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Posted by: Skidz
24-04-2011, 05:28 PM
Forum: General
- Replies (49)

Hi guys,

Thought I would break with tradition and start a new thread for reporting on any day's flying rather than post on the end of the "flying this week" or "flying this weekend" threads.


Well, the weather forecast didn't look too promising yesterday but for the early risers this morning, today didn't start that badly at all. Rather nice actually.

I got the field around 8.40am and found Gazza there already setting up.

Wayne arrived with Rob, Darren, Jason, Victor, Joe (newbie) and later Kieran. A fantastic day all weather forecasts were predicting rain.

Darren flew the mini Titan 325 patched up over night to the Futaba T10. Flew brilliantly straight off. Gotta be happy with that!!

Wayne gave the Thunderbolt a workout with Gazz on umbilical. A bit twitchy but flew like a demon.

Jason gave ol' faithfull "Extra no.1" the usual routine. No issues there.

I gave the Logo-a-nogo-a-gogo two excellent flights. Real happy with this bird now that issues are sorted. Only issues is having two batteries. Need more batteries. The remainder of my batteries were discharged through the Trex500 which flew flawlessly as usual. That Logo has balls. Two hard collective pitch "pumps" didn't create any bogging at all. Whoa!!!

Gazz took the Su (number something) for a long awaited re-maiden. Despite the forward swept wings, ducted vectored fans and canards, they couldn't over come a battery that lost its mojo from sitting around charged for 9 months. Two take-off rolls in to the long grass eventually saw the Su (number something) go back in to the car. Glad to see it living again for another day.

Kieran arrived with the Stryker. Hyped up to the max, we realised if this bird landed without an issue, something was wrong. True to form the Stryker couldn't handle the high speeds and had a wing fluttering moment that saw it hit terra firma in the blink of an eye. Outlook for the Stryker not that great considering the reciever went through the prop. Out with ol' faithful T28 and all was good again. I noted Kieran deliberately knicking the tops of weeds and reeds for kicks. Man that guy is good!!

Rob, despite arriving no.3 this morning, decided to take the Soaring Star for a blat about midday. 20 seconds later, the prop spat it and saw Rob calculating runway length and approach speed rather rapidly. A hard landing later, Rob got the SS back to the pits without too much drama. Out with the HK Pitts, two sessions, and all was well.

Eventually we ran out of batteries and called it a day. I sincerely hope tomorrow is as good as today. Already, the wind forecast has dropped considerably. May the flying gods smile on us again tomorrow (or Tuesday if Monday doesn't quite work out).

I have no photos so apologies for the "texty" report.

Dave

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Posted by: Andee
23-04-2011, 09:47 AM
Forum: General
- Replies (9)

Hi all,

I have a blade 400 which I am completely new with.

Yesterday, I was having a go. Just trying to get off the ground.
As this was happening it tipped to one side and the rotors dug into the ground.

Since then, when spinning the rotors up the whole body of the heli shakes!

Have had a look around the heli and nothing appears broken.
Tested all the flight controls and everything appears to work there too.

Am thinking that the rotors maybe off balance?
If I pitch the rotors (with t.hold on) it looks as if the pitch of one blade is more than the pitch on the other.

Jut wondering if you guys thin the shaking could be because of this or is there any other reasons?

Thanks in advance,

Andee

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Posted by: smuzz
20-04-2011, 02:30 PM
Forum: General
- Replies (13)

Yes, the Mid-Air Collision Club - it's a hoot ... NOT!

I've joined the ranks of the exclusive MACC and of course we always join pairs, so I dragged KevB along for the ride - sorry about that mate Frown

So, there's Kieran and KevJ with their famous and glamorous foundation membership, also Gazz and Victor too, I believe - and now KevB and yours-truly. Have I left anyone out?

Who's going to be next?

I've noticed that the size and weight of the aircraft doesn't actually help with a prediction of who will emerge better off. My plane weighed about a kilogram and Kev's wouldn't be more than a couple of ounces but he suffered almost no damage. Now, where did I leave my araldite?...

