Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi all,

JPEE,
Glad to hear your 600 is alive and kicking again. Great news! I always thought having the gyro under the boom in the back was the safest place, most pictures on helifreak show the gyro in that location to save flybar strikes during a crash. Putting it up front, that's a new one for me.

Nick,
Already flipping the nitro, man that's gutsy. How long have you had it?? Really envious about the field, nice wide open spaces. That water though would worry me. Like a great big flying thing magnet. I see your getting a nice intro into the wonderful world of nitro: price of fuel per gallon, glow plugs, slime clean up, and lugging around a big'ole field box.

Jreue,
Welcome! I too recently joined this thread and you'll come to find this is a nice place to hang out, just watch out: you'll soon find yourself having an uncontrollable urge to start upgrading to larger heli's in the coming weeks. I really don't know why this phenomenon occurs, what with all the talk from Glenn, JPEE, Jeff, and of course Nitro Nick.

Glenn,
Shorting the kids for Halloween, no excuse! Not even surgery. Glad to hear you were able to take it easy and I'm sure the kids had many other houses to hit. It's funny hearing all the talk about nitro engines with Nick's new heli, made me forget all the things I had to do with my nitro planes, extra glow plugs and fuel, and let's not forget the dreaded field box. Worst thing was to drive out to the field and forget the stupid glow starter because it was still charging on the wall in the hobby room. And of course I was the only one there so no one to borrow from. But there is something about the smell and sound of a nitro engine when its started.

Jeff,
Thanks for all the info. Looks like your getting your schooling over there at Helifreak. Didn't know you could drill out flybar paddles, might be something worth looking into later on. Gonna wait on the motors for now, there is quite a bit of info on the various boards of motors and peoples experience with them. Plus with Align coming out with their new M 450 class gonna wait and see how they hold up.

Just wanted to add a picture of our little one with his Halloween outfit from last night, and yep, we were one of those rap-tap-tapping on ya'll's door wanting free candy!

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

I have had the Velocity for a couple of weeks, but have only been flying it for two days. Yeah that pond attracts airplanes, not helis. I have seen one airplane go in there and heard of more going in.

Cool kid.

Nick

jroo

What a day!
I took the Blade400 across the street to the park for the first time. I had plenty of room, there was 0 wind; perfect environment. Wow! I did some, first time ever, higher flying; about 20-30 ft I suppose. Man, I can express how pumped i was after this successful flight. The bird is so tuned in.... I did mostly hovering but i did attempt some forward, backwards, side flight. I never got any nose in, but my accomplishment was huge today. I wish i had 50 battery packs...hehe

Its strange, I'm now very comfortable when the heli is below me. When it is eye level, I start getting nervous and even more so under 10 ft. After I rise up above this, I feel more like I'm flying my simulator. The nerves pass a bit.

Anyways, charging the batteries and going to hit it again after while.

Hope you guys have great days too!

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Nick,

I hope the ammeter info helped, and you are welcome...it's really more of a luxury than necessity, if the engine won't start, one of the first steps is to pull the glow plug and take a look-see anyways...and half the time, clear a flooded engine...

I forgot that there is a pond at your flying field...that would be pretty ugly to have a heli land in that...[&o]

What brand of fuel did you start out with? I'm also guessing that it's 30%? There are definitely differences in fuel, from brand to brand...you may want to experiment a bit at first, and ask what other guys like, and when you do find what works best, stick with it....

I remember back in the day with the cars/trucks, we had these very inconsistent, stubborn, tempramental, PITA little .12 nitro engines...they had major issues with idling....and it was very, very frustrating...we would get them running at the begining of a race, line them up at the starting line, only to have one or two of them shut off before the race even started...then there would be a frantic driver/racer running down to grab his starter, restart his/their engines, while all the other still-running trucks sat idling at the line, loading up from sitting there idling, then finally gettting eveyone online and runnig at the same time, and when the race started, another truck or two would stall on the start from being so loaded with fuel from idling so long...lol...

