IT WAS A BLAST!!!! This was THE best day in my RC history. I knew it was something I needed to do, but now I really understand the importance of belonging to a good club. I am very glad I joined and cannot more highly recommend it! I happened to come on a day with a wonderful group of people to start with.
MCRCC has this incredible field, supported by Harrison County. We have a nice clubhouse, with a bathroom, and covered benches with AC power. The grounds are immaculate, well groomed and clean. The field looks great, but apparently Harrison County is coming out to level it and help improve the runway! This is a great, great club!
Special thanks to Jim, who spent hours with me getting my rotor head cleaned up and tuned. We got it sweet and snug, no tracking issues for the first time ever. But, the GY48V gyro is just not any good and I will need to replace it before I can fly it. Jim even tried and the tail kicked out in a simple turn. I will be replacing it, first with the 250 mini-MEMS, and if they aren't any good, a Spartan Quark. Its amazing between the slop in the head, the fact I didn't know I needed to set the swash not just in pitch, but in aileron and elevator, that she flew controllably at all. We replaced the feathering shaft and that brought everything into final alignment. I always thought something was weird in that I set the blade pitch, but never the aileron and elevator; I just didn't know how. I never thought my rotor head would get so cleanly set up! Now she is setup sweet, and I know what I need to do to the ERazor and CopterX. No wonder I had problems with them. My EXI's CCPM is so tight, I never thought I would have such a balanced head with no tracking problems!
Dick and CJ (who drives over from Slidell) were also incredibly generous with their time! Thanks to CJ for the Align links that helped tighten up my EXI's CCPM, and the great pics, and Dick for letting me fly his 600!
Unpacking for the first day of school at MCRCC! I brought the EXI 450 helicopter, the Cubby (which stayed in the car), and the Alpha Sport 450.
Jim taking a look at my CCPM setup. Dick (left) and Dickie (right, President of MCRCC) in the background. The 600 is Dick's. He let me fly it with Jim on the trainer box. It was incredible flying a large stable heli. Jim was generous with his time and knowledge. A man with a lot of energy, he spent a lot of time with me between flying his own 450 (his 600 was in the hurt locker). What I learned from him in this one afternoon has put me leagues ahead of where I was when I walked in. Jim will continue to be a great heli mentor.
Here is another MCRCC gem, Mr. Ron, a true Southern Gentleman. A seasoned pilot he is one of the three designated Instructor Pilots at MCRCC. I walked up, introduced myself to him, and asked him to help me. Without hesitating, he took me under his wing. We checked out my Alpha Sport 450, fixed a couple of things, and took her out to the flightline. He connected our transmitters with a Trainer cord, took off and handed her off to me.
We flew "3 mistakes high" for my first flight. The winds were brisk (I measured sustained winds at 7 mph, 12 mph gusts). The first flight I kept hearing the Trainer tone go off when I would lose control of the airplane and Ron would take control. Ron was cool and calm, straightened her out and hand her back to me. I was very nervous on the first flight, a bit less so on the second. I flew the second with one or two hand-offs, and he let me get down to "1 mistake high"!
CJ Bordelon's Pics
Me, Dick and Dickie, and the crowed Heli Bench. We all just sort of precipitated together. Dickie is the current club president, and is a heli driver.
Me flying Dicks Trex 600, Jim on my left on the master box.
This amazing pic CJ took in panorama. Runway on the left (with me in a bit of leakover from another pic), the flightline and the work area. We do have a remarkable field!
I can't wait to get back there with my 500!
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