JPEE

MARK
He's Baaaack

JPEE here reporting "Live" from the relocation house! Well the Cable Guy came yesterday. Over all he did a good job BUT.........................he could not get their remote to work on my new Vizio TV. He tried every code in the book but he had two more calls after mine and he was hot to trott so I let him go. I sat down and READ the book and low and behold when this happens you punch in a "special" code that unlocks all codes, or better said....... makes all codes available to you. Then you push the up channel button a jillion times and then bang! the TV shuts off when you hit the right one and theres your code. I only had to tap the button 18 times out of the jillion codes and got my code. Dude..this guy must-ah thought heli builders dont know anything LOL, I guess I showed him huh.

I hope to get back out and start flying next week. The weather her has been spectacular!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JPEE

evdreamer

JPEE,

I think you said before you had an I-Phone? Anyways in the RCHeli mag they have a Tachometer app for helis with the I-Phone.

My weather has finally been good too. I am planning to fly tomorrow, before it snows on Friday.

Glenn,

Hirobo is coming out with a 3D version of your Quark.

Nick

JPEE

Hi Nick, yes I do have an iPhone. I'll have to check that out, thanks.Update, it costs $4.00 Have ALL THE FUN you can flying and good luck.

I'll bet the 3D Quark won't have styrofoam blade LOL!

JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Nick,

I had heard some mention of a 3D version of the Quark....where did you find info on it? Not that I would get one, but it would be interesting to see what the guys at Hirobo have been up to....

Cool, I hope you get some flying time in tomorrow before the last bit of winter rolls in....

That iPhone app sounds cool, I may have to check it out myself!

JPEE,

Glad you got your cable going in the temporary living quarters, and got your remote to work too!

I would not imagine the 3D Quark will have styrofoam blades...lol...that is why I am interested, to see what they did come up with...

Mark,

I do work in a garage, indoors, with a couple of lifts.....but last weekend, the rain was horizontal, so just going out to find the cars was a treat...and then when you go out there in the lot and find out that the car you need to work on is blocked in by another car, and you have to go back in and get the keys to that one, move it, and then bring your lousy paying oil change in....well, you get the picture! Not to mention that the cars are dripping on your head the whole time...

Well, I took the spare B400 out for a spin, after I found a slightly bent tailshaft...and the vibes in the tail were gone, but it still didn't seem right, and had a weird tail issue going on, every time you just touch the throttle/collective, the tail would kick out, no amount of adjusting seemed to help....it might be that gyro, it came off of the Raptor when it had a HUGE tailboom strike, so it may have not done it any good at all.....

Then I noticed that the head had a bit of wobble at low speeds....to make a very long story very short, it bent a mainshaft in mid flight like it was doing last year with that Eflite CNC stuff on it...

Well, that was the last straw....the LHS didn't have the tailcase that I needed for the main B400 (the one with decent electronics).....SO....the spare B400 is no more....lol...it's a parts heli !!

The clincher was flying the 450 Pro this evening.....with nearly no wind, and some fine tuning, OMG the thing is just a dream to fly....so I'm thinking to myself...."why put another dime into this spare B400?"...it's got stock servos, which will eventually fail, and probably cause a huge crash, and the ESC is toast (it failed hovering tonight)....and this way I'll have plenty of spare parts for the "good" B400...

Anyways, I just finished the tail repairs on the main and ONLY B400 I have now...

Hope you guys get a chance to fly soon....and hang in there JPEE till next week!

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I read the info about the quark in RCHeli mag. It was just a couple of sentences and no pictures.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Cool....either I missed it, or you got your new magazine before I did....

Was it in the one with the Logo 600 on the cover?

Did you get to fly today?

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Yeah it is a new magazine. It has a MA Fury 55 on the cover.

Yeah, I got to fly today. It started off bad with my Velocity. It wouldn't start, so I tried to charge my glow starter and see if that was the problem, but the light never came on the charger, so it is probably not working anymore. Then I just gave up on that and flew the 600 six times and the 450 once.

The 450 had a nasty kick in the tail coming out of a flip, so I don't know if it is the gyro gain or the strong winds. The 450 wasn't that much fun because of the wind, so I just stuck with the 600. I was really rusty with my moves, but they started to get better towards the end.

