I wonder if I should have started with XT60S...

I got some new 5S 5000mAh LiPOs from Turnigy and needed to remove the XT60s and replace them with EC5s. Everytime I kinda wish I had used XT60s. The EC5s I get vary in quality, so that whether or not the pins fit in the blue case is a gamble. None of these fit... I had use a prop drill to get them to paxs and use a touch of thin CA.

If it wasn't going to be a pain in the butt I wpuld swit h them all.

I have been defeated...

Had some time this Sunday morning, before the Patriots beat whomever they are playing this afternoon, to fire up the reluctant Stik RCGF 10cc. She ran okay before I changed the piston ring and rebuilt the motor and the carb to clean everything out. I have managed to get her to run a little here and there, but for the past several tries I cannot get her to even burp.

I fueled her, and some gas blew out the vent onto the ground, but more was added to the pool as I ran the electric starter again and again, and it dripped from the muffler. I took off the plug, it looks good, and dried her out, tried again, no joy. I have the needles set 1-1//2 turns now, have had them as high as 3-4. I know she has spark, I know she has fuel, I know she has compression, I don't know why she won't run.  She has always been the cantankerous one, my other RCGFs run fine.

Time to send her to the team At RCGF-USA and have them figure it out. Joe, she will be coming your way next week...

Stik Battery Packs In

Mighty Tiny packs a bite! XK K124 Heli

Flying my Motion RC XK K124 when it got a little close and I defended myself. She bit me with her main rotor. Look at that bite mark!

This heli is a bomb. It's twitchy, but she is indestructable after changing to the metal swash. Fun flier, but requires your full attention!

The heli flies with a 2S 700 mAh battery that lasts more than 5 minutes, sometimes close to 10. The transmitter is programmable and the heli is capable of 3D in the right hands (not mine). All the required adjustments are present is the Futaba compatible tranmsitter, including Throttle and Pitch Curves, Expo. Two rate are programmable. Not a starter heli as this is nimble and responds very quickly to small movements, even with 50% Rate and 30 Expo. She is susceptible to drafts in hover but more resistant in flight. I love practicing flying her around the clinic during down times and "walking" her down the hallways. The attack occurred while trying to fly her backwards (nose in) walking her around and I set up a pilot induced oscillation I could not recover from.

Fun stuff! I find the 3D mode nearly impossible to fly, and use the 6G. My 500s and 600s are 3 axis and flybarred. I have flown her outside in light breeze and she did well! All in all a fun heli, and the best flying 250 or smaller I have flown, and sooo much more fun than coaxials.

New Field Box! Hyper Tough 2 Drawer

I needed a better, sturdier field box.  It needs to carry my starter,  tools , and batteries.  I wanted something metal to protect everything from the LiPOs in the case of fir4e,  and I don't want to spend a lot of coin.  I found the perfect one.

Hyper Tough Two Drawer Tool Box at Wally-World

Sticker came of easily.

One of the measurements I could not find was how much room was in the top space. I found a reference to it being "2-1/2" deep, but did mean including the lid? I suspected it did not. The starter on its side is 3" wide.... there os plenty of room! Its about 5" or so deep, I think.

UPDATE: The draweres are 2" deep. My 5S 4500 MaH batteries just fit. The top is 2-1/2" deep with the lid giving another 2" for a total of 4-1/2 of space. 

New Photos!

5S 4500 mAh in the top drawer, 3S 2200 mAh in the bottom.

For scale.

2 Years... and New Ideas for Spitfire 2

I got 2 years and hundreds of flights out of the Turnigy 6V NiMH Reciever and Ignition packs. The ignition pack failed, but I am replacing both.

This put my troubleshooting of the Stik's 10cc RCGF Engine on hold. I replaced the two batteries with the same packs, but have to wait about a week while the FedEx guy rides his bike from Oregon with them.

This got me to thinking about the second Spitfire build that will be my next project. I am moving to using a Tech Aero Ultra IBEC and changing to using a Turnigy 2S 3600 mAh LiPO reciever pack to run both the reciever and the ignition. In my first build I used my usual two NiMH battery backs with the RCExl Opto Kill Switch. This reduces the weight by about 150 gms.

