Bingo! Tested the PS after removing that most troublesome piece of metal and the sight on the multimeter brought a huge smile to my face. lol
I'll add more later as I've been also busy but wanted to get this wonderful news out to you so you can stop chomping at the bits.
Mark
I didn't want to distract from your lil'missus B-day so wanted to wait a day before replying...BUT, you NAILED it perfectly with this:
3. Did you cut the ground pole off “one” of the black power cords?
and the sight on the multimeter brought a huge smile to my face. lolI'll add more later as I've been also busy but wanted to get this wonderful news out to you so you can stop chomping at the bits.
Mark
10-12-2013, 12:26 PM
Nicely done Mr. Mark, I feel like a proud Father who's son graduated! Just as a side note, remember to put foam on each side of the PS in the tool box to insure that the PS suck air from the one side outside of the box and blows that hot air out the other side of the tool box. Without the foam, it will recirculate what's in the box. Get a few of the Big Boy batteries on that the new charger and run that puppy of to 30 amps and listen to those PS run, whoyah. Oh!! be sure to secure your codes to the box. One of mine vibrated out over time and I set a big load on it and soon I could smell HOT ELECTRONICS because with only one running I was asking for 30 amps but only with 12 volt input............. this is real important.
If you want to, you can still get the Parallel Board from EP Buddy and use it on your PowerLab. So so happy for you man!
If you want to, you can still get the Parallel Board from EP Buddy and use it on your PowerLab. So so happy for you man!
10-12-2013, 07:15 PM
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Hi JPEE,
Lets see if I can cover everything you hit on the past few days...
I got exactly the same case as you from our Lowe's...except $14 and not $10. Dang, must of missed the sale! I got some decent size sections of velcro epoxied to the bottom and that PS isn't going anywhere. I used some foam type sheeting instead of the rubber you suggested to isolate the 2 PS and that is working just great, although I did leave them running for several hours with no load to see how warm they got. I'll keep an eye on them when I actually use them to charge my 5300 6S batts and see how warm they get.
I did exhaust the case in the bottoms (2 on each side) but have my connections coming out the side instead of constructing a wooden top and doing it there. For now I want to keep the carry tray as is and use it to store my charging supplies. I originally was going to use squiddy-type parallel charging cables but since they each need there own balance cable I decided to get one of those para-boards and wire an extension to each slot so I don't have to plug my battery directly to the board each time.
If I didn't say it before, and if I did let me reiterate:
Thank you very much for all your help and support in this project!!!! The vids and pictures were great. Instead of Hostess I think I will send you Entenmanns Crumb Cake, but you'll probably need 2 glasses of milk with that!
Your newest PS project sounded very intricate in having to isolate all ground positions from the case. I did see a link at RCG about all that was required and wow, what an over-my head project. But you got it working so well done.
I'll send you an email about your other topic.
Wanted to share with you a recent and special discovery I had 2 weeks ago...I think I finally found the magic formula for landing my Zero. It occured to me when I was landing my Stryker (a foam wing type plane thats a belly lander). I cut throttle when coming in and as I near the landing area I add just a bit of throttle to keep the airspeed up and to put it down close to where I want. Well, I tried that with my Zero and it worked beautifully. I used flaps, killed the throttle and setup a nice glide approach, and as I saw her start to act funny (ie. verge of stalling), added a little bit of throttle and flew her to a nice and slow landing. Even tried it this morning in some winds and same result. Can't believe it but seems to work.
Take care,
Mark
Lets see if I can cover everything you hit on the past few days...
I got exactly the same case as you from our Lowe's...except $14 and not $10. Dang, must of missed the sale!
I got some decent size sections of velcro epoxied to the bottom and that PS isn't going anywhere. I used some foam type sheeting instead of the rubber you suggested to isolate the 2 PS and that is working just great, although I did leave them running for several hours with no load to see how warm they got. I'll keep an eye on them when I actually use them to charge my 5300 6S batts and see how warm they get. I did exhaust the case in the bottoms (2 on each side) but have my connections coming out the side instead of constructing a wooden top and doing it there. For now I want to keep the carry tray as is and use it to store my charging supplies. I originally was going to use squiddy-type parallel charging cables but since they each need there own balance cable I decided to get one of those para-boards and wire an extension to each slot so I don't have to plug my battery directly to the board each time.
