J-MICHAEL

Thanks guys ! That thing is so fun... I was a bit nervous really to try much, but I think the next time out I'll be more comfortable and then I'll find my weak areas again... Yikes... I'll be getting fix-it tips from Nick then... LMAO... But doesn't matter.... So fun !

Its amazing the diff between 2 planes of the same style, one of which was foam, and the other which is Balsa which I've got to try now... What a difference ! The whole time through this little experience, I kept thinking of JPEE, because I really think he would enjoy and appreciate the quality difference in a plane trying a Balsa model. Which I know he loves flying his T-28... He's more than ready to acquire one, (donations accepted) And there's so many choices to choose from depending on flying style... I just like the 3-D planes, because they can take-off and land in short distances and great for tighter areas. They fly just like on the sim....

I just tore apart one of my CPP's which was the one with the Hughes fuse, use those two S-75's servo's for the wings, and then 2 extra Hitec HS-55 servos for the tail... Then, I had that Castle 45 amp esc, and then I already bought the Park 480 motor when I got the plane last year which was one year ago tomorrow... Happy Anniversary.. LMAO... Just using an AR6100....

Then of course, I just use my 450's 3s batts to power it, as that's what's recommended anyhow.... Its only a 43" wing span, so a small nice craft. Hek, my next plane the kit is only $119.00 from Precision and the Katana has CF throughout among that ! Its so awesome...

Anyway JPEE, something to ponder... I really thought about ya though.....[8D] You da man..... [8D]

Nick, I remember that RC airshow in Cali I went to and I also got drawn into looking at the real life aircraft more ! Lol.... I had to go chat with some of JPEE's boys.... The CHP...

Glenn, I so can't wait for a frickin' RAPTOR video.... Eh..... Hurry up.... (LMAO) [8D]

J-MICHAEL

Nick ~

Yeah I'am down to 1 CPP now.... I used 2 of those cheapo S-75's from it for the Funtana's Aileron's... And then I already had 2 Hitec Hs-55 servo's, and I'am using them for the back end of the Funtana.. My dad gave me those to Hitec's, as those were the two of the 4 that survived from his Mini Pulse XT plane he crashed into that huge tree as you remember. Lol...

And then I have the Park 480 motor, and using a extra esc which is that Castle 45 amper... Then an Ar6100...

Yeah at the last minute, I took my wheel pants off and those smaller wheels and through on my Typhoon tires for the maiden at least. I got lucky I swear on that landing at the end it seems... LMAO there for sure ! I about crapped....Did I do that ?!

HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

hey glenn, haven't really done much at all on the 250 bulid

actually have car problems again, last week had to replace timing belt and water pump on my wifes car.

then this week problems with my car
not sure if I told you me and my uncle fixed the civic awhile ago. It has been running great, but about 4 days ago, it started then stalled.

My uncle checked everything he thought it was. Well come to find out its getting no spark at all. We checked all the fuses, fuel pump, distribuator, battery, alternator everything possible.

Well then my uncle said what about the ecm ( engine control module) I haven't checked it yet, but I guess its a problem on the civic's? where some of stuff gets burned out on the board.

My sysmptoms are no spark, engine turns but doesnt start. engine light and battery ligth stay on when the ket is turned, and I guess that all means it could be the ecm. Been reading around

you know anything about these?

I am going to take it out and check the ecm when I get home for anything that looks to be burnt

J-MICHAEL

Heli ~

Glenn will know most likely what some things could be for sure, and hope he can give you some ideas... I'am not sure what year your Civic is, but all I've ever owned in my lifetime is Honda's and have excellent success with them for sure I'll tell ya ! But hey, I've had a 89' CRX, and a 95' Civic coupe and they both at one time had to have the igniter module replaced that is inside of the Distrubutor Cap. I remember it costed about a $90.00 I believe... Same signs, car cranks over, but doesn't start.... New module, bam.... Just a thought, and ya never know ! But had to throw that out there. Also most Honda's have there computers inside the car on the passenger side floorboard, behind the floormat... Some have a light on the board which will flash a code to signify a problem by displaying a certain sequence of lights to match what the prob is... Usually there is someplace to find out what those flashes signify.

