PulseXT Resurrection

Damn I'm good...took me only 2, not 3 days!

For some reason I was loathe to start the build on my replacement Eflite PulseXT 25e, which I purchased after my radio browned out and she died a miserable ignoble death. (I have sinced replaced the NiCd battery, which thereafter wouldn't hold a charge more than a few minutes, with a LiPo. The difference in how my radio functions is clear). I think my tail was dragging on this as I have already done this, and I didn't want to do it again. I think Horizon Hobby knew this, since some nice things about this ARF made this less unpleasant. The wheel assembly was done. All I had to do was grind off the long axles (long in case you planned to use floats), put the pants on, and attach them. The wings had all their hinges done, the tail gear was in place and the horizontal and vertical stabs simply bolted on. The control horns were all attached. Simply put the servos and electronics in, the control rods and the motor, attach the wings and voila, resurrected. Its like she never died!

I don't remember putting the small spacers behind my HURC PowerUp 32 motor last time, but I did this time. (Actually, just found them in my crash box. Apparenly I did use them). It fits in the cowl perfectly. In the first build I had already dealt with the motor mount so was saved having to grind it again.

Much easier this time...

In Memorium...

I fixed the original wing, and hung it on the wall above the door to the workshop.

Get your pants on...

Epoxy the major joints with 30 min epoxy. I decided not to put Gorilla glue in the landing gear box like last time. I really don't think its needed.

Gear and tail feathers on.

Servos, control rods, and receiver in place. Motor on deck.

Made some extensions for the motor wires out of salvaged battery wire and plugs from those red battery clips no one except Notroplanes/Hobbyparts uses. This allowed me to move the ESC to the back of the compartment, out of the battery box.

As seen here, above (under) the receiver. There is very good airflow through here, better now that the back of the battery compartment isn't chock-a-block with equipment.

Now the battery box is clean. The ESC lead is easily accessed, and the opening to the equipment compartment below unfettered for good airflow.

Canopy on.

Wing joined. Like last time I heeded others advice and DID NOT join the wing on the fuse, but separately. The clips and popsicle sticks ensure good alignement. Used 30 min epoxy. My wing never budged last time.

Clean underside joint. I did put a piece of cote over this however.

And there she is, all beautiful. Like she never left...

Put a 2 on her in tribute to the first one, who taught me a lot about flying and never failed me...

Back in her spot, like she never died...

Looking forward to maidening her soon! The skies are clear and beautiful, but the winds horrible. It will be some time before I can. Tonight I think I may start on the Sbach project. By the way, I found out those black square pieces of wood that I couldn't idnetify from the first build are for the float sytem if you install it...

HDX500se Hovered, 450 up!

Well, here's a first I am sure. I have two CCPM helis flight read at the same time!

I soldered the pitch servo wires to a new connector, shrinkwrapped them individually, then as a bundle. Worked fine.

Took her out to the driveway for her first ever flight hover (in my hands... bought her used). Despite a brisk wind she hovered very stably. I guess what they say about larger helis being more stable is true. I knew this about 250 to 450, but even to the much larger 500; nice to see it in action. Looking forward to fully hovering her at BMF soon!

I spent my afternoon on the 500, and then rebuilding the Erazor 450 after yesterday's debacle. The main shaft was not bent at all! The feathering shaft of course was, and I had a bent blade. The antirotation pin broke in the swash. I didn't feel like fighting with it, so changed it out from a scavenged one I had hanging around, the entire swash plate that is. Trued up the CCPM from swash to blade holders, set up for -12 to +12 degrees, and she's flight ready!

I need to spend some more time, lots more time, on my Phoenix sim. I need to get over this psychological obstacle that is keeping me from advancing. I also need to work on recognizing she is getting to far away, keeping her closer. I plan to be flying scale by this time next year, and some 3D within a year after that! We'll see! 

Ugly day

It was a gorgeous, beautiful, "Ugly" day!

We had a very nice crowd at BMF today. A gorgeous day, light winds. Something was in the air the entire afternoon, from foamies, to giant scale to helis of all sorts. Dickie Ober even broke out his AR Drone. We had a couple of new people, and some past members showed up (Hi, Sam!) who haven't flown here for a couple of years.

