RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
I am back. I think. My daughter fell ill. Very ill. Spent 11 days in hospital with high fever and nobody knowing what was wrong with her. They tested her for everything (we have West Nile cases in our county this year). Ended up she has lupus. As soon as they treated her for it she perked right up! She's on the mend now so things are much much better. Will be a while before she gets back to work. She is resting comfortably at home quietly going crazy. She would much rather be at work than on disability! Got back to flying last weekend and I do have to write a new Rat Club Chronicle for y'all, but not today. I can report that one of our members, Quentin, has a Goblin 700 and a brand new Mikado Logo 800. It's gigantic. I will post a couple pictures next time I get here. Glad to see everyone out there having fun. Mack
Posted on: 9/16/2012 8:25 AM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11229982

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Nah. Brand new engine. It was the hub. But also the mounts. It runs well now. He ordered a new hub, but won't replace this one until he breaks the heli. And as you know that would [i]never[/i] happen. [;)]
Posted on: 8/18/2012 8:13 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11198287

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Well. I am back. If it hasn't been one thing, it's another. Flyright (really?) is right. We were on a trip. And then there were other things, like a failed AC waiting for us when we got home, family members (yes plural) in hospital, WORK. Etc. But nevermind that. The Rat Club is alive and well. Finally got back out there to get in a few flights along with Joel, Greg, and Fred. My SDX continues to fly well and I continue to try to remember what I learned last time. Sean has completely passed me by. I mean...the biggest event I have to report is that I had a glow plug fail on me yesterday! And that is just fine with me. Greg has defected to an Outrage Velocity 50 N2 Flybarless, and just received a second one that he is building as I type. He still remains our loyal Hirobo dealer, but he got tired of listening to Hirobo's excuses for not delivering a flybarless conversion kits and models. So far, he's pleased with the Outrage running a Skookum 720. He did run into foaming issues and tracked the problem down to the hub being off-spec. Had an 8 thou runout on it, so did some shade-tree mechanicking to true it up a bit better. That helped reduce the vibrations, but still had foaming tank issues. Finally learned somewhere that the rubber tank mounts were too stiff, so remounted with isolation tape. Kind of Rube-Goldberg, but seems to work okay now. JD, have you heard of any foaming issues with these? Sean, Glad to see you're settling in in le gai Paris. Better start learning to speak French! Thumb! Glad to see you're back. Hope all is well with you. Get crackin' on that plane and get out there and fly it. Please be sure to report back to us! Enough for now, must go. Mack
Posted on: 8/18/2012 12:55 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11197964

RE: learning to fly
You may eventually encounter the IRCHA Pilot Proficiency Program (PPP). When you go to the IRCHA site, it is confusing and I had trouble finding downloads in .pdf form. A while back I found them (these were written in 1998) so I've uploaded them for you in this note. I did finally find a link to .doc files, but that presumes you can read MS Word files. Meanwhile enjoy these. The system gives you goals to shoot for and new maneuvers to try. Here ya go. Mack ps - I[i] think[/i] they uploaded. Should be seven files.
Posted on: 7/14/2012 3:11 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "E-Flite Helicopters"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11155287

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
You misheard your mum. It's [i]Illegitimi non carborundum[/i]. And I agree. Don't let 'em. Glad to see you getting home finally. What a tour this has been for you. Let us know when you are home safely, Matty. Mack [i]Facilis descensus averni[/i]
Posted on: 7/8/2012 8:30 AM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11147452

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Probably need to adjust the gain. Greg should be out at the field this afternoon he can help you with it. Mack
Posted on: 7/7/2012 8:34 AM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11146436

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Sean, Read Field has been freshly mowed today (my turn). You guys coming out this weekend? Are you gonna pack that 450X when you head for Paris? JD, The standard head on the Hirobo SDX .50 doesn't seem to have any issues using the Skookum 720. Guess the throws are long enough. Since the head is based on the Turbulence design, I guess it's strong enough. I kind of like the idea of switching to the Outrage FBL head when I do commit to this. I'll have to reconfirm that the mainshaft dimensions are compatible etc. but I suspect the are or you wouldn't have recommended it. Apparently Hirobo has a converstion kit now, but nobody seems to know where/how to get it. I found this (in German): http://www.world-of-heli.de/en/flybarless/mechanik/sdx-direct-control-conversion-kit.html Guess it's just a game of patience. The day may come when this will be moot. Align seems to be dominating the market now...Hirobo used to. Mack
Posted on: 7/6/2012 1:44 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11145606

