Panteradise 2012 Please post flying reports here!

[forvols]

After foregoing last Wednesday's normal flying session due to a hideous summer cold, I was looking forward to resuming our Wednesday routine today.

My P50 is currently in a state of complete shambles as I have cannibalized the tail, FBL head, Skookum 360 fbl unit, and 3 of the inter-connect wires from the P50 to my P7e project. The decision to move the Skookum and 3 of the interconnect cables was due to a near disaster I encountered this past Saturday trying to fly the P7e. That weird cyclic glitch on spool up decided to present itself after the P7e was airborne. Thankfully, I was only a couple of inches off the ground and was able to kill the motor and return to the runway without damage. Today, there were no glitches during spool up or any other time. I was able to put in a nice relaxing flight with the P7e just cruising about. Sure was fun! Time to get serious again about getting this airframe inside the Jet Ranger fuselage. I may already be too late to make this year's scale even here in dalton. If I miss this one, it will be the 2nd year of running out of time with this project. It's gonna take a lot of really good luck to make it in time (only 4 weeks left), but hopefully it will be one of those things that since the majority of the hard stuff is done, the rest will start coming together quickly.

Dale put in 2 great flights with his P7e (ironically using my RJX .90 sized head which we previously felt was badly out of balance). No issues with this head on his P7e. Dale looked like he was having a blast with his P7e!

Along with the Panteras, we also flew Dales heavy as lead Zimpro Stik, and my Hooker. Dale got to spend some quality time doing touch and goes with his Stik, and the weather cooperated enough to allow him to make approaches from the west end of the field (which is pretty much wide open). Before long, he was greasing the runway with nearly each touch and go.

I put in 3 flights with my Hooker this evening, and I have really fallen in love with this little airplane. I managed to convince Dale to fling the Hooker around for a bit on the buddy box. After a few minutes of he and the Hooker going through their "how do you do's", I suggested that Dale should feel free to shoot some landing approaches with her so that he could see just how differently she set up landings compared to his lead sled. The next thing I know, he initiated a picture perfect approach. The Hooker locked onto the runway, and Dale had her in a perfect slightly nose high sink that was looking like the perfect glide slope to the numbers on the runway. I didn't say a word, and without so much as a rock of the wings, he sat the Hooker down on her heals as gracefully as mother laying her newborn child into a crib. "Are you kidding? That's it? Is this a TRAINER 60? or something"... Yes Dale that's right, all that great flying I've been doing has nothing to do with my thumbs, it's the Hooker that's doing all the work. She really does make flying a very simple proposition! Dale shot some touch and goes with the Hooker, then decided he was done and I finished off the tank doing more of the same.

Dale was really shocked at just how easy the Hooker was to fly. I kinda feel bad that he's stuck with that lead sled of a Stik, but that Stik will do a great job of teaching him a lot of flying skills very quickly. I will say that I'm pretty sure Dale will own a Big Stik 60 before the end of next flying session... I just see the hand writing on the wall!

What a blast we had at the field today. The P7e's were doing there thing very well, and the plank time that we got in was equally as fun. Other than having to sit out 3 thunder storms throughout the afternoon, things could not have been any better! I'd place the Panteradise Fun-o-Meter at a 9.5 without hesitation!

Now to get that P50 back into some sort of flyable condition!!!! Until next time,

forvols sends...

[tealc]

Chris, might be a dumb question but am I correct in thinking that all your troubles with the P7e are do to your FBL unit? Am glad to here that it sounds as if you have tracked down your problems.

I am getting the P50 back together and hope to take it out tomorrow after frying my engine and failing at a high auto. After breaking in the rebuilt engine, I will be shooting some autos. Todd

[dharwood]

Between storms, it was indeed a great day. Forvols' P7 took to the sky without event!
Another 2 flights on mine as well as stick time on the "new2me" stick.
The last flight was indeed a treat. The Hooker is the best flying sport plane I remember flying. It has been a LONG time since I have put in any stick time on a plank, and my skills show. I am still able to avoid the ground but that luck may be short lived (-; Each week does get a little more comfortable for me though.

A big thanks to Forvols for helping me get back in the air with a plank!

Looking forward to next round!

