Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Hi everyone,

This mornings flight was much better in that I felt more relaxed. Enjoy the vid:

http://www.vimeo.com/11076764

Mark

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Not much new here....time to get my AMA card...just got done driving to 3 different fields for a quick B400 motor test flight, and no go...every field was full...spring is in full swing I see...

I am going to try after dinner here in a bit....but now I'm ready to give in and join a club or clubs...have to see...

Nick,

That board looks cool...I have never seen one with a silver finish like that, but it looks nicely made, for sure.

Sorry some of your plans didn't work out, can you make the wires shorter somehow to fit in the case?

Hope you can get the minor issues ironed out...

jreue,

Congrats on the new heli, I think you will love it....you'll notice a big difference between it and the B400, for sure, alot less squirelly for sure...it will fly like a bigger heli than it is...more stable, and just smoother overall...


Steve,

Welcome to our thread!

You didn't mention having or using a simulator....that is the single best thing I did to improve my flying skills...they have some great ones out there now, Real Flight G4.5 and Phoenix are both nice.

Other than that, it's just getting the nerve up to try it...you say you are doing some forward flight with the CPP2....you should actually find the 450 Sport easier to fly, it is for sure more stable...although a bit more intimidating by the noise and size...

Just go a little at a time, like baby steps, until you build a bit more confidence...keep it tail in at first, go slow, and it should start to come around...

I can't over-emphasize the sim and spending quality time on it (i.e., not zooming around playing with it like a game...) and getting practice on that first to make you familiar with the proper stick movements, and a bigger heli, you can practice on the sim with an even larger heli than the 450, and see how the physics of a larger heli behave...

Just my 2 cents, there are alot of ways to practice and improve, some guys do it without sims at all...but I have found them to be a HUGE help for me!

Good luck....let us know how you make out...

Glenn

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Steve,

Welcome to the thread!

Do you have a sim? Best thing to help you start new things before chancing them in real life...and real expense! It just takes time, practice, and patience. Keep at it and do one thing at a time. Your Sport should be much more stable to fly then your CPP2 so start getting more comfortable with it - if you can fly your CPP2 around you should be ready to start on some slow forward flight with the Sport. Just bust that mental block and go for it!

jreue,

Congrats on the new 450. I think you made a wise decision going with the belt drive over the TT. Let the build begin!

Mark

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Glenn,

I see like minds think alike - how cool both of us were writing at the same time and saying about the same thing!

Nick,

That's some piece of work in that board. All I can say is wow.

Mark

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Did a quick comparison of the Turnigy and Zippy Flightmax batteries in the 30C - 40C range that HobbyCity offers - sorted them by weight. These are for the 500:

6S Battery Comparison



Name Dimension & Weight C-rating Price

Turnigy 2200mAh 105X34X46 369g 30C $29.99

ZippyFlightmax 2200mAh 113X33X52 392g 40C $35.83

Turnigy 2450mAh 140X43X33 414g 30C $39.97

ZippyFlightmax 2450mAh 145X45X33 435g 30C $39.99

ZippyFlighmax 2650mAh 143X45X36 455g 30C $49.99

Turnigy 2650mAh 137X42X35 466g 30C $46.80

Turnigy 2650 mAh 146X42X37 468g 40C $51.16

ZippyFlightmax 2650mAh 142X45X36 475g 40C $47.99

Turnigy 3000mAh 139X43X39 514g 35C $59.73

Turnigy 3000mAh 146X42X41 522g 40C $58.10

ZippyFlightmax 3000mAh 144X45X41 524g 40C $54.95

Turnigy 3300mAh 137X43X41 544g 30C $53.04

Can't you tell it was a slow night last night!

Mark

P.S. - you may want to cut and paste to a word doc to help spread it out, for some reason it got a bunched up.

rotarydoc

Mark,

Yeah, that is pretty amazing...what, one minute between posts?

That has happened to Nick and I a few times as well if memory serves me correctly...

I have to set aside some time tonight to watch your latest vid...