Then some of the guys at the field tried to help me get the Velocity flying again. They pulled the glow plug out and only half of the coils lit up, so they took the glow plug out of the trainer plane and put it in my heli. It was hard to tune the engine with that glow plug, but I got to fly the Velocity for a little bit. I got a few flips in with it. My glow plug extension also came apart, so I need a new one of those too.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Wow, kinda rough day there....sorry about the glow problems...I imagine once you get everything squared away, it will go much smoother next time out.

Yeah, you are kinda spoiled by the bigger helis in the wind I guess....the little 450's don't like it too much, the B400 more so, it's so light, especially the all stock one when I flew it last year in the wind.

You always get your RC Heli a few days before I get mine, I still don't have that one yet...[&o]

Glad you got some improvement after a while of flying and did eventually get the Velocity in the air again...

I flew a bit today, did a test flight on the B400 after the tailbox repair, and it's doing great....and I got a couple of packs in on the 450 earlier tonight....it was a dream come true, almost no wind, 62 degrees, no PEOPLE, dogs, or any other annoyances, and at sunset, no sun in my eyes....pretty much perfect!

The 450 is doing great, but I am starting to hear that motor rattle again...I guess those bearings are just really poorly made in those motors, at least this one lasted a bit longer. I still have the brand new Scorpion that I never installed last year standing by...

I'll have to modify the motor plate to get it in there though...have to get the dremel out when it comes time...no more Align motors for me!

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I tested the glow starter charger with a Voltmeter and there is a Voltage, so it is working. However, there must be something wrong with the LED circuit. I also checked the Voltage on my glow starter and it was fully charged. So all my problems must have been caused by the glow plug. I finally decided to order a power panel, so I can use my power panel glow starters, power panel fuel pump, and charge my Ni-starter off my Lead Acid battery. I also got a couple of remote glow starter adaptors, since mine didn't last very long.

That is great you had perfect conditions to fly.

Nick

JPEE

Nick,
Sorry to hear about your starter/glow plug issues.[] I know what you mean about being rusty. I have not flown for like 2.5 weeks and that was after a long dry spell. Like you after a pack or two it all comes back.

Glenn,

Well...... I read up on the 400 saga, throw the son-o-gun in the bin and use it for parts thats the way to go. About your Align motors crapping out, I still say you should buy a GREASER like got. My bearing issues are gone! since I started using that device. All in all I am glad you had a good 450 day and no one was around to bug you.
http://peteshobbies.com/prcp/Greaser/grindex.htm

JPEE

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi all,

Looks like everyone has been getting a chance to fly. Glad to hear nice weather has returned to us.

I finally finished repairing my Pro and will be doing some test flying tomorrow morning. We are going to have absolutely beautiful weather this weekend and I am siked to have a heli to fly again.

Glenn,
I think perfect flying days like you had only come in a once in a while - what a feeling to experience. Yeah, I've done an oil change before on my wife's wet, dripping car and it wasn't fun at all. [:'(]

Nick,
Even though it was breezy and you had a faulty glow plug at least you had some flight time with the 600. I think we all have had those days where something doesn't work right, and with glow engines, it can be a lot of things. Still, good to hear you got to fly.

JPEE,
Good to hear things are getting better for you, and you now have cable.

Mark

rotarydoc

Nick,

Sounds cool on the power panel, I know I used to love mine on the field box in the Cobra days, everything in one convienient place, very nice for sure.

Glad you got some spare glow adapters, they are sure handy....beats trying to hook up to the glow plug directly in alot of cases.


JPEE,

The bearing greaser sounds great, but on the Align motors, they don't come apart like the Eflite ones, I think the end cap somehow screws off, but it's not an easy thing to do, I think Nick mentioned he had read how to do it, but hadn't tried?

I'll keep the greaser in mind for the other bearings though...


Guys,

I didn't fly today or tonight, I was just too pooped...but the weather this weekend looks promising, and I'm charging packs now.....

Glenn

Aframomum

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Nick
must have missed that part about you getting a power panel. It is a very convient way to carry everything you need in one compact unit.