Dale

[forvols]

Hey Todd, I've had all kinds of issues with my P7e. Vibration issues from a bent main shaft, vibration issues from the tail, and a weird "glitch" that was affecting cyclic at the very end of the spool up process.

That "glitch" has been a weird issue, because it occurs instantly, but after hitting, the helicopter always settled right back down and didn't do it again until the next time it spooled. up. We assumed there was some sort of weird resonance going on that was causing the issue because we could not reproduce the problem by spooling up without main blades on. Last Saturday I attempted to fly the P7e and while spooling up, I was prepared to see that glitch, and indeed, it did it's typical glitch right at the end of the spool up,and then settled right back down as always. I lifted the P7e into a very nice stable hover just a couple of inches off the ground. Just as soon as I established a very nice rock steady hover just inches off the ground, she suddenly went hard forward and left roll. The cyclic stick was still responsive because I instantly gave corrective input and she responded just as the tip of the blade made a slight contact with the asphalt. I had also flipped the switch to kill the motor so the helicopter settled on her skids with no damage.

With the helicopter on the flight table with the canopy off, my eye caught something that just didn't look right. The 1st 3 wires looked to be plugged in perpendicular to the FBL unit, while the last 3 wires looked like they were slanted back about 20-30 degrees. I reached for one of the wires that didn't look right and found that the connector just wiggled freely. All three wires that went from my Futaba receiver to the Skookum 360 fbl controller were extremely loose on the connector block of the FBL unit.

I assumed that there was something wrong with the SK360 and knew it had been involved in a crash with this helicopter back during the spring. This prompted me to pull the SK360 from my P50 to replace the suspect fbl unit on my P7e. I uploaded the P7e Skookum set up to the newly installed SK360 from my P50, mounted the Sk360 and started hooking up all the servo and receiver wires to it. When i got to those 3 wires that were loose on the previous SK360 fbl unit, to my dismay, they were also very loose on the SK360 I had just taken off of my P50. Grrrrrrrrrrr! I yanked the wires from my P50 and installed them on my P7e and they were all tight as they should be.

Test flight yesterday confirmed that the weird glitch was either due to the previous SK360, or the loose fitting inter-connect wires that go from the receiver to the SK360 FBL unit. My money is now on those 3 wires. Whether from the vibration issues I had previously or for whatever reason, those wires simply do not connect well on either of the FBL units.

I will order more inter-connect cables and will mount the SK360 that was originally on the P7e onto my P50, and with proper fitting connectors, I suspect that I will find there is absolutely nothing wrong with that SK360. I'll toss some cheap blades on the P50 for that test flight, but honestly, I'm 99% positive that the whole problem was with those poor fitting connectors.

[tealc]

I would not have gone to the wires instantly. Sounds as if that is indeed the problem. Look forward to hearing your report once the new wires show up. Todd

[The Dude II]

RcGeek & Dude at AMA for IRCHA... too windy for even FF NATS.
JD is flowing & food in the oven( too windy for grill too).

[forvols]

What a busy couple of weeks it's been at work! I was really looking forward to getting some flying in this afternoon, and what a great day for it!

The temps are in the upper 80's instead of the upper 90's. Humidity is still a little high, but not as bad as it can be. We did have a slight breeze from the north northwest which helped keep things feeling fairly comfortable.

I arrived hoping to get in at least 2 flights on my P7e and was successful at accomplishing that goal. This was a huge day for my P7e because I had my modified tail case on which mean I was flying KBDD 96mm blades and the tail was swapped over to the "other side" of the boom as it will be with my Jet Ranger. I'm very happy to report that the 96mm KBDD blades are providing a solid feeling tail. The stock Pantera tail blades were working, but you could tell that it wouldn't take much to overcome the ability for them to keep the helicopter steady. The 96mm KBDD's seem to have more than enough authority for scale flying. Don't know that I'd want to try any flippy floppy stuff with them, but vertical stall turns both directions were a non issue, and the tail was holding just fine during high speed pull outs and passes. I'm finally very happy to say that I LOVE this P7e!!! Both flights were spent flying within a scale envelope (totally vertical stall turns being an exception), and she was smooth as silk. The 2 stage spool up is simply awesome. The sound is great, but the visual of seeing the blades barely starting to move, and then slowly advancing into a "disk" is fantastic!!!! I'm flying a 10s set up using 2 5s packs in series. I arrived at the field with the packs charged, and then was able to charge them at the field to get my 2nd flight in. Very very tickled with the P7e right now and am pronouncing it ready to install into the Jet Ranger fuselage. As soon as Darrell Sprayberry returns from IRCHA, I'll be headed to his shop to get this done (my fuselage is stored at his shop right now).