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Posted by: Flying fisho
19-04-2011, 09:25 AM
Forum: General
- Replies (106)

Happy birthday Kieran,
hope you have a good day, my!! how time flies not just the planes.
Cheers

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Posted by: Flying fisho
17-04-2011, 08:20 AM
Forum: General
- Replies (27)

Thanks for the comments Steve and I had full intention of letting it hibernate with my HK F4U Corsair until I am ready to stick twitch it with the big guys. I believe I am advancing reasonably quickly because of mountains of sticktime on Phoenix and (as per Darren’s discipline), I believe I am well on the way of controlling the planes & not letting the planes control me. Again quoting Darren, any sticktime is good time for a learner.
On Phoenix I can comfortably handle both the T28 & the BF109 to takeoff & land, do lap after lap of level flying, perform basic aerobatics, pull out of intentional spins etc, but am realistic enough to know the grey matter works different outside of cyberspace.
Kellets tried to tell me that the T28 was a good plane for a novice but I think more as a 2nd plane for a low wing learner plane because of its stability. I rarely take store comments as any more than just sales pitch, but am keen to learn if that was a fair comment & if so, would the BF109 fall into that category. $169 may be a great deal but not if I need the T28 before I can advance to it.
I too apologise to Bob for taking the Parkzone Radian Pro thread off topic. I will try to be more courteous in future.

Cheers

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Posted by: BOB
16-04-2011, 05:53 PM
Forum: General
- Replies (9)



Hi Kieran last weekend after leaving the field. I visited ultimate hobbies, and purchased a Park Zone Radian PRO plug and play version, and I have a couple of questions about the new radian?.

1. Looking around the net seems that a receiver with a satellite receiver is best for their use.

2. Also the battery for it. They recommend 13MhA and above, tried my 1800, but were not fit, when I look on you Tube, several of the radian owners were using Turnigy Batteries, not sure which size, the dimensions are as follow. L60mm/H30MM /W40 MM , slightly longer battery, may still fit?.

I would border down to the field to show you accept for the weather.

Kind regards, Bob.

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Posted by: Kedumba
14-04-2011, 11:40 PM
Forum: General
- Replies (8)

Hi All,
I've noticed that my T-28 is starting to get a bit worn in places and I'm thinking I may have to start replacing bits and peices here and there fairly soon.

There is nothing specific I'm after at the moment, but I've noticed that the various plastic bits as well as some of the foam bits are starting to crack/split/wear out/get thin and I'll need to replace them eventually.

I know a lot of club members had these planes at some stage and I was wondering if anyone has any old broken ones or parts of one laying around in the back of the shed that may not want and would be happy to donate to a worthy cause so that I could scavenge for parts as/if/when they might be needed.

Also, The motor in mine is making a funny clunk noise and I'm thinking that it's time to start looking for a replacement. Does anyone have hany suggestions on what a reasonable replacement would be?

Note: I'm not looking for unlimited vertical or 200kph+, just something maybe a little better than stock.


Thanks
Mick

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Posted by: Skidz
10-04-2011, 04:32 PM
Forum: General
- Replies (33)

We are getting a few new helicopters flyers in to the club which is great. For the newbies I thought I would try and compile some places (on the web) of interest that I have used in progressing through the complexities of learning to fly RC helicopters. This post will be edited many times with new information so for those interested, please check post #1 from time to time for more info.

For the newbies, the first lessons are patience, and practice.. practice.. practice. A rough guide on progression is to allow 6-months just to learn to hover competently, another 6-months to learn to move the helicopter around the ground in your general vacinity doing "figure 8s", and another 6-months to learn to fly "sport style" in larger open spaces where you may learn to fly some of the easier aerobatic manouvers (stall turns, loops and flips). This all may sound like a very long time but trust me, if you are really into RC helis, the reason will likely be because you enjoy a challenge and want to fly RC helis because of the difficulty itself. It is damn hard in those early days so don't lose faith in your flying and do time on the simulator.

Learning to fly RC helis is extremely satisfying as you progress through the many challenges. Trust me, you will not lose interest! My tip? Invest in a few extra batteries as once you are building in confidence and want to fly another lesson back-to-back, having a few extra batteries won't see you heading back home to the Lipo charger just when you were getting the hang of it!

Dave.

Quick mention on the matter of safety: We often hear of safety being overdone but guys, please, safety with RC helicopters needs your utmost attention. RC helis are inherently dangerous. We go from say 450 class which will hurt you to 600/700 class which can kill you. Please have respect for yourself and for others. Want a sampler? Check this link: http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_u...dIlUYiVmnc . You need to be registered with YouTube and over 18 to see what happens. Not for the those who get sick easily. Message? Be ultra safety conscious at all times. These things bite hard!