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
130 X, Matty. But I do stand corrected. MSRP is $359.99, but on sale for $279.99 at Horizon Hobby: http://www.horizonhobby.com/products/blade-130-x-bnf-BLH3780 Should we wait for the HK-130X? [;)] Mack
Posted on: 6/29/2012 3:12 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11137001

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Let us know what you think. $279 MSRP suggests they are pretty proud of it... Mack
Posted on: 6/29/2012 8:36 AM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11136492

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Cuda: Send your frogs over here and we'll have 'em dry in a jiffy. 6 o'clock news over here said you were measuring rainfall in feet, not inches! Hope you and yours made it through without any damage. Mack
Posted on: 6/28/2012 1:46 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11135422

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
OK, Greg and I were out today. 104F in the early afternoon! Whew! Tough slugging. By the time you finished a flight, you needed to drink yet another bottle of water. Greg had just installed a new engine (Redline 53H), so was putting around with the thing tuned very rich when I arrived. Weather predictions included rogue thunderstorms, but it sure didn't feel like it when I got there. I put in a couple good flights and felt good about everything I did. Did a couple loops, stall turns, and practiced my Level II IRCHA Progressive Pilot hovering drills. Greg became increasingly ambitious as his engine smoothed out. Then the rains came. Lightning and storms circled us, dropping some rain. The rain cleared and the temperature dropped. We had stuffed everything in our vehicles in anticipation of the rain. Greg kept his SDX and battery charger out and charged it while we watched it rain. The rain stopped. Just as we thought we'd go back out, it rained again, so I packed it in. But not Greg. He waited while I enjoyed the temporary cool air. Then Greg went back out again. Skies were a bit dark so provided more of a silhouette rather than a good view of your aircraft, so I was happy to hang back. For some reason, Greg decided to practice his inverted autos. Hmmm. He took his heli up at least 150 feet, inverted it, then kicked in throttle hold. Pretty impressive. About 1/3 the way down, he up-righted his SDX and buzzed in, settling in like a rose petal on a pond. But, the last attempt brought him down like a brick. After up-righting the aircraft, it fell like a rock on its skids, bending the tail boom and breaking a couple links on the head. Probably bent the spindle but no big deal. I'd say about $30 in damages. Or less. After that it was time to call it quits and head home. All in all a great outing! Sure hope y'all in Florida are all okay. I hear you're measuring rainfall in feet over there! Mack
Posted on: 6/26/2012 7:59 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11133251