Hope it may help a tinsy at least...


~ Jeff

evdreamer

Jeff,

My wood for the new fuse came today along with some rubber wheels. My foam ones were wearing down on the runway and these are supposed to help the plane not bounce on a bad landing. Now I just need my screws to come in.

Nick

J-MICHAEL

Ooooohhhh..... The weekend is getting closer ! Won't be long, and we'll all be smelling some Raptor fumes around here.... [8D] Glenn, I'am still pissed you sold that GMP Cobra you had back in the raw RC days of heli's...Lol... I thought you were a proud Pack Rat like me ? Heh.... It would have just been so cool, for a collector piece is all. I'am going to start going to garage/estate sales I'll tell ya ! My mom and stepdad, who live here about 70 miles from me just picked up a little beater heli like a knock-off Helimax CP thingy () for 50 cents... LMAO... BUT, I bet there is some big Nitro's and cool stuff at them sales...

Cool Nick on getting some of the supplies at least. I know dang, I wish you could get her airborne soon... But, its always better not to rush. You know what you already have to do from the flights you have had, and what you learned from them, good and bad... So cool ! You helped me prep mine for some abuse, watching and reading about your adventure with your Edge 540. [8D] How in the heck do you fit that thing in your Impala ?! [&:] I'am tinkering with mine all morning. I'am off today... In the MFX thread, there was a Horizon Rep who used a 1320 TP 3s 13c lipo in the MFX to make it friendly for a demo in a smaller enviroment like a gym I believe it was... SO COOL ! Because I have that lipo... You know, the one I use also in the CPP on occasion. WAY lighter than the recommended 2100 mah TP lipo 3s 15c batt... I have room to slide a battery of any kind (Lipo/A123) from the front of the engine box all the way until I hit the wing-tube. So its pretty cool to have room for different variables. So I'am marking where my CG is inside when I use my batts of different kinds.

I have that 1320 mah TP battery in there right now... Its cloudy like yesterday in the video but there is hardly any wind... IT IS KILLING ME to not fly ! I want to try out that light little lipo ! But I also want to do a few more things to prep this thing for a trainer... She's heavy also more than the range recommended from the manual. I don't care though for now... I'am not going to be doing insane stuff or anything. I don't even know how to do Knife edge's on the sim... Lol... Just a sport plane, for some loops, and stalls, basic orientations for aiding with my heli flying.

Dang no wind right now.... EH..... twice...! Maybe the Vapor will curb the urge.... I should go fly it. That thing is so fun ! Yeah the servo's are slow in the Funtana I can tell going up to just sample a hover for a second in the video. But I don't care about the hovering, but its fun to do here and there, and to test the power of the craft in a vertical stance. I'am just using the recomended prop which is an APC 12 by 6E.... Seems to be fine ? But I don't know...Lol... I know guys who own the MFX, and the Typhoon, say the Typhoon foamy hovers better... That could be because of the bigger prop I'am betting on the Typhoon. Something like a 13 or 14 by yadda dadda whatever.. Its in the garage... I need a new prop, and prop shaft to make the Typhoon flyable.

BOY ! The MFX is SO quiet ! You cannot hardly even hear it run... WAY quieter than my geared-drive brushless set-up on the Typhoon. But there both good birds, and they both have there pro's and con's as a foamy and a Balsa unit. The difference in terms of heli's, would maybe compare (as a guess) a Blade 400 to a Trex 450 Pro...

That's right, I wanted to see what I had the Castle 45 esc settings set at, that I set awhile ago... I forgot, but now that I maidened it, I want to go over the settings now to see what, or if, there's anything I want to change.



