HK500 FBL is ready!

Got the HK500 FBL programmed into the iX12, made a few adjustments and took her out for  hover test. Ready to go! Time to head out and crash her!

Stik long running aileron spasm problem solved!

I have written a couple of times about my long running issue with the ailerons on the Stik going rogue and spasming at WOT. They would move like crazy and sometimes lock up in a hard roll. A few weeks back an intense uncommanded high speed snap roll resulted. Last time I took her out to the field she did it, and I grounded her. 

I had read on an RC crash site on Facebook that a plane had uncommanded aileron roll to the site of the crash that was fixed by balancing the prop and padding the receiver against vibration. Since I have tried everything, changing leads, torrid, changed servos, changed the ignition, and eventually the receiver. Nothing worked, so I decided to try the balance and protect. The prop did need balancing, and I padded the receiver with a gel pad and foam around the receiver. Today I took her out:

Problem solved! Wow... 

Working out the bugs

And there have been bugs...

Having gotten the settings on the RCGF-USA 26cc where they seem to want to be, she still runs a bit 4-cycling at WOT, but there is power aplenty and she runs o/w smooth, with a reliable and usable idle. Since I am going to check the balance on the Stik's prop I went ahead and checked this one, and lo, she needed some balancing. I suspect the painted tips have worn a bit. Not sure what difference is made, but I do think it is important.

As illustrated, possibly, here. I had read in an FB post about a plane lost due to vibrations in an unbalanced prop creating a signal that caused an un-commanded fixed roll to the site of the crash. I have had this problem with the Stik where at WOT her ailerons would become possessed and endure paroxysms of movement, then locking in a hard roll, and once in flight one helluva snap roll had resulted. It only happens at WOT. I have put torrids on everything, changed the ignition, changed the servos, changed the servo leads from the receiver, and recently changed the receiver, but the problem remains. Having read this, I balanced the prop, and she did need a couple of micrograms of balancing. The prop is clean and properly balanced. Next time I take her out I will let you know how this works out.

They also mentioned heavily padding the receiver from vibrations, so I took my last piece of gel padding (I used to use this on heli gyros, not sure it helped), and placed it between the fuse and the receiver.

Suspended there.

Surrounded by a foam cover-all. This is about as isolated from vibration as I am going to be able to make it. All I need now is some cooperative weather.

Waste of Time: Take 2

Brisk winds. Brought out the Stik with its RCGF-USA 10cc, and the Pulse XT60 with its RCGF-USA 26cc. Both worked fine last week. Neither worked fine today. It took some tuning the 10cc, but that wicked un-commanded aileron movement occurred and was pretty constant at high RPM. I just read a story about a plane crash where the prop was out of balance and generated a vibration freq that caused this to happen. Hmm.... will be checking the balance of the props.

I even had my son Luke with me to video... but alas, nothing flying today. The Pulse was not running right since getting her muffler tightened, and part of it was the fuel lines kinking. I knew this might be a problem at some point and it was today. And to boot, the screw that secures the spinner stripped. Grounded.

Got her home, fixed the fuel system redoing all the lines and making it a 3 tube system so that the engine gets its fuel directly. A new spinner screw was all it took to solve that problem. This all took about an hour or so. I was not in the mood for further foolishness so called it a day. Tomorrow will be too windy to fly, so I will once again tune the engine and get the cowl back on.

Same as yesterday, another waste of time.

UPDATE (5/28/2020):  I took the plane out to the backyard bench and ran it up. Took about an hour to find decent settings. Still 4-cycles a bit at WOT, but now it has great RPM and Idle. I'll put the cowl back on, and next time I go out taker her with me to be disappointed again. There has to be something I have lost in tuning my engines for this to keep happening.

Well, that was a waste of time.

It began with having to solve a cat problem... Move one, the other two show up.

First flight with the Twinstar and her new nose gear went fine!

Started the Pulse XT60 RCGF-USA 26cc, and noticed the muffler shaking again, loose. Started to remove the engine to fix it, but without my bench tools it was going to be a painful and long process. Screw it, will fix it at home. Put her back in the car.

Second flight landing and the nose gear did not bend, but broke the forward bulkhead off. I saw this coming.

Quite the angle there.