If I didn't say it before, and if I did let me reiterate:
Thank you very much for all your help and support in this project!!!! The vids and pictures were great. Instead of Hostess I think I will send you Entenmanns Crumb Cake, but you'll probably need 2 glasses of milk with that!
Your newest PS project sounded very intricate in having to isolate all ground positions from the case. I did see a link at RCG about all that was required and wow, what an over-my head project. But you got it working so well done.
I'll send you an email about your other topic.
Wanted to share with you a recent and special discovery I had 2 weeks ago...I think I finally found the magic formula for landing my Zero. It occured to me when I was landing my Stryker (a foam wing type plane thats a belly lander). I cut throttle when coming in and as I near the landing area I add just a bit of throttle to keep the airspeed up and to put it down close to where I want. Well, I tried that with my Zero and it worked beautifully. I used flaps, killed the throttle and setup a nice glide approach, and as I saw her start to act funny (ie. verge of stalling), added a little bit of throttle and flew her to a nice and slow landing. Even tried it this morning in some winds and same result. Can't believe it but seems to work.
Take care,
Mark
10-14-2013, 10:17 AM
Hello Mark,
Your insulation of the two PS with the crackle/bubble stuff looked great to me.
I recently moved my charger inputs too for the same reason, sorry I forgot to mention that. The reason I did is......it put the ports closer to my charger as my Hyperion's red and black cords are much shorter than the iChargers. As I have said many time I will put three trays, 6 each 5300's on the iCharger and then put 6 each 2250's or 2 each 3000's on the Hyperion so having the port in the front and down lower became the key for me. I think you did well with your set up too. What I did is made up 8" pigtail cords to go from the Para Board to the top of the table. Then I bought 6 ea. 6S balance pigtails. With a bit of a push I plug in my 3S to the 6S balance cord with ease. You just have to remember that you start with Black to Black from the batteries balance connector the boards pigtail.
Crumb Cake........... MILK me likie!!!
You are more than welcome.............................. for the help. As I noted before, it makes me feel good to know someone else can profit from what was passed on to me so I could share with the next hobbyist.
With this latest batch of PS from Jason now I can isolate the boards with my newly arrived plastic nut, washers, and screws in about 20 minutes each. Then no ground cut off, no isolation....... me likie.
Wow, when I get to AZ I will reset that landing gear that broke loose and then try your tip. I have not had enough flight time to try my flaps but once and I flew a circle out and back just to feel the difference and there is. I never tried to land because I was simply trying to work on a normal landing and the later get to the flaps, but it sounds like you've nailed it! Consider me "on notice" and I'll let you know how it goes when I am there and giver a whirl. OBTW............. you paid more for your box because I get the Senior Discount lol......
Your insulation of the two PS with the crackle/bubble stuff looked great to me.
I recently moved my charger inputs too for the same reason, sorry I forgot to mention that. The reason I did is......it put the ports closer to my charger as my Hyperion's red and black cords are much shorter than the iChargers. As I have said many time I will put three trays, 6 each 5300's on the iCharger and then put 6 each 2250's or 2 each 3000's on the Hyperion so having the port in the front and down lower became the key for me. I think you did well with your set up too. What I did is made up 8" pigtail cords to go from the Para Board to the top of the table. Then I bought 6 ea. 6S balance pigtails. With a bit of a push I plug in my 3S to the 6S balance cord with ease. You just have to remember that you start with Black to Black from the batteries balance connector the boards pigtail.
Crumb Cake........... MILK me likie!!!
You are more than welcome.............................. for the help. As I noted before, it makes me feel good to know someone else can profit from what was passed on to me so I could share with the next hobbyist.
With this latest batch of PS from Jason now I can isolate the boards with my newly arrived plastic nut, washers, and screws in about 20 minutes each. Then no ground cut off, no isolation....... me likie.