~ Jeff


Whew..... I almost lost this due to a time-out ! Good thing I "copy and pasted it"...YIKES....!

evdreamer

Jeff,

My screws came later today and I started on the motor mount. It is really easy to fit the 540 in my car. I take the wings off and put them in the back seat and put the fuse in the truck at a 45 degree angle. I marked a line on my batteries in relation to a reference point in the plane to get the CG right.

My plane is also over weight and all the stress is in the landing gear like you seen. To do a Knife edge rotate it 90 degrees. Add a lot of rudder in the direction, so the nose points up. Then add a quite a bit of throttle to keep it going. Then use the elevator to keep the plane straight.

Great planes recommended a 12x6 prop for my plane also, but I had a 14x7 on hand and that works great. There isn't much ground clearance with that prop and it shows at the edges of it.

Nick

rotarydoc

Jeff,

Yeah, the weekend is getting closer...and there will be Raptor fumes around, but it remains to be seen who will be flying a Raptor .50 first, me or Nick...LOL!

I plan on finishing up the electical and fuel stuff up tonight or tomorrow night, but I understand Nick is going to get to fly a Raptor this weekend (Saturday?) as well...but I think that one is already set up and flying...mine's gonna need some TLC on the carb settings, apparently...

Yeah, I am amazed at how much this reminded me of the Cobra...the size is similar, the engine is the same basic size, the same sound and smells...now, I just hope I'm a little bit more courageous than I was back in the day! I'll be happy with some hovering and a little slow flight at first, and that depends on where I can fly it. I will probably tinker with it locally, but to fly it, I'll probably have to go to the club field....

When I sold the Cobra in 1990, it was to finance the 1/10 scale electric buggy racing...I got into that racing in a HUGE way...got in deep when we were at the indoor off road track, it was quite cool, had a nice large banked dirt oval around the outside, and then the infield was a dirt off road track...you could race all year long, rain, snow, whatever!! I even got into the dirt oval stuff for a while, I'll have to post a pic later of the kind of cars we ran in THAT...very cool stuff!

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

If the guy got a new gyro I might have to help him set it up a little. I am going to be the instructor for helis on Saturday, but I don't know if they are flying my 600 or their Raptors. I got called into work for Sunday, so I won't be able to go to the heli fun fly.[&o] I got one side of the motor mount and the top screwed together today, but didn't have enough time to finish the motor mount. I would like to finish it tomorrow and get started on the firewall. I have been searching for a big pic of the underside of the real 540 and I found a couple today. The rest of the plane I have good pics of, but it was hard to find pics of the underside.

Nick

rotarydoc

Jeff,

Here's a pic of the dirt oval cars we ran, I had one of these....and they are WICKED FAST, let me tell ya! We ran 7 cell SCE NiCd batteries, (all seven mounted on the left side in a row!) and 9 turn motors, they were ballistic! All wheel drive, super low drag chain drive, one way bearings in the front wheels for turns....the bodies had huge wall type air dams on the side for aerodynamic help in the turns...and highly competetive!

Those guys (I bought into mine used, kinda like this Raptor, with tons of stuff from a guy getting out of it) have dozens of sets of those foam tires, all slit different ways for different tracks, dirt, etc, and they would have the exact diameter all marked on them, just like they do on real oval racing like Nascar, etc, different diameter tires for the inside and outside of the car, they had dozens of springs, shocks, I mean these guys were SERIOUS!! [X(]

It was amazing to watch those things, the speeds in scale were unreal, since the turns were banked, and pretty sticky with those sponge tires, and the clay track watered just right...lotsa FUN!!

Nick,

Sounds cool, all except you getting called into work...[]

So, you are going to let them buddy box with YOUR heli??? Whoa!!

Anyways, have a good time, hopefully you'll get to fly something nitro, so you can see how you would like it...

Good luck on the motor mount and firewall on the 540!