Keith and Jason were tooling about, walked over before I left to say hi!

Spinner off, prop off, cowl off, engine off. Used J-B Weld as a gasket sealant and as a Locktite, having read it as a fix for this, and having it on hand. Sucker is snug. I also found a couple of lock washers, for whatever difference they make. I also found the throttle control arm nearly off, it's set screw held there by the choke arm! Jeez, this thing is shaking everything off. Standard blue Locktite, tight as I could make it. Engine back on, cowl back on, prop back on, spinner back on. Check pak charge. Ready to try again tomorrow. Really wasted time at the field.

Put the Twinstar aside in the shop, not in the mood for its foolishness. 

Think I need a second plane for tomorrow, since the helis are grounded until Spektrum fixes the software issue with heli DR/Expo. Hmmm... probably the Stik!

iX12 Power Hobby Skinned

I like color, and I wanted a yellow or green iX12, but by the time I got around to buying one the red and black were all that were offered. I had seen these Spektrum transmitter skins from Power Hobby before, but my Gen 1 DX8 wasn't supported. A few days ago I saw a post about them and I thought about them again. I went looking for one for my iX12. I picked out this one, the Power Hobby Red Honeycomb Spektrum iX12 skin. They have several different  designs for several transmitters, check the iX12 ones out.

They are a soft vinyl sticker, thick and sturdy, quite sticky, but easier to handle than I feared. It came in a nice cardboard protector. No instructions, but it was fairly self evident. I wasn't sure about the two narrow pieces on the sides at the "handles", but found they fit nicely along the sides of the rise around the button and strap holder. I especially liked the corner cuts around the screen.  Step by step, below:

They are thick enough that they are easy to handle, and to keep from sticking to each other. They are an amazingly good fit. The only two I had trouble with was the iX12 logo at the top, it was just a hair big and I damaged it trying to Xacto the edge, and the red one around the upper right switches, it didn't want to lay right and I think I had stretched it a little placing it. I managed to smooth it out. I used a Q-tip swab, and a spilt coffee stirrer stick, to push it into place and set it. Xacto a little along the left rubber handle. When I was done I hit it lightly with a heat gun, careful, it melts fast, but tucked in nicely!

It looks nice! It's not going to look painted, but it comes pretty darn close. I am impressed how snug the tolerances. I am pleased with it! I plan to fill in any gaps in dark with a Sharpe. I like the splash of color and pattern! I recommend trying them out at this great price!

Heli Progress Made

Test hovered the EXI 450  with the new HK 450 flybar head. What a difference a clean tight rig makes!  I changed the tail blades to fiberglass ones with a little longer chord but a touch shorter, held her fine. I wish there was a way to put expo on the collective.

Right now there is a known bug in the Heli software that doesn't allow more than one Dual Rate/Expo. An annoyance, but I tend to fly 100% and 25% Expo, but I do like to turn it down once in awhile. I fly sport so that works for me, but waiting for the fix.

Took the HK500 with its BeastX out for its photo shoot for the iX12.

She is on the bench and I started programming the iX12. Setup when...

... her 5S battery charges!

The 500 is sooo much more stable than the 450, so looking forward to getting her up. Continuing to rock the sim in the meantime!

UPDATE: Well, the new bug in the iX12 Airware that prevents me from setting more than one DR/Expo is holding up further heli progress until it's fixed. Spektrum is on it, date unknown.

EXI 450 Sport

It's time to start getting my helis up and programmed into the iX12. Because it was on the table I decided to start with the EXI 450 Sport with its flybar system. I haven't tuned up a flybar cage in so long I had to go back and watch Bob White's CCPM Set Up videos from Helifreak.com. It all came back pretty quickly!

I decided to start the CCPM setup from scratch. Right away I started seeing problems with this cage, mostly that is was so loose that the blades moved several degrees with slack. I decided to give it a try anyway.

Gotta love a flybar system!

Blades balanced perfectly. 