Wow, when I get to AZ I will reset that landing gear that broke loose and then try your tip. I have not had enough flight time to try my flaps but once and I flew a circle out and back just to feel the difference and there is. I never tried to land because I was simply trying to work on a normal landing and the later get to the flaps, but it sounds like you've nailed it! Consider me "on notice" and I'll let you know how it goes when I am there and giver a whirl. OBTW............. you paid more for your box because I get the Senior Discount lol......
10-18-2013, 09:48 PM
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Hi JPEE,
Been gearing up for Halloween so out comes all the decorations: giant inflatable ghosts, orange/purple string lights, extension cords, timers, etc etc. We did have some nice fall-like weather but that was short lived as the temps are back to 90 in the late afternoon. I was actually sweating while putting up the lights around the doorway yesterday...in shorts and shortsleeve shirt no doubt!
I did get my Castle Edge 100 ESC and BEC Pro earlier this week, and was able to sell off the Talon 90 so that was a huge plus. I've been working on my soldering skills so when I attach the BEC to the ESC I do a much better job then last time (when I had that total power loss when the wire solder joint came free midair)...definitely don't want to repeat that again! I don't think I have ever taken so long to finish a build as I am with this one. I think I hit a period where I was flying the Zero more then wanting to work on the heli.
Speaking of the Zero...ugh, take-offs are optional right? Yeah, especially when the plane catches the brush on takeoff and flips over. Broke the prop on that one too (no spares). And wouldn't you know it I had both my batts charged for a nice morning of flying...guess it wasn't meant to be.
Did I see right that Jeff is back on the BOB thread? Just wanted to make sure, may have to stop by and say hi.
Mark
Been gearing up for Halloween so out comes all the decorations: giant inflatable ghosts, orange/purple string lights, extension cords, timers, etc etc.
We did have some nice fall-like weather but that was short lived as the temps are back to 90 in the late afternoon. I was actually sweating while putting up the lights around the doorway yesterday...in shorts and shortsleeve shirt no doubt! I did get my Castle Edge 100 ESC and BEC Pro earlier this week, and was able to sell off the Talon 90 so that was a huge plus. I've been working on my soldering skills so when I attach the BEC to the ESC I do a much better job then last time (when I had that total power loss when the wire solder joint came free midair)...definitely don't want to repeat that again! I don't think I have ever taken so long to finish a build as I am with this one. I think I hit a period where I was flying the Zero more then wanting to work on the heli.
Speaking of the Zero...ugh, take-offs are optional right? Yeah, especially when the plane catches the brush on takeoff and flips over.
Broke the prop on that one too (no spares). And wouldn't you know it I had both my batts charged for a nice morning of flying...guess it wasn't meant to be. Did I see right that Jeff is back on the BOB thread? Just wanted to make sure, may have to stop by and say hi.
Mark
10-21-2013, 06:44 AM
Occurred Saturday Last:
Hello Boy’s,
I have some news that really made me proud today. I can’t tell you what it is without first taking through a boring story of how we got there. On May 18, 2013 my 12 year old grandson said he wanted to learn how to fly. I started giving him lessons on the weekends and he wanted to fly planes not helicopters. Grandpa knowing best I started him with a 450 Quad-copter why?........................ because they are stable and with the DJI Naza will right themselves and literally not crash. That gave him a chance to learn about ailerons, elev, rudder and so on and the feel of a radio in his hands with tons of forgiveness. Once I took him through that and he had his basics down on how everything works I bought him a Bixler motorized glider from HK as I am sure I have mentioned in the past. Recently I took him to the next step, and I bought him an Eflite full size T-28 plane. So between flying the Bixler and teaching him how to take off and land which he has pretty well mastered I let him fly the T-28 to feel something that flies fast and handles much more crisper. Because of the rules at the field we joined by his house he can only fly with me on the Buddy Boxes until he is at a point where he requests from a Board Member a flight test for them to approve his