Glenn

J-MICHAEL

Wow Glenn, I love that car ! And a 9 turn motor ?! Yikes.... Yeah the tires caught my eye right off the bat ! To bad ya don't still have it, ya could sneak in a lipo and watch it probably fly then like my plank...LMAO... Very cool though !


Cool Nick on also getting the screws ! Let the journey begin........... Remember your way back home though.... I left small pieces of tissue paper to find my way back to my heli's...

If your totally designing the firewall and motor mount again, I think you know but I didn't, but that is remember that the motor mount box has a slight 2 or 3 degree rightside angle to it, and a few down to counter the effects of torque. I thought my MFX one was crooked and I was going to shim it until I found out otherwise... Lol... Funny, because with my Typhoon I didn't know that and shimmed that straight and flew it many times therafter, but not knowing I made it worse... LMAO...

JPEE

Jeff,

Yes I am thinking along your lines and thanks for thinking of me Mr. Your plane is just gorgeous, it actually looks waxed! After watching you video it is very appealing to think about one of those. My "problem" is beyond the Park I dont have a place to fly it where there is either runway or enough grass to insure it does not get damaged.

Today I completed the decals on the T-28 new fuse and wing and have a big fly weekend planned with my buddy. But today I wanted to giver a test. Well the wind was blowing pretty dang-nabbit hard but I can fly that way so no worries. But once I got her up and flew half of pack out I then realized from the way she was being carried away from time to time, how in heck-skippy am I gonna land this puppy. So I looked around and got myself moved so I could fly/land into the wind. She came in like your plane, no lie. Dang near a stall and then she kinda fell a bit and came in sweet but bent one landing a gear. I picked her and bent it back and came home a winner. I am looking into a fly club I stubbled on to that has a heli and plane runway and I am wating to hear back from them on my request for information.

Glenn,

Sounds like to might get some Nitro buring this weeked, I sure hope so. Your old RC looks hot even today.



Nick,
I hope you get to buddy box, but my goodness not with YOUR heli. I have BBoxed about 10-15 times and it is not easy. When the other guy is flying right or wrong you have to follow his stick move on your TX even though they do nothing. WHY, well I found out after capturing the heli a few times from the other pilot that if my sticks were just center it was very very difficult to grab control and HAVE control. So I then found that if like a ghost I followed his stick moves, again right or wrong, when I took the heli way from him I had a much better chance to be right there and bring the heli under control, planes too. Now I let a guy fly my plane a few weeks ago and he went down "twice" with me BB because he got lower that "I"should have let him get and when he moved the wrong way I did not have time to save my plane..........no more of that let me tell you. So food for thought there young man when you do some BB-ing.
Have fun and the FLY too.

JPEE

rotarydoc

Nick,

I was thinking of a way to not have to lug the Miata battery around when I go flying with the Raptor...and I posted on HF about this battery pack, or an alternative...

http://www.hobbico.com/fieldequip/hcap0901.html

One guy replied, and he said he's just been using an old, tired 2200, 3S lipo pack...says it starts his 600's fine, and will last hundreds of starts between charges...

I was looking at the specs on that Hobbico lead acid battery above, and it's only rated at 1.2 Ah, which is a 1200 mAh battery, correct? So, an 1800 or 2100 lipo should do the job nicely, I would think?

What is your opinion?

Man, how cool would that be...I could even get some large tie wraps and secure it right to the side of the starter, and have one compact unit...totally hand held...

Glenn

JPEE

Heck Glenn

You could jump start someones heart out there with that sucker!

JPEE

rotarydoc

JPEE,

LOL, it looks bigger in that pic than it really is...

But a 3S lipo is even smaller, and much lighter, and I already have some....

Been working on it....good ole nitros...I was testing it out...and the engine wouldn't turn over with either battery, it was flooded...so I had to take the glow plug out, spin it up, and get all the extra fuel out, I have been playing with the fuel system, so I think a bit too much fuel got in the carb.

