One, two, three … dee

[sutty]

Damned decent effort for effectively freehand Raf. I thought you must have found a stencil or something. Typically fine job. Loving the build report too! Can't wait to hear reports from the maiden. How you can contain yourself and not just get it finished and in the air is beyond me, but then again that's why mine always look a little half assed, and yours don't, lol.

Cheers

Sutty

[redbird300]

Lol Andrew. Mostly due to lack of time. And I made up my deadlines very clearly before winter: by the start of next season I need to have finished the three winterprojects that are (were) waiting, no real use in finishing them before. Those are the Logo 500SE (finished), the TDR (almost finished now), and the Airwolf fuse for the Logo 400. We're end of december, and 2 out of 3 almost done is not that bad in regard to this timing. So I allow myself to spend some time on the sim, and keep working on other hobbies and do some stuff for our club. As well as some work around the house, etcetera... Just wanna keep it relaxed, there's already stress enough in our world like that. And a big thanks for your nice words of course.

[Tomstoy2]

"I must say that I was really sober when doing that. "


Seems to be a rash of that happening world wide!

Excuse me,,,,, God, I need coffee!

[redbird300]

I applied the decals on the canopy today, using soapy water per the instruction vid.
The red "window" consists of 3 pieces, hard to see afterwards.





I really like the colors, don't ask me why.

[redbird300]

Great news: I finished the TDR today !

Took it out in the backyard for a first test, not for a real flight but just to check if everything works as it should, monitor temperatures, check blade tracking, listen for strange sounds, and so on. And it behaved fantastic.

Hovered it a few minutes at 1350 (whisper quiet !), 1600 and 1850 RPM. A few hard punches and fast piros to see how the V-Bar would react, and that was it. Great, very connected feeling, even in the fierce winds we have here today. Forgot all you know about your everyday heli, even during such a simple test you can feel it's in a different class. Decided to call it a day, and take it in for a last thorough inspection after that first flight.

A few pics, probably the last ones, a real vid will have to wait until I get to the field.








I hope you all enjoyed the thread, there's much more to say, but most of it is in the manual, which is more like a book about many aspects of this heli instead of only the usual assembly instructions. You can download it here: http://www.henseleit-helicopters.de/...anual-2011.pdf Even if you never want a TDR, it's great reading some parts, as there is a lot of general knowledge in that manual.

Cheers, I think I deserved a beer. Or two. What the heck, let's empty the cave...

[ragge1]

skål - cheers in swedish well done Raf looking very nice ,didn't you video your test , hehe you so Jerry didn´t beat you with his Belt CP 6HV

[jperkosk]

I'm depressed, but happy for you Raf
My Belt 6HV is resisting the attempts to mount all the electronics I want on it, so the test flight is still about a day away

[copterboy]

Well done on completion Raf It seems like you had no major drama's, as was expected from this kit.

Still looking forward to hearing it when you do get a vid done I want to hear/drool over how smooth those gears sound

I've saved the PDF file. I need all the help I can get!!

[sutty]

Yeah, well done Raf. Really pleased the maiden went well for you. She looks superb. Or perhaps boringly plain, depending on your perspective, but that of course takes no account of what is going on under that unusual canopy. Personally I air on the side of superb, and will also be having a good read of the manual, to hopefully further my knowledge. Damn you if you make me buy one.

Hope you get to the club pretty soon. I want to see that video for sure.

Cheers

Sutty

[Bugster]

Originally Posted by sutty

Hope you get to the club pretty soon. I want to see that video for sure.

Cheers

Sutty

Me too - can't wait

[Tomstoy2]

Absoluely gorgeous, my friend!!!! Well done.

I can't wait to see the vid, too.

Better keep a close eye on it. Turn your back and Gerd will mod it to fly on one blade!

[sutty]

Tom, I think you mean Erwin (Ber60). Gerd has all but sold up now to pursue his passion for real flight.

Hmm, I've been reading it since I last posted, and I am more impressed with the simplicity of the look because there seems not to be a single thing the guy has not considered with the design of every single component. The looks are no accident, but more as a result of considering what the heli might be expected to do.

