rotarydoc

JPEE,

Cool pics....

I think that pack is what Finless refers to as a "taco'ed" pack....lol...

Sorry to see that...[&o]

Glenn

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Dang you guys are tearing up the cyberspace with all your excessive blah, blah, blah... let me join in again!

JPEE,

Sorry to see your 500 like that - expensive crash indeed, esp. with losing a 6s pack. Definitely a Finless taco like Glenn said - I see a saltwater bath in its near future.

Good luck on the house - I feel for you and wish you a speedy completion.

Nick,

Hopefully you got some replacement gears for your Velocity. Suck how much damage a little bit of grass can do. Hey, maybe you should recommend to your club to do a blacktop project for heli take-offs and landings, sorta like a heli pad. That would be cool.

Glenn,

Your going to have to change your schedule and follow JPEE's take and start flying at 6am! At least during the hot summer months. That'll make tuning your SDX managable.

Yep, I'm finding all about what hot means down here. This summer has been a bit brutal and I can't get over its only mid-July. [] I don't think cold fronts exist in this region, but when the late afternoon thunderstorms hit the temp usually takes a nose dive which is nice - just not for flying! I tell you guys, the storms here are amazing. Lightening galore!

As you see we finally got internet - party!!!

Today I plan to go over my 450 and my CPP2 and see if I can have them ready for a possible flight Monday morning - oh what a great thought, my first flight in nearly 2 months! Think I'll stick to just simple patterns until I feel comfortable again.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and have fun flying if you get the chance. [sm=thumbup.gif]

Mark

evdreamer

Mark,

Good to hear you got the internet again.

My club was thinking about making a heli pad, but never got around to it. I usually take off from the run way or the parking lot when I have to use the heli field. I ruined the gears in my backyard.

I hope I get my gears today. I might meet someone at my field today to help them setup their 450. Then I could just swap out the gears at the field.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Mark,

LOL, about the only way you'll catch me flying at 6AM is if I'm test flying something that I just built, modified, or fixed, from the night before, after an all nighter!!!

Glad to see you are back on board full time now with the internet connection...yay!

This summer has been brutal up here too...seems like every weekend is in the mid 90's and humid, can't catch a break!!

Hope the CPP2 and 450 are flight-ready for Monday!

Nick,

Hope your flying day went well....did you help your buddy out with the 450?

I flew the 450's early today, for me, about 12:30...(JPEE, better mark your calendar...!) and had a good time.

Then I went to MHA for some testing on the SDX. I richened the mixture way up, like 10 clicks, and started from there...at first it was way too rich, then I slowly leaned it 2 clicks at a time, until I got it in the 190 degree range, and making good power. I think I'm finally there...

It still has the mysterious super lean condition when it transitions from the main tank to the header tank. I don't know why....but for now, I'm just not going to fly it until the main tank runs dry....easy enough fix!!! It runs great otherwise...very strange problem...

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

The guy I was supposed to help out never showed up. I fixed my Velocity at the field, but I couldn't fly it. It is like the tail gyro stopped working. I tried to take off, but the tail was super sensitive and didn't hold. The blades moved in the right direction with rudder input, but the blades didn't move when I shook the tail. That was disappointing, but I flew the 600 a few times.

Good to hear your engine is making more power.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Wow, that is a bummer on the tail issue....any idea what might be causing it?

I can't wait until the day our electronics have self diagnosis, like cars and alot of other electronics do.

As complicated as they are getting, it won't be long.

It was interesting when Justin's motor had a short in the Logo 600....the Kontronics ESC was blinking a trouble code, 8 blinks, for current overload.

Sorry the guy didn't show up with the 450.

At least you got some flights in with your reliable 600..

Glenn

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

I took some vids when I flew earlier today....

I think my after work practice is starting to pay off....

This is the original 450 Pro;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ3ZeMBC3no

And this is the new one....a bit breezy on this flight though...but good practice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xU9lTT0ISg

Looks best in HD...

