Moving... again. Last time!

I leave tomorrow for New Hampshire, though my family won't move until the end of the month. So I leave behind a broken 30cc Sbach, and my planes too big to put in my little car. I am taking my EFlite Pulse 25XTe, and of course ALL the LiPOs, since the mover's can't take those pesky things. I think I may take the dismantled Trex 600e as she will be an easy repair. It will be a couple of weeks before my aircraft in storage in NJ reach me in NH.

Well... see you on the other side!

Oh, and if you are looking for a home in the Biloxi area, mine's for sale!

Trash day...

It was no way to end my time flying out of MCRCC. I move next week so likely won't get to fly here again. It was a great day right up to the point that it wasn't. Attention to detail, my forte, was no where to be found and I paid grievously for my failings.

This pretzel is my beloved Align Trex 600e Pro. At least it was a spectacular death! I took off and made a turn, there was a pop and she flipped instantly front over back doing a complete 360 degree 3D style flip and slammed into the ground feet first. I hit hold as soon as I saw her flip knowing I did not do that and that 2+2 = impending crash. It was one of the fastest crashes I have ever seen! The damage is to the tail, torque tube assembly and the landing gear, blades. Otherwise she looks at first glance to have come through pretty well, though I don't know what the shafts are like. I don't plan on repairing her until after my move. Oh, almost forgot: the good news is in the flight before this one the tail mods worked perfectly and I had no problems with the tail blades striking!

Not sure what the pop we heard was... maybe the air cracking as the blades suddenly changed pitch? The servo linkages were all displaced by the crash, but the elevator ball link was disconnected from the elevator control. It was NOT stripped and screwed back on nicely. I failed to inspect the airframe prior to flight as I had just rebuilt her. I retrospect I recall during that rebuild noting the elevator link was almost completely unscrewed and meant to screw it back in but didn't. I think it worked loose, the swash dropped back and she flipped as if commanded full elevator. This loss is all from not screwing in a small but significant fitting... Pilot error.

The last pics before the crash of the 30cc Sbach. More inattention on my part. I always refuel before a flight. Sometimes I refuel and someone else flies so I have to wait. Or I just take a break. This is a bad habit: I should and will always refuel just before takeoff. So I was flying around like crazy and the motor, which has been running fine, quit. I realized as we did the post-mortem with a pretty dry tank that I must have failed to refuel her... I got another 7 minutes after the previous 10 min flight. I was low when the engine quit, but really still had space to get her safely down. I turned downwind, a little too close to the runway, turned out, then turned final, looking good. I brought her around to align with the runway and she suddenly just stopped flying, dropping flat onto the ground from about 10 feet up. And I mean straight down, wings level.  I suspect too much elevator as I came in with a plane that does't tolerate errors on dead stick...

Butcher's Bill: Broken wing tube, wings with minor punctures from the wheel pants but otherwise intact, landing gear are fine but broke clean off with their attachment. The bottom of the plane around the gear is gone, fairly easy fix. The motor pulled the firewall off shattering it; that's gonna take some time. The cowl was crumpled but intact, unrepairable. I just bought a new one to replace it, so no problem there. She basically pancaked from failure to maintain airspeed on deadstick approach: pilot error. Some minor fuse damage but the fuse is otherwise pretty fine. I just don't have the time or energy to fix it before my move...

Helluva day.

Trex 600 Tail Mod

I flew the Trex 600e Pro last week and once again stripped the tail torque tube forward umbrella gear,  the torque tube umbrella gear, and the autorotation gear, and cracked the tail blades when the tail fin buried and the blades struck. I did some research and learned that this is a pretty common problem. I saw that many used a Trex 700 tail fin. Its longer than the 600 fin, and I got a 2mm thick one, so its strong (the one I had was 1 mm and literally flapped in vibration). I also saw someone who put a servo wheel on the end, and I decided instead to use a star as a spur. This keeps the pointed end of the vertical fin from cutting into the ground allowing the blades to strike.

When I was flying it last time we heard some loud rubbing suddenly occur in flight, and I saw evidence that the main gear rubbed the carbon fiber frame (carbon powder on the main gear), but I couldn't reproduce anything rubbing when I landed. Today I replaced the stripped autorotation gear and removed the main shaft. I always clean the main shaft bearings when I change gears and on removing the lower bearing I saw that the top of the autorotation bearing had ground into the bearing block and ground it a bit. I pulled the block (should have took pics, sorry), and Dremel ground the damaged edges. The block and the bearing seat are essentially fine albeit damaged, and the bearing sits clean, straight, and snug. I will need to replace the block at some point, but it functions fine. I gave it a blade-less spin up and it was silent, balanced and vibration free. I'm planning on flying it tomorrow, and bringing it home without stripping the tail assembly!

Moving to New Hampshire!

Things are moving quick with my new job in Manchester, New Hampshire!

