@#$%(*&() Old Eyes and Thumbs

[skigolfmike]

Took the B400 out for a quick flight before dark. I wanted to see how the changes tot eh speed control were working where I had room to fly it. It was twilight, maybe a little late, but it wasnt bad. Did a few flips and rolls, Flipped it into inverted hover and I lost it in the light. I probably had it saved 3 times on the way down, but I never had the orientation of it. Aarrgghh!:arggg: I only got a minute of flying, but it was flying well. Really sucks. I guess I was bound to dumb thumb one in sooner or later.

The damage looks to be landing gear, feathering shaft, main shaft, fly-bar, blades, paddles, stripped main gear, a stripped servo (DS285) and the canopy. Surprisingly, the tail boom and TR came out unscathed.

I have the head rebuilt already and I'll need to get some parts tomorrow. Paddles, landing gear struts, main gear w/ OWB, DS285 servo and canopy. The rest I have. Got the head rebuilt already. Worst part is setting it up again. I've gotten to where I can do it pretty quick though. I was just about to convert it to a night bird too. Darn!

[Slyster]

Sorry for your temporary loss... look at the the positive thing.. you will be a better mechanic! My eyes are getting tired too. After you hit 40... that's when your eyes start to go. No more fine print... harder to see at twilight. So dad.

[skigolfmike]

You think it's bad at 40, wait until you get to 55.;) I suppose it could have been worse.

I rebuilt what I could last night. I had a main shaft, fly bar and feathering shaft, so I rebuilt the head. I'll get the rest of the parts today and hopefully start doing test flights tonight. I get the night blades and stuff tomorrow, I'd like to get it sorted pretty quick

[JustPlaneChris]

Don't feel too bad man, I did almost the same thing Sunday. Late in the day, gusty winds from nearby t-storms, and ended up stuffing it nose-first into hard packed ground. My first "taco pack" :oops:

On the bright side, the B400 airframe is a tough little dude! (unlike lipo batteries) Other than the usual boom, blades, shafts (and of course canopy) it doesn't seem to have suffered any ill-effects. Shocking, considering the loud "THWACK" it made on impact. I expected to find a totalled mess.

[skigolfmike]

It was twilight and I got it into an attitude where I couldn't tell what it was doing. It looked like I had it leveled off 3 times on the way down, but when I put everything at neutral, it wasn't.

There's no dead chicken dance with the B400. The main gear strips before it has a chance.

I'll call the LHSs today to make sure they have the parts in stock. I'm down to my last feathering shaft though. Better not crash for a while.

[JustPlaneChris]

Yep, that's one of the main things I dislike about flying the little guys. They are just so darn hard to SEE! But on the bright side, the inevitable crashes are pretty cheap. :)

[skigolfmike]

the inevitable crashes are pretty cheap


Yeah:

Feathering Shaft 2 for $4.99 (Out of stock) $2.50
Flybar 2 for $3.99 $2.00
Paddles $2.99 $3.00
Landing Gear Struts $3.99 $4.00
Main shaft 2 for $4.99 $2.50
Main Gear w/ OWB $8.99 $9.00
CF Blades $40.00
DS285 servo $34.95 $35.00

Canopy $15.99 $16.00
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And the grand total is: $114.00

Glad it's a cheap heli to repair.:shock: Glad it's not a 90 that might have been one of those $2K crashes they talk about.:roll:

[JustPlaneChris]

Well yeah, those $40 blades and the $35 servo sting a bit. ;) But do you have to replace the entire servo, or just a gearset?

[skigolfmike]

I don't know yet. I got 2 spare servos and 2 spare gear sets. Never hurts to have spares on hand.

The blades I crashed I got 1/2 off at Toledo for $40. Replacement cost is $40.

I have E-Flite CF blades at home but they are junk. Flew them once and took them off. found out why, they were way out of balance. I'll use those until I get the Radix 325s. I also have MS Composite night blades coming. At $190 a pop I don't want to crash those.

[saltyzoo]

I have a dumb question. How do you "break" paddles?

[skigolfmike]

3030 headspeed, full throttle, nose down, banked hard left, full collective pitch lawn dart!:thumbup:

[HeliMix]

Sorry to hear Mike. But you will be back in the air soon.

Sunday I went flying with some local pilots. Out of the six of us, all of us had successful flights except for one pilot, and he was the most experienced one there. What ever the reason for the crash was (mechanical in his case), it even happens to the best pilots sometimes. ;)

[skigolfmike]

No problem, was my stupid mistake trying new maneuvers in failing sunlight and losing orientation. It happens. Just like racing karts, it's not a matter of whether or not, it's a matter of when.:cheers

I'll get the parts tonight and I'll be back in the air tomorrow. The night flying gear comes in tomorrow too, plus I'll have gears for the Gaui 550 on Thursday, so I should have everything flying this weekend. Right now I'm down to a 5.6oz foamie.

So, how many ADHD kids does it take to change a light bulb?

I dunno, let's fly helis!

[JustPlaneChris]

Hey Mike, I'm not sure if you know about it or not but you can get "cosmetic blemish" Radix 325's for $29 + shipping direct from www.curtisyoungblood.com. I run them on my Dragonus, and they fly just as sweet as the full price ones. :D

[skigolfmike]

I'll take a look at that. Might be good to get a backup pair. I just ordered mine from ReadyHeli so I would get them in 2 days.

I dug into it tonight and I found the front belt drive gear was stripped and the tail boom was bent too. I got it stripped down to nothing and am putting it back together. I'll have it done mechanically tonight and put the electrics in tomorrow.

Gotta take a break to watch Big Break Kaanapali on The Golf Channel.

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Update:

I got the mechanics rebuilt last night. Changing the tail drive gear and pulley is a PITA. Figured while I was at it I'd replace the belt too. The servo was still good and works fine now that I replaced the gears. I also got the servos back in last night, so all that's left is setting up the swash and putting the major components back in.

The parts for night flying (blades, light string, etc) are coming in today, so I will be setting up all that too. I'm going to use the main battery to power the light string running off the balance connector. First test flight after the rebuild might be after dark.