Just excellent. Continuing the read......

Cheers

Sutty

[Dflyer]

Hi Raf,

congrats on the maiden of your beauty ! I know the feeling, and words can't express the feeling

Grtz,
Dirk

[redbird300]

Originally Posted by Dflyer

Hi Raf,

congrats on the maiden of your beauty ! I know the feeling, and words can't express the feeling

Grtz,
Dirk

Thx buddy, hope to see you soon again, we should do a TDR meeting now.

[Tomstoy2]

Sorry, did mean Erwin! Just woke up, slightly hung over, old, stupid,,,, my excuses go on and on,,,,

[sutty]

Not to worry Tom. I know the feeling, you'll be fine tomorrow, lol.

Interesting, from the TDR manual:

"You may tighten the blade bolts 0138 so that the blades can still swing around, without much force. They should be tightened just as much as necessary, to not swing down by their own weight, when holding the helicopter with the rotor shaft horizontally. This is very important for the flight characteristic of every helicopter. Too tightly fixed rotor blades produce vibrations and lead to a pronounced pitch-up tendency in high-speed flight."

I remember having read and passed on this same advice many times, particularly in regard to our beloved Belt-CP. I'm sure you are all aware of this. Despite having given out this advice, personally I changed to having them tight, vitually unmovable, after receiving advice about the advantages of tight blades. The advice I received was that it made little difference in flight, but it would stop the blades folding during an auto, which can happen when they are loose.

Having made them tight, one small advantage that I noticed when flying, or rather crashing, over long grass, which can often save my 250, and sometimes even save my 450 from damage, is that it stops the blades from folding back into the grips. This damages the trailing edge at the root of the blade, and often even the grip itself.

Having just read this in the TDR manual I am going to revert back to having them relatively loose, since firstly I never do autos, and secondly I'm not crashing that often anymore, so the blade and grip thing is not such a problem, and I guess if it reduces heli vibes, and imporves flight performance, then I should really do the right thing and I'm pretty sure if this guy says it is right, then it is right.

Cheers

Sutty

[redbird300]

First four flights today with the TDR, in my backyard and the fields behind it. From 1250 RPM up to 1850 RPM, and everything in between. Main goal was to measure RPMs and flight times. But couldn't help myself to play a bit with it. It's a very fun and stable heli, without any surpirses. Even at 1250 RPM it flips, rolls and flies inverted very well. The tail is not as crisp of course, but very, very flyable. Even hard punches don't make it swing away. At 1850 RPM it's a missile, and it's like the heli always wants to speed away from the pilot. Can't wait to go to the club to see what it will do with more space available. Happy !

[redbird300]

The first very nice day of the year down here, so I went to the field for a first “real” flight with the new Logo 500SE and especially the TDR. Several club members were present, everybody wanted to feel that first weak sunlight, I guess.

The test flight went well, I kept it cautiously at 1350 RPM from the start up to 2’15” in the vid (but it still flies well), after which I shifted to 1600 and directly to 1850 RPM. Flew it a bit like that, and shifted back and forth a few times, as you will notice. One thing is clear now, and I was warned, this heli eats 4500mAh/25C packs for breakfast, I could clearly hear and feel at high speed that the packs were struggling to keep up towards the end of the flight. Need a few new packs anyway, better get some 40C’s.

Enjoy the vid, it gets out of sight a few times, but there are also a few nice moments where the heli is very close by. I tried several different things at different RPMs to see how it would react. I really love it.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIO6h8eXGCY[/ame]

[Bugster]

Superb Raf excellent heli and pilot. I really enjoyed the video. The canopy is ideal for orientation due to its bright, contrasty colour scheme.

Very impressive maiden flight with a well deserved round of applause from your club mates

[Tomstoy2]

I agree!!!!

I really like the matching strips on the boom, too!

Amazing the different handling characteristics at different head speed. At low speed, she really handles like a gentleman, but turns into a real 3d performer at max speed!

About 6 minutes into the vid, were you at 1600RPM there? Really liked how she smoothed out.