Monday, November 15, 2010

Living with a bipolar Heli. (ESC reset to defaults)

The unfortunate fact is any ESC that depends on software will have defects. I say this because I have been a Software Engineer for 25 years, worked on many products and have yet seen a software based system get released bug free, sorry Futaba that includes you.

This Saturday, when trying to fly my Logo 600, it showed its dark personality. Upon getting ready to fly, the ESC reset itself to the defaults, meaning Airplane mode and no soft start up. I usually set my helis up to arm the ESC based on the throttle hold, so I start the heli up in stunt mode 2, depending on the soft start of the ESC. Once the throttle hold is switched off my blades spin up and up and away!

Not this time the heli went wild spinning out of control. I was quick enough to shut her down and save the heli. Keep in mind that I have flown this heli maybe 12 times and all the sudden she goes nuts. When I took it home I found out that the ESC had set itself to the defaults. Then I immediately emailed Castle Creations.

As they said 3.24 had the fix for that situation, I did not want to be put into that situation again, so the tech at Castle Creations offered this advice for any ESC you are using.

“Set the motor direction to Reverse in the Castle Link & then set the correct direction with the motor leads. By doing this if the controller resets to default the motor will spin the one way so as not to drive the main gear. Therefore saving your heli.”

Seems like good advice!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Raining outside and this is what happens.



This is what happens when I don’t have anything Heli’s to build, waiting on parts for aircraft and it’s raining outside. I put batman in as the pilot. I wanted to make it cartoonish as I know this craft is going to have a short life hanging around me and Cooper.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Nampa Model Aviators Club



Looking for a place to fly? Check out Nampa Model Aviators!


Flying helis and planes is fun, and flying by yourself can be fun as well, but if you are looking for help with a setup, issue or just trying to prefect a stunt, there's nothing like flying at a club.

Nampa Model Aviators has a wonderful area to fly at, cut and well keep grass, electric out let for changers and such, covered area to keep you and your craft out of he sun (or rain/snow for some of us), It has a 400' x 40' asphalt runway flanked by a 500' x 50' grass runway, pilot pits, 6 benches to work on and a gas barbecue.

We fly everything from small trainers, large scale IMAC machines, to Helis of all sizes shapes and colors.

So come on out and join us!!

Located right next to a golf course so you can bring your clubs to.

Contact Tim Cooper at HobbyTown USA or Jack Reed. (www.nampamodelaviators.org)


Pictures taken 11/6/2010.

Trex 700 Nitro at Nampa Model Aviators club



Stevie has been working out the issues on his Trex 700 and I think he has finally got. He added an Align governor and his YS91 is running like a top. Also take a hard look at the canopy, he paints them himself!

Nice inverted in a good wind.

Batman from Extreme Flight


Heli dudes, looking for a fun little break from your heli? Check out this little 48" profile Yak-54 from Extreme Flight. With the setup below she has enough power and control area to rip through the sky, turn on a dime and do some real stupid stunts with. Lots of fun!!

Setup:
Prop: 13x6.5
4s 3.3mah 30C
Hitec 65MG
Torque 2814/820
Scorpion 60Amp ESC
Pulls 51 amps.



Try a 12x6 prop as it will pull around 40 amps. Both props will slow her down real quickly.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Hey Trex 600 and 500 owners!!!



Looking for something a little different to set your heli apart from the others at the flying field? Stop by RCHobbies and take a look at these custom painted canopies!!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

IMAC or Bust.

In a moment of weakness, or just because I want to go have some fun or a promise to a friend, I am not sure what is was but I am building one of Extreme Flight's New 70” Extra to go compete in IMAC this year.

She'll be running around 8s 5000mah, Castle creations 120 amp Esc, I have not figured out the motor yet. Scorpion is suppose to have some power houses come up here soon. But I am in no hurry as I have helis to fly.

I’ve loved flying helis for a long time but it’s always good to take a break and fly a flat winger once in a while. Plus Chris at Extreme flight (www.extremeflightrc.com) makes some great airframes that can do some real wild things in the air.