Dale put in 2.5 flights with his P7e, and has been using a 90 sized RJX head and has been enjoying the extra bit of disk area generated from the larger head. He's been doing flippy floppy stuff with his 8s set up and has been doing stationary flips until he just gets bored. The electric just hangs right in there. Notice I mentioned 2.5 flights?

Dale also put in some quality time with his Lead Sled Stik. We swapped over from an 11x8 prop to a 12x6 and it sure made huge difference in it's ability to slow down during landing (at the cost of raw pulling power of course). Dale was shooting touch and goes like crazy, and even manged a few rolls here and there (one of which was pretty low - typical Dale eh?). I think he's now fully fledged with a "real airplane" and I advised him that there are no more apron strings involved when he flies the Stik now. I can't wait to see how quickly his flying progresses once he gets a plane that doesn't weigh a ton!

I enjoyed a nice flight with my RCM Hooker. I tried a few things that quickly showed me how much of my "pattern flying" I've lost over the past 4 years of playing with helicopters.

What about that P50 I've got in the "other room"? Honestly... I'm really enjoying the P7e right now. I know I'll get the P50 back together soon enough and will be enjoying it's "sportiness", but flying the P7e and trying to fly ultra smooth and scale like has really got me giggling for now. Talk about ear to ear grins from me... today's flights were soooooo enjoyable. Can't wait to get this thing in the air with it's scale fuselage!!

I hope you guys at IRCHA are having a blast, and I also hope you'll be posting pictures soon!!!.

Until the next flying session,

forvols sends...

[dharwood]

Ohhh, What a day at the field!

Forvols' P7e is now working as scheduled and looking GREAT.

I am making progress with the plank as Forvols mentinoed and after a prop strike on a not so good landing, we changed prop size and added more disk and less pitch up front and ohhh my did it make a difference. Less vertical performance but I now have some slow down during final. Night and Day difference.

I actually got in 4 flights on my P7e as I was at the tail end of the timer on flight 4 when the "event" happened. I had been pretty high doing some flippy floppy stuff (again) and it made a noise. From there it was a blurrrrrr. I am not sure what all I had and did not have as things happened so fast. I am 99% sure I lost some tail control but not sure that was all of it. Things were responding to commands but not like they should. Could be a one-way gone south as I was beating on it pretty hard...
Damage is considerable, although not my best work to date (-;
First glance is main shaft, blades, fbl links, boom, frame, windscreen, 2x radio trays, swash. I will have to get it apart to assess the rest as I am sure that there are more parts to add to the list.

Still, I am going to give it a 10 today. Far too many things went right and I had way more fun than anything less would allow.

Now, downstairs to unload.

Until next time,

Dale

[jbeech]

Dale,

Did you review the ProTip about the tail drive pulley? Here's the link;
http://www.audacitymodels.com/Produc...2/Default.aspx

We came up with this specifically due to the increased stresses the 700 and 4-blade conversions put on the tail drive system when larger tail rotor blades are installed.

I had hopes of flying to IRCHA yesterday morning but got delayed with what turned out to be a minor matter with the 4-blade production, which is now wrapped up. In fact, I had actually been thinking of stopping at Dalton to fly with you guys for your regular Wednesday afternoon flying session. This, before continuing toward Muncie this AM (but obviously, that didn't happen). Anyway, yesterday afternoon we begin bagging and tagging the AUD1024 parts to create the assembly.

Thus, the plan evolved to leaving out today, but only if if I could first complete repairs on my Agusta as well as my NItro Express (both equipped with an AUD1024 4-blade head). Thus, with production issue sorted, I turned my attention toward effecting the repairs.

First up was my Agusta A109, which I stupidly dropped the other day. This, while lowering it from where it lives during the week (it hangs from a rope with hook, which goes over the blade grips). It's how I stores the model up near the ceiling, which is out of my way (plus I don't have to remove the four main rotor blades). Anyway, it somehow slipped off the hook and came crashing down to the concrete floor (after bonking me on the head, which added injury to insult). Sadly, the results weren't pretty (much like those of blade stop auto to a hard landing from 9 feet). There's a photo attached . . . and the rusty looking stains are from blood where some part of the model nicked my head on the way down - no, it wasn't much of an injury but boy, did it bleed like crazy).