Well, the short of it is that it wasn't controllable and behaved wildly in pitch change, eventually I just had to put it down. I hit hold and tried to auto down, but it just swung around, and slammed into the  ground so hard it bent the feathering shaft, broke one of the main blades, stripped a few teeth on the main gear, maybe a hint of bend I  the main shaft, but no other damage. In all my crashes, I have never done that. I checked a box that has a bunch of old heli parts and I found an unused Hobby King 450 Flybar assembly. I always replaced the nylon parts with metal, hence the metal one on this heli. But this one is solid and tight, so I decided to replace the loose metal one with this one

It is actually really nice, and for sport flying more than sturdy enough! It had it's own main shaft. It was pretty much square and level, a few tweaks and it's all set up. I wish I had done this before.

New blades, all ready to test. Got late so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I think its going to fly great, so much better control.

One thing leads to another... Sbach saga continues

I decided to clean the carb on the Evolution 10cc engine on the Sbach. I haven't been a fan of this engine, and from now on will be sticking with RCGF-USA. They discontinued this engine, and I can't even find parts. I wonder if the Evolution nitro carb would work? Well almost all of this was from inside the carb. I used Gumout and Duster Spray and blew everything out I could.

Putting it back together. I snagged one of the two tiny O-rings on the low needle. The engine runs, but the needle is a bit loose. I think it creates the resistance to turning once you set it but doesn't add too much leak protection.

As I was removing the carb I saw a crack in the fuse likely from the landing gear pulling back. I brought the edges together as best I could and installed an inside and outside patch. Re-coted.

The best I can do. I think at the beginning I flip the switch from landing idle up to approach then flight idle, and I think I reverse that at the end. She seems okay now.

The engine runs, a lot of oil spray still. It took a long time, and a change: I found the engine had better curve and idle response if I moved the throttle by hand. I changed the control arm to a longer one and this made finding the idle around the stock needle settings (about 5-1/4 for low, and 2-1/2 for high) quick and easier. She seems to run up a bit smoother, has a fair WOT rpm, and comes back to a pretty steady low idle now. I put a drop of blue locker on top of the deep set low needle since it moves so easily with only one O-ring. 

I noticed as I cleaned that oil off that the top rudder hinge was severed. I had to replace all three CA hinges and installed instead these Du-Bro plastic hinges. I used a little red grease to keep the epoxy off them on installation.

Dug out the old CA hinges on both sides.

A small touch of 30 min epoxy at the outer edges. Press them in, and wipe off the extra as I get 3/4 of the way in.

The rudder control wires and the bottom tended to pull the top back, so some rubber bands to stop the foolishness. Of course I skipped the cursing, gnashing of teeth, etc, that comes despite perfect dry fitting, once you get the epoxy on, and putting the sides back together requires a deal with the devil. As always, took a lot longer than it should have.

I am so tired of this engine. I put the cowl on, because if it doesn't run after this I'm not tinkering with it at the field, and possibly never again.

I also found a crack running along the base of the canopy just before putting her up on the wall. The canopy had fallen off the bench. Some CA on the inside. 

One thing just leads to another...

On the wall, may take her out next time I fly and see what happens. 

Looking for a replacement carb that has that funky white collar that connects it to the crankcase, at the very least a couple of tiny 5mm-7mm O-rings.

Ahhh... when everything goes as planned.

Straight out 90 deg crosswind gusts. Winds aloft were brisk and tossed the smaller Sukhoi around a little, made some maneuvers with the bigger 30cc MXS-R a little snappy and unpredictable so kept her high. I hate landing from the south over those trees. A down burble in front of the trees and an up burble at the crest of the hill at the end of the runway. As you approach from the east in front of the trees the winds try to drop the plane and roll her into them, then you turn and as you approach the southern end of the runway there is a lift that pushes up up. Have to fly it all the way down. I try to take off a lot of speed on the downwind with flaps 50% if the plane has them, then turn "downwind" which is actually a head wind in the crosswinds, full flaps and make the turn to final which is short. If I come in shorter there isn't enough runway so that's harder still. It's fun, but puckery.

A bit faster with the 2 blade, still not a lot of vertical but better, and she held her own in some strong winds aloft (even flew backwards at WOT briefly). She will keep the 2 blade.

Not a thing to have to tinker with! Worked exactly like she is supposed to!

Beautiful... in every way! Perfect controlled takeoff, flight maneuvers and aerobatics, then textbook approach and landing, after a few rougher approaches, a couple missed and a couple hard planted (no damage).  Big plane, fun flier!

