Once more into the breach!

[hancockdw]

In spite of my previous adamant pronouncements that I would not expend any more time or money on rebuilding this model, I did it anyway, and I can now report a successful (re-)maiden. Went to the club field on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was overcast, damp-chilly and a little windy, so the Stingray stayed in the car.

Sunday was still a little windy, but with bright sunshine. No one there but me. Decided I would get it over with, and set up the stingray for flight. Spun up, came up into a hover, gingerly testing controls., Found I had rudder reversed. Brought her back down and fixed that. Got off the ground again. Seems a little quieter than it used to be, but that could just me being a little more deaf. Sill decidedly NOT quiet. Tooled around a little, started throwing it around with some big figure eights, "skidding" around the corners. Did a flip. Cyclic response seems better than I recall, too. Landed without incident.

Later had it on a table with the "hood" up, wind kicked up and pushed it off to the the ground. Oh, no -- here we go again! But no apparent damage. Wait -- one of the end mounts has twisted on the central boom. I thought "what have I got to lose?" and twisted it back. Recklessly, I flew another battery, this time executing multiple flips and rolls. Might need a bit more gain on the controller, but overall I am unexpectedly pleased. I had forgotten how much fun this thing is when it's working right. Now just need to tighten whatever was loose and reset gain, and I'm ready to go. (Until it breaks again -- then I'm *really* not going to spend any more on it ... probably).

Dave

[sud76]

Just a word of caution. If the end mount twisted on the boom the small tits on the inside have sheared and there is a possibility of it twisting in flight with and undesirable result. I have found I cannot tighten enough to keep it from rotating.

On mounts that I have sheared the tits, that are otherwise good, I have drilled with a #30 bit and ran a countersunk screw completely through to insure it will not twist.

[sud76]

One other thing in regards to the sound, if a main shaft was bent, you can certainly hear it as it spins out of round, kind of a growl,usually just before it comes apart unfortunately.

[hancockdw]

Originally Posted by sud76

Just a word of caution. If the end mount twisted on the boom the small tits on the inside have sheared and there is a possibility of it twisting in flight with and undesirable result. I have found I cannot tighten enough to keep it from rotating.

On mounts that I have sheared the tits, that are otherwise good, I have drilled with a #30 bit and ran a countersunk screw completely through to insure it will not twist.

Thanks for your comments.

Are we talking about the same piece? I'm referring to the aluminum piece that joins the center boom to the rotor head cross booms, not the rotor head mounts.

I took a look at it tonight, and found that I could tighten the clamp screws a bit. It's entirely possible I chose the wrong "set" screws that go into the boom radially in the center of the mount from the bottom; that they are too short. I'll check that tomorrow.

[sud76]

Nope, Your right, I misunderstood. Good luck on your flight, it's a good machine, most of the problems I have had were self induced, hate to see anyone go down the road of damaged pieces if they do not have to.

[hancockdw]

Thanks. I've had my share of problems with this bird; more than my share is how it feels. But now I suspect the "root cause" of several of them was a faulty ESC. Using a Phoenix 45 and separate CC BEC now. Hopefully it will be more reliable now.

Dave

[hancockdw]

After a half-dozen or so pretty successful flights, starting to like this beast a lot more, I fumbled something while practicing inverted flight on a sorta windy day yesterday and put in in again most of the way through battery number 3. One rotor boom broken and the other bent, one blade grip broken off. Haven't done a complete investigation yet, so there's probably more damage. At the beginning of this thread I pronounced that this would be the last re-build ... probably. Now it's decision time I guess. I also had an engine failure on my 60 size AT-6 on a downwind leg and put THAT model into a tree. *sigh* Didn't end up a particularly god day.

[helibobb]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Encore-RC-In...3D121852518209

This should ease your pain ,total cost is less than the repairs you need.