Next, with epoxy curing on the A109 fuselage repair, I quickly effected repairs to my Nitro Express, which I stuffed into the ground a few weeks ago. Once again this was due to my stupidiity (a combination of over confidence and dumb thumbs). What happend is I was zipping along doing a Forvols-style low pass (not really close to dragging the skids like he does because I fly over grass vs. asphalt) when suddenly the model dipped and I was slow to correct and suddenly the grass reached up and snagged the skids. This resulted in yet another crash test of the new 4-blade head because it immediately flopped to the turf looking an awful lot like a calf roped by the neck during a rodeo!

Fortunately, and probably because the grass needed cutting, whiile it looked bad the grass actually cushioned the meeting with terra firma and thus, while I lost a link, it didn't even break the blades! Moreover, the repair only entailed replacing one of the four spindles along with a main shaft, boom, and boom steadies. All in all I felt this was quite reasonable because the model was honking right along at probably 60 mph. This repair was done in less than an hour, which included me making and horking down a sandwich. Next, I test hovered it and then flew the tank out, which qualified me for a flight report (10 on the Panteradise meter because I'm easy to please).

Anyway, rather glad because I didn't have to do anything further to that bird I turned my attention back to the Agusta. This meant the Nitro Express was ready for the trip to Muncie. However, by then I was dragging a bit. Meanwhile repairs on the fuselage are proceeding, but somewhat slowly. Thus, I have given up on making the trip to Muncie because this is the model I really wanted to fly so instead of rushing the repair I am taking my time.

Finally, before anybody says it, I know I should have attended to both these repairs sooner. In my defense, I have been really busy with the 4-blade production. That, and creating a brand new website for ProModeler because we have a new line of ESC with data logging to offer. Added to which, I have also made and been flying a prototype heavy duty autohub, which I have decided to put them into production (photo below as well).Thus, everything just sort of piled up on me.

In closing, I still hope I can slip up to Dalton before too much longer because I'd enjoy flying with you guys (but probably on a weekend instead of mid-week).

Cheers,

[forvols]

Originally Posted by jbeech

First up was my Agusta A109, which I stupidly dropped the other day. ...it somehow slipped off the hook and came crashing down to the concrete floor (after bonking me on the head, which added injury to insult). ...the rusty looking stains are from blood where some part of the model nicked my head on the way down - no, it wasn't much of an injury but boy, did it bleed like crazy).

Ouchie! Glad you weren't injured beyond a minor blood letting, and sorry to hear of the damage to the model. My question is whether the damage was done when the model hit your head, or was it when it hit the floor

Originally Posted by jbeech

Next, I quickly effected repairs to my Nitro Express, which I stuffed into the ground a few weeks ago. What happend is I was zipping along a low pass when suddenly the model dipped and I was slow to correct and suddenly the grass reached up and snagged the skids. This resulted in yet another crash test of the new 4-blade head because it immediately flopped to the turf looking an awful lot like a calf roped by the neck during a rodeo!

Man... I feel like I just watched this wreck happen! Again... sorry to hear of the unexpected collision with the ground, but man it sounds like you were having a blast!!!!

Originally Posted by jbeech

I have also made and been flying a prototype heavy duty autohub, which I have decided to put them into production (photo below as well).Thus, everything just sort of piled up on me.

Now we're talking JB!!!!. Any idea of the price point of this metal autohub yet?

Originally Posted by jbeech

In closing, I still hope I can slip up to Dalton before too much longer because I'd enjoy flying with you guys (but probably on a weekend instead of mid-week).

Scale Challenge here on the weekend of 9/14 - 9/16, but honestly, there will be folks arriving starting Monday 9/10 if it's anything like it's been the past 2 years. Also, I think Dale will be on vacation in Florida that weekend, but I'm not certain. Either way, we'd love to have you visit anytime!

[jbeech]

Hmmm, did it get damaged when it hit my head, or when it hit the concrete floor? Hard to say but seeing as it was just concrete my money's on when it hit my head!