Just got back from another 5 mile trip around the 3 fields....NOW I am going to sit down and join the AMA! [sm=what_smile.gif]

Glenn

HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

everything is going alright over here

been wrapped up in tons of schooling, in my second semester and actually working two jobs

still flying the t-rex 250 and still loving it, doing loops and flips now

Actually I am shopping around for a 500 size heli

Just don't have the full amount of cash funds to throw out there now, sometime soon though

evdreamer

Glenn,

Are you going to join that helicopter club?

I ordered the protoype version of the board because it was cheaper. The green stuff on circuit boards is a solder mask to keep the solder in the spot it is supposed to be in. It was like $40 more for that, so I went with the cheapest version. It is pretty hard to solder to the board without that solder mask.

I cut the wires down from the pic I showed, but I might try to make them smaller yet and see if it fits. Right now I just want to get the board working before I mess with the case again.

Do you have any Nitro plans for this year?

Nick

jroo

Well there was literally 0 wind outside just now, so Istepped out in my front yard and flew the 250. Good Lord that is a sweet machine. It jsut reconfirms my decision to move from a Blade 400 to an Align 450. I cannot wait till this thing is delivered!

jroo

HeliStyle,
Congrats on the loops and rolls on your 250!

Ihave now completed 57 flights with my Blade 400 and 15 flights in my Align 250, and Istill have not worked up enough courage to do a piro or event attempt nose in hovering. Ialso have never flipped the switch to idle-up. Ijust need to bite the bullet one of these days....

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Heli,

Glad to hear school and work are going well for ya...and that you've still had some time left over to fly the 250 some as well...

500 time eh? Cool, what are you looking into, an Align maybe, or clone of one? Nice helis, just make sure you have room enough to fly it!

Nick,

MHA (Maryland Heli Association) has their annual open house on May 1st, I'm going to try to get there as long as I don't have to work that Saturday. I may go later even if I do, so we'll see how that goes, I'd like to see how things run there during a regular flying day before I join.

I think they are kinda earlybirds there, which I guess can be good or bad...if I get there later, and they have all flown and left, I'd have the field to myself....but it would be nice to hang out and meet everyone and fly with them if it works out.

I just want to feel the club out a bit before I join. I do like the president of the club, whom I met last year late in the season. Seems pretty cool. The club only has about 35 active members according to him, so it sounds like a fairly tight knit group.

I am also thinking about joining my local club as well....it's a LOT closer, and I can slip up there after work during the summer weeknights, where as the heli club is a 50 mile round trip, not something I would want to do on a weeknight.

I'll be struggling for time on the field with the plane guys, but I'd have the small heli area to maybe fly the Gaui and CPP2's....

First I need to join the AMA of course, I'll be doing that here in a bit...one thing is for sure, I'm NOT going to drive around in circles like I did so many times last year looking/hoping for an empty field...

Cool on the PC board, I was thinking that very thing, that it looks hard to solder on....that green mask makes life simple when soldering projects, practically repels the solder from where it's not supposed to go, like making solder bridges on close components...

I have been debating the nitro situation for a couple of weeks now...and just can't decide. I think I'll wait and see how much I like the heli club, that may very well make or break nitro for me...but for right now, I'd like to concentrate on improving my skills on the electrics, especially the 500....again, the heli club may make all the difference there, since I really don't have any place around here to fly it...

jreue,

Glad you are enjoying the 250...I'm sure you'll be equally pleased with the 450, and glad you didn't go with a clone, since it looks like there's a few issues with them as far as making them reliable out of the box..no worries with the real deal!

Glenn

JPEE

Hey Guys,

Here is the 450 Pro nearly done but! Just as I was mounting the verticle tail fin screws into the tail box, the screw broke off! I was at that point of finishing the tail box, putting on the blades and ready to rock and roll for a maiden. So my buddy took home my tail box to drill it through in the big drill press and I will screw through and nut the other side. He also had his Pro arrive last night and brought it over and told me to take his tail box so I could get up in the air....WHAT A GUY. Lets see what tomorrow holds, but one way or the other I am flying.