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Matty, it looked like you were in forward flight to me! I'd hardly call that hovering. More like survival. Still, I'd take a chance and go for a few lazy eights with strong pylon turns! You can do it. Now for some more Rat Club Chronicles. I've been keeping notes this month, and have clipped the following out for your amusement. If you don't like this, let me know and I'll stop! [b]Rat Club Chronicles[/b] 6/16/12 - 6/18/12 We got some good rain, so we all found other things to do. Ronnie finally reappeared after several days of having to actually work towing along an SDX reassembled from remnants of his earlier carnage. I had rebuilt his Hall Effect sensor for his governor, so he was good to go. Greg helped him get it all tuned up and it had just begun flying very nicely when he experienced and uncommanded piro. Not good. He layed it down in the tall grass in an impromptu low altitude auto. Not much damage so easy to fix. To make a long story short, it turns out it wasn't an impromptu piro as much as a communications failure. This was made more clear when on a subsequent flight, his SDX augured in from about ten feet up after losing communication with Ronnie's transmitter. Root cause was ultimately found to be a loose connector on his JR radio conversion connection to 2.4GHz. On Monday Greg and I were at the field and it was windy and getting windier (10-15mph). Matt showed up a little later to fly his stable of planes and growing stable of helicopters. For some reason, Greg decided to practice his piroflips facing upwind instead of downwind a reflection of greater confidence in keeping the aircraft in one place, I suspect. Regardless, Greg executed at least four or five rotations before exiting the maneuver. When he exited, he promptly headed toward the ground (and Greg) on a straight 45 degree angle inverted and buried it in mother earth. I walked out to help sweep up the remains. The mainshaft was bent a good 20 degrees at the top. Greg said he had never seen a mainshaft bent that much. When I told him that it was because he hit the ground inverted he was surprised. He didn't realize it was upside down! Even the masters lose orientation... 6/23/12 - 6/24/12 Well Saturday was a good day. 96 degF. I showed up in the afternoon. Except for Ron S., all were heli pilots. Present were Ronnie, Ron S., Greg, Wild Bill, Bill C., Joshua (Wild Bill's son), George, and Sean. Everyone behaved, and there were no incidents. However, Sean was ready to do aerobatics, so had Greg finish setting up his Raptor 30 for inverted flight. Previously, there was insufficient power output from the Raptor's OS .37, but the muffler had been replaced and repaired (had a leaky fitting on the pressure line). This proved enough. Greg checked it out and handed the transmitter to Sean. In two subsequent flights Sean wowed the crowd. First flight he did in excess of 15 loops, each better the the previous! In his second flight after another "how to" briefing from Greg, he rolled endlessly. The crowd roared in applause! It was glorious. Sean could barely hover when he first started flying his Raptor this last Christmas. He now demands everything that Raptor can deliver and more! Congratulations Sean. Sunday (today) was good. 97-98 degF. Greg, Pat, Quentin, Fred, Richard, Gabriel, Mark and I were there. I arrived around 2pm. Plank pilots were dissipating fast, as they had been there since early morning. Gonna be hotter tomorrow. Winds variable ~5mph to calm. Everyone behaved themselves. High point of the day was watching Quentin do final tune ups on his newly built Goblin. See http://helidirect.com/sab-goblin-700-flybarless-electric-helicopter-kit-green-p-24943.hdx for details. Neon Green, with fat tail boom. Very different design from the typical pod and boom designs we're used to. It's a 700 electric, and with the V-Bar flybarless system, seemed to fly pretty much like other 700 electrics. But we shall see. Haven't heard back from Quentin on whether it is substantially different from say a 700 T-Rex. Fred got his T-Rex 500 lined out and Richard came along with his now rebuilt (again) T-Rex 450. Both machines appear to be funcioning normally. Except for the feeling that we were in Mom's oven, it was truly an great day to fly! Mack
Posted on: 6/24/2012 8:09 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11130471

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Mike, Glad to so you're alive and well out there. JD, Don't forget to fly and have fun working at the LHS might be fun but no fresh air! All, Been keeping busy doing non-flight things, but also been getting to the field pretty regularly. Winds have been pretty high but flyable. Typically 8-12mph, some days higher. We're all determined to fly in spite of this and most of us have learned to adjust admirably. For example doing a stall turn upwind is pretty exciting unless you figure out the right amount of negative pitch to stick your heli in one place in space while you piro. Loops require some adjustment too. Rolls while flying downwind look cool though, as the tail winds sorta smooth it out and nobody knows. Heh. Helped Greg the other day hooking up his computer(s) to a Skookum 540 mounted on Joel's T-Rex .90, and upgraded it to the latest firmware. Also updated his 720 and his LCD Field Terminal. Greg took it from there and set up the flybarless system. Greg already had installed his 720 on his Hirobo SDX. He used the stock head and control rods. Apparently everything is strong enough to take the additional loads imposed by the system. Quentin has been running the V Bar systems on all of his Mikados and has been very happy with them. So Jack decided to buy a system and install it on his T-Rex .90. Guess he had trouble with it and after a long wait, customer support told him he'd have to send it back to Germany! Jack also found out that if you wanted to add the governor feature, you had to pay more. Skookum includes the governor at no additional cost. The 540 is $250 as compared to $400 for the 720. V Bar goes for about $350 I think, but then it's another $50+ for the governor, and customer service is LOUSY. We had great support from Skookum so far. No comments on BeastX Joel was going to go for it until he learned the Skookum 540 was out and had a good price point. Anyone here have any comments on all this? I've got a great price on a used 720 that will find its way to me in a couple months, so I'm good. Heh. Rat Club Chronicles coming when I get a chance. Heh. Fly often eveyone! Mack
Posted on: 6/17/2012 7:46 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11121851

RE: RC Helicopters to frustrating
Stay focused. You are in this hobby to have [i]fun[/i]! If helis aren't fun, then don't do it. Stick with what works for you. Mack
Posted on: 6/11/2012 7:59 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11115112

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Matty, once you've gone nitro, it's hard to imagine doing anything else...haha. Mack
Posted on: 6/11/2012 7:55 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11115106

