The Good and The Ugly

 8 hrs in the garage like it didn't even happen ... Memorial Day weekend, weather is for shit with much needed rain.

I replaced the motor in the Alpha Sport 450, proving that it is a bent shaft, though not visibly discernable. There is no wobble at all now, everything is clean and straight. My OCD is happy.

I will change the shaft on those other two 450 motors when they get here in a couple of weeks. 

I replaced the Viton tubing in the tank of the Ultrastick with Sullivan Proflex fluorosilicone, and it had the desired effect. It's short so the Viton didn't flex enough to reach the floor of the tank, but the Proflex is soft and works wonderfully. Ran the engine up to make sure the plumbing works, and it runs just fine. Looking forward to the maiden.

I spent a couple of hours reprogramming the BeastX Microbeast on the HK500cmt (forgot to take pics). The other day I spun it up and something was clearly wrong with the setup (I haven't flown it in years).  I lost the manual a while ago, and the only one online is for the PLUS, but the programming was the same. I only did the main setup and not the parameters, as I am not familiar with that second menu but will be reading up on it. The swash was off a tish, and the control rods needed a lot of levelling. Not sure what was up with that. It seems all set to go, but with the rain I didn't try a hover.

I decided to finish the repair to the left leading edge my wife had crushed by accident a long time ago. Once again my lamentable understanding of applying cote plagued me as I tried to get a simple patch on the upper and lower wing done properly. I could get it in place easily enough, but I could not get it to shrink properly. The edges melt before the center shrinks at all. Redid it several times and finally settled. Had the same problem with the cote on the Cubby. Tried lower temps, higher temps, none of the advertised temps of different cotes worked. On the Cubby the cote shrank but the edges melt-wrinkled. Here the shrink just would not happen completely with either the iron or the heat gun. I need to figure this out... I think it's the next favor I need to ask of John Hayes, who repaired the wing on the Alpha Sport 450; teach elme how to do the repairs.

Interesting thing on the electronics in the PT-19, another plane I haven't flown in a while. It has an intact ESC lead to the throttle, but it also has an IBEC or a UBEC (can't tell). I don't know why... Why doesn't the ESC leads power line just provide the power. I decided to remove the IBEC when I changed out the EC5 connector for the EC3 I have been using in my 3S batteries. Plugged in the battery and the motor chimed in, but the receiver didn't do anything. Nada. Huh... So I wired a UBEC in off the battery leads, plugged it into the AR650 battery slot, and voila! Checked the installed gyro stabilization system, and it's fine. All up. So, ugly wing repair, but the PT-19 is ready to fly.

I really want to fly. Its supposed to stop raining tomorrow afternoon. Everything is going to be soaked, but its worth a try. I want to check out Joppa Hill Field, where I used to fly when I lived nearby in Bedford, but the grass is usually too tall and clumpy. Depending on the sitch I may drive all the way out to the field in Derry.