JPEE

rotarydoc

Hey guys,


JPEE,

Looks nice!!

Nice of your pal to loan you his tail for the time being....hope you can get it up in the air for a maiden soon!


Nick,

WOW, I just had a rude awakening....I did my AMA membership, then checked in at my local club's website....and the annual fee is $75....and they hit ya with a late fee after February of $25...[X(]

So, it's $100 for me to join my local club...how much was yours, do you remember?

Glenn

evdreamer

JPEE,

That is great you are almost done with the 450.

Glenn,

Sorry you also got hit with a late fee. My late fee was $10, but I got refunded. A lot of people were complaining and arguing about it, so they refunded everyone.

Nick

JPEE

Hey Guys,

Glenn, I abandoned the idea of getting the blade grips off for right now. If I can't get them off they are not coming off in flight, that's a fact. But I do intent to address them like this. I'll take the old soldering station with a pointed tip and try to heat just those little screws that tie the blade grips to slider, it should work. Thanks for the good wishes! Hey Glenn, can I borrow a can of AMA (sorry) really that you had to do all of that driving and come home disappointed, seriously. My Club was 100.00 to join the first year but then drops down some, I just forgot.

Nick, sorry to hear about your engine bearings. WOW your board is "twitchen" if ya get my drift. Sorry that there's a little hiccup there but it will all work out.

Mark, I am a morning guy and beside you I guess the only. I am up at the very latest seven days a week by 5:30 a.m. Good luck with the flight. Yes Mark, 400s to 500-and 600s are not in the same ball park at all. Once you have a 500 you will never look back BUT like Glenn said a 500 needs room to breathe. You are not going to fly that in small area, it needs to be let out like a race horse LOL. Hey that some nice flying in your video too!

Steve, I am game, I'll pull your finger....WELCOME to the thread!

Jreue, congrats on the new heli.......enjoy it , you deserve it! Take it from a guy who just is 99% done. WATCH the HeliFreak Finless videos, they are critically important!

JPEE out

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Glenn,

Sorry to hear that you did all that driving and still no flying - major bummer. []

I was a member of our club only for a year and if memory serves, there was a member fee ($75) plus a new member initiation fee ($50), so total being...um, let me get my calculator! You get the point, pretty steep for those of us used to flying for free. I think most of the fees goes to paying someone to mow the grass so the plankers don't get stuck on take-off (isn't it nice to take-off vertically)! And don't forget the AMA membership fee. I never heard of a late fee, what about newbies that discovered flying in the middle of summer and want to join, do they have to pay a late fee??? []

Helistyle,

Sounds like your mondo busy between school and 2 jobs - I sure don't miss those days! Cool on the flips and rolls.

Didn't know if you saw a few pages back but Flying-Hobby has random sales on Trex 500's that are worth while. For example, right now they are having free shipping (from China) on their 500ESP (everything minus gyro and tail servo) for $499. You just have to check their site almost on a daily basis to snag one of their deals.

JPEE,

Sorry to hear about the broken screw - hey, you still have one screw holding the tail fin on and superglue works great!

Good luck on getting those tail grips apart, I'm sure the soldering iron will do the trick.

Yep, I think we (besides JMan ) are the only early morning flyiers. I do it because I have already been up all night with my work schedule so for me it's like 5PM for the typical dayshift worker - just natural after work relaxation. I also like nightshift too much to want to change, besides (and I have said this before) too much drama on days!

I am sure I'll find a nice cosey flying spot down in the Orlando area when we get down there. You DO NOT know how difficult it is for me to refrain from just snagging up that free shipping deal Flying-Hobby is having right now. Oh the agony! But I'm being good and sticking to my guns and not getting anything before we move!

Nick,

Trying to convert some of us to the nitro side are we?!

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

Nice flying. It looked like you had perfect flying conditions.

I will be joining you with the 3rd shift in a couple of weeks. My boss wants me to be trained for that shift. Normally I work the 2nd shift. I like working later in the day too. Once it gets close to midnight all my headaches go away.

Helistyle,

That is good you are still enjoying the 250.

