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Heli Diary, 2001-present (click here to see how it all started)
Also started assembling the Bergen 3D I bought from via the 'net from Shane Rodgers. Shane is a good guy to do business with, I got everything I expected, and it's all in good shape.
The blades tracked perfectly right from the start, which suggests that Gamma and TG (makers of the blades it was wearing when I dorked it) have pretty good quality control. The Gammas load the motor a lot more than the TG tapered 690s did, which takes some getting used to. On the one hand, a blip of extra collective right before a hesitation roll gives the heli a longer trajectory - on the other hand, I have to be careful not to lug the engine down too much on the way into a stall turn. Not sure if it's worth the trouble or not... The extra speed sure does carry it way up high in stall turns, though!
First impression on the GY-401: it's good. Not great, but good. Pirouette rate isn't quite as constant as the CSM-360 it replaced, but it holds fast backward and sideways flight better than the GY-501 I had before the CSM. It's also much less susceptible to slipping all over the place during cyclic vibrations, like my GY-501 was.
Near the end of last season, I was flying for a few minutes at a time with a constant pirouette, including immelman turns, rolls, tumbles, async loops, inverted circuits, and so on. (Incidentally, that's also how I crashed the Futura at the end of last season - I lost orientation during inverted pirouettes). I don't have the nerve to do inverted pirouettes or a pirouetting flip less than a mile high now. I've been practicing this stuff in the simulator during the off season, but apparently not enough.
Also bought an OS 61sxwc from Keith Lapointe (you might have seen this motor for sale in the RCO swap shop, but it's mine now!). This motor is destined for the Bergen.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 1 | 1 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 3 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Milestone: One complete 360 degree pirouette after flaring and before setting down at the end of an auto. It took a few tries, and I'm still not very consistent about it, but it's a fun challenge. Pirouetting flips are still not there yet. I'm gonna blame the gyro for now... and practice some more on the simulator. :-)
This is the end of the half-gallon of fuel that was sitting in my garage all winter. The fuel ran just fine, by the way (someone on RCO asked if it was safe to use fuel that had been sitting for a while).
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 5 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
When I was running TG's tapered 690s, I installed some Miniature Aircraft Bell-Hiller mixers in place of the stock Robbe mixers. This gave me extra collective which, as I mentioned above, the Gamma blades don't need. Today I reinstalled the Robbe mixers. Total range is now about +/- 8 degrees, down from +/- 9.5 or so. The heli bogs a bit less, especially in metronomes.
Milestone: I've always had a habit of giving the wrong rudder corrections during inverted autos. I think I've finally broken myself of that habit. Today I was able to steer down and land an inverted auto that I would have just bailed out of last summer.
Quote from a spectator: "It looks like you're dancing up there." That might be the coolest thing anyone's every said about my flying. Not as cool as when a spectator told my friend Derrick that watching his heli was like watching a figure skater, but maybe if I can get my flying to be as smooth as his...
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 3 | 8 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Near the end of last season I lengthened the sticks on my Futaba 8U's gimbals, thinking that it would give my thumbs increased resolution. It probably did, but it makes for some odd reaching to give full up or full left cyclic (and probably right rudder too, but I always piro left, so how should I know). It bugged me from the start, but I figured I'd get used to it. It's probably been about two gallons since I made the change, and it still bugs me. Back to the old stick length.
The wind was blowing in from the direction of the pits, so I did crosswind autos today. That sure was ugly. Today saw the worst auto I have ever landed without wreckage. I'm just glad nobody was watching at the time! Enough about that. Let's just say I need to work on crosswind autos. A lot.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 10 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Got two flights in.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 12 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
I need a YS prop nut and collet to put my YS into the Intrepid. While I had Larry Bergen on the phone, I also ordered a split gear (for constant drive tail) and a longer boom (so I can fit 710s).
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 14 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
The Futura's shake went away. I think I was just running the engine too lean. Whatever the case, it's totally smooth now. The gyro unfortunately still does not pirouette as consistently as I would like.
As we were discussing gyros, Todd Bennett was surprised to hear me complain that my Futaba GY-401 is allowing the helicopter to whip around in crosswind pirouettes. He suggested turning down the gyro's 'delay' setting, swapping the Zeal mounting gel for the foam Futaba includes with they gyro, and turning up the gyro's travel limiter, and he found a bunch of slop in my Futura's tail rotor bellcrank (it seems the brass ball has worn down a bit in the last few years).
