First day, first flight, first crash

Today I loaded up for flying! My apartment living requires I adapt to loading my car.
 

 
I took the Ultimate with its funky rudder and the Pulse which seemed fine and headed out to Wingmasters field. Met a handful of members, all with really good skills and pristine aircraft... Nice, welcoming guys!
 
I set up my stuff, and took the Pulse up. There was a brisk crosswind, but nothing I have not flown in before. It was like I had never flown in my life... I took off heading askew down the paved runway, and managed to putz her around in the pattern. Then well before she was due, her power started to drop off, and full throttle did not give me much. I had checked the battery before flight. I was at the wrong end of the field. I brought her around, and managed to head her into the wind, AND SHE WOULD NOT COME DOWN! I was so psyched out by my poor flying that I failed to try the spoilers. She overshot the runway and I knew I did not have enough power to go around. I put her down, not too hard, nice and flat, but the off field cabbage has big chunks in it and she tore off her landing gear, which as always rolled under her and punctured the wing, this time taking out a spar... Her battery was actually fine at 3.75V per cell. WTF.
 
Crap. Very first flight. Surely they think I'm a twit.
 

She threw the gear forward after rolling over them.

 

You can't tell but both wings were punctured through and through by the wheel pants flipping underneath.

 

 

Fours hours of work and she is no longer pristine, but looks pretty good:

 

 
The Tail vert stab was cracked, I think before the flight, but loosened in flight. I replaced it with one I had from a previous Pulse. I am out of 12x8 Xoar eprops, so I put a 12x6 on her. Wonder if thats a mistake? Ordering more 12x8, and it will be a while until I can fly again.
 
Mike, Steve, and Jon (and one other guy whose name I missed) were kind to me, and I decided to take the Ultimate up, and flew her better, but still without confidence or my usual skill, for several packs. She survived and I handled the cross wind much better. I learned to put her down on the runway, which while not particulalry narrow, required a finer degree of airmanship than landing on a wide field as I have been acustomed to. It also required better to touchdowns as the asphalt is unforgiving.
 
Thank goodness I did not bring a heli.
 

 

 

 
Now that I have my "first Tee jitters" behind me, hopefully my next flight will be more enjoyable!
 

Posted with Blogsy

Will it work?

Rudder straightening. I tried to get the twist out of the rudder during the repair, but it still has a wave. Between setting the frame and shrinking the cote, I got most of it straight. I set this up. Popsicle sticks and clamps overnite. Will it work? Better ideas?

 

Posted with Blogsy

Oh, the humanity!

I realized that I haven't yet shared the outcome of my move on my aircraft. The helis survived without any issues because I packed them. My airplanes were suposed to be individually wrapped and packed, and the ginormous 60 sized Hanger 9 Sopwith was to be crated. I should have watched the packing. Every plane took a hit.
 
The mover's truck would not start the morning after they crammed everything in, so he rented a U-Haul trailer and put what wouldn't fit into the back of a pickup...This is how my stuff came up. In the truck from Biloxi to Jackson, Mississippi. Like this from Jackson to Dayton, Ohio.

 

Yup, that's really how they packed them.

 

The rudder is wacked, and the left elevator is fractured.

 

 

 
Nearly every plane had damage. I repaired all of them, and they are all in flying condition, but the Hanger 9 Sopwith was badly damaged, more than shown, and the wing is torqued. It is flyable, but not in a funway, si right now its hanging on the wall in my office at work. The most damage was to the Ultimate, which I repaired tonight. Still trying to get that twisted rudder straightned out. I still need to fix the tail on the Skytrain. Bad, bad, bad.
 
But I packed the helis...

 
Arrived in perfect shape, every single one.
 
I charged the mover a couple hundred for the damage. The rest of my stuff got here in perfect condition, and he was already losing money on the move. I chose not to dicker with his insurance and we trimmed the bill. All fair.

Posted with Blogsy

Welcome to Wingmasters, Dayton, Ohio!

Well, I am settling into my apartment and my new job, and today made a trip out to Wergerzyn Gardens and the Dayton Wingmasters field. It was cloudy and a tad drafty, no one was there and the gate was locked. I marked it on my GPS, and called The Hobby Shop, which is an application center for the club, and learned I could drop by, pay my fee, show my AMA license, and receive a key to the gate. Another key, given apparently only by the club, is required to access the electric power station. So, I am charging my batteries and fixing the badly damaged Ultimate, with a plan to visit the field tomorrow and fly the Ultimate, the Pulse and a heli, weather permitting.
 
What I could see of the field was impressive. The grass is green and cut, the strip is dark and lined with white paint, and the building structures are clean and well kept. I don't recall seeing a closed in walled structure, but that's okay. I am not sure if there are bathrooms either.
 
I am really looking forward to flying tomorrow! Its been a couple of weeks, so I will take it easy. I am most nervous about bending a heli... but I really want to take one up. I hope to meet someone there!

Posted with Blogsy

Day Before...

Took the planes down and with the ones I could removed the wings, repaired the Stearman, and flight tested the repaired HDX500, and dismantled the flight lab. Packed the helis wrapped in bubble wrap. Busy day in preparation for the movers coming tomrrow for my move to Dayton. Kinda sad...
 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Good nite, you Princes of Gulfport!

Last day at BMF, cloudy, gusty. Stearman put down by a microburst (wicked cool, caught as I come out over the tree tops, blew her sideways, down, up, took several trys to get her down, another gust threw her 20 feet SIDEWAYS a foot off the groung, tearing off her landing gear, again, and breaking the wing tabs. It was something else! Storm front continued to move in as I was flying the HDX 500 and she had a similar flight as the Stearman when the gusts carried her away, threw her down after carrying her away, and she ended up a pretzel. Two years with this heli, never crashed, so she was due... After the thunder storms moved off and the rains passed, things cooled down, settled down and the boys flew in fine conditions. Alas, I had broken my two aircraft, and my EXI 450 Sport had a technical issue, so I had nothing to fly... So Kenny broke out cigars and we ended the day as gentlemen! Said my goodbyes, packed up, and drove away.
 

 

HDX500se before...

 

 

and pretzeled... (Already fixed, pics tomorrow).

 

 

Yeah, sexy and we know it...

Kenny and Ken

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

CopterX 250 Tarot ZYX Redux

This evening I completed the build, and the programming of the Tarot ZYX stabilization system on my CopterX 250. She is tiny, and she is now flybarless... She was a lot to handle before, as I was just learning. I am hoping that with my developing flight skills and the stabilization system she will be much more settled down. Tomorrow I shall find out!
 
She seems heavy. Her CG is good, but I did have to move the ESC to the side, out from under the battery tray. The canopy doesn't come all the way back, so I used rubber bands to secure it. I chose to use a voltage regulator instead of the installed BEC on the RSC as I am driving digital servos and the Tarot ZYX, so I wanted more than 2 amps. I don't know if it is necessary, but it works for me.
 
Did I mention I hate Torx screws?
 

There were just so damn many wires...

 

 

Posted with Blogsy