Finally, please send me an email about the event please because I'd enjoy attending. This is really more my cup of tea anyway because the frantic 3D thing (especially as performed by unknown pilots in adjacent boxes as at IRCHA and other fun flies these days) mostly serves to keep me on edge instead of having fun. Frankly, the 3D-style of flying got old years ago when I saw pilots doing fantastic tricks and then hovering tail-in back to a landing because I realized how much of it is timing and how little I wanted to spend much of my life learning to do a repetitive motion. Not really condemming it in toto as some guys are genuine artists but in general, it makes me nervous. Add to it, since I see world class pilots any time I want at my home field (TORCHS club) locally I'm desensitzed and it no longer does anything for me. At elast not like a more relaxed scale event where I have more fun. Anyway, I am looking forward to it.

In closing, I'm gonna post about the autohub in a stand alone thread - sorry for hijacking your thread.

[dharwood]

JB, thanks for the tip on that. I had not seen it.
As for the one-way, after careful examination under the magnifying glass, it appears to be perfect. I was running the belt somewhat loose but had not has so much as a slippage to date, although that could be it. I will also examine the tail pinion assy to make sure it is not damaged (have not got that far yet) Wish you had been here to at least see me plant one. (-:

Look for a parts order soon,

Dale

[tealc]

Well, my family went to the field on Tuesday (club training night) for some flying. Since we were the only ones at the field at 1500hrs, I fueled up the Pantera for the first flight after a failed auto. With the rebuilt engine, last set of reserve frames, and the RNFBL head on for the first time, I was excited and nervous about flying. Nervous in the fact that I had not completely run the CGY 750 in 3 axis mode. I my preflight, I discovered at loose engine mount screws. One of the four screws that hold the engine and engine mount to the frame. I quickly thought about thread locker. Did I thread lock the two screws behind the pipe and tighten? Unable to check and reattach the pipe meant no flying the Pantera. I was not going to risk another crash as a result of a loose screw. Although, my wife might tell you that she has given up on tightening the one in my head.

This meant I could spend time flying my children on the Switch. I am happy to report that my daughter landed the plane for the first time. She had one of the most beautiful approached I have seen. She let the plane descend by reducing the power and using the elevator to keep a slight nose down approach. Once over and completely dead center of the runway with the wind blowing against the side of the plane, the plane touch down without a bounce. Nice and soft. Only problem was the plane had some speed and she over corrected with the rudder (before the tail touched down) sending the plane off the runway and into the grass. This resulted in the wheel pants catching the grass, bending the landing gear and flipping the plane on its back. I was so excited that she got the plane on the ground. I took the landing gear off and straighten them the best we could and went back to flying.

Three of my children took turns on the sticks and Reachel attempted another landing. This one was not as successful. The cross wind picked up speed and pushed the plane off center. I told her what direction she needed to correct the plane and she did the opposite. What happened next nearly made me mess my shorts and put her into tears. The plane nearly hit some of the club members preparing a plane for flight. This is one of the reason that I am a really fan of stopping what I am doing and looking up went a newbee calls out "Landing from the...." She was frozen with fear and crying almost hysterically. What was going for her is that she completely cut the throttle when the plane headed for the members. One of the club member who was nearly hit (also one of the trainers) brought over the plane to her and helped to console her. I got the plane fixed and with the help of the club president got her back into the air. I landed the plane for her since she was not up for another try.

Sorry for taking over this thread since it is about helis but I just had to share about Reachel. She is now the first female under 20 to land a plane in our club. Here is the kicker. After her first landing, she looked up at me and said the Pantera is next right dad. My reply, "Continue working on hovering on the sim and we will throw the training gear on the Pantera and go for it." I will not take her down my path of starting with the 450 clone then moving to the Pantera like I did. It will be Pantera all the way baby.

Hoping to fly tomorrow morning since the temp is forecasted at over 100F. Wishing I could be at IRCHA since I have a Helicommand Base unit that I would love to upgrade to the xtreme for $35.00. Have fun all of you who are there. With envy, Todd.

[jbeech]

Fabulous report because I don't think Panteradise just emans Panteras. Please extend a heratfelt attaboy to Rachael form me. Good job Daddy!

[crash.n.dash05]

Paradise is going to be on hold for a bit till I get my head in the game with school... In two weeks we have our 3D Huckfest and that's the same week I start AMT/A&P school...