Yes, Todd Bennett is in town! Some of the local heli guys have paid for his schooling, so he'll be around all week teaching them. It's interesting watching my friends fly on a buddy-cord setup with him, and push themselves to do things they've never done before. It's hard not to cheer when somebody does their first inverted circuits. Todd coaches them though maneuvers, points out their weak spots politely, and he's there to rescue the heli if they get too far out of shape. If this sounds like fun, check out his web site and see about getting yourself some first-rate helicopter schooling. He's very serious about making sure that his students get what they pay for, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
I didn't sign up for lessons though - it's not that I couldn't learn a lot from him (I'm sure there's plenty he could teach me), just that right now I would really rather relax, rebuild my confidence, and have fun. My only goal right now is to get my flying back up to where it was last summer, and that's only going to come with practice. I know exactly how to do what I want to do, I just need to relax and let myself do it. I still haven't fully recovered from the 6 month 'vacation' I took from helicoptering last winter.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 4 | 18 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
I got some pirouetting rolls in, and a couple of sloppy single-pirouette loops. Also did some async loop variations where as the heli goes over the top, it revolves around a cyclic input rather than rudder. It took several attempts to get accustomed to working the collective so the heli went straight over the top, rather than shooting off sideways, but with some more practice this will be fun at lower altitudes. It's a pretty maneuver.
At one point, Todd asked why my flybar was so short. Honestly, I hadn't noticed it was any shorter than usual, but comparison with other helis at the field proved that it definitely is. I'd been thinking my cyclics were a bit slow lately (I've been compelled to use high dual rates much more than usual), and I think now I know why. How that short flybar got into my spare parts pile I'm really not sure. It's kind of reassuring to think that maybe the helicopter really is rolling slowly - I had been thinking that it was all in my head (the one on my shoulders, not the one on the mainshaft).
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 5 | 23 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Found out I can still do pirouetting tumbles if I use high cyclic rates. I think that short flybar is causing more trouble than I had realized. Fortunately three longer flybars and two sets of really light paddles are en route from the good folks at Rick's and might be here tomorrow depending on the USPS.
Turned the delay all the way down on the GY-401, but it still slips from time to time in crosswind pirouettes. This really bugs me in pirouetting tumbles, since I can barely manage those with a perfect gyro. Got two more ideas left though - first, turn up the travel to the max (a Todd Bennett suggestion), adjusting the tail rotor linkage to compensate... then, if that doesn't work, maybe smaller tail blades and more electronic gain will have some effect (a totally random idea from yours truly).
The shake came and went today. Have I simply forgotten how to tune engines? Perhaps.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 4 | 27 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Three or four years ago I practically stopped flying circuits and started following a 'half-pipe' pattern, making close, low left-to-right passes with turnaround tricks at either side, like a skateboarder in a half-pipe. For the last couple days I've been spending a bit of each flight working on regular (and inverted, and backward, and backward inverted...) circuits again, carving turns instead of stalling them. Probably not as fun to watch, but it's humbling.
Also working on single-pirouette rolls, async loops, async loops with vertical-axis rotations over the top (using cyclic rather than rudder), metronomes, and inverted autos that recover with an elevator flip rather than a roll.
The latter was something that I first got into after Mark Kiner mentioned it on the h-list a couple years ago, but Todd Bennett got me thinking about them again just recently. I heard it's a great way to splatter a helicopter, but after watching Todd do the flip at a 'downstairs' altitude without losing head speed, I figure I should be safe practicing the flip 'upstairs.' I think if you time the collective right, you can gain more than enough head speed during the first half of the flip (it starts like a flare) to finish the flip with plenty of reserve.
Cracked open a new case of fuel, I think that makes 5 and a half gallons for the season so far.
Oh, and I realized that the Muscle Pipe I have came with a forward-engine header, so it will go on the Bergen, not the Futura, so I need Bergen's OS fan collets after all. And the collets that came with the kit are actually YS collets, not OS as I had previously thought. You follow that? Bottom line is the Bergen won't fly until next weekend (how many times have I said that?). And I have a front-engine Hatori muffler that I don't need after all.