Glenn

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Awesome job there Glenn with the inverted hovering - and it's LOW!

Your inverted practice looks real good, heck at least you can hold it for quite a while - the last month I was flying regularly (back in April) I was just beginning to dabble in holding it inverted mid roll, and that was wayyyy up in the sky that I was trying and it was just for a short second or two. Congrats!

Glad to hear that you had some time to work on your SDX and tuning the engine. Is it any more difficult then tuning an aircraft engine - I'd imagine it would be more tedious since you can't just run it full throttle and tune from there (watch those spinning blades ). But seriously, can you land and adjust with the motor still running or do you have to shut it down for each adjustment? Forgive the ignorance but I know so little of heli engines.

I think I must have missed it in the past threads but do you now have 2 450 Pro's (I saw them listed in your signature)? Not happy with just one aye?

Nick,

I missed reading your thread where you talked about submitting your entry to an engineering school - hope you hear good news soon!

Sorry to hear about the Velocity gyro issue and the no-show, but at least you got some time with your 600. I wonder if some vibration is causing the Velocity gyro to not hold. Can you test it on one of your electric birds?

JPEE,

Have you taken a look at Xheli - they have some really good prices on EXI brand parts for the 500. I saw frames for $29 and with them being in the states you get the parts all the more quicker. I did a quick search for ya [link=http://Here]http://www.xheli.com/exi500carbon.html[/link]. I have used the EXI frames for one of my older 450's and really liked how they matched the older Align frames (laser cut template I mean). A good and inexpensive alternative in my book.

I have been working my new job for the past month and am still in the training phase - I started my training in Blood bank and still have Chemistry, Hematology, and Microbiology to do before I can start on my evening schedule. So for now I am on dayshift waking up at 5am - gawd its aweful getting up at that hour!

I have spent some time driving around to find some flying areas near the hospital b/c the field I want to fly at is near my house and I would be late each morning if I flew there! I did find a church with a nice open field that I will be trying out tomorrow morning, and being that it is hollowed ground I should have no fear of crashing, right?!

Mark

evdreamer

Glenn,

I have one idea on the tail issue. I adjusted the pushrods to make things closer to 90, but in doing so I had to readjust the travel limits. There is one limit below a bar graph on the V-bar and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Other than that it might be the gyro, but it is correcting for the cyclic. So it is probably very unlikely only the tail gyro is bad.

I am glad I have one reliable heli even though I only get 3.5min flight times.

Mark,

The gyro is built into the Mikado V-bar and I don't want to take it out of the Velocity and reset it up in another heli. I don't think vibration has anything to do with it. I had the engine off when I was testing it by shaking the tail and looking which way the blades correct. I didn't see the blades move at all when I shook it. I will have to check it out after work today.

Sorry you have to work the day shift.

Nick

JPEE

Hello Boyz,

Mark,
Sorry you are suffering with the hot and humid temps in the new home land. With training and setting house you are really busy forsure! It is kind neat where you can drive around looking for new site to fly, new territory oh ya.
Thank you for the suggestion on Xheli. I have been there and HK both and Xheli is the way to go, as you said they are here and f I remember right they are about 2 hours from the house. I will be placing that order today. Today I making time to pull the 450 KH Typhoon motor and checks it bearings as I think thats where my squeel is comign from on that bird.

Glenn,
Great videos but more important from my observation is your flying shows you were comfortable while flying inverted! There were no panic or sudden moves. Congratulation on getting out and flying early in the morning at 12:30 p.m. too. Again we were there ***** for a hours last night and nothing was said about pricing or a sale on the 500. That why I have held off ordering the frames for my 500, but as you read above today that order will go out. Glad you have cooled off the SDX too.

Nick,
Sorry to hear about the Velocity issues. This hobby can get so frustrating at times. As Glenn said, it's good you have the old standby 600. I hope those tail grears come in soon for you too.