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Andy, I read your Orlando Blowout article and loved it! What a great piece you did. Looks like everyone had a blast. Mack
Posted on: 6/7/2012 7:39 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11110723

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
If I did things right, here is a photo of Ronnie's SDX. Note that the entire servo tray was wiped out...
Posted on: 6/6/2012 8:29 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11109562

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Looks pretty quiet in here! I've been kinda busy around here doing mostly family oriented things like helping to move our kids to their new house. Still, actually got some activity and flying in, although this month the winds have been howling around here. Last couple of days, the winds died off only to be replaced with temps in the 90-100 degF range. I know y'all have been waiting for it, so here's the latest installment of the: [b]Rat Club Chronicles[/b] Well, here's the deal. Between high winds, heat, various committments, I can't say I've seen much out at Read Memorial Flying [image][/image]Field. Still, there was some action. Let's start with a pleasant weekday with Ronnie, Greg, and I. Ronnie innocently takes his Hirobo SDX out and takes it through some routine maneuvers. I should have known better, but turned my head away to do something only to hear that telltale sound of a nitro heli in deep trouble. Turned just in time to see Ronnie's aircraft hitting the ground...no, SMACKING the ground directly on the windshield. Now, if you haven't looked, the windshield is directly above most if not all of the electronics, including servos. Long story short all servo gears stripped, receiver was toast, governor gone. Interestingly, the airframe was okay along with the tail boom. Of course the mainblades were also history. We have pictures of the SDX as it was being placed in ICU status. Enough of that. Fast forward to the NWRC Club Fun Fly on Saturday. And what am I doing? Suddenly ended up with my six year-old grandson, Lukas. So I took him out to the Fun Fly. All the usual culprits were out there. Belinda talked Lukas and I into a breakfast taco. Lukas ate a bit of it and handed it to me to finish it off. He eyed the packages of cookies, but they weren't open yet so managed to steer him clear of that. Lukas was pretty excited about all the planks sitting around, so I was concerned. Then Sean and his dad George showed up with their helicopters and a foamie jet. Again I was concerned about Sean heading off to fixed wing aircraft. Hmmmm. Everyone was flying and being-have. Stuart started up the BBQ, taking out a hornet's nest that had taken residence in the process. Awesome. What a brave President we have! Lukas decided he wanted a hot dog. So we gave him one, only to find out that one side was blackened. Well, Lukas didn't like that, so I chewed off the offending charred dog and handed it back to him. Ultimately, Lukas decided he didn't want it so I ate that too. The cookies were open by then, so you guessed it, the lad grabbed one and was finally happy to have a nutritious snack. All through this excitement, a crew was driving a pickup truck around in the tall grass looking for what I thought they said was a cow. Turns out it was a cowl. No wonder they were having trouble finding it. I figured a cow should be pretty easy to spot. By this time Lukas attention span was shot so had to leave. I understand Sean augured in his foamie jet into the dirt due to loss of battery power. Tsk tsk. Pilot error. Failure to check for adequate power. Guess he'll have to stick to helicopters. Good. The following weekend found us out there on Sunday enjoying the cloying heat and wind. Ronnie, now down to one backup helicopter decided in his infinite wisdom to concentrate on nose-in hovering, employing the ever-popular training gear (two sticks criss-crossed with wiffle balls on the ends, for you plank fliers). All was going well until we stopped watching him. Why is it always when we're not looking? Yup, he lost it and had a tail strike and that was it. He is now without any means of RC flight until he gets things fixed. Unless of course he wants to borrow my Sceadu. But then he could end up fixing three helicopters! Now understand that I'm getting old and forgetful, but somewhere during all these days, we were out there with Stuart and Logan. It was a pleasant weekend day. Saturday, I think. Stuart had been flying his Sebart Wind 50e pattern plane (60 inch wing span). Now that sweet plane could fly! Fast and great maneuverability, lemme tell ya. He has a long story about how he came to acquire this pricy little number, so I'll let you ask him about that. But, once again I took my eyes off the field to tend to my aircraft when I hear a heart-rendering CRUNCH. Stuart had managed to fly the thing off into the woods into a tree on the North boundary. Oh the sound it made. Emergency crew consisting of Fred, Logan and Stuart headed off into the trees, fire extinguisher in hand. But to no avail, the aircraft was totalled. Clearly pilot error. Actually, Stuart has no idea. He says he lost control/communication with the aircraft. I think this was the same excuse he used when flying Wally's C-17, if I'm not mistaken. Other than that, everyone has been pretty much well-behaved. And another bright spot, Matt has acquired an e-Flite Mcpx and is successfully hovering. Welcome to the dark side, Matt.[image][/image]
Posted on: 6/6/2012 8:27 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11109561