The Futura got a graphite landing gear stiffener (S4752) to lift up the sagging tail end. The front end still sags because a) Robbe landing gear are so brittle they don't usually last this long; b) the stiffeners are sold singly, not in pairs like the fan shroud brackets (the last carbon update I purchased from Robbe). If your Robbe needs a lift, take note: order two S4752, not just one.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 9 | 36 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
The tail rotor linkage slop is down to a reasonable level, and gyro performance is improved. I'm still not fully happy, though. The yaw rate is not consistent, and it's not just the crosswind problem. One minute it's pirouetting at X RPM with the rudder held all the way to the left, next thing I know it's at X-and-a-half and I've still got the rudder stick held all the way to the left. Weird. One of my flying buddies checked out the tail rotor linkage and pronounced the slop negligible (I replaced a worn ball on the pitch slider) so I guess that's not it.
Maintenance: Halfway through the third flight, I landed to check the fuel level and heard a funny rattle. One of the boom supports broke in flight. Fortunately it was still held tight at the other end, so there was no damage other than the boom support itself.
Fortunately, I can rob a pair of boom supports from the Intrepid crash kit I bought a little while ago. I have long wanted to switch to plastic ends anyhow.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 38 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
P.S. This 'first flight' report would not be complete unless I mentioned that it only took a "couple clicks of aileron trim," and no elevator trim at all. This must be relevant somehow, or it wouldn't appear in every single first-flight report ever published...
The good news is, I figured out why the motor was running so poorly. What I thought was the idle valve was really the midrange, and vice-versa. The idle should have been two turns out, instead it was totally shut. The midrange was the same, only the other way around. This time it started quickly, idled nicely, and stuttered very little during the transition.
I put in one flight on the Futura, but was so bummed out about the Intrepid I didn't get much out of it.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 1 | 39 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Three more flights on the Futura. I had to replace the glow plug before the first one. That's about it for Futura maintenance this summer, not counting some fussing around hunting for a vibration that turned out to be due to the motor itself.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 3 | 42 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Also getting more confident with chaos, backward inverted stuff, and inverted pirouettes. The gyro is holding me back from really going off on pirouetting tricks though. I flinch every time it slips in a crosswind pirouette. It's not really a problem up high, but I want to bring this stuff lower... I am tempted to go back to the CSM 360 but I have to try some different tail blades with the 401 first.
Intrepid parts should be here Friday. I am really itching to get this thing flying. It seemed to have loads of power last time, now if I can just quit doing stupid things to it I bet it's gonna be tons of fun.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 3 | 45 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
Got two flights in on the Futura. Nothing special there.
Got one flight in on a friend's Freya with an OS 91 and a Muscle Pipe. This is good stuff. I bashed the sticks like there was no tomorrow trying to get it to load up, and had very little success. It was amazingly quiet, and really really powerful too. The Freya was set up with no flybar weights, so it tumbled extremely fast... it's also got plenty of collective, and together you'd think that would load an engine somewhat. The OS 91 barely even grunted through a dozen consecutive climbing tumbles. It just tumbled straight up and out of sight. Tick-tocks were the same way - straight up, with scarely a grunt. I finally did lug it down in a funnel with full collective and full cyclic, but it took me quite a while to think of a way to get the RPM to come down. This was all with around 1800 head speed by the way. All the while you can barely hear the motor, instead you hear blades and mechanics, almost like an auto.
Even more amazing, this is with a standard Muscle Pipe (wrong for this motor) and 7.75:1 gearing (wrong for this motor). I can't wait to see and hear this thing with the RIGHT exhaust and the RIGHT gearing.
I think I left a set of L-wrenches at the Snohomish field. Anyone seen them?
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 47 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 0 |
I expected to spend all evening tweaking, but it flew well enough that I didn't bother adjusting anything but the radio. There is more work to be done, but I didn't have to hold back at all in the air.
Autos are weird. Even at full negative pitch I had a hard time not overshooting the landing. It just wants to come down slow. And it doesn't want to penetrate into the wind. Is it just that much lighter than my Futura? I need to weigh this thing. Shopping list += a scale, any scale.