That project is awaiting funding, but will otherwise be the same, using another RCGF 10cc engine from RCGF USA, of course.

Tuning a Gasser: Keep It Simple Terry's Custom from Flying Giants

I have gotten a couple of good questions about tuning gas engines. I am by NO MEANS an expert, but I have struggled with it for years and have settled on this method. In fact. I don't think there is a better way, and this is the method "masters" have shared with me so I have always used this method for tuning my gas engines. Keep it simple. I got this off a forum years ago, on Flying Giants, "by Terry's Custom".   Works well! The hardest part is trying to figure out if the engine is rich or lean...

RICH: Too much fuel, may need to turn needle IN (Righty Tighty = IN)
LEAN: Not enough fuel, may need to turn needle OUT (Lefty Loosy = OUT)

Good stuff for gasser tuning. 

From Terry’s Custom:

Here is the process:

Read each step and follow exactly and move the sticks exactly as I indicate, there is no slow stick movement when checking the H and L needles. Since both needles work together, slowly throttling down or up will tell you very little when doing your base needle settings.

Don't omit any steps and don't do any steps out of order and IT WILL WORK, follow each step and do exactly as described: 

Basic tuning:

1 - Tune the engine when it is warm, and double check the tune after a flight.

2 - On the Walbro there is a little silver screw on the carb that is an "idle set screw". it has a spring on it and it sets how low the low throttle arm will physically go down. Take that screw OUT and deposit it in the trash can. Do not remove the black H and L screws obviously.

3 - Start the engine and run it for a good few minutes with varied throttle and some full throttle run ups to get it nice and warm.

4 - If you have not done so, adjust the servo travel for a consistent idle, does not need to be perfect as long as it is as low as it will reliably run for at least 10 seconds or so. You can not properly tune the low needle if the idle is too high! For smaller engines set the low as low as it will reliably run and you can adjust after tuning. You will NOT use a high idle setting during tuning as you cannot tell exactly where the low needle is on a high idle. A good low idle should stand still on the ground while idling. An idle up should just make the plane want to roll on the ground.

5 - Tune LOW (L) needle first. Now run the engine up to clean it out with a couple full throttle run ups and then go to to low idle. Listen to the engine.........how long does it take to start to "load up" or start to slow down in RPM? If it is rough right away you are likely way to rich. Normal starting point on 100cc engines is 1.5L and 1.5H. I have had to go as low as 1 3/8 on the low needle on the Walbro carbs. Adjustments on gas carbs are VERY small, like the width of a screwdriver blade or 1/16th of a turn or less.

A good "safe" tuning on the low needle you should be able to clean it out with some run ups, return to idle and it should have a nice steady low idle for at least 15-20 seconds before it starts to load up. If it does this it is still just a "touch" rich but will not die on you and it will run nice and smooth.

6 - How low should react. Now that you have it running, clean out the engine and let it go to idle. Let it sit for 10 seconds or so and then slam the throttle to full, not slow, nail it!! Listen to what it does. If it dies or almost dies, you are too lean. If it stumbles and works it's way up (may see smoke in exhaust) you are rich. As tuned in number 5 above it should run up quickly with very little or no noticeable stumble.

7 - Now tune the HIGH (H) needle. There are several ways to do this with RPM but the most simple way for a safe needle setting is this. With the engine warm and the low needle tuned run the engine up to full throttle for about 5 seconds. Now chop it in one quick motion to low. Listen to what it does then. - If it returns to a steady idle, you are very close. - If the idle goes way low and works it's way up to a steady idle you are too rich.- If it stays at a high idle and then slows down you are too lean.- If it dies you are either way too rich or way too lean. With the H at 1.5 (on 100cc engines) you should not be too lean.

8 - When H is set return and double check the L and then double check the H. Then it's time for a flight. Listen to the engine carefully for all of the noted symptoms while you are flying. One engine test I do in-flight is for the H needle. Get the engine nice and hot, maybe a high speed pass or something. Now do a full throttle straight up line. Listen! Engine should be smooth and steady until you can't go higher. If it starts to sag at all, land immediately and richen the H needle just a tad and try it again.