More to come as I get further along.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Drop Zone out in Star Idaho

A lot or action out in the little town of Star Idaho as the Drop Zone scheduled a major event. Tons of Skydivers jumping today.

We were invited to fly RC Planes and Helis in between jumps. It was amazing what the sky divers were doing as we were nothing more than just side show to those jumpers.



Tim had some great practice runs with his extreme flight Yak in practice Thursday night, but after his BME motor blew up, he ended up dazzling the crowd with his tribute.



Ken's Turbin is always a crowd pleaser, as he flipped it, held it inverted, man what a heli.


Ron inverted a few feet off the deck, with his Trex 700 converted to electric.

Friday, October 15, 2010

450 Pro Anti Taco device

Tired of taco ing your packs on the Trex 450 Pro? Check out this device.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Superman Part III



Here's my this Exterme flight Yak.

OS 1.60 with a Vess 18x6 prop.
HS-5985MG on the rudder
HS-5645MG for the rest of the control surfaces.
Fromeco Regulator and Switch
and a fat Fromeco 5200mah LIon battery.

Yes, it's embarrasing to have your transmitter battery died before the reveiver battery.

Friday, September 24, 2010

R/C Hobbies Sale



COME IN TO R/C HOBBIES THIS MONTH AND SAVE BIG!!!

Check this out:


Align T-Rex 700E 3G Flybarless Helicopter Combo Kit

Comes with Motor, 4 Servos (CF Blades)- This is the T-Rex 700E combo kit from Align with the 3G Flybarless Electronic Stabilization system. Once again Align overthrows traditional RC helicopter designs with this electric version of the T-Rex 700. Electric power transcends the capabilities of Nitro engines to take large heli performance to new levels! With more torque and power available the T-Rex 700E performance is beyond amazing. With the increased performance and stability and agility of the 3G flybarless system the performance becomes astounding! Electric flight is also quieter and cleaner so there is no oily mess to cleanup at the end of your flying day! Sliding battery tray rails and a innovative battery retaining system are but two of the features that make this amazing 90 class heli stand out.

Low quantities left at the distributors so act fast. Pre-pay yours at Remote Control Hobbies and pay only $974.99!

Fuel Special - Purchase any gallon of fuel through the end of September and receive 10% OFF!

And Much, much more!!!!

We are located at 8921 W. Overland Rd. Boise, Idaho 83642

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Extreme Flight RC Rewards.

Tim Cooper has been flying Extreme Flight for some time now, as they are great air frames designed for competition they make it worth your while by rewarding you for winning.

http://www.extremeflightrc.com/html/rewards.html

This is the second straight year Tim has been given credit towards a new air frame from Extreme Flight. Great Job Cooper and thank you Chris Hinson at Extreme Flight RC.


Tim Cooper

Idaho represent.

It's been a quick summer and as many of us fly at the local clubs, local sod farms and parks, Ken Simmons spent some time at IRCHA 2010 HELI JAMBOREE!!!

He said he had a great time, met some new friends and got a lot of help on how to set up helis from some of the pros.

And more importantly I got a couple tee shirts…Thanks Ken and welcome back.



Kenny.


Idaho 1


Idaho 1 is in the back ground.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Swim anyone? 90's to the water!

Who says you can not fly at night.



Bobby Watts competiting in the Night Fly competition of the 2010 XFC

Monday, August 2, 2010

IMAC competition this weekend! (8/7 - 8/8)



AMA sanctioned scale aerobatics’ IMAC. The contest to be held at the NMA flying site in Nampa, ID. We will fly all five classes offered by IMAC which are; Basic, Sportsman, Intermediate, Advanced, & Unlimited. See IMAC website or NMA website for details on sequences and judging. Contestant judging will be in effect. FREESTYLE EVENT ON SUNDAY!

Any pilot with a current AMA card, with basically any R/C airplane, scale or not, is welcome to fly in the Basic class. AMA scale aerobatics rules apply to all other classes offered.