We then resorted to everyone having an assistant at the starting line, to hold the rear wheels up, so the driver could keep the engine revving...and that was a major PITA, as you can imagine/picture! Finally, somebody suggested or told us that people were having great luck with a fuel from a company called McDonnell....so, we orderd some from Horizon, got it in...and the other counter guy and I who both raced nitro trucks tried it....and it was like night and day...cured about 90% of all the idling issues, much easier to tune, more consistent...it was amazing how much difference there was....

Soon, we had people lined up requesting it, and it eventually became the only fuel we would stock for the nitros....but just goes to show you how important finding a fuel that works, and trying to stick with it for consistency reasons...

When Rob was having some issues one day at the field with his Avant earlier this year, he was struggling with carb settings, glow plugs, etc.....and a buddy let him try some different brand of fuel...and it cured the issue completly...can't remember the details exactly, but it instantly reminded me of the fuel lesson we had learned in the past...just some more of my observations over the years...

jreue,

Great news on the nice, happy flying day! Hope you get out and have some more fun... Over time, you will learn how precious a great day is....'cause there will be a few miserable days that will offset it...[X(] I have never been in a hobby that has so many and significant ups and downs as this one....a good day is like being in heaven, when you do that first nose in hover, or the first flip ever, and you are on cloud nine....and the next day, you can be so frustrated or pissed, thay you'll be ready to quit...and some do...but I have been at both ends, and I always end up coming back for more....lol...the great days more than offset the bad ones...but it's hard to tell yourself that when you are looking a a tangled, mangled wreck that used to be your best flying heli setup to date....[&o]

And as I've had a very recent lesson lately....with my B400's....sometimes, it's best to just walk away, put the thing aside or in the closet for a while, and come back to it later...it'll clear your head, and you can come back to it with a new perspective, and renewed motivation...

Sorry for the rant...warned you guys I'd be typing alot in the next week or so....LMAO..

Moral of the story.....enjoy your great days!!!

Mark,

All of what Nick is going through, and my recent nitro experience has had me thinking about the old days with my GMP Cobra....I had one of those field boxes...I think Hobbico or someone made it....you had to build it from a kit, all wood...and paint it...on one end, you had the shelf and strap for your fuel bottle, and on the other, was the power panel, with a 12v gel cell battery underneath. Then you wired up the panel, and had all your power jacks there, just plug the starter bananna plugs into their jacks, and you had the separate jacks for the glow starter, which had a volt meter to adjust the voltage to the glow plug, so you could bump it up some for a difficult starting engine...and it had two drawers for all your stuff, tools and what not....that was very cool, indeed!

LOL, half of that heli was custom building and modifying stuff to work, it wasn't like today's kits...not at all!! You had to cut the main blades to size, cover them, and of course then balance them...you had to silver solder the tail drive shaft yourself ( a very primative torque tube type thing), and we had to glue the 2 halves of the canopy together, let it dry overnight with a dozen or so clothespins claming it together, and then mask it and paint it the color of your choice....

Then, it came with some basic instructions to get you in the air...lol...then I was on my own...no sim, no internet forums, no club, no pilot to help me get started, no buddy boxes, no nothing!! It was amazing I ever got the thing off the ground...lol...

People often say, "I wonder what they did back in the day before simulators?" well....I can tell you....LMAO...basially, hover for weeks at a time, 'cause you are terrified to crash it, giving the difficult availability of parts, the labor involved in making new main blades, etc, and setting everything back up, etc...

I'll talk to you guys later on...gonna send this before I lose it somehow...

Glenn

rotarydoc

I almost forgot....

This brings back some memories....but I'm not sure if they are GOOD or BAD memories!! LOL...

http://1017.org/cricket/cobra-manual.pdf

Glenn

jroo

Just got back from another successful flight. Had a little wind this time, but the confidence I had from this morning flight helped with this on. I kept her in the air the entire battery, hovering about 20 ft, getting the feel of the cyclic.

