Flight #2: 14.08 minutes. HeliMix 1 : Gravity 0

[HeliMix]

Just ran the third battery through her and I am happy to say it was a 100% success.
:fly
sunny, 75 degrees, clear sky, breezy 0 - 3?4?5? mph (need that dang wind gauge).

One time I scolded myself for landing to quick. I realized after it hit that I was not focused while landing. :DOH Probably the worst time to lose focus flying. Today, the wind was fun. It was going from calm to fairly breezy. My flying area is the backyard of a neighbors house and there are two 2-story houses behind hers. The wind would come between the two behind hers, then into her back yard and WAM! I knew I was about to feel a breeze and sure nuff... I would feel the wind on my legs and arms. If the wind came across the top of it, the heli would go down quickly. But I was always able to react and bring it back up to adjust. Once the breeze died, cut it back a tad and, well... :YeaBaby: Now, I am not staying in one place perfectly. With the breeze today it was tough. But, I was able to keep the heli so I was at its 5 o'clock or so all the time.

I so wish I had a video camera now. May have to get a USB extension and run my web cam outside. :lol:

I have one more battery charged, but figured I would come share the great news while the heli and battery cool down. I'll start charging the used one now, load the good one, and go see if I can do it again. Wish me luck!

PS - Thanks to everyone that has encouraged patience. It will most certainly pay off. I cannot believe I am able to hover this thing. Helis and HeliFreak members rock! :thumbup:

[LockMD]

Good Job, and good luck with your next flight. Now I have to run home and see how fast I can get back in the air. :)

Just dont get too cocky or she will reach out and bite ya

[HeliMix]

...dont get too cocky or she will reach out and bite ya

That is exactely what I reminded myself when I landed hard. :thumbdown:

Now get home and get busy. ;)

[darkhawk22]

Way to go :thumbup:

I can't wait to get home and get 10-15 Mins. of Heli Time!

[LEADWORKS]

good job! It's fun ain't it. I can't fly today. Too windy. :(

[LockMD]

Now get home and get busy. ;)


LOL I wont get home 'til 6 your time 3 on the left. We'll see.....getting pretty good at tearing her down now

[otto975d]

Hi Helimax, Do you still have your training gear on... I do .. I am just to scared to take them off I ordered a bunch of parts. When they come in I think I am going to take them off, at least if I send it into the trees I can fix it :) It's so cool when you feel like your just starting to get it ( KINDA) LOL You got to get that web cam outside :YeaBaby: anyway keep it up. next lets here how you went inverted in between the houses :Bang

[HeliMix]

:woohoo:fly

100 % perfect flight (I need a dang camera). Battery only lasted 11 minutes though. First battery was the original, this last one was a spec/stock battery I bought the day I got the heli. The only thing I can think of that would have caused such a difference in flight time was, I only landed three times to reset the heli this flight. I reset it a few times the first flight and would also have some down time as I let my heart catch up on the first battery.

This time, it was in the air the whole time. Take off on cement driveway, easeee it forward, tail in, towards the soft grass yard. Hover there the whole time. A little up and down due to the stronger breeze than last time. But I almost felt compelled to land for I could barely contain myself.

There are these little lilac looking flowers growing in my neighbors grass (some weed probably). There were these big black bumble bees flying around them. Without meaning to, I came down close to the flowers/weeds and the downwash seemed to upset the bees. One bee went up, I happened to be going up to, then he dove back down in the rotor. :Fan Had to land to laugh a little on that one.

[HeliMix]

... next lets here how you went inverted in between the houses :Bang

:lol: That will be a while.

And yes, I still have my gear on. The above post was my fourth battery ever. DING Oh, what was that? My timer? Sounds like it is time to fire up my 5th battery.

[LockMD]

I came down close to the flowers/weeds and the downwash seemed to upset the bees. One bee went up, I happened to be going up to, then he dove back down in the rotor. :Fan Had to land to laugh a little on that one.


LMAO - did ya get wet? - a while back I posted 'bug splat' when bug guts splashed on my face.

[HeliMix]

LMAO - did ya get wet?
I was sort of expecting it, but no. I did notice something other than green grass marks on the blades though. :lol:

Flight number five, 8 minutes, solid hover. Less breeze, MUCH more stable. At one point in time, I almost felt like I was standing next to my computer is seemed to easy. Still not getting coky though. Kept my head. But it was kind of boring it you know what I mean. ;)

Definately getting the hang of this. :thumbup: Need more batteries though two is doing well right now. Gives everything plenty of time to cool.