For more information see the Northwest IMAC web site . Follow the link NW Contest Calendar

You can also contact:
Michael Verzwyvelt
(208) 733-9213
Brandon Petersen
(208) 440-6767

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Trex 700 E Conversion - Part DEUX – Continued…….

The original plan was to do the following:
1. KDE Conversion kit.
2. KDE pinion support.
3. KDE 115T MOD 1 Main gear.
4. Castle Creations 160AMP ICE ESC.
5. KDE 1917H/1y-N42
6. Cyclic JR 8717
7. Spartan 760 or Quark.
8. Align 650.
9. 2 6S 5000mah 40C batts for a 12s setup.

However unlike my previous conversion there was a couple other things to consider. As soon as I got her put together and ready to test, her tail would kick like no other tail I’ve seen kick. So I contacted KDE to chat with them about it. It was suggested that I make it flybarless as the vbar does some tail to collective compensation.

After adding the vBar 4.0 to the bird and resolving some issues with vBar programming. It seemed to fly ok. But still, the tail wagged and gave way when doing tic tocs.

A friend of mine thought the vBar was working the tail too hard. After doing a little research I think he may be right, for the wrong reasons.
I got in contact with MrMel from Swedish through the forums. He had done some testing of the new more powerful electric .90s and found the that tail let go on .90 sized using 105 blades at high pitch, it's not a gyro issue, it's the limit of the tail, in other words, he reached the limit of what the tail was designed to hold with 105mm with the "new" power of electrics.

He also pointed out the tail servo I have been using has had issues when using in an vBar configuration.

So it looks like I am going to have to replace the tail servo. I am using one of the Outrage BL 8088 on my other Trex 700. I would like to put a Futaba BL 251, but that would mean I need to figure out a different power system. Maybe use a BEC to get the voltage down to where the BL251 can tolerate it. But if I use the BL 8088, I do not have to change a thing. I am running all my electronics on A123.

A slight modification in the plan:

1. KDE Conversion kit.
2. KDE pinion support.
3. KDE 115T MOD 1 Main gear.
4. Castle Creations 160AMP ICE ESC.
5. KDE 1917H/1y-N42
6. Cyclic JR 8717
7. vBar 4.0.
8. Futaba BL 251.
9. 2 6S 5000mah 40C batts for a 12s setup.
10. SAB 110mm tail blades.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Trex 700E here? or there? HERE!!!!! maybe....

Are they here yet?? HELIPROZ $899 or the Combo Flybarless for $1299

Found this on a post on helifreak. The post claims it will be out this week and I assume that means overseas first then in the US sometime in Mayish.

Comes in a VBar (3G) and a Flybar package. No prices seen yet.

700E 3G Specification:
- Length: 1328mm
- Height: 408mm
- Main Blade Length: 690mm
- Main Rotor Diameter: 1562mm
- Tail Rotor Diameter: 281mm
- Motor Drive Gear:12T
- Main Drive Gear:115T
- Autorotation Tail Drive Gear: 104T
- Tail Drive Gear: 24T
- Drive Gear Ratio: 1:9.58:4.33
- Weight(With Motor): 2830g
- Flying Weight: Approx. 4700g




I wonder if the wheels come with it?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Trex 700 E Conversion - Part DEUX

While spending a lot of time flying my newly converted Trex700e, I have giving a lot of thought to what I wanted to do next. Night flying, Airplane and convert my last Nitro heli all came to mind. I thought I was going to do some night flying with my Trex 600e but after burning up my OS 91 last Friday (4/2/2010) my path is clear. The Trex 700 affectionately known as "Papa" must now be converted into a "Mother &*^#$^" The preliminary plan is:

Here's the setup:

  1. KDE Conversion kit.
  2. KDE pinion support.
  3. KDE 115T MOD 1 Main gear.
  4. Castle Creations 160AMP ICE ESC.
  5. KDE 1917H/1y-N42
  6. Cyclic JR 8717
  7. Spartan 760 or Quark.
  8. Align 650.
  9. 2 6S 5000mah 40C batts for a 12s setup.