Then, when I went to retest it, the starter adapter spun off again...the problem is, the starter has to turn the engine over counter clockwise, which loosens the starter one way shaft adapter, so it spins right off the starter shaft.

I fixed it once and for all, I hope. Just got done green loctiting the adapter to the starter shaft....I'll let it sit overnight.

There are alot of loose ends on this heli, which is fine, but it does make me wonder if this guy flew it very much, or at all...which is also fine!

I also corrected the loose fitting RX pack connector, which was really buggin' me...so that's done...

Anyways, done with that for tonight...

Glenn

J-MICHAEL

JPEE ~


Hahaha... That's why you saw me get lucky and land good, because I was heading into the wind. I didn't realize I was that close to the ground, right before it landed... I was tunnel-visioned into it, and then at the last second I'am like crap.... And whooooosh.... It landed... LMAO... I was like "right-on" but you couldn't hear... I was nervous and talking to myself, so I had to drown that out with some music... Lol...!

Yeah she's not waxed up there in those pics.... Its amazing how "brilliant" that monokote stuff is... And pretty tough it seems. Key word : "It seems".... I may put on a HS65mg servo on her for the rudder... Everything my 450 takes, this thing does also except the motor. Servo's will fit, battery same, esc same 40 esc recomended, AR6100, etc. etc. Then you got 2 extra slots even in the 6100... So I'am playing with a couple extra L.E.D.'s possibly in it right now.

You know your a heli pilot when : You buy a plane, and upon hook-up of the battery, you don't move it because your used to that with the heli's and a gyro... ! So funny, because I keep catching myself doing that..LMAO.. I'am like, that's right... No gyro idiot... Go fly.... I miss my Typhoon. That thing was fun to fly also, but its pretty battered. It needs a prop and prop shaft is all. But it could use a new fuse and one wing.

You should post a video of your T-28 soon again... I like that one. I eyed the same one in that LHS for awhile... You should put some kind of LED's for those cloudy darker mornings sometimes for her ! That would be cool... Have a good one JPEE...




Glenn ~


Hek, just run to of them 3s lipo's in series and then jumpstart that baby... She'll spark right up..! LMAO... Good idea with just one lipo though ? Crazy...



Oh JPEE, I can't promise ya there's no wax in these pictures though on the Funtana.... LMAO.... Heh.... You know me to well huh ?! Its gonna be just frickin' fun trying to get a piece of monokote to stick if I need to make a patch, but I'll worry about that when the time comes... If I'am going down, I'am going down in style with my hat back, and shades on my friend...(LMAO)... Now it takes 2 hands to carry it to the field because its so slippery... Seriously ! LMAO there !

evdreamer

Glenn,

I have already let some one fly my heli on a buddy box with no heli experience and he did just fine. He just hovered tail in and I made sure it was up high. He said it was really stable and it showed when he was hovering it. I only took off and landed for him and he hovered the rest of the flight.

Yeah 1.2Ah = 1200milli Amp hours. A lot of heli people have similar things strapped to their starter. The ones that I have seen the most are NiMh batteries. Curtis Youngblood comes to my mind that has a starter with NiMh's on his starter.

Jeff,

Yeah I knew about the right and down thrust built into the motor mount. I am not totally redesigning that, but kind of copied the original.

JPEE,

I am real familiar with how my 600 handles in different positions and used to how to correct it in any position I can get it in. I will only let a newbie hover tail in until they prove to me they can do more.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Thanks. I'm definitely going to see if I can get it to work reliably...that would make life so much simpler, once the heli is fueled, all I would need is the Ni starter, and the main starter/motor/battery...

I'll give it a shot this weekend, for sure...

Cool that you can let noobs fly safely with the buddy box...I guess it's just scarier with a heli...I saw those little kids at the plane show buddy boxing, and there were no close calls or anything...so I'm sure it'll be fine.