[forvols]

Todd... great flight report. I agree 100% with JB about Panteradise not being about 100% Panteras. It's as much about the pure and simple passion and love for flying as it as about Panteras. It just so happens that the Pantera fit's that "pure and simple" concept so well (imho).

As for your daughter's close encounter with the pit area... I don't think there's a single one of us who, (at some point in this hobby) hasn't had a plane get dumped into the pit area. Sounds like you guys gave an alert that you were landing, and as you stated, everyone should have realized at that point that a rookie was attempting a landing and they should have had their eyes on the situation/heads on a swivel, and an escape route planned out. It also sounds like the club members responded well, and didn't just puff up and jump down her throat. That says much about your club imho. Stuff happens. You tell Reachel to keep her chin up, and keep shooting the approaches.
Maybe in the not so distant future, we'll be seeing "Team Raechel" logo'd apparel at the various fun flys

C&D05 - Wishing you much luck, and success with your schooling. Also hope that it proves to be a prosperous and rewarding venture for you! Model aviation must ALWAYS take a back seat to real life endeavors. We all participate on a "as best we can" basis.

[forvols]

The Hooker is charged, and the fuel tank is filled. Batteries for the P7e are charged and installed. The Futaba 8FG transmitter is charging, and I've got a fresh set of batteries in the camera.

Hoping to put in about 3 flights on the P7e and 3 flights or so on the Hooker in the morning. Hopefully I can get one of the guys to video my P7e, and perhaps I can even trick them into standing relatively close to the heli as it spools up. I'm loving the sound of the 2 stage electric as well as the ultra slow start to the main blades spinning. I don't have any kind of vertical stabilizer as my custom tail case no longer has mounting posts. This means there is absolutely nothing to help keep the tail blades out of the dirt, and I'm running larger than stock tail blades. I do have a shim under the rear gear struts to give a slight nose down (tail up) posture to the helicopter to help provide some extra ground clearance for the tail blades. Still... it's just so easy to get into a tail down position during landing. My main concern flying this thing outside of the scale fuselage is the greater than normal chance to hit the dirt with the tail. Still... I can't wait. Morning can't get here soon enough!

[forvols]

I arrived at the field at 8:00 this morning and our resident warbird enthusiast was already there setting up his AT-6 Texan.

When I left the house, it was raining. In route to the flying field the weather varied from looking like rain, to pouring, to dry as a bone. Shortly after my arrival at the field, the rain set in, and things were not looking good for flying. A quick check of the weather radar revealed a single cell right over Dalton. Judging from the radar loop, it looked like we were in for about 1.5 hours of rain as that cell just wasn't moving very fast. We both decided to stay and wait it out. While we waited, Keith showed up and quickly joined our "bench session". We all shared many of our flying experiences and it was very hard to determine which of us was the better armchair pilot .

As predicted, the storm finally moved on and we were rewarded with a very nice "rest of the morning". Each of us had obligations at home that dictated that our flying session would end somewhere between 11:30 and noon.

I hoped to get in 3 flights each with the P73 and the Hooker. As it turned out, I could only manage to get 2 each. Man were they some fun flights though! I asked mark to video my P7e during spool up and I took a few pictures of Mark's AT-6 Texan.

Although our time was cut short, the quality of the flying was not dimmed. My second flight with the Hooker was spent trying to stay somewhat in formation with Mark as he shot touch and go after touch and go with a Kadet Senior. Several of our landing were side by side with less than 6 feet of separation between wing tips, but most also had a 6-8 foot fore/aft separation. Still.. that's pretty close for models! The P7e is flying very nicely and I'm ready to get her into that fuselage!!!

I hope everyone has as chance to fly this weekend, and that the IRCHA folks all make it home nice and safe!

Until Monday night or so,
forvols sends...

YouTube

YouTube

[jbeech]

Gotta love that off camera comment, "That even sounds like a real helicopter."

Anyway, tell your friend with the camera, attaboy for a good job of filming.

[tealc]

I want to get mine done. Hopefully soon. Other things came up, so still in need of ESC, Batts, Stage 2, and tail servo. Looks like maybe spring as I hit the books in about a week. Nice short video Chris. Great job and glad to finally see your bird that has been troubling you. Todd