JPEE

evdreamer

JPEE,

I got my gears yesterday and replaced them at the field while I was waiting for someone to show up.

Nick

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

Mark,

Thank you very much for the kind words and compliments...

Sounds like you are getting close too, if you are holding an inverted hover for a few seconds in the air....that's basically how I started...and yeah, WAY up there!!

I have actually gotten lower than in those vids...and it's scary! I need alot more work on the rest of the orientations, as I am not yet comfortable with nose in inverted just yet...but it's a start!

I remember you saying your goal was to hover inverted by the end of the year...mine was actually for the end of last year, but I never made it...so I was determined to get it down this year...still have a long way to go to make them look a bit nicer...

Just lots of practice, and sim time...

On the nitro tuning, yeah, you can land and make mixture adjustments once the blades stop...but you can't do the plane thing where you throttle it up while the plane is stationary to check mixture...rather, it's done by doing fast long climb outs, full collective, and watching the engine smoke trail, sound, and pitch, RPMS, etc...and then land and adjust as necessary...and the temps are a good indicator as well...the idle is pretty simple as well...just pinch the fuel line, and you should get a few seconds of normal idle before it speeds up from going lean.

Experience is the best teacher on tuning these things...I'm not very good yet... My automotive backround helps some, but not a whole lot really...

Yeah, about 6 weeks ago, on a Friday, I was struggling badly with vibrations on the B400...it would actually bend main shafts in flight...[sm=confused.gif]

After my 3rd and last mainshaft bent....that was it...I pulled the electronics, put it in a box with all my spare parts, and the next day, went to Hobby Hanger in VA, and bought a new 450 Pro..

The next day, I sold my B400 to a friend at the plane field...and I haven't looked back since!!

I can't say many bad things about the B400's....they got me through the early days, and I had alot of fun with them...but it was just time to move on, and that last struggle broke the camel's back...

Having 2 450's is a huge plus...since they fly so similarly...I can fly 4 packs back to back in about 1/2 hour after work...and this will become more improtant as the days get shorter and shorter...before bouncing back and forth between the B400 and the 450 was wasting alot of time, it would take me a minute or two of flight to get re-oriented, as they are both 450 size helis, but they fly totally different!

Sounds like a busy schedule, and getting up at 5AM is for the birds....literally !!! (no offense JPEE!!)

JPEE,

Thanks for the kind words...I am getting there with inverted...haven't dumb thumbed it and augered it into the ground head first yet...lol!!![X(]

It gets a bit more comfortable with each session...but as you well know...as soon as you THINK you have something down, it will come back and bite you!!

Still have a long ways to go yet....

Too bad on Erik's 500....if he won't give you an answer, I guess he's not that pressed about selling it yet...sounds good on the EXI kit, and all the spare parts that go with it...

Nick,

I agree....seems unlikely that just the tail gyro is bad, you would think since it is integrated, it would at least work to a point if the cyclic part of the V-bar is working...

I wish I knew more about it...but I have no advice really. I think there is alot of support in the forums and probably from Mikado themselves...hope you can find out what's up soon...it has to be frustrating, I know....[&o]

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

Nice inverted hoverings.

Well I think the gyro is bad on the Velocity. They have a screen that shows what way the nose is moving and it doesn't move when I move the heli. It still moves on my 600 though.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

Thanks for the compliment...I've been working on that for a bit now...finally starting to get some results..

Sorry to hear about the gyro. I wonder how you go about getting warranty service on the V-bar?

That was a good idea to compare it to the 600 unit, and nice that you have both for a comparison.

Kinda discouraging...such an early failure. I haven't heard of any others that I know of.

Justin is having a nightmare with his 700N, but I think that is a vibration issue affecting the V-bar...not the V-bar unit itself.

Hope you can get a hold of the right people to get it fixed under warranty.