Man, I have got to go switch my other 2 batteries from Deans to EC3 so I can fly more than 5 minutes a time....

later!

evdreamer

Glenn,

I am using Cool Power 30%. It is the only fuel at my LHS and it works pretty good. I picked up the last gallon. It doesn't seem like they restock the heli fuel that much. It seems like the same gallon was there when I got my last gallon. Hopefully now that the owner knows I have a Nitro heli he will stock the fuel better. I am going to head out to the field soon. It is really nice outside for flying.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

That is the fuel that came with the Raptor, and it seems to be very good, and popular....when I tore the engine down in the Raptor, it looked great, and still had alot of oil on the internal parts...Cool power says you don't need to use an after run oil, since they use rust inhibitors and anti oxidants in the fuel...a great plus...

We used to use "after run" oil in the RC cars/trucks, since the methanol attracts moisture, if you don't have a coating of oil on the internal crankcase parts, like the crankshaft, and bearings, they will oxidize, and corrode after a time in storage without protection...but the Cool power in the Raptor's engine seemed to have a nice coating of oil on all the internal parts...looked great inside!

Have fun flying, glad you have some good weather, it's pretty crappy here, which is fine, since I can't fly anyways, don't feel like I'm missing much....lol...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Good to hear your not missing much.

I had a fun time flying, but the weather attracted everyone. That means "plankers"() hogged the eastward field, while the helis guys get stuck with the west field. By the time I got there the sun was starting to set, so it was hard to do the big moves that I like to do. I only got three flights in. I was really pushing the Velocity one flight and it ran out of fuel mid air.[X(] It doesn't auto very good or at least the height I was at. Luckily a puddle softened the fall, but water got everywhere. Least everything still worked. It seemed to loosen the elevator arm set screws after that, so a lot of loctite later everything was back to normal. I am starting to get the CW chaos down that most people don't like to do. I am also getting better at piro loops. Those and piro flipping loops are starting to be my favorite moves. I was also practicing some piro tic tocs. I can go from left to right pretty good, but going from right to left is the hard part for me right now.

Jreue,

Good to hear your having fun flying.

Nick

jroo

Nick,

How long have you been flying? I'm curious as to what it takes to do advanced moves like piros, tictocs, etc.

rotarydoc

Nick,

Wow, glad your close call wasn't any worse....[X(]

I guess the puddle helped break the fall somewhat....good thing, and glad it didn't turn out badly...

Cool on all the new moves, and your progress...you are improving fast now...you deserve it for all you put into it...

Sorry the plank guys were in the way...lol...they are always in the way at my field. I guess I should have realized that from the times I went up there. What I wasn't thinking about is that the little area for helis is actually no bigger than the horse track, so that was kind of a bummer...

I really want to see this heli club, and I'm going to visit it while I'm off work..for sure, maybe next weekend, depending on how I feel...

Glad you had a good time flying.

Glenn

evdreamer

Jreue,

I have been flying for a little over two years. I didn't go inverted until my first year at it, which was about 500 flights. I made sure I could do all the orientations and move the heli around a field while staying in one orientation. Then I also made sure I could do fast and controlled backwards flights. Then I did that all over again for inverted flight. Some people can learn quicker and some people try before they are ready. Anyone can stick bang, but how many people can say they have control of the heli while doing that. That is what I am working towards.

Glenn,

I was pretty worried that the water would have ruined my regulator, since it is close to the skids. I just let it face the sun and dry out and it worked ok.

The Nitro is really helping me improve. Flying for a constant 9+min lets me keep trying a move until I can get it down instead of flying for 4min and just get started on a move. I still like the electrics, but I like the Nitro a little more.

I think an all heli club would be better, since everyone understands what it takes to fly a heli and doesn't hog the field. The nearest one is too far for me to go on a regular basis, but I really want to go to their fun flies next year. I will just have to go fly on cloudy and windy days. That is when I get the field to myself.

Nick

jroo

Are you all AMA members? Is this something I should look into? I understand they provide insurance; how does this work? If I hit someone or someones property, does the insurance only work at flight fields, or would it cover me if I slammed my heli into my neighbors car?

evdreamer

Jreue,

JPEE, Glenn, and I are AMA members because our fields require it. I think it would cover people and property outside the fields. You could email or call them about it. They also cover your aircraft if they get stolen up to $1000.

