My "New" HDX 3D-500SE

Luke and I drove out to just north of Bogalusa, Louisiana, for me to meet Dave, who connected with me via HeliFreak. He wanted to sell his HDX 3D-500SE, and his Dx6i. It made for a long day (started around 11, got lost going there a couple times, blew past his house and went about 10 miles off in the wrong direction. It didn't help that his house address doesn't match the street he actually lives on, but that's his address and his house is really where it is, not in the middle of a Wildlife Management Area over 10 miles away like Mr. GPS said it was). This is a beautiful heli. Its the first CCPM machine I have bought RTF, so I need to go over her and get a feel for her build. She is a clean machine!  Here's a pic of her hanging in my hangar with her new peeps. I'll post more pics when I "deconstruct" her.  Very nice, very excited to see her fly!

(Which one's the HDX 500? Hint: Its the ginormous one)

Key Chain Cam! Too cool!

This is way cool!I got it to film my RC flights as a hat cam, but I could also attach it to an aircraft as a FPV cam! $16 shipping included from novapcs on eBay. You will need a microSD card for it as it does not come with one.

The key chain camera I will be using as a "blind" hat cam arrived today!

I used Dual Lock Velcro to secure it to a large plastic clip (it also has a magnet).

Clipped on! It aims pretty well, level, for down range. It does not obstruct my field of vision, in fact after a moment I forget its there.

Close up.

Easy to remove from the clip. Dual Lock literally locks it in place.

First run of the key chain cam, low light conditions.  Pretty darn good!

PT-19 Build Day #2 Wings

Slow day... I epoxied the wings together with 30 min Epoxy, went per the instructions, no excitement.  the broken spar came together nicely! Sanded down the glue build up and it remained strong, fit perfectly. Pretty pooped, busy day, so that's it for the night!

E-flite PT-19 Build Day 1

As expected, this build is easy as much of the piece work has already been done. My experience with the Stearman, of which the build concepts are similar, has made it easier still. But it was not without its small setbacks.

The connectors for the servos use a plastic disk press fit to the post, rather than the nut used on the E-flite Stearman. I prefer the nuts... hmm... salted cashews...

It was awkward to press the disk on firm enough to press it with pliers. I finally got it balanced after a dozen tries...

Pressing carefully only got it down to the post.

But ball link pliers were a perfect tool to seat it all the way down snug. 

Finished. Once I am done with the build I will touch it with a spot of CA.

Epoxying the servo blocks in place. I find the cut out bottom of a 1 oz Dixie cup works great for mixing epoxy.

Using dental floss to hold the extension snug to the servo lead. Pass it through the gaps in the wires on either end, tie a square know or two and clip the bitter ends.

Aileron servos ready for installation.

Pulling the servo wires through the wing using the string they had passed and secured at each end. I tied it to the lead and centered it using their piece of tape, then easily worked it through the wing frame.

Setback. The block, well, blocks the cover from being secured into place. I noticed these blocks were cut a bit longer than those on the Stearman.

Used my Dremel to sand the corners that were blocked down to fit.

Clean curves on the blocks preserves a good amount of block for the servo screws.

Nice fit!

Different setback. On the other side it was the servo itself that blocked fit. I used the Dremel to sand down the edge of the screw mount on the wing. See the lower left one; slightly different in shape after sanding, just enough to allow the servo to fit.

Servo installed, cover secured with sheet screws touched with a spot of CA, proximal lead secured to prevent it falling back into the wing, using the string and piece of tape they provided to secure the string. 

Show-stopper setback. The bridge that will fit between the wings securing them internally and eternally together was warped. I barely pressed on it while thinking about what to do when it snapped, almost clean across. I suspect it got stressed in bending out of shape and the slight force I applied was all it took to snap it. CA didn't hold it, but a little Goop has done the job. I will let this set and tomorrow will sand it down. It will be covered with 30 min epoxy to secure the wings together, so I have no concern it can secure the wings without failing.

This was it for the night. I have some family commitments tomorrow, but suspect most of the build will be completed. I need to put a receiver and ESC in her to complete the build, and have neither due to shipping delays and the bad receiver (see below).  