This fade can also be caused from overheating not tuning related so make sure your engine is properly baffled if you now the tuning is correct.

There you go, pretty simple and really only takes a few minutes once you get it down.

Stik RCGF 10cc Piston Ring Installation and Revisiting the Single Needle RCGF Carb

The piston rings arrived and I installed one. Easy now that I have the right part. Here's how this went. I did solve the problem with the compression, but found the carb wouldn't send fuel to the cylinder. Bad carb.

The piston ring. There is a gap for installation. Note that it has angles at the ends.

On the piston head in the cleaned ring groove there is a notch. Find it. Its where the opening in the ring goes. Locate it. When cleaning the groove don't damage it.

When the ring is compressed in the cylinder head the two angled ends come together under the notcch in the cylinder head.

Installed. Note the notch and the opening in the ring matched up. The ring slips easily over the piston head into the groove lining up the opening with the notch.

The compressed ring at the notch. Hold this together and work the cylinder head over the piston. It may take a few tries. Start in back opposite the ring notch.

Remember the gasket before you slip the cylinder head on... I grease mine very lightly.

Screw the cylinder head on gorilla tight. Don't strip the screw heads.

Apply the RCGF Logo!

Nice compression!

I spent over an hour trying to get the motor to start. At first she would run a second choked, but only a second with the choke opened. If I put fuel directly in the air intake of the carb she wpuld run a few seconds. So the cylinder works, its just not getting fuel. Fuel is in the lines to the carb. Something is wrong with the carb.

I took the carb apart. It was full of fuel... everything looks fine. I am at a loss now as to what to do next. I guess I will try changing the carb. Maybe I will try the single needle carb...

UPDATE: This evening, for giggles, I installed the single needle carb. I had taken it apart, so first had to put it back together. I have no idea what the factory setting is for the needle. I think I remember I only adjust the tiny needle in the middle, not the big brass housing. It was dry and the engine can't draw vacuum sufficient to dry start it (a problem that doomed it, so now it comes with a Walboro carb). I figured out how to get fuel into the system and got her to start. But the settings are all wrong, so she starts at mid throttle, quits at full and at idle. I have an email in to Joe Nelson at RCGF USA about the factory settings and may try to get it to run. If I decide to use it, I will have to completely reconfigure the throttle servo and linkage, as the Walboro's comes out underneath and the sRCGF carb connects on top as installed. I am going to try to figure out what is wrong with the Walboro, but may need to send it or buy a new one.

The original RCGF Single Needle Carb installed. 

Bottom (top, installed). The throttle lever would have been on top instead of where the servo comes out on the bottom of the fuse. There was no point to keeping it installed, especially after what I discovered  (see below video).

Recorded during the first good start. Trying to tune it I only made it worse. It will only start at precisely half throttle, will speed up at 3/4 almost full, but quit at full, and anything less than half.

UPDATE (8/2/18): Well, this is interesting. I am surprised the engine ran at all! I was removing the single needle carb and reinstalling the original but now completely deconstructed and rebuilt Walboro carb when I went to plug the vacuum nipple on the cylinder that the remote fuel pump for the single carb needs. I saw that tis plugged INTERNALLY. I had completely forgotten I had poured solder into it to completely close it off. Somehow the pump worked, sort of, without vacuum. This may be why it ran oddly and could not be tuned.

The brass penis thingy coming off the base of the cylinder is the vacuum nipple for the single needle fuel pump.

HISTORIC DAY!

As of today I can truly call myself a heli pilot! 

I flew 4 packs on the HK 500 FBL back to back, 20 min of almost uninterrupted flight, cool as a cucumber, all phases of basic flight. She and the BeastX FBL system performed flawlessly! I fly 5S 4500 mAh Turnigy packs. I practiced basic level flight in circuits and figure 8's, flew squares and circles in bothe directions, at low speed and low altitude, nose in and out hover, and landings, including auto rotation.

