Well folks, here we are on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend. The "gateway" to summer! And in Chicago we are thinking about building arks and other floating craft!! The 550 is back together and ready to fly, all I'm waiting for is flying weather.
It took me about 4 hours to rebuild the tail and replace the main gear. Thought about using the KDE main gear, but that requires KDE's bearing holder and I don't have one of those yet. The KDE gear is slightly larger than Align's and made out of a different plastic and seems stronger. Unfortunately, their screw pattern is different so you need to use their bearing holder if you want to use their gears and since I'm working out of the shop stock I stayed with the Align parts.
Everything is still the same parts, only replaced where damaged. The only change I made is I added the 90mm tail blades instead of using the standard 85mm blades. This should give me more control with the tail with the added 5mm of surface.
This time I am going to make sure that the CoPilot is working before I fly. I mean I bought it I should use it right?
Well, that's all I have for now, I will let you know how the flying goes when I get out to the field. Until next time God Bless America's Military and have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Note to Self...
Well folks it's been a few weeks since I've added to the blog, or flown for that matter, and I must say it showed yesterday! It was a beautiful day here in Chicago, blue skies and a light wind. After not being able to fly for a while I was excited to get out and work on my hovering, so off to the field I went.
Once there I set the blades, plugged in my battery and proceeded to crash!
So in the 90 seconds of flight here is what I learned.
1) Every time you get to the field GO THROUGH A PRE-FLIGHT CHECK. Make sure all screws are tight all ball-links are connected and radio and receiver are working correctly.
2) If you hear a little voice in the back of your head saying something ain't right, LISTEN TO IT!
3) See numbers 1 and 2!!!!!
The reason for those two lessons are as follows:
I didn't pre-flight and shortly after getting the helicopter airborne I lost all stick control. After getting to the crash site I found one head control arm popped off. You loose one servo you quickly become an observer and not a pilot.
The other lesson was much harder. While watching the heli spin up I noticed it was acting a little strange. I kept wanting to nose over without any control inputs and as soon as it got a little air it started moving to the left and away. I don't know what was causing those movements but if I would have listened to my little voice I would have set that sucker down and taken a closer look at the thing.
As it is, I am down for a little while waiting for parts. During that time I am going to make myself a pre-flight check list to follow and start to drum that list into my thick skull. In the mean time I think I might spend a little time with my airplane, this way I can shake off the bad feelings about crashing the heli and get some stick time in before I take to the skies again with my "flying chainsaw."
Once there I set the blades, plugged in my battery and proceeded to crash!
1) Every time you get to the field GO THROUGH A PRE-FLIGHT CHECK. Make sure all screws are tight all ball-links are connected and radio and receiver are working correctly.
2) If you hear a little voice in the back of your head saying something ain't right, LISTEN TO IT!
3) See numbers 1 and 2!!!!!
The reason for those two lessons are as follows:
I didn't pre-flight and shortly after getting the helicopter airborne I lost all stick control. After getting to the crash site I found one head control arm popped off. You loose one servo you quickly become an observer and not a pilot.
The other lesson was much harder. While watching the heli spin up I noticed it was acting a little strange. I kept wanting to nose over without any control inputs and as soon as it got a little air it started moving to the left and away. I don't know what was causing those movements but if I would have listened to my little voice I would have set that sucker down and taken a closer look at the thing.
As it is, I am down for a little while waiting for parts. During that time I am going to make myself a pre-flight check list to follow and start to drum that list into my thick skull. In the mean time I think I might spend a little time with my airplane, this way I can shake off the bad feelings about crashing the heli and get some stick time in before I take to the skies again with my "flying chainsaw."
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
First Flights
April 12th-
Okay it's time to put my money where my mouth is! It's early in the morning on a sunny but cool day. Got Jim to do a quick test flight to make sure everything stays where it's supposed to. Initial minutes I'm jumpy as a newbie should be! Finally as I get calmed down I keep it in the air for a continuous 3 minutes, wow what a feeling! Had to land just to get my excitement under control. After a couple of breaths I took it back up and finished another 3 minute flight- total flight time was 7 minutes, a VERY LONG 7 minutes.
As relaxing flying airplanes are, helicopters are more demanding but you get a since of accomplishment when you can walk away from a flight without the need to make any repairs!
Twenty minutes later my pulse and blood pressure have come back down to a point where I can take another flight. It's hard for me to describe my excitement, it's like hitting that perfect golf shot when everything comes together. You get the right swing timing you connect with the ball just at the "sweet spot" and it goes right where you dreamed it should go. That 's how I can explain it to a golfer, hopefully you non-golfers can imagine what I mean.
Well here we go again. The breeze has picked up a little so now I have to keep track of where it's pushing the aircraft as well as which way my sticks are pushing the helicopter. Thankfully I burn another 7 minutes in flight with just a couple of landings, once to plan how to get it back closer to me and the second time to let the gusts slow down.
All in all day one was a complete success! Have to say that the Custom Heli Designs tail fin saved me about $80 in repairs! It kept the tail blades off of the ground on a couple of hard landings. Anyone new to torque tube helis should really think about getting a thicker, longer vertical tail fin to protect the blades; you will see that they are well worth the investment! Twenty bucks for the fin as opposed to $20 for the rear gear set, twenty bucks for the front gear set and possibly $10 bucks for the auto rotation gear.