Even on my 'low' dual rates the cyclic response is too fast. It has too much collective range, too. I wish my Futura had these "problems." I tamed the collective down a bit with the ATVs, and just worked the cyclics carefully. I'm going to tweak the bell-hiller mixers for less direct input. That should be a good thing in many respects: reduced collective and cyclic range with increased servo resolution, reduced roll rate with increased flybar stabilization... should all be good.
The CG is a bit rearward. I need a bigger battery. After trimming in an upright hover, I need lots of aft cyclic in an inverted hover. Rolls are screwy. Shopping list += bigger battery.
The engine still isn't running quite right, but it does have plenty of power. It sounds like it's going in and out of a four-stroke in a hover, and it never seems to get quite 'onto' the pipe. And it overspeeds in descents. It runs strong, just needs fine tuning.
The GY601 rocks. Constant-rate slow pirouettes in a crosswind, and no slippage in chaos tumbles either. The tail holds totally still in a hover, even with the engine running rough as described above. It's the best hover I've seen since my JR 3000. Shopping list += GY601 for the Futura.
Today's brain failure involved me running out of fuel just as I was setting up for an auto. I was too low to turn it around and auto back to the pad, so I ended up autoing to the end of the plank runway, about 75 feet away, 3 feet lower, and behind 6-7 feet of tall grass. It was quite a relife to nice to auto out of sight, bushwhack through grass taller than me, and see the heli sitting there in shorter grass with the blades still spinning. Zero damage!
I really need to quit shooting myself in the foot every time I bring this thing to the field...
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 0 | 47 |
| Intrepid 3D | 2 | 2 |
Today was an 'open house' event at my local field. I was invited to do the token helicopter demonstration flights. I got one flight in on the Futura, and then the rain started. It didn't stop 'til late evening.
Maintenance: Before packing up I re-installed a missing screw at the rear end of one of my boom supports. What's up with that?
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 1 | 48 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 2 |
One flight on the Futura, one flight on the Intrepid. The Futura's flight was uneventful, the Intrepid's started that way, then the engine started acting weird during a rolling tailslide. I was getting low on fuel and I've been counting on the Robbe clunk rather than a header tank, so I wonder if it was an air bubble in the fuel line. I autoed into some weeds (no damage) and went home.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 1 | 49 |
| Intrepid 3D | 1 | 3 |
Went to a fun-fly in Brooks Oregon for three days of sunshine, friends, and helicopters. I wasn't counting the flights but I burned just under a gallon, so I'm gonna call it seven flights. All were on the Futura.
I bought some SAB tail blades, which are shorter than the NHPs I've bene using, and they have rounded tips for even less thrust. As a result I had to turn up the gain from about 40% to about 70% to compensate for the reduced thrust. Now the Futura pirouettes much more consistently in crosswinds. I'm worried that the reduced thrust will made high speed sideways flight worse though. More testing is in order to find out if the SABs work as well in high speed sideways stuff. I'd also like to try using the NHPs with a 9203 or 9205 tail rotor servo. The 9523 I'm using now is a bit faster, but it has much less torque, which might explain the trouble with the long tail blades. NHP + 9253 + short servo arm could be a good combination as well, I'm sure it would let me turn up the gain somewhat but it's the reverse of the setup that worked best with the CSM gyros (long servo arm, low gain). Then again, the CSM was mostly used with high torque servos like the 9203... Like I said, more testing is in order.
In any case, I'm already a whole lot happier with my 401.
Maintenance: had to replace a bad bearing in the Futura's tail rotor gearbox.
The Intrepid was worse off than I thought... the main gear is stripped and one of the sideframes cracked near the motor mount. This makes me wonder what really happened during that last flight. Perhaps it wasn't an air bubble after all, maybe the sideframe cracked first and the main gear went after the gear mesh opened up. Hmmm. I replaced the main gear (and the main shaft bearings, which were rather notchy) but I don't have an extra sideframe. I also opened up the Intrepid's mainshaft bearing blocks with a Dremel tool, removing the anodized finish from the inside of the bearing pocket. These were awfully tight in stock form, now the bearing is a nice fit - snug but removable without heat.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 7 | 56 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 3 |
Two flights on the Futura (new Bergen sideframes should be here tomorrow). The Futura's YS 61 ST2 has developed a horrible clattering noise around idle. Replaced muffer o-rings, still had noise. Pulled the motor out to inspect, found nothing wrong, pulled the clutch bell off, nothing wrong, put it all back, still had noise. Pull the fan shroud off, still had noise. Found that the noise went away above idle. Crossed fingers, flew, all went well. Except when the engine was idling, then it was noisy again. Grr. Glenn on #rcheli thinks the connecting rod bushings are wearing out, and that's the best explanation I've heard yet. I just hope the engine lasts until I can get a YS 80 or OS 91.