By the way, the fit and finish of this aircraft is better than any of the E-flight birds I have owned, the bent spar aside. The Ultracote is tight and smooth! This is one beautiful aircraft!

Bad Spektrum Receiver, Bad boy!

The Spektrum AR6110 receiver I purchased on eBay from ValueRC arrived a couple of days ago, and today I tried setting up my servos with it. It failed... but ValueRC has agreed to swap it out, no questions asked! Thanks, ValueRC! Heres the vid of the test showing the failure.

My PT-19 project can be moved forward, but much will need to wait for the receiver. The motor arrived today from HeadsUPRC, the ESC is in the mail from Hobbypartz.

PT-19 Unboxed!

Yay! Another plane I am afraid to fly...

My E-flite PT-19 Cornell from Horizon Hobby arrived today!  I unboxed it and and some of the parts I also received. I am still waiting for the motor and ESC to arrive, but I will probably start the build tomorrow. I can't wait to fly her!  (If things go well with the Cubby, then the Alpha 450, this will be the next one I fly. still afraid of the Stearman since the Phoenix Flight Sim version is a twitchy brick... People who fly the real model, and what I can see in vids, say this isn't the case. but me afraid because she so pretty...).

The receiver is going to be a Spektrum AR6110 (I have a Y-harness), the ESC an Exceed Volcano 40A with 3A BEC, Tower Pro SG-90 servo's (maybe EXI D213Fs, I haven't decided...), and the motor from HeadsUpRC is a 2836-09  900 kv 200W brushless outrunner, on which will spin a 10x8E prop.  Everyone speaks well of the SG-90s, but the EXI servos are digital metal gear, and the TP SG90's are reliable, well known and widely used analog servo. I just haven't used the SG90's but I have a bunch of them. I think they are at least as good as, if not identical to the E-flite stock ones on my Stearman.

Chipping away

Hovering the EXI 450 in the garage...

The weather improved, but I wasn't able to get out to a field, so I hovered in the garage. The EXI is still having blade tracking problems, but the CCPM and cage are set up sweet; I have never figured this one out and have wondered if its something in the blades themselves. Well, don't you know, I get to find out... In hovering, I brought her down near the trash can, she bounced and just winged the can, but this chipped the ends of the blades enough to delaminate them. And I had just been wondering how I have had this heli for months and she still had her original blades!

I put some new fiberglass ones on, rechecked the CCPM and everything looks good. The Feathering shaft and the main rotor are fine. these blades were nicely balanced out of the bag.

I hope the tracking issue is gone with the new blades. It was off about 0.5 cm at mid throttle, even with a nicely tuned CCPM. The feathering shaft is straight and the pitch is right on. We'll see if these new blades resolve the issue. I plan to fly a few packs tomorrow! The weather looks good! I am excited to get her out.

Frankenheli

I am wondering if Frankenheli should get the 4 blade rotor head? The larger rotor disk will stabilize her more being that I won't have a FBL system in, though I have been toying with the idea of getting a BeastX for her. It would be one way to get a stabilized flybarless heli without buying a two blade FBL head. Hmmm...

Gyros!

I am excited that Hobby King has shipped my GA-250 mini-MEMS gyros. These little pretties are getting good press as a $10 MEMS gyro, a relabel of an Assan gyro. Yup, $10! I had mine backordered, and they are already NIS! I need to think about getting a few of these little puppies!  BUT WAIT!  Looky at what I found when I went to get the link for the GA-250s!  HK has another MEMS gyro, a programmable one, for $70! The Turnigy mini-MEMS with programming box. Very nice... Must consider...  I had purchased another Detrum GY48V, an inexpensive piezo, but of course the moment I ordered it I got the email telling me HK was shipping by backordered MEMS. A guy on Helifreak crashed his Blade 400, and being on some tough times he was upset about the crash and not being able to fix it. While he wasn't seeking sympathy, the HF's banded together around him and he is essentially receiving a new Blade 400 in parts pieces! I am sending him what he needs for a Milton Mod (which I am trying on my 250, and my other helis as well probably), and will be including that GY48V, since I don't need it. very happy for him!