In my last conversion I used a Scorpion HK-4035-560KV and I have been real happy with it, but I want to try something different, something that will have some crazy speed in a 12S setup. I have some more information to dig up but the NEU motor 1917/1.5Y or 1920/1.5Y seemed to be to my liking. I am trying to figure out what motor Tim Jones' has in his Beast as I love the power it has. Currently, all I know is that it is a Castle Creations motor and only they and the heli gods know when it will be made available to us mere mortals.



After talking to Castle Creations, ReadyHeli, Helidirect and reading as much as I could online, here's the motor I was turned on to by Patrick the Owner of KDE.

KDE worked with NEU to come up with the 1917H/1y-N42 which is a more efficient and more powerful offering than the 1920 and is custom designed for the T700E and the KDE Direct E-Conversion Kit. As you can see below she's got a ton of power.



This is a data log taken 4/12/2010 of a 5-minute HARD 3D flight and the motor is capable of producing 8600W+ (over 11 HP), which still extremely efficient in flight.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

New videos on the Trex 700e



Take a look, I guess Align is getting serious about a 700e.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Trex 700e "The Beast"



I am thinking my next project is to build one of these. These things are blowing the nitro out of the air. The question I get the most on my current 700e is about flight time. But like I tell a lot of people "I'd rather have 4:30 mins of OMG flying than 8 mins of this is cool."

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mr. Green inverted.



This is the result of a good setup, a lot of practice and some big balls (AC/DC reference). Kyle's Trex 500 decked out with a scorpion motor and esc, gets caught on film by his girl friend. See what a little practice and a lot of balls can do for you!!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Align TREX 700E "Coming soon...."



Check it out. But for those that converted, don't worry as I think "Coming soon" translates to "Maybe out around Sept 2010"

http://www.rcheliresource.com/spied-align-trex-700e/#more-8435

There are some pictures that have the motor on the top side.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

700 Conversion "Sex Change"

Ever get tired of the same old thing? Fill up your .90 with Nitro, light the flame, fly around, come home after 1 or 2 gallons of Nitro is gone and spend two hours cleaning them. Don't get me wrong, it's a wicked thrill to watch those OS 91's rip the heli through the sky.

But as I watch the YouTube videos of guys flying .90E's. I laugh as I think of the cost of batteries and not so say anything about charging them. But I always wondered. Finally after hot roding a TREX 600 with the latest in electric technology and seeing the power it had, emailing buddies of mine about the idea, I knew I was going to do an electric 90.

So here we are go! We're going to give one of my .90's a sex change and going to give her 12S poooooower!!!!!

BEFORE IMAGES:




DURING IMAGES:






ALMOST DONE:


THE SETUP (so far):
Last year's Trex 700N
Helidirect's 700E conversion kit. (You'll need 4.5 mm bolts, I cheated).
Scorpion HK4035-560 Motor
Castle Creations Phoenix HV-110 (a 110 amps yeah!!)
A123 to run the electronics

More to come as I complete the conversion, program the radio and ESC, then setup the tail. This is looking cool!!!!

Battery Placement:


MOD #1 (Give me more room on the motor mount):
A little Dremel work to give my motor shaft some more room.


MOD #2 (cut hole in back of the nose cone to run ESC wires through to the motor)




MOD #3 and #4
I lowered the boom stablization bars down to make it easier to get the battery in the back in and out. I also had a battery mount made so I can have my back battery up off the boom stablization bar in the frame. I also installed the eagle tree elogger in so I can start fine tuning this beast.


With the canopy on


First flight was a success as I flew it at 7:30PM Feb 10th 2010 by street lights. Yes, in ths dark, using the street lights to see her. I do not recommend doing your test flights by street lamp as you never know what can happen (plus I live 1 mile away from a hospital haha)

Now it's time to see how many amps she'll be pulling in flight (elogger) fine tuning her to make sure she is one wild ride. Lets see it I can get that done this weekend.