I changed the tail blades back from 95mm SABs to 105mm NHPs, and changed the rudder servo horn from 18mm to 13mm. I had to move the tail rotor bellcrank ball in order to maintain full tail rotor pitch range with the shorter arm, so the overall change was only a modest increase in servo travel. Performance was worse than with SABs and the longer 18mm arm. Next time I'll try SABs and 13mm, that should be better yet. I'd also like to try a higher-torque servo and see how that changes things... Maybe this requires more torque that Futaba thought?
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 58 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 3 |
The clatter was coming from the clutch hub and the woodruff key that (should) hold the clutch shoes in place. The pocket in the hub started to expand and allow the woodruff key and clutch shoes to rotate a few degrees independent of the hub. I tried JB welding the key into place, and filling the space on either side, but that lasted for about three seconds after I started the engine.
But, I spend most of the weekend pulling the YS/Hatori combination out of the Futura, and installing the OS/Muscle Pipe combination from the Bergen. I only got a couple flights on the Futura this way, but the OS/MP setup appears to be much happier with the Futura's 9.3:1 gearing that it was with the Bergen's 9.0:1. The only problem is that the gyro doesn't hold well at all now. Whether that was due to new tail blades (I tried Modelsport's shortest 60 blades, and Robbe's grey plastic blades), or the new powerplant, or vibrations from the clutch hub, I do not know.
A new clutch hub is en route from Rick's as I write this.
I got new sideframes for the Bergen (only $35ish for the pair!) but haven't had time to install them yet. I'm pretty sure the YS will be much happier in the Bergen than the OS was, hopefully I'll find out next weekend.
I also took - and passed - my amateur radio license test this weekend. You can probably expect to see me playing with more powerful video transmission equipment pretty soon. That was the whole point, you know!
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 2 | 60 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 3 |
"Real life" took over for a while and I took almost a month off from helicopters. In the meantime I replaced the Bergen's frames and rebuilt the Futura's clutch.
The Bergen shakes less, but it still shakes. I had the clutch dialed in just right, under 0.001, but it wasn't seated fully and it seized when I tried to start it. So I reinstalled it but this time after a dozen attempts and much hammering, I was not able to get it under 0.004. I got frustrated and tried to fly it like that anyhow, but it's not a big surprise that the canopy shakes a lot and the fuel sloshes like crazy. The big surprise is that the fuel doesn't foam. I swear, any more vibration and it would be nothing but foam. I put in a couple flights anyhow trying to dial in the engine (YS ST2 + Hatori) but the shakes annoy me too much to continue.
The Futura runs pretty happily with the OS 61 sxwc + Muscle Pipe combination. The skids still shake, but everything else looks smooth as glass and the gyro holds wonderfully. It still slips a tiny bit in crosswind pirouettes, but that's almost negligible. I'm getting back into pirouetting aerobatics and inverted pirouetting circuits anyhow.
On Monday the 13th I bailed out of a 360 auto that wasn't quite going to make it back to the landing zone, and the Futura's auto clutch didn't grab. The engine revved away but the rotor speed stayed pretty low. I ended up ditching it into some tall grass... I don't think anything was damaged in the landing, but I'm still not sure which parts of the auto clutch need to be replaced.
So here I am again with two 60s that don't fly right. Arrrgh.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 4.5 | 64.5 |
| Intrepid 3D | 2 | 5 |
Cleaned and rebuilt the auto clutch.
Auto clutch holds for one flight. I didn't have time for more.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 1 | 65.5 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 5 |
Met up with Mark Davis for lunch and borrowed an inner race for my auto bearing from his stash of Futura SE parts. After work I got half a flight in before my auto bearing failed. Rebuilt the clutch with Mark's hub on Friday and got one flight in.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 1.5 | 67 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 5 |
5 flights on the Futura today. The auto clutch held, but the heli makes nasty clanking noises at idle. I think the centifugal clutch is going south again. Sounds that way anyhow. Brand new hub, too. More than a little disappointing. I couldn't take the assembly apart when I tried, it was wedged together so damn tight. Now it sounds like it's getting sloppy again. sigh.