15 minutes till next lift off. And I also have web cam hooked up and ready. Will be in my yard... I mean the dogs yard, with much less room, but it should work. :woot

[otto975d]

Can't wait :)hope the web cam works

[HeliMix]

Can't wait :)hope the web cam works

It worked! :thumbup: Amazing. Things are seldom as they seem... While flying, things seem to be happening one way. And then you see video of it, and you see a whole different thing. Running to the store real quick and then I will post the vid. ;)

[otto975d]

oh yea!! movie tonight:YeaBaby:

[LEADWORKS]

There are these little lilac looking flowers growing in my neighbors grass (some weed probably). There were these big black bumble bees flying around them. Without meaning to, I came down close to the flowers/weeds and the downwash seemed to upset the bees. One bee went up, I happened to be going up to, then he dove back down in the rotor. :Fan Had to land to laugh a little on that one.

:OwnedLMAO!!

[HeliMix]

Geeez... It takes forever to upload 9+ mins to YouTube. I'm still working on it. :hammer

I'll get this out of the way while it is uploading.

First off, this is shot with a Logitech webcam from my back patio. It is not the best quality and no telling what YT will do to it. There is a little breeze with an occasional gust. We have a bad canker (sp) worm problem here and they drop out of the tress onto you. Most of the time, I am landing it to get a worm off of me. I try to ignore them but then it begins to drive me crazy. To the right you will see a fence, ahead you will see trees, and off camera to the right, is a BIG tree. The surroundings made me nervous. It takes me a bit to get comfortable. I am still much more at ease in the yard off camera to the right.

I'll edit and add the vid link as soon as it is done uploading.

[LockMD]

Can't wait! I usually pride myself in how quickly I can return to the air after a crash, not gonna happen this time :( I stripped 2 servos on my cyclic gears - just ordered the metal gear upgrade from heli-proz. Well it will give me more time to finish the 600 build.

And to get my fix, I'll have to settle for the HBFP but its still a fun little guy.

[HeliMix]

Finally! :mad: Had to export it a few times to figure out which method worked best. Which also involved a few uploads that didn't work. :arggg: First time posting to YT.

But here is is. For more on the vid, see post #16. It sure felt smoother than it looks. :oops: You know they say TV adds 10 lbs, well I guess webcams create the illusion of movement? :lol:

Tomorrow, I am commited to try again and this time fly it like I do next doors.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/F4x7S7brxn4&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/F4x7S7brxn4&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Here it is at YT. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4x7S7brxn4
(http://direct%20link)

[sd0]

Looks a lot like my first backyard vid. I don't wanna hijack your thread so I wil only post it if you want me to.

But back to your vid, looking good for you first few packs. I had already crashed mine by the 5th pack. But I never used training gear, and I tried piro's early on, that probably was a mistake. Congratulations on some good hovering. The webcam quality is pretty good, but I sure do miss the awesome noise of the B400.

[HeliMix]

Yea, I didn't mess with the sound today. I will try to get that working tomorrow. Really cool the webcam works. Never thought about using it like a handheld video camera. Dang webcam will get a lot more use now. ;)

[otto975d]

Hey mike looks great:clapppthe web cam worked real well .boy that's a tuff area to hover in LOL I would be to nervous

[HeliMix]

There are more in another thread I have going. I will be posting two more here soon, including the dreaded CRASH! :arggg: :mad: :oops: :(

[LockMD]

There are more in another thread I have going. I will be posting two more here soon, including the dreaded CRASH! :arggg: :mad: :oops: :(


Oh no! you had your first crash?

Well now you are a 'pilot' LOL

welcome to the club, looks like I'm grounded until wednesday (metal gears arrive)

[otto975d]

Ahh man !!!:( sorry about your crash how did it happen?
BUT now you can tell me how to rebuild mine when I crash:rolling

[HeliMix]

Get this, dumb me, decided that scratching my elbow after something bit me was more important than what I was doing. :hammer Had I taken two seconds, brought it down, I would be fine.

Not too bad of a crash though. From what I can tell, all I need is: Spindle/Feathering Shaft, Landing Gear Strut Set, Tail Boom, Tail Pushrod Support/Guide Set, Tail Boom , Stabilizer/Fin Set, and main blades (which I happened to pick up a set of blades today). Hopefully I can get them all the LHS tomorrow first thing in the AM, get it repaired, and back in the air by mid afternoon.

The blade grips appear ok. Just seems like the feathering shaft is bent. If the shaft bends, does it kill the grips or are they pretty tough? I see nothing wrong with them visually.

The flybar was also very slightly bent. Is that ok to straighten it out, or should I replace it?