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
WB Chris. I just realized you are right next to Ft. Dix, where I entered the Army many moons ago. Spent many "happy" days there! Like JD asked, where in NC? Hope you'll be near JD and his club! WB Cuda. I was wondering where you wandered off to. Will be looking for your article next month. JD, how many helicopters does one "need" to have? I realize that is a philosophical question. [:)] QUESTION for all - What kind of main blades are you using on your 600/.50 birds? We were buying Protek CF blades from AMAIN, but they've discontinued them due to declining quality. They were $50, which is a good deal especially for the begginers who tend to consume them at a more rapid pace. Because we tend to pool resources and place big orders, we would enjoy free shipping. Also, buying this way means we collectively have backup blades to keep us flying. It now looks like the cheapest CF blades we can find are the Align 600D blades (white ones) and they seem to look good. Available for ~$72. I have been flying Curtis Youngblood YB-600 Radix. $89.99 MSRP on my Hirobo SDX, and I like them a lot. Anyway, we are all curious as to what you folks might advise. We're not looking for cheap junk, just economical CF. Anyone who is pursuing 3D usually goes very high quality, but that's not what we're seeking here. Mack
Posted on: 5/6/2012 8:54 AM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11070326

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Yes!! Yet another: [b]Rat Club Chronicles[/b][b]!![/b] Yesterday, Greg, Ronnie, and I made it out to the Rat Club. It was a bit windy 7mph gusting to 12+mph, but we were ready. We had been shut in from flying for more than a week so we were ready. 86F, cloudy. I used my yellow glasses for contrast but it didn't really help too much. As usual, Ronnie was fussing about his SDX trim or something, so Greg went out and helped him get things just right. Seems his pitch was off and was loading down the engine. I thought he was running a bit too rich, but he leaned it out a bit and that didn't don anything. Greg was right and adjusted things just a bit more and everything was better! Greg had just completed fixing his SDX from the last "mishap", and impressed both Ronnie and I with the fact that right off the bench, his heli was in perfect trim. Kudos to the Skookum flybarless system he has on that bird. Usually one spends a couple test flights adjusting the swashplate etc. getting things just right. With the wind I was a bit shy about trying anything risky so stuck to improving my lazy eights and stall turns. I finally knocked out a couple loops that looked a bit warped, but none of them involved dirt so I was good! [:)] Ronnie went back out and continued to work on his sport flying. His loops are looking better and better and he's been working hard on autos. All of the sudden out of nowhere, his SDX started flailing around in midair. In a spinning motion not different that what one sees during a piroflip, his SDX headed straight for the ground, landing on its windsheild. This of course was followed by the dancing chicken routine until he got his foot on it and tore out the fuel tank. The short answer is that we figure there was a catastrophic failure of the electronics, or a cable disconnect somewhere. From Ronnie's perspective, the heli stopped responding to his controls. After closer examination, it turns out the the point of impact involved primarily the Rx, Governor, and Gyro. Also involved one or more servo cases, and likely some gears. Side frames were damaged and the servo tray shattered. Interestingly, the tail boom and associated components were untouched. Minor damage to the head too. Don't you hate it when there's a failure that you had nothing to do with? Pilot error? Failure to pre-flight? Who knows. On a lighter note, Greg and I were back out at the Rat Club today and had a highly successful day. Well at least I did. Winds were calm to 5mph, temperature was up to 88F. Partly cloudy with lots of blue sky!!!! I decided that today would be "my day" and I worked hard at improving my sport technique. Warmed up with lazy eights and stall turns, then started in on my loops. Real ugly to begin with, but with Gregs patient coaching I eventually remembered how to do it without wind in my frace! Did one excellent roll, and also practiced my nose in hovering! All in all a great day for me. Greg on the other hand managed to stip off 12 teeth on one of his gears after running his flybarless SDX through its paces in some pretty heavy duty routines, including his piroflips. Sooo he parked that one since he didn't have any spares in stock at the field (odd, since he's an Hirobo dealer). Got out his stock SDX and started it up without mishap. Took it out and started putting it through its paces. I noticed that it was running leaner and leaner and grew concerned. Eventually, he brought it in and inspected it. And shut it down. I ran out with my IR thermometer and took a head temperature reading of 249 deg F. Turns out his muffler tubing broke off. Soo he brought that one in and started replacing tubing. We both thought it might be worthwhile to replace the tubing inside the tank. Since it was the end of the day, he decided to take both helis back to his bench and work them over for our next fly-day! We're back in the game in Houston! Matty, come on down to Houston. I'm sure you can find a job around here somewhere. You will like the folks at the North West Radio Control Club and I'm sure they'll like you! Mack
Posted on: 5/2/2012 7:42 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11066201