I love helis because they are unforgiving. The engineering has to be perfect, the programming in the FBL system and the transmitter has to be perfect, and the pilot has to be perfect, or very quick at recognizing trouble and getting out of it.  I decided that after my last flight, my first true and complete success, that I would no longer be afraid of flying my helis. Curiously, thats exactly how it went. I set up, spun up, and flew. I fly far more focused than when flying the planks, and I think thats why I enjoy it more.

There were a few pucker moments, where I lost orientation for a few seconds, where I over corrected a bit. But each time I remained calm and recovered easily, albeit with a moment of sphincter tightening. The flights were otherwise controlled and what I intended. It was fun! I am looking forward to geting my other helis in the air.

Oh... and then there was the A-10.

First she ran across the dirt infield, started to rotate and hit the grass, kneecapping her and tearing off the nose gear. Oh, well, we'll hand launch, which I hate especially on a maiden. It went poorly. I am sure I can fix it. Just need more runway next time.

And the Hacker MX2 flew really well once I got her CG on spot. Flew 3 packs. On the last one she over ran the field into the grass and flipped, breaking her prop. I love the Xoar wood props  but they break if you sneeze on them.

But who cares...

I AM A HELI PILOT!

A-10 ready to fly!

Finished the reconstruction work on my A-10. I am not sure which make it is, I think FMS, but its an early one, about 8 yrs old or so, I think. I have flown it only a handful of times because I don't have a good field to take off and land it on. I know some of you have enough power, but with 3S she doesn't move well on any kind of grass. Once up she hauls though. Two 70mm 6 blade fans.

Spackling out the rough spots

Gluing some of the gaps.

Decals. The material I use isn't very good, or I am missing some step to help them adhere well. As they dry many tend to peel up, even under the clear coat of polyurethane.

Finished up in NH ANG Marine Group colors (I made the squadron up).

In the flock!

Waco up!

I had problems with a bad Optical Engine Kill Switch on the RCGF 26cc equipped Phoenix Models Waco. On the field I had tested the circuits and found that the switch was bad. Taking it out of the circuit the engine and the engine ran fine. So I purchased a new Optical Switch. As I reconfirmed the issue on the workbench I found the ignition battery pack was shorted, and had to replace that. It came in yesterday, so I installed it, checked everything out, and found out the LED that was part of the original Optical switch was burned out. Did it short too? What the hell? I had to leave it in place because it was glued in, and had soldered a new plug in, cut the wires on the LED attached to the new switch and put a plug on there too. I ended up having to force the old LED out, and put in the new one I had just cut off the switch, repeating the solder work. Jeez...  This RCGF 26cc engine is one of the best running engines, and represents the brand well, and she has a sweet sound. She is happy again, and I am happy again.

Yay! New LED works! Thosre are the aileron leads hanging there, Y into the Stabilizer.

Everything tucked in and clean. The Waco is sporting a Hobby King Orange 3-Axis Airplane stabilization gyro there in the middle. I had bought the Spektrum Alpha 6 system that I could never get to program right (so I have two little Alpha 6 bricks), but this one is on a couple of my planes. The Spektrum Receiver is on the port wall across from the foam cover and its satellite is forward in a 90 degree orientation form the receiver. Underneath that is the gas tank and battery packs.

When I pulled out the old Optical Switch the VHB tape holding it in place pulled the wall of thick balsa behind it right out leaving a jagged hole in the balsa but the cote intact. It was right above the switches. I had to put a plate of balsa over it on the inside, leaving a funny dent in the cote. I ended up having to cut that cote out, filled in the space between the new piece of balsa and make it level with the surrounding original balsa, and re-cote it. To get this smooth took a couple of tries, but I got it. You can't see the seams unless up very close. I had to redo the switch labels. When I replaced the LED and housing just forward of that I reinforced the balsa skin and used the same outer hole in the fuse; the balsa patch actually holds the housing for the LED, neither of which I glued in this time. I put the black cote there to cover the edges of the hole and to contrast the switch for better visibility. All in all I am quite happy with it.  One of my favorite planes, I can't wait to get her in the air!