Glenn

HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

well I had about 2 hours last night to start the t-rex 250 bulid.

Got frame assembled, head, tail and the servo's mounted.

Well I kinda ran into a problem :/ I was tightening the main shaft screw a bit at the bottom of the main gear. Well lets just say it was not tightening at all. So I took the frame apart and come to find out the main shaft threads were all stripped and the screw was like sliding in and out. So I had to place an order to helidirect, got a bunch of main shafts, feathering shafts, screw sets, carbon blades, alot of stuff to complete the bulid and have extra's

So looks like no finishing up this thing untill next week, what a bummer

evdreamer

I finished the motor mount. It is pretty rigid right now even with the flimsy balsa. Now onto the firewall.

JPEE

Nick,
The motor mount looks great. That you screwed it all together is really nice.

I never though about BB with a heli up high for a hover. Today I and part of yesterday the noob owner and I rebuilt his 400 from his first hover and crash. We also did the HS 65MG upgrade and CF boom. After doing the rebuild he said he wanted to try again tomorrow. So I sat him down at my G4 and said; show me a hover, he could not. He was all over and crashing. He too has a G4.5 so I said, go home and practice and leave the 400 in box for a bit longer. He agreed but was disappointed and yet knows he is not ready without more Simulator time. There is a price to pay for "rushing" in this hobby as we all know.

Hope you have a great weekend


Jeff, I hope your flying that shinny new plane. You bought up a good point about waxing the mono-coat and wax making a repair very difficult.


JPEE

evdreamer

JPEE,

I finished the firewall yesterday and started on the support behind it. I was getting tired working on it and didn't get those straight, so I will have to finish that up when I am more awake.

I think half the fun is the experience of getting better with helis after the struggle to get there. Once he can hover it should start to get a little easier.

The wind is going to be 15-20MPH tomorrow, so those guys don't think they will be able to fly in that. So Glenn will probably be flying the Raptor first. It is also going to be close to triple digit temps for awhile, so I will stay inside working on the 540 some more.

Nick

evdreamer

Here is my progress so far. I would like to install the battery mount and landing gear mounts today, but will have to wait and see. I am running out of screws really quick, so that might limit how far I can do also.

helicorpse

Hey guys... hope all is well in your world

I'm having a problem that I haven't encountered before and need some diagnostic help.... I was flying the blade cpp and was hearing some chatter etc.... checked it out and found the main gear teeth quite worn and in bad shape, I had a spare stock motor that I had replaced before I understood how to care for my batteries and thought it was bad at that time but since then I had come to believe that I had ruined the batteries instead. So since then I had bought the outrage 3s1p 800 25c paks that everyone likes and got the turnigy charger so I could read the cells etc... now back to the problem, I changed back to my first little used motor with the good pinion.. first flight or second one after changing it out I noticed that it had no punchout power and quit flying after 3 minutes or so.. checked the power in the battery and one cell was extremely lower than the other two.. now both of my outrage batteries have the first cell at 2.8v and the other two at full charge... what happened?? the balance charge cycle will not raise the voltage on the cell much above that, yet will complete the balance charge and say that the pak got to 12.6v final. I've also put the good pinion on the other motor and reinstalled it but have no idea what I did or could have done to prevent a 10$ motor from ruining (2) 30$ batteries as seems to be the case... I thought at one point I asked if a bad motor could ruin a battery and was told that it was unlikely...

thanks in advance...
helicorpse

evdreamer

Peter,

Did you have the proper gear mesh? Were the teeth rounded on the main gear? If it is the first cell on both batteries it sounds like a charger problem. Do you have a Voltmeter that you can check the cell Voltages yourself? You could also have a bad cell in the pack or the charger isn't properly reading the Voltages. If the pack is actually at 12.6V and that one cell is at 2.8V the charger is over charging the other two cells. The only way to find out is to use a Voltmeter.

Nick