Guys,

When I was cleaning my Velocity I noticed the crown and tail gears were stripped probably from the bad auto. I am just suprised how well it flew with stripped gears. I didn't even notice a problem. I also saw a crack in my main blades. I probably won't use them again because I am afraid the stress will make it break eventually.

I was thinking about how hard it would be to make a glow starter from the 12V lead acid battery. I saw how much current the power panels use for a glow starter and started to think it wouldn't be that hard. That might be a fun and usefull project. I would just need to step down the Voltage and make the current constant.

Nick

rotarydoc

jreue,

As Nick pointed out, we need the AMA to fly at our fields and clubs...but it's a good thing to have anyways, just as added protection.

I am pretty sure the $1000 insurance covers the aircraft in case of theft, fire, and stuff like that, it said something about being locked up, like maybe not if someone walked away with it from your bench at a field or something...in other words, as long as you are reasonably careful...

Now, the other part is still a bit fuzzy to me...as far as covering personal and property damage....I know for absolutely certain that it covers that stuff if you are at an AMA sanctioned field....but not so sure if you are in your back yard, or a school field, etc....you definitely might want to call and check that out, before you assume you are covered.... I don't know for sure myself...but I do know I'd rather have it than not, even if I didn't need it for the club...

Nick,

Wow, that is good that the stripped gears and cracked blade didn't cause a catatstrophe later on when you were flying...[X(]

Did you get new blades specifically for the velocity, or did you borrow your 600's blades?

Hope you can get everything you need for the rebuild by next weekend...how is it generally to get parts for?

That power panel/glow starter should be an easy project for ya...what I was saying earlier might be kinda cool too...my old power panel had a built in pot, and voltmeter, so you could adjust the voltage going to the glow plug, and bump it up a bit if you had a hard starting engine, for a little extra boost on the glow element...kinda neat, and wouldn't be hard to do while you were doing it anyways...

Ideally, the voltage is 1.5...but you can vary it a bit, I'm sure....just not too much, you don't want to burn out too many glow plugs...they aren't that cheap...lol...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I got new RotorTech blades for the Velocity, so I still have some RotorTech blades on my 600.

I just ordered the parts. Some parts are easier to get than others. It is still a fairly new helicopter, so it will take some time for them to get a steady stream of parts.

If I wanted to make the glow starter more complex I could make it adjustable like you said. Right now my circuit has 1.5V on the output and a constant 400mA, since that was the max current on one of the Hobbico power panels. So far it has 7 parts and I just need to figure out if the regulator needs a heat sink or not.

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi guys,

Glad to see some people are enjoying nice flying weather. It's been rainy and windy down here in the south. Not worth it trying to tempt fate just for a few minutes of flight time.

Jreue,
I didn't renew my AMA this year mainly because I don't fly at the club field so AMA really doesn't do much for me flying in my back yard or the local soccer field, but I do miss the monthly magazines for sure! Glad to hear your moving forward with your flying skills. Nick gave some good advice as to learning the hovering orientations down pat before moving to loops, flips, and other more advanced moves. Having a solid base will definitely help in being able to react quicker when the need arises.

Nick,
Sorry about the deadstick with the Velocity. Isn't deadsticking a plane so much better?! One thing I notice that the heli guys at the field will do is periodically fly a quick hover to check thier fuel tank (on the 600 and 700 the fuel tank is readily visible), but I'm sure lesson learned. Glad to hear not too much damage. Any word on the crown gears and do the blades from the Velocity fit the 600?

Glenn,
Looks like the storms up there extend down here as well. Yucky weather but as you said your not missing much. I take it the PDF file of that Cobra was your instruction manual? Very scary stuff back then. I now remember why I never even considered heli's until 2007. Back in my military days (early 90's) a group of us used to be into rc boats back when they were were kits and such. Seemed we spent more time in the lake then our boats did. We dabled with planes a bit but it never really took hold, then one day a friend of ours brings home this used heli. It had to be a 90 size because the thing was huge. Didn't have the engine or electronics but we stared at it in awe because of its complexity. I think it eventually got put on some shelf in a dorm room and finally disappeared into oblivion, never even got the engine for it from what I recall. Ah, those were the good ol' days. Anyhow, that's my little trip down memory lane. Thanks Glenn.