Final thoughts of the build:
I do not think I would buy a new Trex700N to do a conversion on. There are a few .90 size Helis coming out this year that are built as an Electric. I did this because I had two Trex700's, the mod form Helidirect was simple to do and very cheap. Battery placement is kind of a pain as the motor gets in the way and CG issues.


THE "Current" SETUP :
Last year's Trex 700N (over 150 flights)
Helidirect's 700E conversion kit. (You'll need 4.5 mm bolts, I cheated).
Scorpion HK4035-560 Motor
Castle Creations Phoenix HV-110 (a 110 amps yeah!!)
A123 to run the electronics
2 6S 5000mah Zippy Batteries
Stock Align 610 servos for the cyclic
Stock align 620 for the tail
Spartan DS760 Gyro
115t Mod 1 main gear from FAD
13T pinion
Cyclic Pitch 10
Elevator pitch 9

Head speed: gov at 2150.
Pitch 13+/-

For this setup I am going to go to a 11T pinion as that should get me around my 2100 HS at 75% of throttle. Details to follow.

10T Should get you around 1950.

I'll put the power consumption and adjustments made on this blog as I do them.

Change #1 - Going to need to drop the head speed a little, I knew my calculations were high with the 13t pinion but I figured I would be able to run around 80% on my throttle curve. Wrong, the head speed at 80% was 2450+. I had to lower my curver down to 60% to get 2150+ (2200). So I am going to drop down to an 11t. So back to ordering and waiting.

1st "real" flight - Other than discoverng that my headspeed was wickedly high, the flight went well. I did not expect much to happen as I did not change anything other than the propulsion system. Everything else reamined the same. Plus, I did not do anything other than hit the collective real hard and fly around. My average amps are around 21amps, high is 136 amps. So you can see the work I have to do here.

Pros:
1. Do not have to fill the tanks full of nitro (there goes my work outs).
2. I ran 2 gallons in one weekend. Do not have to pay for Nitro!!!
3. Less maintenance than the Nitro. No longer spending hours cleaning, the vibrations from the nitro motor are not there so it doesn't shake bolts out (Yes, even with Blue Loctite you'll shake parts loose.
4. Zippy 6s 5000mah 30c batteries are $65!!!
5. Cost less to maintain and keep it the air.
6. I think the motor and speed control are easier to set up that a Nitro and Gov.

Cons:
1. Charging batteries.
2. I miss the sound of the Nitro (but the electric has it's own noise).

Same:
1. I think the cost for the build is the same (OS 91, Pipe and gov as compared to a speed control and motor). Maybe the electric is a little cheaper....
2. Fun factor!!! Hell yeah!! There's nothing like flying RC helis and there's nothing like flying a .90 (Nitro or electric).

Flight Reports:
1. Great, but head speed was wicked fast.
2. Got a smaller pinion and things are better for the head speed.
3. Pinion slipped down on shaft and wasted my main gear.
4. New main gear installed. Pinion still slipping a bit.
5. Cut nice grove in shaft to stop the pinion from slipping. Works.
6. Great flight I LOVE THIS!!!
7. Great flight (waiting for new batts to come in from hobby city).
8. Wicked flight. Now it's time to start tic tocs and see if I can get that pinion to slip. I may add some support in that area and some green loctite to the pinion. I am flying it at 2050 rpms. (I would love to get it to 2300 haha)

Friday, January 29, 2010

Alan Szabo "crack" stick movements

Nitro killer : Avant Aurora 90E



Jason Bell Dodging The Asphalt with his Avant Aurora 90 Electric Radio Control Helicopter

NEW: Avant Aurora 90 Electric


Touted as a true “native electric 90 design”, the Avant Aurora 90E officially splashed onto vendor row late Thursday. The 90 electric market has really taken off this season and Avant has answered those wishes with a electric flavor of their popular nitro heli.