solo skill level. The test requires taking off and landing from both ends of the runway and with touch and goes each way as well. Lastly, a horizontal figure 8 in both directions. All of this is for the safety of others at the field to “try” and insure they are safe in the pit area from fellow fliers. I had to figure how to wean him off of the Buddy Box so he couldn't always say; grandpa take it when he got crossed up. So last weekend at his field he was flying Bixler pack after pack on BB but………. on his last pack while he was tooling around I took over and threw the plane in a spiral down, upside down, wide open towards the ground and then gave it back and said those familiar words “take it”! Five times I did that to him and he saved the plane while yelling at me…grandpa what are you doing? LOL. I replied, Joe……. The time has come to “sink or swim”. After landing he understood and was tickled with himself how well he did. Today I took him to “my” field early when I thought no one would be there….SURPRISE! There were 6 guys there but not flying because the sun had not risen high enough yet to be out of their eyes, so they sat BS-ing and drank coffee waiting the flying hour to come. So I took Joe out and we flew half over the strip and the parking lot. He flew 2 packs on the BB without any issues. I thought, here is my chance! On pack three half way in I reached over and pulled the BB cord from his radio. The kid looked at me like WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! He said grandpa what are you doing???? Time be a man and fly without me I said, you can do it, and I walked off the runway. :-0 He flew for 10 minutes and came in and landed first try…. YAHOO!!! I let him calm down and rest and then later said……. lets go again! I carried the two radios out and his BB cord and as he set the plane down and I looked him in the eye and said, its all yours and took my radio and walked away. The kid was shocked………….. he turned back to the runway and he took off and flew for 14 minutes, in making ready for his landing at this airport for now the second time made a few passes over the runway pretty low and this other pilot was really taken with the control Joe had. That guy came up as Joe was making ready to land and said, he taught his son how to fly two years ago but the kid stays waaaay up high where he feels safe and….. he can’t land yet either. When Joe landed, on his first try the men that were watching in the pit area and all gave him applause and yelled “good job”. The kid was all smiles, Grandpa was feeling pretty danged good too! Do I sound proud? Freaking “A Skippy” I do!
After we got home today I gave him a new MQX Quadcopter so while I am in Arizona for months at a time this year he will have something to fly that I can trust him with "safety wise" so he can keep those thumbs limbered up. I flew it myself for a few moments and while steady it was a bit twitchy. With the advice of a friend I toned down the gyros and added 30% expo and Joe said "that's much better". He flew four packs through her here at the house in the back yard. Then I spent a few ours with him explained parallel charging, series charging, how to use his charger and PS. As a side note, it pays to never throw stuff away. I had a 100 watt charger I paid $100.00 for back in the day and a 10 amp power supply that I gave him. We did a video together here in the shop how his charger words, PS works, pos/neg poles and so on so when I am not around he can refer to it.
PS: I checked my first video of him flying my Quadcopter and it was May 18th. He did his solo Oct 19th. So it took him 5 months of weekend flying to get here. Had I lived closer I feel he could have gone much faster.
Mark, yes I have been chatting with Jeffery Michael over there too. He lives a golden life right now. It is good to see he is recovering nicely from his past disappointments of others, he is a great guy. He is jumping in with both feet! Land planes, sea planes.................... he is in his groove!
Sorry the Zero tanked on you again. I saved you last post with the landing tips and will be exercising that in AZ. We are leaving soon for the wide open skies.
He my friend, a departure from the helis is ok, go with your flow and heart.........do what feel right each day and you cannot go wrong.
I just finished the power supplies I am giving my buddy in AZ. These are the one where I floated the board so they are both grounded so he can touch them with full confidence. I use 1/2 PVC pipe caps to elevate them so you can get you hands under them to make it easy to carry them. Take care all.....................