RCGF 10cc Piston Ring

My oldest RCGF 10cc engine in the Stik had been acting the fool. I decided to clean out the cylinder and plug, rebuild the carb. It was an all day project. When I put it all back together I couldn't get it to run...  and I realized that the engine didn't have the compression on turn over that I was accustomed to. Something I did screwed it up. Its got spark, so ignition and plug are good. I decided to pick up a new piston ring and gaskets. I went cheap with Hobby King, after all they advertised as RCGF. They arrived from Hong Kong yesterday, and I tried to install the piston ring

It seemed to fit the cylinder. when I slipped it in off the piston. I have no experience with these, so I watched a few You Tube videos. I don't know how tight it should be, but it fit without a struggle. I cleaned out the piston ring slot, and easily got the ring on the piston. When I tried to get the piston and ring into the cylinder it would not go, no matter how much I worked it, nor how many times. I tried re-cleaning the ring groove to see if something was preventing it from sitting in full ring compression, and tried again. It went in too easily. I pulled it out and a piece of the ring was missing; it simply broke off.

I decided to get the parts from a real RCGF seller and went back to the gang at RCGFUSA.com. I ordered another set of gaskets and the cylinder ring. I put my order in this morning.

Here's why you buy quality from the dealer and not the reseller. This afternoon I got a personal call from Joe Nelson, the owner at RCGF USA as he had seen my order. He wondered what I was up to with a cylinder ring, wondering what had gone wrong with the engine, and he called me to see if he could help. THAT"S CUSTOMER SERVICE!  He told me that the counterfeit rings sold by Hobby King are often slightly off and that is why I had so much trouble with it. He is sending my order out today, with some of the new RCGF USA stickers. They will be here soon, coming out from Arizona instead of China.

I figure if this doesn't get the engine running I will send it out to RCGF USA and have no doubt they will get it fixed.

I fished out the broken ring from the crankcase and any metal shavings using a magnet.

More to follow!

The Bad, The Good, and the Awesome

The Bad

Maidened the Hacker MX2 today (see Good, below). First landing, the right wheel pant came right off. These things are hard enough to keep on planes, but the foam ones never survive grass.

Screw them, tore off the left one by hand. No Capes and No Wheel Pants!

The DLE 30cc on the Breitling was idling a bit low but didn't quit on start-up, thought it would come up as it warmed up, gave it a few notches of subtrim and took off. Few moments later as I idled out of  tumble she quit. Dead stick: remember up elevator is never good. I could and should have turned right in and landed her awkwardly even, but she was going from left to right and right in front of me at altitude, so I thought I would just keep going. This unexpectedly put me in a tail wind on final (learned after the crash; winds shift on Mt Hudson and there really wasn't one, so...). I tried to keep her nose up in the turn which was a mistake, and that was all it took, she dropped nose first, I let her to gain airspeed, then at the last moment as she disappeared over the edge of the hill I pretended I was landing her normally but with full up elevator. That worked! This is how I found her.

From engine quit to hard landing was less than 10 seconds

She pulled her landing gear back, very little apparent damage anywhere else, as designed.

Gear is somehow still attached aft... Will get around to this repair next week. Another pilot was there and he likes to really reinforce these. I prefer they be strong but able to break away and it works every time to save the fuse from severe damage.

She just looks so sad sitting there like that...

Well, I guess its time to reset the Crash Clock.

The Good

Maidened the Hacker MX2. The light breeze surprised me at how much it blew her around, making the trim out a bit challenging. She is a touch nose heavy (up-line, inverted, tended to drop). The Battery Cover came off in flight, seems I didn't close it right. Took me 15 min to find it. She flew wonderfully though, snappy and responsive. A few more familiarization flights and I will be able to fly her anywhere!

The Awesome!

Flew the HK 500 FBL "Drone" with the canopy mod allowing the 5S 4500 mAh battery to fit underneath (damn, I am clever!).  I took a moment to clean up the blade tracking, then I flew the entire pack for 5 min, with two landings, one tail in, one nose in, flew her in hover, in circuits, back-and-forths and figure-8's with total control! I had her going where I wanted her to go when I wanted her to go. My hands were shaking so bad at the end I decided to take the win and walk away. Now I need to fly one every time I go out so that the shakes stop. I am super excited, love these helis so incredibly much! Sim time pays!