One thing different about the Aurora 90 Electric is the battery mouting and placement. Similar to the MA Ion-X which mounts both batteries inside the frame on one side up front. The Avant mounts one battery on each side of the frame. Both batteries are surrounded by frame and in mild crashes will be protected from damage to the battery packs.



All wires and cables fit inside the frames leaving no clutter outside.
If no BEC is used a receiver battery can be installed in the front plate or in the back between the frames.

Check the rest of the story at AvantRc

I NEED ONE........NEED.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Lazy Sunday afternoon at the SOD farm.


Just getting there, now it's time to get in the air.


Here's my fleet of helis as I get ready to fly them. Both 700s gave me issues all day. I need to spend some time with them as I have spent most of my time getting that Trex 600E back on track.

The 600 has Scorpion 4025 1100kv, CC ICE 100AMP ESC, JR770 and 8900 tail servo, followed up by some 821's on the cyclic, yes I have 821s in it! She is flying real good, Head speed is around 2020.

She has plenty of guts, I am loving that Motor ESC combo. She may not give me 8 mins like the nitros, but she gives me 4 mins of strap in, buckle up, shut up, and enjoy the flat out, heart pounding rocket ride!

As good as she is flying I really find it hard to take the 821's out and put in my Hitecs 6965s.


Cooper and I have been flying this plane for a little more than 2 years. She's an Extreme Flight Extra 300. I killed off the old one back in Sept of 2009 and Cooper has put here back together in order to get ready for AMA competition this year. Today is her maiden and Cooper left her have it.

Nothing like flying with a buddy on a Lazy Sunday Afternoon.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Scale Master - R/C AH-1 Super Cobra RC Helicopter - RTF


Found this baby on RCU this morning. This is one wicked scale bird!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Nasa Puffin: One Cool Personal Aircraft


I must apologize as I usually try to keep this blog full of RC Heli stuff as I am personally into RC for the thrill of flying and help keep the little engineer in me happy, but I could not resist sharing NASA’s just unveiled Puffin aircraft design.

What's cooler than a hover-capable, electric-powered, super-quiet personal VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft? If you answered "absolutely nothing," then check this out, because NASA is preparing to oblige you.

The Puffin is something of a personal V-22 Osprey, complete with vertical-takeoff and landing capability (but minus the squad of Marines). But rather than tilting the rotors forward for horizontal flight, the whole craft -- cockpit and all -- pitches forward, meaning the pilot flies from a prone position. During takeoff and landing the tail splits into four legs that serve as landing gear, and flaps on the wings deploy to keep the aircraft stable as it lifts and descends.

It's 12-foot height and 13.5-foot wingspan mean it's big, but of manageable stature. In theory it can cruise at 150 miles per hour and sprint at more like 300 miles per hour.

When the first production vehicle going to be released? Only God and NASA really knows. I just hope something like this makes it to production before I am too old to use it. ;-)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Revell Proto CX Ultra-Micro Heli RTF



I was down at RChobbies the other day and got the opportunity to test fly a few micro helis.

I have always liked the micro class helis as they welcome pilots with no flying experience, and in no time they allow you to hover and work on your flying skills, any room can become a flying field and nothing is more fun than doing a little heli combat in the front room with your son.

One of the helis was the Revell Proto CX Ultra-Micro Heli RTF. The first thing that caught my attention besides the snappy canopy was the aggressive way this thing took air. She can get in the air a lot faster than an E-Flite mCX! She handles well in forward and reverse flight. maybe a little faster than a mCX.

The second thing that I really liked was the Lipo battery connector. Nice and big, did not look like you could break it very easily as you can with others.

The control seemed a little bit awkward to hold, but I think that's more me than the design of the controller. But for $79.99 you get a completely assembled and ready-to-fly Proto CX helicopter, a 2.4GHz radio system, LiPo battery, four “AA” radio batteries, even a spare set of rotor blades and you can start flying it immediately!

I would hurry down to to your local hobby shop and get one as I do not think these babies will be on the shelves long.

Rating :