Hello Boy’s,
I have some news that really made me proud today. I can’t tell you what it is without first taking through a boring story of how we got there. On May 18, 2013 my 12 year old grandson said he wanted to learn how to fly. I started giving him lessons on the weekends and he wanted to fly planes not helicopters. Grandpa knowing best I started him with a 450 Quad-copter why?........................ because they are stable and with the DJI Naza will right themselves and literally not crash. That gave him a chance to learn about ailerons, elev, rudder and so on and the feel of a radio in his hands with tons of forgiveness. Once I took him through that and he had his basics down on how everything works I bought him a Bixler motorized glider from HK as I am sure I have mentioned in the past. Recently I took him to the next step, and I bought him an Eflite full size T-28 plane. So between flying the Bixler and teaching him how to take off and land which he has pretty well mastered I let him fly the T-28 to feel something that flies fast and handles much more crisper. Because of the rules at the field we joined by his house he can only fly with me on the Buddy Boxes until he is at a point where he requests from a Board Member a flight test for them to approve his solo skill level. The test requires taking off and landing from both ends of the runway and with touch and goes each way as well. Lastly, a horizontal figure 8 in both directions. All of this is for the safety of others at the field to “try” and insure they are safe in the pit area from fellow fliers. I had to figure how to wean him off of the Buddy Box so he couldn't always say; grandpa take it when he got crossed up. So last weekend at his field he was flying Bixler pack after pack on BB but………. on his last pack while he was tooling around I took over and threw the plane in a spiral down, upside down, wide open towards the ground and then gave it back and said those familiar words “take it”! Five times I did that to him and he saved the plane while yelling at me…grandpa what are you doing? LOL. I replied, Joe……. The time has come to “sink or swim”. After landing he understood and was tickled with himself how well he did. Today I took him to “my” field early when I thought no one would be there….SURPRISE! There were 6 guys there but not flying because the sun had not risen high enough yet to be out of their eyes, so they sat BS-ing and drank coffee waiting the flying hour to come. So I took Joe out and we flew half over the strip and the parking lot. He flew 2 packs on the BB without any issues. I thought, here is my chance! On pack three half way in I reached over and pulled the BB cord from his radio. The kid looked at me like WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! He said grandpa what are you doing???? Time be a man and fly without me I said, you can do it, and I walked off the runway. :-0 He flew for 10 minutes and came in and landed first try…. YAHOO!!! I let him calm down and rest and then later said……. lets go again! I carried the two radios out and his BB cord and as he set the plane down and I looked him in the eye and said, its all yours and took my radio and walked away. The kid was shocked………….. he turned back to the runway and he took off and flew for 14 minutes, in making ready for his landing at this airport for now the second time made a few passes over the runway pretty low and this other pilot was really taken with the control Joe had. That guy came up as Joe was making ready to land and said, he taught his son how to fly two years ago but the kid stays waaaay up high where he feels safe and….. he can’t land yet either. When Joe landed, on his first try the men that were watching in the pit area and all gave him applause and yelled “good job”. The kid was all smiles, Grandpa was feeling pretty danged good too! Do I sound proud? Freaking “A Skippy” I do!
After we got home today I gave him a new MQX Quadcopter so while I am in Arizona for months at a time this year he will have something to fly that I can trust him with "safety wise" so he can keep those thumbs limbered up. I flew it myself for a few moments and while steady it was a bit twitchy. With the advice of a friend I toned down the gyros and added 30% expo and Joe said "that's much better". He flew four packs through her here at the house in the back yard. Then I spent a few ours with him explained parallel charging, series charging, how to use his charger and PS. As a side note, it pays to never throw stuff away. I had a 100 watt charger I paid $100.00 for back in the day and a 10 amp power supply that I gave him. We did a video together here in the shop how his charger words, PS works, pos/neg poles and so on so when I am not around he can refer to it.
PS: I checked my first video of him flying my Quadcopter and it was May 18th. He did his solo Oct 19th. So it took him 5 months of weekend flying to get here. Had I lived closer I feel he could have gone much faster.
Mark, yes I have been chatting with Jeffery Michael over there too. He lives a golden life right now. It is good to see he is recovering nicely from his past disappointments of others, he is a great guy. He is jumping in with both feet! Land planes, sea planes.................... he is in his groove!
Sorry the Zero tanked on you again. I saved you last post with the landing tips and will be exercising that in AZ. We are leaving soon for the wide open skies.
He my friend, a departure from the helis is ok, go with your flow and heart.........do what feel right each day and you cannot go wrong.
I just finished the power supplies I am giving my buddy in AZ. These are the one where I floated the board so they are both grounded so he can touch them with full confidence. I use 1/2 PVC pipe caps to elevate them so you can get you hands under them to make it easy to carry them. Take care all.....................