Had a great time flying anyhow. Made some real progress with pirouetting aerobatics, including inverted piroeutting T exercises and pirouetting asynchronous loops. Pirouetting flips are coming down a bit lower, as I get more comfortable with them. Scared the crap out of myself during the loops, but I got a few good ones in, and the heli is in one piece, so I can be happy anyhow.
Quote from a friend at the field, "Hey, it all looked good from here." Maybe so, "But you don't know where it was SUPPOSED to be going!"
Getting a constant pirouette rate out of the GY-401 really gave me the confidence I needed to push myself into more pirouetting stuff. I have just enough brain power to do this stuff with a constant pirouette rate - any whipping or slowing throws off my timing and things get out of whack. Maybe later I'll be able to accomodate that, but right now I need all the help I can get!
I've also been practicing slow and low circuits again, like figure eights below eye level and inside 30 feet or so - forwards, then backwards, then sideways... I haven't done this much all season, or even much last season, but I'm enjoying the exercise now more than I used to. Dunno why, but it's more fun that I remember. It's making my weak spots obvious to me, and I have more of them than I thought.
Funny thing: I've had my cyclic-to-throttle mixing disabled for days, but I didn't realize it. The Muscle Pipe runs great without it. I look forward to seeing how it runs WITH mixing. :-)
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 5 | 72 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 5 |
Five more Futura flights today. The clutch is making a horrible racket, but only at idle. I'm hoping it stays that way until I can get the parts to fix it.
I got in one flight with my 9Z, but spent most of the flight tweaking the throttle and pitch curves. I really don't like this radio as much as I thought I would. It's unbelievably tedious to set up a model. I might end up using my 8Us for helicoptering and using this only for airplanes - if I don't sell it. 13-point throttle curves sounds like a neat feature, until you have to adjust them. JR has a cool curve setup in the 10-series radios - you only have as many points as you want! ATVs in every flight mode sounds like a neat feature - until you realize that you really have to set them up in every flight mode. Why not set them up once and override them only when you want to, like dual rates? And speaking of dual rates, separate dual rates in each flight mode sounds like a neat idea, until you realize that you really do have to set them up in each flight mode. Why not inherit them from basic model setup and override them as desired? I want the same rudder rate in all modes, why do I gotta set it up three times? Sliders sound like a nice idea, until you realize that a) you can't change the magnitude of the slider's affect, and b) setting a slider for throttle hold idle adjustment means the "idle" varies from kill to almost 50% throttle.
I thought this radio would cause me to lose interest in making my own, but all it's done is make me want my own even more.
Phew. I feel much better now.
I uniflowed the fuel tank before I started, but I'm still chasing the needle valves more than I expected. It's much better than before, but the smoke trail still gets thinner at the end of each flight. I also shortened the clunk line (for the second time, actually) in order to get the felt clunk to pull the last of the fuel from the tank. I should have made a note here when I put the felt clunk back in - that was about a week ago I think. If the clunk line is too long, the clunk has a way of resting on the angled side of the front of the tank, and running dry with over 1/4 inch of fuel still in the tank. Now it's draining to near 1/8 inch. It's really good at eating big air bubbles, but I think it might be allowing small air bubbles just before the tank empties - that would explain the leaning out. I might install a header tank after all.
Flying developments: did some pirouetting asynchronous loops, but scared myself too much, I'll be doing these up higher for a while. Got pirouetting tumbles down to a lower altitude, and my confidence is improving a lot. Ditto for the inverted pirouetting T exercise.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | 0 | 0 |
| Futura | 5 | 77 |
| Intrepid 3D | 0 | 5 |
New bearings for the Bergen's YS ST2 should be here Monday. I'm itching to get that thing flying!
I gotta get my Concept flying. I am so lazy. I've been saying that all summer, and it's still sitting there with the same blades I broke last September. Almost a year ago. Same with the LMH, for that matter.
| Heli | Flights | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | ? | ? |
| Futura | ? | ? |
| Intrepid 3D | ? | ? |
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