I plan to move up there within the next couple of weeks as an advance team with Aidan and am very excited. I've been looking for a new club up there; there are a couple of them to choose from, the closest seeming to be the Southern NH RC Club in Wagner Field, One Landfill Road, Hudson, NH, about 19 miles from my house. Only a little better than the 26 miles I am currently driving. There's another field, about the same difference, with a Geo-tex runway that would be nice too, so I may have to check them both out before I commit.

UPDATE (7/2/14): Recieved a wonderfully friendly and inviting welcome letter from John Hayes, the Secretary of the SNHRCC this morning! He invited me to meet with him, call him, and learn more. Now that's how a good club works! This is exciting. They show a respect for all aspects of our sport, and I especially appreciate the efforts they have made on the behalf of their electric flyers (they have a 12 V, soon to be upgraded to 24V solar powered charging station!). I get a bit anxious joining a new club. I have visited clubs that are inviting, and some where I felt like an outsider even after I joined. I don't like to fly at fly-ins for the same reason I get anxious flying at new fields: I psych myself out that I am not a good enough flyer and I don't enjoy it... This kind of welcome takes that edge off!

Weather Break!

Finally got a break in the weather, albeit with brisk winds. The winds were kind enough to be directly down the runway from the south. I took advantage of the winds to practice my landings, and am improving. I did manage to crack the new gear again with my last landing (a nice snap was heard). The gear are good, just fractured the CF on the outside. I put some JB Weld on it, and have ordered a replacement, but right now it looks good.

I also flew the Trex 600 and again grounded the tail blades on my last flight, stripping the forward umbrella and this time the autrotation gear (I was auto-rotating to landing when I touched). I read about putting a Trex 700 tail fin on it to raise the tail and will put a servo wheel on the end to add more protection if needed. I realized today that the fin I have is very thin and vibrates, so it needs replacing anyway.

I got a lot of flights in today, and enjoyed every minute!

Hot, sunny, protecting the canopy. Forgot a towel, used the wing bag.

Robby and Jerry flying Robby's glow Escapade.

Kenny's sweet 60cc twin cylinder Carden Edge 540.

Very nicely tuned!

I am probably going to go again tomorrow, weather permitting. Get Aidan out on the Alpha and give him some time on the MX2, which I didn't take today. Enjoyed a great flying day, good conversation and improving my skills!

MX2 Got Her Legs Back!

She got a pair of carbon fiber landing gear from General Hobby, which along with the wheels from Hobbylinc, and the axles from Du-Bro, came in the mail today. The gear I got from Troybuilt for the Sbach are the same ones on this plane, but those came predrilled. The ones from General Hobby had the axle and wheel pant holes drilled, but not the attachment. Easily drilled. She sits much higher than before. I also fixed the left wing where the wheel pant went through it. 

And with that, she is ready to have her CG checked and be declared airworthy!

Align Trex 600e Pro and other repairs

I have flown my Align Trex 600e Pro twice now, and both flights went well right up to landing. I landed on both occasions with the tail slightly down at touchdown and in both instances the tail blades ground struck. In the first accident the tail blades broke, and on the second they broke and the forward umbrella gear and torque tube gears stripped a few teeth. 

I spoke with Jason at Amainhobbies, who helped me select the right replacement gears. I asked him about taller landing gear, and he noted the white stock ones are FC3 skids and are about a cm lower that the black standard ones. The black ones would give me more clearance. I don't think you can tell from this picture but the tail fin used to touch the ground with the blades a mere 1/2 inch above the ground. Now the tail is off the ground by a cm and the tail blades are almost 2 cm above the ground. The hell is definitely sitting taller! 

Replacing the gears was a piece of cake. I love the modular tail box: the entire tail assembly comes off in one piece. I opened the box and swapped out the gears (scary moment when the bearings holding the torque tube umbrella gear would not let go of one of the old gear and I was afraid of damaging the bearing). Soaked the bearings in WD-40 Silicone, and put it all back together, total time about 30 minutes.

I also got the landing gear for the 30cc Sbach in from Troybuilt Models. I wish I could order everything from these folks: fast, fast, fast shipping! They went in with a minor modification of the bolt holes (off 1 mm on each side). There is a hole in the center which is to anchor the middle of the gear, where most carbon fiber gears break. My thought is that they break there because of flex, and I don't know that preventing a little fleet there is a good idea... not sure. May just put a screw in there anyway.  I also had to replace the rudder/tail wheel steering rod, a piece of metal rod that makes the tailwheel move with the rudder, as it snapped off while taxing the other day. Replaced another prop (this was my fault, dropped her hard on her gear, hence the replacement, and broke another prop. I need to work on my landings with this bird...).

Weather is expected to suck the next couple of days, no flying expected. I have a set of gear for the MX2 coming from General Hobby, ordered the day before I found the Troybuilt ones (and not sure its even shipped yet). Hobbylinc is sending me some wheels for the MX2. Once those are installed and I repair the wing, she is ready to go! 

Another move coming up, this time to Manchester, New Hampshire. More on that soon!