Glenn
have fun tomorrow. Any chance you will be going to the heli field or just the local soccer field?

Mark

JPEE

Mark,

It is amazing how cable addicted we are lol. Man if I had to sit like Lincoln and read by candle light I would S- out of luck. Yes we are now comfee in our other house and setteled in for the next two months.
Late yesterday we finished the last "tidy up" of the garage and I vacuumed it. Taped off the door from the house to the garage so dust can't get into that area. We did the same with our master bathroom that also has a door to the back yard. We can come in from the yard side and we and drywallers taped each side of that door too. Then I worked on clearing up my bench so I can work on my RC stuff and fly. I charged all of my packs and I am ready to fly today Sunday! There will a forthcoming report lol.

Glenn,
I hope you get out today to fly too. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Nick,
If they aren't over I wish you well on the rest of your finals and great success.

JPEE

evdreamer

Mark,

Good to hear your Pro is in a flyable condition again.

Glenn,

I have tried to open up an Align motor, but didn't have any luck.

JPEE,

Yeah my finals are over and I passed them all.

I have been working on the hardware for my Battery Management System. I ordered the components that I don't have. I just need to get the balancer working. It is a 7W balancer. Do you think that is enough.

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Just a short vid of this mornings flight:

http://www.vimeo.com/10322026

Mark

JPEE

Hi Guys,
I am running out of Blade 400's to total lol. My 400-1 is still sitting on the shelf needing a new frame and other parts, but I did not want to rebuilt it. Now today, in the glare of the sun and it being overcast it was nearly impossible to see the heli when she slipped over to the sunny side of the field. I fought like a dog to save her BUT she was heading right for me inverted, I mean right at ME out of the sun. It was me or the ground. I was so sure I would be hit after I throttled her down I turned my back to the heli and my feet were still planted, there was not time to even take a step. BANG she hit the ground 6 feet from me on the runway. I had been flying easy as this was my first heli flight of the day. My little voice told me to be REAL careful in this glare but I thought I could deal with it, with a hat and sun glasses. Apparently not This heli is totalled. The only thing left is the motor, servos 3, and the CF tail fin. For the first time in my 2.5 years I had a rc smoke and start a fire via the ESC. Believe it or not the battery took a hit but appears to be OK. But she is buried deep in my (Jay type) cinder block bunker just in case.
Now its time to jump on to the new 450 TT Pro kit sitting on the shelf. Gedder done I say.


WOW what great news Nick, I am happy for you!

Mark....cool vid. Sometimes you canty see what your doing in the vid but I can hear and know from experince that your rolling or looping.

JPEE

patryn

My Feedback: (1)

I wouldn't sweat it, man. Looks like it'll buff out.


Rotarydoc, I saw your name on here and felt like I'd scene it somewhere before but it didn't click until you started talking about lifts. Then I remembered watching your CPPro2 and mSR vids on youtubethat were done inyour shop. I wasn't sure if your name was linked to the helis or if you were a rotary engine fan.

JPEE

Patryn,
Yes your right. I took the heli to a Detailer today for a wash, wax, buff out, and total detail..................now you can barely tell where I hit the asphalt Welcome to our home. Your right about Rotarydoc.........he is a top wrench guy!

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

JPEE,
Yikes - that sounded like a very scary situation you had today. Glad to hear only the heli was the casualty. [X(]

Definitely get to work on that 450 Pro - coming from experience I wouldn't worry too much about a clean wiring job (as I did in the beginning), just make it easily servicable.

Patryn,
Welcome to the thread! Hope you have some parts on order for that CPP2 repair. Yep, Rotarydoc (Glenn) is famous all over the web and can be found here.

The weather this morning was a bit overcast and still a tad bit dark, but I didn't think the video would come out so bad - I could barely follow the heli in the vid at times. [] I also had an issue with seeing the heli (during actual flight) because the canopy is mostly white, so a new canopy is on order. But all in all, I feel good about this machine and the rolls were so much nicer than with my old 450 - I think a lot of it boils down to a clean setup with the head...and the extra power of the new motor helps too.

Sorry again for the crash.

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

Nice flips. It looked like you didn't have any wind for flying.