Last edited by JPEE; 10-21-2013 at 06:47 AM.
10-23-2013, 07:04 PM
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JPEE,
That was a great story about your grandson solo'ing and getting the thumbs up approval from the peanut gallery! I bet he will have lots of fun with the quad you got him.
BTW, sent you a PM.
Mark
That was a great story about your grandson solo'ing and getting the thumbs up approval from the peanut gallery!
I bet he will have lots of fun with the quad you got him. BTW, sent you a PM.
Mark
11-08-2013, 09:58 AM
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I can't believe it has been a month since I posted anything. The flying season is over here. The temps are staying in the 40-60 degree range. I never heard back from the guy wanting to buy the Velocity. I am not in a big hurry to sell it.
Mark,
That is good to hear you got your power supplies working.
John,
That is great news to hear your grandson has soloed on the airplanes.
Yeah, I have a basement that I can go to in a tornado.
I am doing better in my signals class. I moved to the front row and found a lot of example problems on the internet. The grade on my last exam was a lot better and my HW grades are going up.
I have been quite busy with lots of HW and work. I finished up with a function generator I had to design and build. I have one more project I have to design. I registered for classes next semester. I will be taking a probabilities class that everyone says is really hard, two labs, an art history class, and an economic class that should be interesting. I can see the end of school approaching. I just have 3 gen ed classes after that semester and all my core electronic classes will be done. Then I just have electronic electives and two senior design classes.
Nick
Mark,
That is good to hear you got your power supplies working.
John,
That is great news to hear your grandson has soloed on the airplanes.
Yeah, I have a basement that I can go to in a tornado.
I am doing better in my signals class. I moved to the front row and found a lot of example problems on the internet. The grade on my last exam was a lot better and my HW grades are going up.
I have been quite busy with lots of HW and work. I finished up with a function generator I had to design and build. I have one more project I have to design. I registered for classes next semester. I will be taking a probabilities class that everyone says is really hard, two labs, an art history class, and an economic class that should be interesting. I can see the end of school approaching. I just have 3 gen ed classes after that semester and all my core electronic classes will be done. Then I just have electronic electives and two senior design classes.
Nick
11-13-2013, 06:58 AM
Hello Nick,
I am glad you have a basement to go to in the time of need, Just give me an old-fashioned California earthquake.
As far as college goes it sounds like you're coping very well I'm glad you're enjoying most of your classes but next year will be a battle with double labs and classes that are so intense that you're taking.
Yes I am very proud of my grandson and how quick he is taking to flying because I may have said before..... he was very hungry for it!
before we left for Arizona which is where we are now I bought him p.m. QX quad copter and gave him a charger and related paraphernalia Toddiem how to use it so he's flying at home almost daily. When we go home for Christmas I will take two airplanes and then take him out to the field for a few weeks over the holidays. Here in Arizona we have been so very busy I have only flown a few times my Bixler, MIT 28, and my 700. I have one small repair to make to the landing gear on the P 51 once that is done I'll be taking that out probably about this weekend. It's been a little tight with four helicopters and three airplanes, batteries and related hobby stuff all squeezed indoor RV we have to keep shuffling everything around to just do daily business. Yesterday we drove into town and bought a tow behind trailer which is a cargo trailer with a big back door that rolls down and I can drive my razor inside there to move it around to different locations to start drives from but mostly it's going to be my workshop and storage of extra things that are inside our toy hauler. I just can't wait to clear out this trailer and have more elbow room and then set out there and have a whole room dedicated to just story Jim put up my soldering iron, my table and everything I need to do my hobby while down here.
hope you're well we watch the news every day still always tracking what's going on between you Mark and the weather and it looks pretty doggone cold over there more your house than Mark's but we think of you guys often and take care and enjoy your Christmas.
break when it comes.
PS: this is being recorded on my iPhone and for some reason the text is larger than the screen and I can't track very easily what I dictate and what it types so please forgive the errors, in both in composition spelling and anything else that the auto text does, take care.
I am glad you have a basement to go to in the time of need, Just give me an old-fashioned California earthquake.
As far as college goes it sounds like you're coping very well I'm glad you're enjoying most of your classes but next year will be a battle with double labs and classes that are so intense that you're taking.