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

Actually dead sticking a heli is better for me. My plane comes down like a rock when it is dead sticked. It is definitely not a glider. My plane never came back in one piece after a dead stick.

Blades are pretty much standardized for each size of heli except the 450 size. However, RotorTech blades give free shims in case for that situation. I have the same blades on my 600 and Velocity. It is kind of like the main shaft size is standardized on all heli sizes. The crown gears won't ship until today and I probably won't get them until Wednesday.

Nick

J-MICHAEL

Nick ~

Excellent videos a few page or so back.... I commented on them when you posted them as I watched them.... That thing is cool !!! Sorry to hear of the little scuff just recently with it though. Yeah I'am thinking of getting my AMA card so I could use one of the huge fields that's about 3 miles from my house. Being just a weekend flyer, limits my ability to move forward, and so this will help then being able to fly during the weekdays... Yesterday, after flying the T-500, I met a new pilot ! An older guy who use to even fly with Curtis Youngblood, and was shocking ! He told me about the AMA and that field, and was telling me of all the nitro's, electrics, and gasser's that he has.... SO cool ! I can't wait to see his nitro's and gasser's, as I think I know where this could be headed.... DANG IT...!

I've been so into my T-450, that its been a long time since I've flown the T-500, but I took it out yesterday to blow some dust off of her. So fun, but I'am just not into the 500 like I use to be... Dunno, but it doesn't really satisfy me like the quick spunky 450 does... The Logo is fun, as its a bit bigger, but I think the next heli I want to be at least a 600 class or bigger for next year. For now, I think I just want a newer 450... I love those little heli's...!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uvftgvd0hI




Jreue ~

Welcome to the madness......!



~ Jeff

JPEE

Mark,
YEP, I am going to have to relocate my 611 Gyro $$$$$ inside the frame rather than on top after sustaining the damage to the 401 in the same place on the Blade 400. I don’t know where I’ll re mount everything yet as the 611 has two pieces to it so I’ll have to ponder this on the bench.
What beautiful picture of your son, quite the little Pirate!

Nick,
Wow you pushed some fuel through that puppy. The videos looked good too. Guy, you have one bit*hen Club Field, wide open, flat to the horizon….�I LIKIE�.
WOW Nick, sorry to read about the hard auto and its aftermath, but as you said amazing how she flew so well in that condition.

Jreue.
Man oh man your burning up the sire flying that many packs. Your re-charging is making a brown out in California over here LOL. I can tell you that packs after pack is the way to improve your skills for sure along with your SIM.
Yes I am a member of AMA. I chose the OPEN MEMBERSHIP. Regarding the insurance, there are guidelines so here is the link for you to review the rules and guidelines.
HOME PAGE http://www.modelaircraft.org/membership.aspx

INSURANCE INFO http://www.modelaircraft.org/parkflyer.aspx

Jeff,
Let me know I kick you $279.98 for the 500 you don’t wanna fly anymore. Watch out hanging with old guys…………you might learn a trick or two! LOL. Really, I can understand your need for speed and liking the 450 and new hot dog just might be the ticked for you. ME…..I “LIKIE� the 500 the best of all my heli’s. Great flying in your video too but I have a question for you? Does the white tip on the blades show up as well in real time as on the video? My blades are standard Align white over black and don’t show up well “for me�. So I have stuck on some yellow freeway reflective tape like on semi trucks and signs and it gives me a real nice yellow ring to see me blade for orientation.

Glenn,
If it weren’t for your runway posting and long posts bringing us closer to the Wheeeee thread I’d come over there and duct-tape your fingers! LMAO. Heck man, now don’t go get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome on us from to much typing and need more surgery LOL.
Yes we were handing out candy to all 22 kids that came by. Some of them were old enough to be working at McDonalds too. My budding in a different area got a gal that was 70 years old if she was a day. She must have gotten out on a one day pass from the “home�. LMAO
GET WELL SOON……….