Okay it's time to put my money where my mouth is! It's early in the morning on a sunny but cool day. Got Jim to do a quick test flight to make sure everything stays where it's supposed to. Initial minutes I'm jumpy as a newbie should be! Finally as I get calmed down I keep it in the air for a continuous 3 minutes, wow what a feeling! Had to land just to get my excitement under control. After a couple of breaths I took it back up and finished another 3 minute flight- total flight time was 7 minutes, a VERY LONG 7 minutes.
As relaxing flying airplanes are, helicopters are more demanding but you get a since of accomplishment when you can walk away from a flight without the need to make any repairs!
Twenty minutes later my pulse and blood pressure have come back down to a point where I can take another flight. It's hard for me to describe my excitement, it's like hitting that perfect golf shot when everything comes together. You get the right swing timing you connect with the ball just at the "sweet spot" and it goes right where you dreamed it should go. That 's how I can explain it to a golfer, hopefully you non-golfers can imagine what I mean.
Well here we go again. The breeze has picked up a little so now I have to keep track of where it's pushing the aircraft as well as which way my sticks are pushing the helicopter. Thankfully I burn another 7 minutes in flight with just a couple of landings, once to plan how to get it back closer to me and the second time to let the gusts slow down.
All in all day one was a complete success! Have to say that the Custom Heli Designs tail fin saved me about $80 in repairs! It kept the tail blades off of the ground on a couple of hard landings. Anyone new to torque tube helis should really think about getting a thicker, longer vertical tail fin to protect the blades; you will see that they are well worth the investment! Twenty bucks for the fin as opposed to $20 for the rear gear set, twenty bucks for the front gear set and possibly $10 bucks for the auto rotation gear.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Build
Well I picked-up a TRex 550E 3G kit the other day and after about 8 hours later I have a flyable aircraft. I'm using an 8 channel Spektrum receiver with a Dx8. I put an FMA Co-Pilot II on board to, hopefully, protect me from some beginners mistakes. I also put a Custom HeliParts heavy-duty 700 vertical tail to protect the tail blades.
My reasoning behind the heavy-duty tail piece is to give me as much protection of the tail blades, and therefore the torque tube gears, during any hard landings I may incur. Having to remove the whole tail assembly to change the front gears or the auto rotation gear does not fill me with much excitement.
I gave the copter to my friend to program and to test fly. As a beginner I will start with the physical building of the airframe while waiting to learn the programming of the radio. A man's gotta know his limitations!!
It took Jim about twenty minutes to program the radio and another twenty minutes to make sure I didn't make any mistakes during the build. He then proceeded to put the thing through its paces. He started out low and slow to fine-tune the radio set-up and then moved on to the 3G portion of the flight. After some semi-hard maneuvers with nothing falling off, thankfully, he pronounced the build a success and said it was now ready for me to fly.
After that flight test and before I have had a chance to fly it Jim came back from the Toledo Airshow with the FMA Co-Pilot II. After a couple of false starts trying to find the best mounting places I added the sensors and control unit to the airframe. Claiming that if needed to be checked for installation problems, Jim once again put the helicopter through its paces. This time mumbling something about wanting one for himself.
Well, tomorrow is the day that I take to the air! Am meeting some local heli flyers at the field early in the morning to get my first chance to burn a battery and getting my first chance to hover my piece of work. I am making sure that my radio is fully charged tonight and will make sure the Co-Pilot is set correctly and by noon tomorrow I will have my first flight under my belt and hopefully will not need to repair any parts!
Stay tuned for more.
My reasoning behind the heavy-duty tail piece is to give me as much protection of the tail blades, and therefore the torque tube gears, during any hard landings I may incur. Having to remove the whole tail assembly to change the front gears or the auto rotation gear does not fill me with much excitement.
I gave the copter to my friend to program and to test fly. As a beginner I will start with the physical building of the airframe while waiting to learn the programming of the radio. A man's gotta know his limitations!!
It took Jim about twenty minutes to program the radio and another twenty minutes to make sure I didn't make any mistakes during the build. He then proceeded to put the thing through its paces. He started out low and slow to fine-tune the radio set-up and then moved on to the 3G portion of the flight. After some semi-hard maneuvers with nothing falling off, thankfully, he pronounced the build a success and said it was now ready for me to fly.
After that flight test and before I have had a chance to fly it Jim came back from the Toledo Airshow with the FMA Co-Pilot II. After a couple of false starts trying to find the best mounting places I added the sensors and control unit to the airframe. Claiming that if needed to be checked for installation problems, Jim once again put the helicopter through its paces. This time mumbling something about wanting one for himself.
Well, tomorrow is the day that I take to the air! Am meeting some local heli flyers at the field early in the morning to get my first chance to burn a battery and getting my first chance to hover my piece of work. I am making sure that my radio is fully charged tonight and will make sure the Co-Pilot is set correctly and by noon tomorrow I will have my first flight under my belt and hopefully will not need to repair any parts!
Stay tuned for more.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
In the Beginning
I am starting this blog as a way to share my experience in learning to fly an RC helicopter to others who might be thinking about trying it themselves AND to entertain my family and friends with my trials and tribulations.
So, here we go...
So, here we go...
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