Yes I am very proud of my grandson and how quick he is taking to flying because I may have said before..... he was very hungry for it!
before we left for Arizona which is where we are now I bought him p.m. QX quad copter and gave him a charger and related paraphernalia Toddiem how to use it so he's flying at home almost daily. When we go home for Christmas I will take two airplanes and then take him out to the field for a few weeks over the holidays. Here in Arizona we have been so very busy I have only flown a few times my Bixler, MIT 28, and my 700. I have one small repair to make to the landing gear on the P 51 once that is done I'll be taking that out probably about this weekend. It's been a little tight with four helicopters and three airplanes, batteries and related hobby stuff all squeezed indoor RV we have to keep shuffling everything around to just do daily business. Yesterday we drove into town and bought a tow behind trailer which is a cargo trailer with a big back door that rolls down and I can drive my razor inside there to move it around to different locations to start drives from but mostly it's going to be my workshop and storage of extra things that are inside our toy hauler. I just can't wait to clear out this trailer and have more elbow room and then set out there and have a whole room dedicated to just story Jim put up my soldering iron, my table and everything I need to do my hobby while down here.
hope you're well we watch the news every day still always tracking what's going on between you Mark and the weather and it looks pretty doggone cold over there more your house than Mark's but we think of you guys often and take care and enjoy your Christmas.
break when it comes.
PS: this is being recorded on my iPhone and for some reason the text is larger than the screen and I can't track very easily what I dictate and what it types so please forgive the errors, in both in composition spelling and anything else that the auto text does, take care.
11-14-2013, 06:44 AM
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Hi guys,
Nick,
Congrats on your degree nearly coming to its completion...its funny but in this very long thread is your entire college history described on these very pages! How amazing is that - in years to come you'll be able to reminise by looking through these pages.
I also took art history as one of my electives and it actually turned out to be a decent class. Yeah, we had to visit an art museum and do a paper on a particular work/artist...but all in all it turned out to be a fun experience. It was a toss up between art and music and I'm glad I went with my first decision.
Out of curiosity what kind of projects do you have to do in your Senior Design class? I bet that will be both challenging but extremely interesting, and fun too. Hope work has gotten better, seems last month or so things there were getting...hectic.
Sorry you didn't sell your Velocity. I just sold my last 130x so sometimes these things do take time, just be patient.
JPEE,
I finally figured out that word I was trying to use before...Voila (and not Viola ). He He.
I do hope you and Fast Phil are having a grand ole time and the weather isn't too hot.
Wanted to let you guys know I finally finished my 550 and maidened her last week! I cannot believe it took me since the end of July to do this build - never have I slacked so much.
And JPEE, you can't imagine the feeling I had having all 3 of my 6S lipo's hooked up and charging on my new charging system...all thanks to you!
Here's a few pics of my new bird before her first flight.
Mark
Nick,
Congrats on your degree nearly coming to its completion...its funny but in this very long thread is your entire college history described on these very pages! How amazing is that - in years to come you'll be able to reminise by looking through these pages.
I also took art history as one of my electives and it actually turned out to be a decent class. Yeah, we had to visit an art museum and do a paper on a particular work/artist...but all in all it turned out to be a fun experience. It was a toss up between art and music and I'm glad I went with my first decision.
Out of curiosity what kind of projects do you have to do in your Senior Design class? I bet that will be both challenging but extremely interesting, and fun too. Hope work has gotten better, seems last month or so things there were getting...hectic.
Sorry you didn't sell your Velocity. I just sold my last 130x so sometimes these things do take time, just be patient.
JPEE,
I finally figured out that word I was trying to use before...Voila (and not Viola
). He He. I do hope you and Fast Phil are having a grand ole time and the weather isn't too hot.
Wanted to let you guys know I finally finished my 550 and maidened her last week! I cannot believe it took me since the end of July to do this build - never have I slacked so much.
And JPEE, you can't imagine the feeling I had having all 3 of my 6S lipo's hooked up and charging on my new charging system...all thanks to you!
Here's a few pics of my new bird before her first flight.
Mark