I flew my Eflite Ultimate 20-300, one of my favorite all time fliers. Have to put some tail weight in and bring the CG aft if I want any 3D out of her. She flew awesome and was a lot of fun!

I also brought out my Hangar 9 Sopwith to try again. I noticed as she waited that her lower left wing had a curve in it. I could see too much of the underside of the wing, and it clearly was twisted, the leading edge lifting up. I don't think the repair I did to the leading edge could have caused this much twist, but I will need to break down the wing end and see if I can straighten it out. I REALLY wanted to fly her, but everyone said it would be suicide. Bill Page took me over when I was whining, and we looked her over. He talked sense into me, and I grounded her... very disappointed. Fixing this wing will be difficult. This photo doesn't show the degree of twist well, but its quite visible. I may be able to get a little push down from the strut, but I have no doubt I will need to refabricate the wind spars and leading edge... I have the PulseXT and the Sbach to build, so once again, the Camel is on the wall for the time being.

Flew my Erazor to much delight today! Flew several packs, then decided to try a side on hover, and did pretty well, both ways. Unfortunately she got away from me and I lost control of her, down she went. As hard as she went down I thought for sure I totaled her, but all that happened was damage to the main gear and the entire CCPM mechanism. Easily fixed. Should have her up after about 2 hours of work (repair, resetting the CCPM). I plan to get that servo wire fixed on my HDX500se, so I can start flying her soon. Probably get to that before repairing the Erazor.

Kenny Chandler brought out a new plane today! He got a great deal from Tower Hobbies on a 40 size Ugly Stick with an OS 0.46 AX motor. In addition to the combo price, he saved more with a coupon and his TH membership. We captured the entire maiden on video!

Flight of the Helis

Very windy day at BMF today, a lot of people there, not too many flying. I flew the Alpha Sport with her new nose gear today, practicing some wicked crosswind takeoffs and landings, putting some pretty stern stress on that new nose gear. She flew awesome! At the end of my day I flew the Cosmic Wind, and she handled the wind pretty well!

I also brought the helis out to fly. I had a binding issue with the HDX500se, easily solved, but in doing so discovered a badly frayed pitch servo wire. I grounded her...  I was pretty excited to take her up as I had flown the Erazor 450 several times already (helis are great in the wind) and was ready to maiden my HDX 500.

Flying the Erazor 450 today after she fell out of the sky with her radio loss last time. No issues there today! On one of the flights did a brief hover to capture it on video!

Sturdy Undies

The main landing gear on the Eflite Alpha Sport 450 are pretty sturdy, but the nose gear was prone to flexing. I finally snapped it last week. I ordered a Sullivan Knuckle Nose Gear from Tower Hobbies to replace it. This makes for a pretty sturdy pair of undies! Flew her today and this gear kept her straight and true on the ground, and she turned with authority during taxiing. In the install I had to replace the gear attachment with the Sullivan one, which was a bit large. I cut an inch off the top of the gear wire, and she fits perfectly.

Kibbles and bits

The UPS man cameth, and he leaveth stuff!

The LiPo battery for my Spektrum DX8 arrived, fully charged! Its already in my transmitter. The NiCd was worn out. I think it got short charge memory, and something else was wrong with it (it was always warm). I have little doubt it caused the crash of my PulseXT.

Got tired of hand bending poor z-bends, so bought a Hobbico z-bend plier. Not sure how to use it, but I think I can figure it out.

Why's this upside down???? I flipped it, but there it is... The replacement nose gear for my Alpha 450 Sport Trainer. Its pretty big... but will solve some problems getting through the grass.

AND MY NEW REPLACEMENT PULSEXT 25e ARRIVED! I am not going to enjoy rebuilding it and the stress of the maiden, but she is one of the finest airplanes I own and I can't wait to be flying her again!

HDX 500se and Erazor 450 Ready!

Busy day today! Finished work on the Hanger 9 Sopwith, the Thunder Tiger eHawk 1500, and now announcing I've finally gotten my HDX 500se flight ready! I replaced a bad servo, chekced the Align GP750 gyro setup, checked blade balance, replaced the tail blade with 500 size ones, programmed my Dx8 and set up the CCPM. When I get my new radio battery I hope to maiden her! Both the Erazor 450 and the HDX 500se are ready now.

Canopy off, HDX 500se

Erazor 450 in the foreground, HDX500 in the back.