Glenn

evdreamer

Glenn,

I was looking for warranty info and I couldn't find anything. There is a form to send in with the unit for repairs. I really don't want to deal with sending it back to Germany. I am hoping Readyheli can help me out. I was checking out the Forum on Mikado and there is a lot of complaints about bad sensors.[&o] I am almost tempted to just put the SK-360 and a JR 770 on instead. I read that one person had to pay 50% for a new gyro and those are expensive enough.

Nick

rotarydoc

Nick,

I couldn't remember if you got it from Readyheli or not...they are really good with returns and what not, but I don't know how it will work on the V-bar units.

You would think that they would have a US distributor or service center somewhere...kinda like Align does with Assurance RC.

I would definitely give Readyheli a call, at least, maybe they will have some advice.

Sure doesn't seem like you should have to send it to Germany.

That sucks that there are alot of complaints on the sensors...everything I have heard about the V-bars has been good.

I would certainly think that there would be a warranty of some type on them.

Sorry you're having such a hassle with it....

Keep us posted on it.

Glenn

JPEE

Hello Nick, man am sorry to hear about your V BAR problems. I sure hope Readi Heli can support you on this.

Glenn, my buddy has just been short of time and too has no need of money so he is not driven to get to this. Anyway, I did a little heli work today. First I ordered a new set EXI CF main frames for $29.00. In case you didnt know Xheli is like 40 miles or so from the house here. Can you believe my luck to have them and Heli Hobby just down the street. As I said before the 450 Pro has this noise that sounds like a bad bearing somewhere....until now. I thought it was the loose main gears at first. Then I added an extra shim between the main gear and the bearing carrier thinking that was it, nope. Then today I replaced the one-way bearing tube/shaft that comes from the auto gear up through the main gear which is what the one-way bearing grabs, nope that wasn't either. The I took my HK motor apart and that is a pretty kick a** motor and its bearings are starting to get a bit knotchy so I greased then re-assembled them and did another hover, nope the noise is still there, but then I noticed! The main gear had stopped spinning when I flipped the the HOLD switch, but the auto-rotation was still spinning along with the tail and main head and there was that bearing noise. So considering I just replaced the main bearings recently, then pulled them again and double checked them and they were fine, the noise is TT drive bearings so that's my next step, tear into the TT system. I don't recall but some of those bearings "might be" clone bearings.............. AH HA says I! We will see.

JPEE

evdreamer

Glenn,

I posted in Mikado's forum to see if there might be a problem with the sensor. If there is I will contact Readyheli. I opened up the sensor and I couldn't see any damage. I would have to unsolder some stuff to see the rest of the circuits, but I didn't want to do that.

Nick

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Nick,

Sorry for your issues with your V-bar gyro - I definitely wouldn't start taking things apart and/or unsoldering because you may forgoe any type of return that Readyheli could issue you. Best to be patient and see what they say first. Also would be curious as to what you get from the Mikado forum.

Looks like you may be getting some use out of those 5C batteries you have for the 600.

Hmmm, flying time: 2.3 minutes. Charge time: 2.5 minutes. Flying by the seat of your pants for 2.3 minutes...priceless.

JPEE,

Good investigation work tracking down that pesky bearing noise.

You may want to start with the TT bearings located in the frame first (they seem to be the easiest to remove) then move on to the ones on the tail itself.

And by the way, stop gloating about how Xheli and Heli Hobby are just down the road from you. Yeah, yeah - we all know you Cali-fornia types! Hey, don't forget...now Readyheli is just down the road from me, well sorta.

Nice Fusano canopy you have there on your Pro Mr. JPEE!

As a side, can you believe I found a layer of dust on my blades when I was going over my 450 last night - sitting that long.

Mark

JPEE

Hey Mark, did I tell you that an Align now has a Wholesale House open to the Public which will be only .5 miles from house? gotcha

No really, I love that new canopy for the 450 that you see in the above pics. But it is a Factory Align. The Fusno is for the 500, look at this puppy down below.