Some basics:

1. Never connect power to the motor of your heli until you are in the designated flying area. Applying power to the motor behind the flight line is dangerous and shouldn't be done. Disconnect power to the motor after spool down and return back to the pit area with power off to the motor.

2. Always keep 10m from the heli. Do not fly if other people are forward of the flight line or closer than 30m from your heli.

3. Only fly at the PRCAC field or other designated RC model park. Public footy and soccer parks are forbidden by councils. Only sanctioned RC flying fields are useable spaces. For smaller helis, practice in your back yard by all means (not a public space). Keep safety front of mind. No kids or dogs around please. For larger helis, flying in the privacy of your yard is a very bad idea. Save it for the flying field.

--------------------

For the super newbie, check out Radd's School of Rotary Flight. "Radd" is certainly a character from the writing style but the fundamental lessons from day 1 are spot on and the sequence of progression (and rate of progression) are clearly set out for learners. One of the biggest issues facing learners is "what comes first and what do I do next?". This link is very helpful.
Link: http://www.dream-models.com/eco/pre-Flight.html . Look for the links on the left of the screen that show "Flying". Under that heading you will see a series of "Batteries". This is where you need to look as these are the various lessons.

Hovering lesson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc9ZMKK1g...re=related

---------------------

For the advancing newbie, this link (archeli or Australian RC Helicopter forum) has some great flying education on turning, performing loops, etc.
Link: http://www.archeli.com.au/forums/articles.php?c=664

---------------------

For those of aspiring or actually going to build new RC helicopters, there is a fantastic website forum for RC heli flyers called "Helifreak". The web address is http://www.helifreak.com . The founder of that site, Bob White who goes by the forum alias of "Finless", is acknowledged widely as one of the figureheads of RC helis bringing knowledge and experience of many experts to the general masses of both aspiring and experienced heli flyers out there.

For those interesting in building helicopters, check out the extensive "how to" videos that can be downloaded or viewed free.
Visit Finless Bob's Heli Tech Room: http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41692 Thumbup

---------------------

For newbies and experts wanting to read-up on forums on all things helicopters:
http://www.helifreak.com (USA)
http://www.archeli.com.au (AU)
http://www.rcrotorz.com.au (AU)
[There are many more but these are the main sites that I use. The Australian forums also have many links to RC Heli vendors. This might help in establishing who can supply spare parts in the event of crash damage. The Australian based on-line vendors are very reputable, competitively priced, and being so visible on the forums nearly always provide outstanding customer service].

---------------------

For newbies and experts, the place to go for tuition on advanced flying videos and general information videos is SmackTalk RC. This site features Bert Kammerer (uber experienced RC heli pilot) and Bobby Watts (another super talented RC heli pilot). They go through many subjects in extreme detail. There are FREE sample videos but the 30 min and 1 hour HD vids are not free but... they are very low priced at a few dollars only (PayPal) and are very high quality. You can download different formats simultaneously for the one charge. This way you can have the same video in HD for the PC and in MP4 format for your Apple iPhone or your Apple iTouch. These videos are HIGHLY recommended to RC heli pilots wanting to know more, or fly like a pro.
Link: http://www.smacktalkrc.com/

--------------------

Auto-rotations

Auto-rotations are the helicopter equivalent of a plane's dead-stick landing. The main rotor blades are positioned so that descending creates a windmill effect and spins the blades up for that one and only flare to set the heli down gently. Used for emergencies or used as a stunt move, being able to competently do auto-rotations will save you money one day.

Big helicopters do them well (due to size and weight of blades) and small helicopters do them poorly (same reason).

A good thread to start with:
http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=248282

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Posted by: paulj
10-04-2011, 04:27 PM
Forum: General
- Replies (2)

Here's a bit of fun for today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQL9Kxxd88s

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Posted by: Skidz
05-04-2011, 06:47 PM
Forum: General
- Replies (6)

Hi fellow clubbers,

Has anyone got a Dremel tool? I bought a new Scorpion motor for the new heli and the shaft is about 10mm too long. Missed a critical dimension.

Shaft is 6mm dia so perhaps a bit bigger than normal. Need to cut it off neatly. If I don't, then beside looking odd, it could stab my lipo and cause serious mid-air issues... and I don't want that!

Dave

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