ME:
I’ll be brief, I don’t want to run-on lol. We got our canopies set up at the fly zone and in 20 min the wind started again, remember ….this is where I crashed the 600 the week before in the wind. So we sat there for a while and I finally flew one pack in the 400 and he flew his plane one HALF flight and landed and we packed up so as not to crash any of our fleet. So we came to my place to work on his 400 as it has a bad tail wag as soon as it starts to lift off.

Blade 400 fliers and DX7 owners listen up here
Sincerely I will make this short but it is worthy of filing for future reference.
The heli has a serious wag at lift off. He had flown this heli last week pack after pack with no issue. However, this weekend he had pulled the plastic head and put back on his CNC head. Then this problem came up. A step at a time I changed out with extras we have on hand, gyro, ESC, tail servo, main gears with one-way, put back in the plastic head, every piece on the heli less the motor and it still wagged itself to near crashing. Yes we did modify the TX gyro paalication up and down as well. So thinking outside the box he and I both have DX7’s and back up DX6i’s. So I picked up my DX6i from the bench and did a bind and she flew like a bird! I re bound back to his DX7 and WAG. I bound to my DX7 and she flew like a bird. We deleted that model from his DX7 thinking the program was corrupt and re-entered it into slot 20 and copied everything from my DX7 and tried his again WAG! I then rebound to my DX7 smooth flight. OK so we all think his new DX7 has a problem somewhere. So then as a last test I fly his 500 with his DX7…..flies a like a dream???? but not his 400.
Ok guys here is the end. Now we know there is something in his DX7 that won’t work on a 400 so we bound his DX7 to my like 400 and..... she flew like a bird. So today a phone call is going to Horizon to ask about this anomaly and I’ll let you know what they say. But to think we spent the whole day working on that heli and just re binding to my TX made it fly from the get go was frustrating.

JPEE out

J-MICHAEL

JPEE ~


Yes I really like those longer 430mm CF SABS for sure as far as visibility goes.... The "whitish" ends are pretty much what I go by as far as me tracking the heli in the sky for all my birds. The T-450 has the 325mm CF SABS, and I also love those for that. I think any white blade is just a bonus for that, at least for me... Throw a dozen coats of wax on them, and they glitter in the sky when the sun hits them ! Only downside to waxing them, is its nearly impossible to hold on to the suckers... Slippery little buggers !

evdreamer

Jeff,

That sounds like a cool field to go to. Do we have another Nitro convert?

You would probably like the Three Dee Rigid by how fast you were flying in the vid.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Mark,

Yup, that was the Cobra instruction manual...in it's entirety...lol..and yeah, it was scary!!

Cool story on your old heli experience, wonder where those old helis end up? Probably in someones attic or garage...

I had way over 2K invested in the Cobra (in 1989 dollars!!! YIKES)....and ended up selling it lock, stock, and barrel for $750. Never did do anything but tail in hovering with it...[&o]

Sorry my crappy weather made it down your way...

Jeff,

I agree totally, there is just something more fun and exciting about the 450 size helis for me as well...I had a great time with my 500 when I had 2 baseball fields to fly it in, but my other places are too small...maybe when I check out this heli only club, it will be different...the 500's definitely like to have room to fully enjoy them, in my opinion...

Looks like you were having alot of fun there with the 500 in that vid however...nice flying!

I am really excited about the 450 Pro now that I have taken the time to dial it in a bit better...

Nick,

Glad you got your parts on the way....good luck on the rebuild...

I can't imagine Jeff with a nitro....if he gets one, I'm buying stock in Q-tips....LMAO... He'll be busy detailing all that oil out of the cracks and crevices...

JPEE,

Yeah, I've been a busy bee typing here lately...nothing else to do...lol...

It was raining here on Halloween, so I don't think I missed too many trick or treaters...

I usually get 45-50 of 'em....probably saved $20 in candy...lol...

jreue,

Have ya attached the EC3's to those packs yet?

Scott,

How was your weekend, did you dust of the helis at least?...lol...

I'll bet you went riding, before the weater gets real bad, eh?

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Do you want to get me some stock while your at it.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

LOL....

I wonder what happens when you mix nitro fuel residue and WAX?? LMAO....

Glenn