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
OK, I know y'all have been sitting on the edge of your workbenches, eagerly waiting for the: [b]Rat Club Chronicles[/b] Last Sunday out at the Rat Club things got pretty busy. Brad had his stick out and managed to fly it without breaking a prop. Past readers will reconize that this is a significant improvement. Todd had a beautiful biplane with him, but my guess is that it is just a "trailer queen", since all he had was excuses as to why he couldn't fly it. Our fearless President, Stuart had what could only be characterized as an electric lawn dart. Flew the feathers off that thing. Went straight up so far and so fast I couldn't see it. Then he'd come screaming straight down, pulling out mere yards from the ground. I suppose this is what fixed wing pilots do to get a rush! Meanwhile the heli pilots were doing fine until the "troubles" began. Actually they began just before I arrived. Apparently Ronnie was practicing his autorotations with his Hirobo SDX and decided to land approximately 6 feet above the ground. This is pretty much not the best idea. He ended up with a bent tail boom and (yup you guessed it) broken side frame. When I arrived he had gotten out his spare SDX and was sitting quietly, watching the others fly. And fly they did. Wild Man Bill showed up and in minutes was in the air flying his T-Rex 600 electric. Aggressively. Again, I missed the "incident" that resulted a direct high-speed vertical landing. We think the battery is okay. Maybe. Jury is out on most of the rest of the components. Bill mumbled something about rolling or wrong way. Ah yes we've all been there. Not wanting to be left out, Greg promptly took his SDX out and soon entertained us by systematically thrashing his heli up and down on the ground. He picked it up about four feet then pounded it in to the ground. Then repeated the move. We at first thought it might be a new maneuver he was developing. After beating up his favorite SDX (he's got it flying with a Skookum flybarless system), he then proceeded to practice his autorotations. Greg likes to wow the crowds by doing piroettes during his autos. Well this time he "ran out of rudder", and managed to slap it into mother earth. Interestingly, the heli appeared to be unscathed. Greg gave it a cursory inspection and was about to start it back up and I said, "Are you sure?" He reached around a discovered his muffler was a bit loose. No sooner had I pointed out the importance of post-flight and pre-flight inspection, I realized I hadn't checked my muffler for a while. And it was loose. I then proceeded to check Ron T.'s (loose), Pat's (loose) and Ronnie's (loose). Soon I was running around tightening everyone's mufflers for them. Once everyone's mufflers were properly affixed, I knew I could rest for a bit. Somewhere in there, I managed to fly twice. The first time I flew, the gnats attacked me (and the skeeters too in stealth mode). Those critters were crawling along the brim of my hat and peeking around the edge. Then after I was well into forward flight they decided to take up residence behind the lenses of my sunglasses! I promptly landed well almost crash landed trying to get to where I could chase them away. And I did and they didn't. I parked my SDX and considered another strategy. I put Deep Woods Off on my face and arms in addition to my legs. I walked out to the flight line as a test. No bugs. Good. Went out to fly again and once again was attacked by gnats, the same way. I gave up and sat back to watch others try to fly. Time for Greg to go off to the edge of the flight line and check out his wounded SDX. He picked it up into a hover, lifted a bit more, and the machine went unstable (ailerons). Greg slammed it back down and shut it down. Turns out he had stripped the aileron servo gear. And now some more damage. By this time the sun was going down and it was time for me to head home. And the winds started screaming ever since, so I don't know if anyone else out there got out alive. I hope so.
Posted on: 4/28/2012 2:53 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11060436