Better get out the Lemon Pledge and wipe down that 450 mister!

I took down the 450 today and went through the front and back TT boom stuff and found nothing! And, as I said, I have checked and rechecked the main bearings and they are good. So I need to now check the one way bearing and checng that out and sooner or later by replacement I will get it done...........or die trying LOL.

Aframomum

My Feedback: (10)

Yeah JPEE, just rub it in why don't ya!

Surprising that Align makes canopies that have such a nice color scheme and pattern, I thought only Canomod and Fusano had those.

Sorry no luck yet on tracking down that bearing noise - just don't start chewing off vital limbs in the process. I know the frustration.

I finally had my first flight yesterday since April. And I did have to wipe down my heli from all the dang dust build up, but I didn't have anything as nice as Lemon Pledge so my heli doesn't have that nice lemony after-smell!

The flight went smoothly but I was a bit rusty (as expected) so kept it to figure 8's. My new flying area is considerably smaller than my old one in SC and so will take some getting used to reigning in how far out I go.

Gotta run now and go to work so have a good day everyone.

Mark

rotarydoc

Hey guys,

JPEE,

Good luck on the noise....as you know, I am no stranger to tracking down heli headaches!

Hopefully the you will find the answer soon.

Mark,

Glad you got the dust and the rust knocked off...

My area is pretty small, and I know I really enjoy it when I do get to fly in a big area....

But there is something to be said for being confined to a smaller spot, I find it's easy to get "sloppy" when you have a lot of room to spare...at least for me. I think it helps some to be restricted to a smaller area sometimes.


Nick,

How are things going with the V-bar issues?


Glenn

evdreamer

Mark,

That is good you finally got to fly again.

Glenn,

I still haven't heard back from Mikado.

Nick

jroo

Howdy,
Just checking in. All my birds are down and am slowly getting them back together.

My last crash on the 250 was a pretty expensive (main blade grip, main blades, tail boom, belt, tail blades, flybar, flybar paddles, batttery tray, etc).

I also had a silly goof on the 450. It was my first crash on it; and I was not even in the air for more than 20 seconds. I took off hovered and started a slow figure-8 circuit. Starting in front of me i went to my right, turned around and went to my left. I was not in idle up yet and I slowly lost a little altitude. I was not aggressive enough in getting it back up and it bounced ever so softly on the landing gear...and then just tipped over. How frustrating and so lame. I much rather dive bomb into the dirt attempting a loop and have to pay the price, but this was just utter lameness. I bent the main shaft and the flyrod. ARG

good thing is, that when i got the 450 on the bench to check for further damage, I was actually glad I was grounded early. My feathering shaft was at least 4-5 turns out. I would have thrown a main blade very soon.... I did a full checkup and she is ready to go again now.

Saw E-Flite is coming out with a new heli. The Blade 120 SR. It's a 12" long fixed pitch; right in-between the mSR and the SR. Looks pretty cool.

I have a question about charging. I have a Turnigy Accuce- 6 50W 6A charger/balancer. When I charge a 3S 2200mAh battery, it takes about 60 minutes. Heck even my 3S 800Mah takes this long. Is this the fastest I can do it? I heard people talk about how they can charge a pack in 15 minutes and I'm wondering how?

[link=http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7373&Product_Name=Turnig y_Accucel-6_50W_6A_Bal/Chrg_%28USA_Warehouse%29]Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A[/link]

evdreamer

Jreue,

It is common for all LiPo's to take about an hour to charge at a 1C charge rate no matter what the capacity is.

In order to charge faster you need a powerful charger and a battery capable of higher charge rates. A123's can be charged at 4.3C and Hyperion's can be charged at 5C. Those will be about 15min or less for a charge time. To do that with a 3S 2200mAh battery you need a charger capable of 11A and 139W minimum. The rest of the batteries can only be charged at 1C or 2C. There might be some others that can be charged at a higher C rate, but I haven't kept up with them.

Nick