Flying with the big boy...

Took the Sbach and its unreliable Evo 10cc, and the very reliable though sometimes hard to dry start RCGF-USA 30cc MX-Bach. I took the MX-Bach up after several minutes hand flipping her. She ran very reliably, and I took her up for a few minutes. She flew wonderfully, but I really don't like to fly in front of a crowd, especially the incredibly skilled Cody. He would never make me feel uncomfortable, it's all me, in my head. But I mean, Cody Wojcik... come on! So I landed and set her aside for a bit. I then took up the Sbach with its Evolution 10cc, which started and ran fine right away, but after a few minutes of flight and light aerobatics, quit. Dead sticked to an acceptable landing, tore off a wheel pant, but otherwise she is fine. It took some time, but I got her started, but in idle she would slow to a stop. Cody wanted to help but I really didn't want to take his time as much as I wanted to let him fix her. He came to fly with a couple of visiting quad pilots, I think to video. I took the cowl off and tried to lean her out, as there is is oil all over the wing, suggesting its rich as I have always thought, in fact, the low was 4-5 turns out! But she wouldn't turn over with anything less. I managed to make her not want to start at all. I decided to set her aside, and watch Cody fly his Extreme Flight DA 120.

I caught a few moments of Cody's flight. I wanted to watch more than video, so I only caught a few unremarkable moments. Watch his fingers. He makes this huge plane float, every movement is what he wants, not what he accepts. I have no desire to 3D, but would love to someday have that confidence. Oh, and the engine started with one flip. I had not intended to stay long, and was a bit pissed about the dependability of the Evo, so packed up and left them to their fun! I did get to watch one of the FPV Quad pilots tear through the air as I packed. WOW! I have seen videos, but this thing screamed. Fun to watch!

Looks like I have some work to do on the Evo.

Surgical or "Huck" Towels

I have used surgical towels as a work top "bounce suppressor" for years. This one is several years old. I wash them every so often, but eventially they need to be replaced. They absorb liquids like oils and glues, and keep screws from launching into the abyss. I never knew they were called "Huck" towels, nor why.

I just bought a boat load from Amazon, here is a nice new blue hone. No nap, no snag.

I will never need to buy another one again. I prefer these as they are not like build towels that snag eveything and get pulls, and they are cheap so if they get stained it's simple to toss and replace with a new one.

Here's The Amazon Link!

Series and Parallel: Keeping it straight

Image: Overclock.net

Image: Aliexpress.com

Flying blind

I made the mistake of trying to fly with my glasses instead of my contacts and I made this decision on an overcast and sprinkly day. I don't see as well with my glasses.

Took the freshly rebuilt HK500 FBL up. It went about as good as one might expect. Lost orientation, limited heli skills, yeah, a mess. I dragged the new canopy over for the pic, it having gotten tossed far afield. I know I need more sim time, but I want to get comfortable with flying the actual heli. I was doing fine, 4 min in to a nice basic flight, sometimes having issues getting the tail around. I was outbound, a bit far away, and lost control when I wasn't sure if she had turned nose back in, she drifted and I made things worse. That was the end of that.

I already have most of the rebuild done. I have to order a new belt, it broke in the crash as the tail boom separated.  Replaced the main shaft, the feathering shaft is fine. The tail shaft will need replacing. Lost a control rod, replaced it. The canopy took quite a lot of damage, glassed in some repairs.

The tail boom is 461mm long. The tail belt is labled as 400mm. Not sure how that works... We'll see.

I also brought out the MXS-R with its 30cc DLE. Took a bit to start, haven't run it in a while. Took it up and even that big plane was a blur, not enough orientation in this light with my glasses. Landed, called it a day.

Disappointing.

Well, that's a thing I know now...

For a number of years now I have whined about off brand EC5s not going together right. I don't know how I got there, but I read a thread about EC5 gripes on one of the rc groups, and someone commented that the off brands often go in backwards from the Horizon Hobby originals, that is, you don't press them through the back, you instead rub the wires through the plastic, solder them, then pull them back through the front.

I just got two new batteries, so tonight I did that and they went together simply...

Damn.

HK500 has a new lid!

KILLER!

HK500 Tarot Swash

The washout arms came in from Amainhobbies quickly as always! They had M2 screws, but Tarot head uses M3 so I had to swap out the bearings. I only damaged one of the old ones removing them from the arms, but had several on hand.

Installed easily! Like the red among the black finishes.

No other adjustments were necessary but for zeroing out the control rods. Nailed it, no tracking error!

Everything checked out!  Took her out back and despite full swash movement -11 to +11 on the bench, she barely lifted off. Recheck and she was only getting +5. Reset the swash limit in the BeastX and that's fixed. Took her up and she has her positive rate now. But the tail control lever main bolt stripped, so I had to replace that and use a nylon lock nut opposite it, and now she is 100% ready! Have to run out to my wife's work party, so no further flights.

Time on the sim. Unimpressed  with my focus.