The laboratory has been buzzin' again

[Stumblebee]

Night, should I ask what is in the white cardboard box that the wires are leading to in the second pic?

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by Stumblebee

Night, should I ask what is in the white cardboard box that the wires are leading to in the second pic?

New sets of 6S 5000 long packs

[Luvmyhelis]

Oh man Night! I am 53 also and have had the surgeons knife on the back. Sorry for the pain big brother. Back pain is pretty much the worst kind ever. BTW, a heartfelt thanks for the toggles you mailed me a while back. I had them installed in about 15 minutes after they were out of the package.

My offer still stands to lighten the load of your immense fleet General Richard! All that worry watching over them has to be taking its toll on your mental health. It is the only reason I can figure out why a guy our age is hand pouring concrete. hehe.

[nightflyr]

Well if that wasn't enough....


We started construction of the carport this past weekend first concrete pillars have been dug and poured..
This has to be finished by mid September... I'll be out of gas by then

[Stumblebee]

Night, Mel is getting quite a bit of expereience in renovations these days. Maybe you could talk him into trading some "expertise" and "elbow grease" for a heli.

[nightflyr]

Naaaaa we'd wind up at a field together flying and getting not a darn thing done

[Navigator53]

Well done Night, those are some great numbers too, over 14 minutes of smooth power

[Navigator53]

Hey Stumblebee,

So if I'm reading you right, up until now most of your flying has been with CP on?

Nothing wrong with that, one of the guys in our club always flies that way and has moved onto flips, loops & rolls always with CP on.

I've forgot to turn it off, then passed center on the right stick halfway thru a manuver,,, Oooooops

If you can fly your 450, you can fly anything

[Navigator53]

Originally Posted by Stumblebee

Night, Mel is getting quite a bit of expereience in renovations these days. Maybe you could talk him into trading some "expertise" and "elbow grease" for a heli.

Night is right, go to the field instead

8 weeks into a kitchen make-over and if there's anything I've learned...

Some things are best left to the Pros!

[nightflyr]

That's the exact reason I do the work myself

[Stumblebee]

Originally Posted by Navigator53

Hey Stumblebee,

So if I'm reading you right, up until now most of your flying has been with CP on?

Yup. most of the time I have used CP II. Why fix what isn't broken, literally. That all changed on Saturday. Starting Saturday, I now have about 34 flights in a row without CP II. In fact, I haven't turned it on at all outside of a minute or so just to make sure it was working on Sunday. This is all part of my progression to a 550E.

I learned my lesson regarding D-I-Y years ago with a "little fixer-upper" I was dumb enough to buy. I should have just blown it up. These days, in my opinion, it is far easier and safer to do the due diligence in investigating the job that needs to be done, select the "right" contractor to do the job and let them do it. When you consider to value of your time for both the work and the obligatory re-work, it is often cheaper to use the "right" professionals. No where is it written that I have to single-handedly make sure that Home Depot meets it monthly sales targets.

[Boomkidd]

Originally Posted by Stumblebee

Yup. most of the time I have used CP II. Why fix what isn't broken, literally. That all changed on Saturday. Starting Saturday, I now have about 34 flights in a row without CP II. In fact, I haven't turned it on at all outside of a minute or so just to make sure it was working on Sunday. This is all part of my progression to a 550E.

Nice! (Flying w/ CP2 off.) I was never comfortable flying w/ it off on the my 450. I started doing that almost immediately when I got the 600e. That sucker is naturally stable. I used CP2 only 3 times to save me and one was when I was setting the Align 3G a little while ago. I put in that momentary touch switch near where my right index finger sits for CP2. Works fantastically!!
I traded the 450 and everything I had that went w/ it for a near mint trex 600 nitro. Sounded too good to be true but, man O man, i got a SLAMMING deal!! (Came w/ fuel filler tank and the starter motor!!) It scared the crap out of me the first tank...the engine sounds like a chainsaw...that and all the smoke freaked me out. (I had to adj. the gyro a bit also which made it tweaky the first hover attempt.) It took me about 1/4-1/2 tank before I hovered it the first time (LoL...scary at first all by yourself!)
But, now I'm only hovering it until I get CP2 for that as well...the abundant smoke keeps the mosquitos away LoL!
The Trex 450 is a gateway heli LoL!! (Actually, the blade mcx was my gateway heli.) Nice to see your progression stumblebee I'm at the the same stage sounds like.
I wish I had people to fly with. Flying w/ pro's (from statistics) makes you better, faster and more likely to stick w/ the whole heli hobby. I'm stuck with it, but my progression is slow even with CP2. BUT, CP2 kept me from exiting this hobby forever!!! (Literally!)

Man, I can't believe this thread has over 1900 replies...when did you start this Night? A year ago about I think? Wow! I can not believe how big your fleet is from what I know anyway. If there was a contest of who's the #1 helifreak i would definetly vote for Night...No hesitation.

[nightflyr]

Castle East and the Laboratory were created to let people experiment and share ideas..