JPEE,

Sorry to see your B400 like that.

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Yes Nick,

It was a really great morning - amazing b/c major storms were just 100 miles away and it will be raining for the next few days. Lucked out nicely.

I was a bit surprised with my rolls/flips getting lower - the Pro just basically stayed in one place which was very nice.

I wonder if Glenn got a chance to fly?

JPEE,

Looks like you'll be getting more time with the 500 now, at least until your Pro is finished?

Mark

patryn

My Feedback: (1)

I just dumped 80 bucks on putting it back together. Waiting for it all to ship to me. I'm hoping the tail issue I was having before the mishap gets ironed out with a new 2in1. Otherwise you'll probably be seeing a lot more of my posts involving **** about every other word.

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

I have some catching up to do!

I did get to fly some this weekend, not as much as I wanted, still fixing and cleaning from the snowstorms, believe it or not...had to wash the car, clean the yard, fix my XM antenna, stuff like that, and did some shopping for work stuff...

Saturday was the highlight of the weekend, for sure....I got to go to my "dream field"....which for Mark and patryn who weren't around a year ago, is a huge complex comprised of 4 large baseball fields all in one area, all fenced in and surrrounded by woods....it's HUGE!

Last spring about this time I discovered it...driving by, and checked it out...and like last year at this time on Saturday evening it was DESERTED....I had the entire place to myself...it's HELI HEAVEN!!

I got "caught" last year by the park ranger, who was actually very cool, just told me I wasn't supposed to be flying there, and asked that I leave....but, as long as he's not there...and no other human beings for that matter...why not??

I only had the B400 with me, and 2 packs....but man, what a blast, having that much space to open it up, and really cruise around!

It was a bit breezy, and it was late, about 6:45, so no sun to blind me...pretty much perfect....the wind is no biggie to me there, because it's not as confined as my normal field, where I tend to fly lower to the ground, if the wind pushes it around up high, it's not that big of a deal...

It's hands down my favorite place to fly....but it'll be short lived...soon enough, as I found last year, my dream field will be full of little league and not so little league teams and playere....but while it lasts, it's just awesome...the field I use is elevated above the others, and has 375 foot fences in the outfield...plenty of room !

I also flew one single pack on Sunday evening, just after cleaning the car. It was basically on a whim....and for some reason, I was flying better than I think I ever have, everything just "clicked" and it was a blast...

Other than that, not much new...still halfway done stripping the spare B400 for parts....and I listed the Eflite CNC head on eBay along with one of my MCX's....


Mark,

Looks great out there in the field after the rebuild....nice flying! Looks/sounds like it has alot of power and headspeed....it looked great on the flips for sure...

Glad to see ya back out and having fun with it!

Nick,

Congrats on your finals....there was never any doubt in my mind that you'd be fine....

Cool on the new stuff coming for the battery management system....and the balancer project too....

JPEE,

Wow, that is one ugly crash....I'm just glad you did get out of there in time....that is a scary thing to have a heli coming at you...

So, how many B400's are you down to now? I'm at one, as you know.....I think once you get the 450 Pro flying, you'll shelve the rest of the B400's for quite some time....

Sorry to see the crash...even if it is "just" a B400....


patryn,

Yeah, it's me....the same guy as the CPP2 vids on YouTube....this is the place I call home in the RC world....great bunch of guys here....so welcome, and keep coming back!

You hit the nail on the head, my RCU name actually has nothing to do with helis, even though it fits....I'm a Mazda auto tech...and of couse, we still are using Wankel Rotary engines in the RX-8 to this day, so I gave myself the name "Rotarydoc"....

I guess a heli tech could be considered a "rotarydoc" of sorts as well...lol...

Well, hopefully, I didn't forget anyone....and I'm up to date now!

I may have some decent weather mid week...got rain today and tomorrow it looks like...

Hope you guys get some flying in soon !!!

Glenn

patryn

My Feedback: (1)

I own a 91 rx7. And although the Rx8 still wankel's, I don't count it. It's a wannabe sportscar. Nissan didn't go a turn the Z series into a family friendly car. The 8 does have a nice suspension though.

Anywho, rant over. That flying area looks sweet.