Jreue,

That is good you had nice flying weather.

Guys,

My dad helped me find the problem with my circuit. I had just a little bit of solder touch ground, so it caused a short for my 5V supply. After that was fixed the glow starter started working. I just need to make up a cable for my LCD then I can see if everything is working.

Nick

JPEE

SALE!

http://us.mc529.mail.yahoo.com/mc/sh...873sQ0ID15py4k

JPEE

Steve

My Feedback: (54)

Put a couple of flights on the CPP2 yesterday and decided to get the 450 up and out. What a rush! It flys so much smother and easier than the CP. I had to take a break and calm down after the first flight before I could go agian. Now I know what every one was saying!! Very cool. I've now got 4 full flights on the 450. Just going back and forth though. No inverted or Idle 1 yet. I'm going to spend some time flying Idle 1 on the CPP2 and get used to the throtle.

Sim time is the only reason I'm even flying a heli!!

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Another slow day here at work....

JPEE,

Sounds good on the blade grips, just get to them when ya have time...sounds like they are really in there!

I guess that's about the going rate these days to join a club...and I'll probably save that much in gas and vehicle wear and tear vs. driving around looking for an open field...

Nick,

Glad you and your dad were able to pin down the issue with your glow starter and get it working. '

Good luck on the 3rd shift when the time comes, hope you can adapt OK...

Mark,

I still gotta watch your last vid...it's blocked here at work, so I'll check it out tonight...

My local club has a discount for new pilots that join later in the year, I think it's $50 after July, and $35 after October....

I could have saved the $25 late fee had I paid my dues before February, but I think I was about hip deep in snow about then, and the last thing on my mind was re-registering for my club!

The good news is that my heli only club is "only" $75 for a new member...so that will be good if I end up joining that club...

It seems expensive, but compared to the alternative of driving around, getting frustrated, and eventually coming home with no flight time in...it's a good deal I guess...

Not to mention the safety issues...not sure if you guys have ever had any bad experiences, but I have on one occasion, I was flying alone, in a field, and a couple of guys parked their truck, looked for a bit, and then both approached me....

Turned out they were pretty friendly, and just curious...but it could have been a different story, and much worse. These days, you just don't know....flying in a group at an established club is alot safer in that regard...in fact, I was even warned by the club president and his wife to be very careful if I was the only one at the field, to be sure to lock the gate...seems a few years back,a gang of thugs pulled a huge robbery on some guys riding dirt bikes and ATV's just down the road at a popular dirt bike riding area...they had guns and the whole nine...[X(]

And, if I were to get a heli stuck in a tree, I could be pretty sure to get some help getting it out...but out at some field, might not be anyone to lend a hand...

OK, I'm bored..and rambling...LOL...

Steve,

Great progress!!!

Sounds like all you needed was a bit of encouragement!

Keep up the practice, it'll get easier and better the more you fly!

Glenn

Steve

My Feedback: (54)

Pretty stormy here this afternoon. Looks like sim time!

evdreamer

Steve,

Welcome to the thread. Sorry it is stormy there.

Nick

jroo

Guys,
I would like to use the Storage feature on my Turnigy Accucel-6 charger, but Ican only select up to 1.0A in this mode. Is this correct? The manual does not seem to indicate this?

rotarydoc

jreue,

I just checked my Turnigy 8150 (8 Cell) and it will do storage at up to 5.0 amps....not sure what your 6 cell unit is rated for...

Hope this helps...

Glenn

JPEE

Hey Guys

Well I finished my 450 today, Yahoo finally! I'll post the whole story tomorrow and if the rain lets up my maiden flight. I took some pics of some problem areas on the clone and what I did to address them. I will say: I HOVERED that puppy for a quarter pack in the rain...........talk about being a kid again! I cannot express how superior that Pro is over my Blade 400's even with CNC and CF upgrades. I lifted her three times to trim and she just hangs there like an MCX or my 500 WOW I was impressed. I have always been used to the yo yo effect my 400s had, NOT THE PRO!

See you tomorrow JPEE