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Well the hurrier I go the behinder I get. Been busy around here with non-helicopter related activities. Besides the winds have been howling around here at 20-30mph, so wouldn't be flying anyway. I need to write up another Rat Club Chronicle. Will do that later today maybe now that I've gotten professional committee business done and RC Club Maintenance activities all assigned. Well almost. In case anyone is contemplating coming to our club as my guest, check out the Wind Sock here: http://www.checkthesock.com/rc_airfields/475-northwest-houston-radio-control-club JD, So sad to hear about that nasty-aggressive grass reaching up and plucking the very life out of your 500. If I were you I'd go after it with Roundup and teach it a lesson. Oh and thanks for replacing your divots. At our field we note that the better pilots seem to destroy more of their aircraft the better pilots they are. They tend to do the high impact stunts. [;)] I think the last time Joel augured in his .90 T-Rex it was described as a "bundle of plastic and metal". Matty, Hope your fettle is fine too. You gots to get a job closer to home, man! My fingers are crossed for ya, mate. Gotta scram, Mack
Posted on: 4/26/2012 3:26 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11058103

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
You are doing great, Skunk! Keep it up. Master Pilot Greg and I spent Tuesday afternoon by ourselves out at the Rat Club. It was a great day. Wonderful warm weather, winds a bit breezy maybe 10mph or so. I flew about 2-1/2 quarts of fuel worth of fun. Got my confidence back finally and was flying the feathers offa my Hirobo SDX. Got back to stall turns and loops. Was going to go after some rolls but the wind direction changed into my face, and I decided I didn't want to risk flying into myself. Still it was fun and very gratifying. Greg was trying to chase down a minor foaming problem with his SDX. Finally decided that the tape he had on one of his main blades had captured a small amount of spent fuel under the tape, thereby adding weight to that blade. Putting a small piece of tape on the other blade corrected it. Whoda thunk? Weather coming in tomorrow big time T-storms and high winds, so need to tuck it in until that's over with! Mack
Posted on: 4/19/2012 7:52 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11049309

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Eeek! I will NEVER figure this out!!! I think Realflight just burst a blood vessel. Mack
Posted on: 4/13/2012 8:17 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11041020

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Skunk, You are da man! Wow! Looks like Michigan has emerged from under the winter glaciers finally. Weather down here has gotten better, but all of us seem to be getting dragged off into domestic duties or somethin'. Just sayin'. How does one start learning to do piro flips? It's all a mystery to me. I do keep working on my loops and rolls though. The best stall turns I ever did were the first ones I did when I didn't know any better. Haha. Now I worry too much about the wind blowing me out of my stalled position then make it look ugly. I'll try to get a Rat Club Chronicles report in here soon. We've been having fun out there, but fighting skeeters and gnats now. More soon on this... Mack
Posted on: 4/10/2012 7:16 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11036959

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Time for another round of the Rat Club Chronicles! This last weekend was awesome! Two days of calm at ~80-85 degF was almost too much to stand. All benches were full, and I daresay, more helicopters than planks if you can imagine such a thing. On Saturday, it was especially fun since our club President and his son were on Work Crew duty. The Work Crew was busy weed-eating etc. while the rest of us froliced. Joel was on his last day off before going back to work for the next two weeks. He entertained us with extreme flying with his .90 T-Rex. He finally got the leak in his manifold to go away and had full power at his fingertips. He even mowed some grass for us inverted. Awesome. And here's the best part, folks: no helicopter was injured this weekend! Well I must admit that on Saturday, the Club Secretary managed to break both of his props while flying his Stick, but that was pretty minor, and the rest of his plane did survive. Other than that, everybody had a good time and did not have to endure any damage whatsoever. Not bad, since many of us were taking our aircraft out of mothballs. Our large electric pilot, Quentin continues to improve his flying skills and he entertained us with his newly acquired 700 VBAR Mikado. He is totally FBL now and has a good grasp on how to set them up. Fun to watch and wish we could fly that well too. The highlight of the afternoon was when Stuart was trying to mow around the club gate with the little John Deer mower and got it stuck in the mud (remnant from the recent rains). Being of sound mind, Stuart decided to tow the little mower out with his Toyota SUV. He then managed to get the SUV stuck. I came along trying to go home and tried to pull him out but the plastic rope he was using was too weak and broke. Finally, Joel fired up his monster truck and came out to rescue Stuart. His truck had a winch on the front and pulled that little Toy car and lawn mower out in a jiffy. I would like to point out that the mosquito population had exploded and a CLOUD of skeeters were hovering around the lawn mower. I headed home promptly once I'd determined I was no longer needed. Skeeters love my tender juicy flesh... On Sunday, Greg, our master pilot was busier than a bubble dancer with a slow leak. He was helping everyone with their typical aches and pains. Fred had crashed late Saturday oops did I say no crashes? I forgot about Fred. Well it was pretty minor now that I think of it. Tail boom strike. Fred is just learning to move from hovering to forward flight, and this birthing process has been trying for him. Heh. No sweat, Ronnie was on the job helping Fred get his Sceadu back together and he was back in the air before the day was over. Jack was there flying his 600 Pro T-Rex. He brought along his neighbor's 16 yo boy and his girlfriend. They were hovering a 450 T-Rex with training gear and doing quite well. Glad to see more young people showing up! Meanwhile, Sean and George were launching their Sceadu and Raptor 30. Sean is now flying the feathers off his Raptor, far ahead of his Dad. So Greg had to step in and help them set up both aircraft for stunt modes. Sean is now attempting stall turns. I predict he will be way into aerobatics within the month. I think he's already doing so with his tiny models at home. Greg had to leave a bit early, so the Raptor wasn't quite ready for extreme flight. BUT, George's Sceadu was ready to go and (I guess) Sean talked George into letting him fly the last flight of the day. Sean spooled it up and took off like a scalded cat. He flew hard lazy eights with tight tight pylon-style turns. The blades roared on every turn. He was in command and you could see the confidence. When he finished and landed he hooted like he'd just won the lottery I think he's hooked. Been a long time since I've seen so much going on at the club. It was so nice, it was just nice to be there, even if you didn't do nutting. All day it felt like you just mowed the grass. [8D] Mack
Posted on: 3/26/2012 7:40 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11016399