Without the fear of stepping outside the bounds of the "norm"

Some ideas work, some do not..it's all a part of the hobby and everyone gets to see different ideas come to life.
And if a pilot can make use of a shared idea all the better.

Everyone who comes to Castle East is welcome to look and use what ever is here and free to post there own thoughts.

[nightflyr]

And another 800 enters in to service of the Castle East AirForce.....

[Stumblebee]

Hey Night, I like that ball on the tail fin.! Impressive build.

[Stumblebee]

Yesterday was not a good day. Actually, it was a very frightening day. I was at the soccer for my second set of flights. A beautiful sunny early evening. The first lipo was an excellent flight. As usual, once the bird was on the ground I checked that Throttle Hold was on and the left stick was fully down. I set the TX in the heli case away from me and the bird. I went over to the bird and swapped lipos. I waited for the sounds of the heli arming. I went over to the heli case to get the TX and drop the exhausted lipo. When I picked up the TX, it slipped from my hand and fell less than 12 inches landing face down.

Seeing nothing amiss, I reached down and flipped over the TX. BIG MISTAKE It seems that in the fall, Throttle Hold had been switched off. Turning the TX over engaged the throttle, BIG TIME. I wasn’t looking at the bird but I certainly heard screech when it took off. Since I did not know where the bird was, I went into full emergency mode. I pushed the throttle down, shut off the TX and kept my head down until I heard the crash. Fortunately, it came down about eight feet away from me.

The bird was not a pretty sight. The damage was as follows:

Main Rotor Blades
One tail rotor blade
Front TT gears (obligatory)
Tail boom
Torque tube
Rudder push rod from servo
Landing skids
Main Drive gear
Full set of aileron and elevator servos

Lesson learned; if this happens again if possible disarm the bird first. Check throttle hold before touching anything. Get a good grip on the TX.

Good things from all of this; most of the parts were from my own inventory, my LHS had everything else I needed. No one or anything beside the heli was damaged or injured. It was time to replace the tail boom anyway. The replacement has started its life pinned in three places. The bird is successfully rebuilt.

Ironic thing; I Got my MAAC (Canadian equivalent to AMA) card in the mail yesterday.


MAAC # 84297
(I just had to do that)

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by Stumblebee

Hey Night, I like that ball on the tail fin.! Impressive build.

Keeps the tail from digging in..

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by Stumblebee

Yesterday was not a good day. Actually, it was a very frightening day. I was at the soccer for my second set of flights. A beautiful sunny early evening. The first lipo was an excellent flight. As usual, once the bird was on the ground I checked that Throttle Hold was on and the left stick was fully down. I set the TX in the heli case away from me and the bird. I went over to the bird and swapped lipos. I waited for the sounds of the heli arming. I went over to the heli case to get the TX and drop the exhausted lipo. When I picked up the TX, it slipped from my hand and fell less than 12 inches landing face down.

Seeing nothing amiss, I reached down and flipped over the TX. BIG MISTAKE It seems that in the fall, Throttle Hold had been switched off. Turning the TX over engaged the throttle, BIG TIME. I wasn’t looking at the bird but I certainly heard screech when it took off. Since I did not know where the bird was, I went into full emergency mode. I pushed the throttle down, shut off the TX and kept my head down until I heard the crash. Fortunately, it came down about eight feet away from me.

The bird was not a pretty sight. The damage was as follows:

Main Rotor Blades
One tail rotor blade
Front TT gears (obligatory)
Tail boom
Torque tube
Rudder push rod from servo
Landing skids
Main Drive gear
Full set of aileron and elevator servos

Lesson learned; if this happens again if possible disarm the bird first. Check throttle hold before touching anything. Get a good grip on the TX.

Good things from all of this; most of the parts were from my own inventory, my LHS had everything else I needed. No one or anything beside the heli was damaged or injured. It was time to replace the tail boom anyway. The replacement has started its life pinned in three places. The bird is successfully rebuilt.

Ironic thing; I Got my MAAC (Canadian equivalent to AMA) card in the mail yesterday.


MAAC # 84297
(I just had to do that)

Sorry to hear about that SB, but glad you didn't get in its way as it came down.
Might I suggest getting a Tx kick stand.. holds the radio up and you can place it pretty much anywhere on a dry surface ( far away from the falling battery zone)

[Boomkidd]

Man! That sucks SB!! I almost did that w/ the 600 once! Freaked me out so much I got one of those newer Tx body straps (as opposed to the traditional neck strap.) Goes around your arms. You can just leave it on yourself with that and do what you need to. The kick-stand works just as well too...but I wanted the strap. Glad it didn't land on you...or a dog...or kid...etc.
Would've been cool if you said you realized it took off so u hit the CP2 to on and landed safely. **sigh** I feel ur pain.

[nightflyr]

Ok.. But I earned braggin' rights for this......

The Castle East 800 armada (-1..being.fitted with a new camera)