A few seconds after the last flight, sweet landing (variable crosswinds), and then shutdown. 

Perfect flight.

Happy everyone is going home intact! Loving the 1:40-1:45 oil mix, the planes are coming home clean!

In my continued efforts to stop using NiMH batteries, I took them out of the Sukhoi, and used their Futaba J-connector leads to make a harness with an EC3 again. These too are ancient.

This 2S 7.4V LiPO battery is really a bit big at 4000 mAh, but it's replacing two 2300 mAh NiMH batteries which are heavier. I made a tray to allow the Velcro to pass as the tray under it that held the NiMH had a wire tie, and the Velcro would not pass. This is aft of the CG so I may have to compensate for it, You can see the connectors. The leads hanging off at the top of the pic are the aileron connectors.

Hung the Breitling MXS-R next to its buddy, the MX-Bach.

The only planks that are not in the iX12 and haven't been preflighted for the season are the Cub,  Hacker MX2, and the Waco RCGF-USA 26cc. I am not sure, actually, if that Alpha 450 is in it either.  Tomorrow I plan to start programming the helis into the iX12.

MXS-R Flight Ready, Battery Changes

As I was getting the MXS-R ready to fly and charged the old NiMH 6V receiver and ignition packs, I got this feeling that they just were old now and needed replacing. They were holding a charge, but the meters were all showing different numbers (unloaded) and they weren't getting past 8.5V, and got there kinda quick. I cycled them on the charger down to 6V, and then recharged them, and they didn't take much to get there. Unlike LiPOs where an internal resistance can be very useful to indicate a battery is getting its end of life, I don't know of much else by which one judges the life cycle of an NiMH battery. I have been changing all of my aircraft on NiMH over to LiPO for the charge capacity, the voltage, and because I am more familiar with them, though I have been using NiMH for over a decade. So on a whim, and because I could, and because the 9 year old (few cycles, don't use it) 7.4V 2S 4000 mAh battery I have has IR of 14 and 15 and it takes a charge well, I decided last night was the night.

This is a post pic, but I removed the receiver pack pictured above, and the ignition pack that was just aft of the firewall, without any drama. Snip their ties, pull them off the Velcro (I never understood padding them). I didn't date these so have no idea how old they are, but I figure at least 4-5 years as I don't think I have ever changed them in the MXS-R. I built a small platform aft of the wing tube, CA'd it in place with a pair of servo screws (RTL Fastners, awesome utility screws!) for security, thought that thing isn't going anywhere. The net effect will be minimal weight difference and nil on the CG, I am confident. 

I "soldered"* a new harness using two "Futaba" J-connector servo power plugs and an EC3, and ran both through their relevant switches (bottom right), the EC3 of course going to the battery. Voila. New electrical power system in place. Tested perfectly. 

* I don't like large solder joints, I don't think you can reliably join them without a lot of heat, and the wire gauges were remarkably different, joined two black and two red small gauge wires from the Futaba plugs to their larger counterparts to the EC3 using these heat shrink butt connectors. I love these things! Have never had one fail. In this case the red ones worked, fitting the large leads just tight. Just use the air heat soldering iron or the heat gun to melt them. I then covered the two connectors (red, black) with that yellow shrink wrap.

The old packs. The greasy looking one was exposed, then newer looking one was under the front end covered behind the firewall. They are probably still good, I may use them for servo and ESC testing etc.

Forgot to mention a Pirate Captain Duckie has risen to the challenge of flying the MXS-R.

I mentioned I decided to paint the spinner "cub yellow". Damned if the paint, Rustoleum Golden Sunset gloss enamel, didn't match perfectly. A couple of coats of clear gloss enamel over that. It's a carbon fiber spinner that was scratched badly a ways back, but is otherwise in perfect condition. 

The spinner looks amazing!

So she is already to go, the DLE 30cc is rocking it, and I have also charged up a few batteries for the Twinstar with her new legs, and the Sukhoi is charged and ready to go as well. If I can get motivated, today isn't a bad day to fly, but a case of the blues is making it hard to get motivated. Wx has been so unreliably lately I almost feel forced to go, never a good mind set to fly with.