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Skunk, you da MAN! Wow, you are waaaay ahead of me now. I need to hitch up my getalong and get with the program. So glad you have a strong club to back you up. It's the same for me at the Rat Club and it makes this hobby so rewarding because of the people in our club. Mack
Posted on: 3/26/2012 7:06 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11016365

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
OK, I am back. A trip to Florida to take my cousin out for her 80th birthday and two funerals later, we're home. Swam around in two wild rainstorms, and managed to get out the field to watch Sean fly his Raptor 30 like a pro. I wasn't ready for that. Last time I saw him at the Rat Club, he was hovering around without training wheels. I watched him crank it up, carry it out put it on the ground, spool it up, and in a roar he took of straight into forward flight into lazy eights! Now this would be routine, I suppose, but I was completely so not ready for this demo! Not only that, he was flying in 10-12mph winds! I was so proud of him. His Mom had come out along with he and his Dad, and boy was Mom impressed! Hahaha. Went out again today and flew my SDX. Winds were 12mph average and gusts to 19mph. To say the least it was just not fun to fly in those gusts. Greg and Joel were out there too. Greg worked on his piroflips and autos a bit with his SDX fitted with a Skookum FBL, and Joel flew his T-Rex 700 after attempting to patch a leaking manifold/header. As usual, Joel flew like a madman well actually a little more conservative, thanks to the wind. But no animals or helis were hurt and a reasonably good time was had by all. The plan is to go back out again tomorrow and fly around the tractor while it mows (just kidding). Rumor has it that the winds will be only 2-4mph. I know that ain't the case. Our poor field is up to its armpits in water. All the ditches still have water in them and parts of the field have standing water still perhaps an issue for our plank pilots but not for us! Er, at least as long as we stay OUT OF the WATER! Good to be back. Glad to see the crickets have left this thread. Now let's see if this actually posts. Maybe I'd better stash a copy of this on the clipboard before hitting the button! Mack
Posted on: 3/22/2012 8:06 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=11011386

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
Happy Presidents' Day. Nothing like spending a day with a six year old to get the old blood flowin'. Haha. I had lots of trouble sending a message on this thing the other day, JD. Wonder what's up with that? Cosmic rays? Tomorrow several of us are headed for the Rat Club. We're betting we're gonna get good weather. We may have to wade out there, but once there it should be good. Wish us luck! Sean, did you get any help? Mack
Posted on: 2/20/2012 6:49 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10968387

RE: Heli stuff and fellowship
OK, had trouble with post, and duplicated it. Think it's fixed now. Mack
Posted on: 2/17/2012 7:23 PM by Author "Mack66" in the forum "RC Helicopter Beginners Forum"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=10963958