Macdad's flight progress

[macdad]

Went to the field. Started flying and wrecked on the first battery. Lost control, over-corrected, and panicked. Hit TH from about 8' up.

Bent feathering shaft
Stripped main gear
Busted Ball link
Potential bent main shaft...

I have all the parts. It should be a quick fix. Busted out the FB heli and flew 3 more batteries without incident. Even flew backwards for a few figure 8s. They were a little rough, but they were legitimate turns. The simulator definitely helps.

Total crash count=8

[mqowen]

Originally Posted by macdad

Went to the field. Started flying and wrecked on the first battery. Lost control, over-corrected, and panicked. Hit TH from about 8' up.

Bent feathering shaft
Stripped main gear
Busted Ball link
Potential bent main shaft...

I have all the parts. It should be a quick fix. Busted out the FB heli and flew 3 more batteries without incident. Even flew backwards for a few figure 8s. They were a little rough, but they were legitimate turns. The simulator definitely helps.

Total crash count=8

I was glad to find your thread on your progress. I have a trex 250 and 450L and a few micros. I logged my first flight in the 250 April 19th, although I had test flown some before that. From Jan to April 2014 I crashed a nano cp about 1000 times it seemed. I actually thought something was wrong with the heli. At one point I was going almost everyday to the local hobby store for parts and it got to the point of embarrassment.

I didn't have a sim at first because I only have a Mac and the LHS told me they didn't make one for the Mac because of some technical reason. I later found out different and I have incorporated sim time in my training. I am not at present flying micros and shifted more of my efforts into 250 and 450L.

I was glad to see and read of your progress. My experience is very similar, and I have some of the same feelings of excitement and frustration that you have expressed.

I wish you good good luck in your continued flying. I will keep and eye on your thread here to learn about your progress. Thanks for sharing it.

[Pitch-Itch]

Originally Posted by macdad

Went to the field. Started flying and wrecked on the first battery. Lost control, over-corrected, and panicked. Hit TH from about 8' up.

Bent feathering shaft
Stripped main gear
Busted Ball link
Potential bent main shaft...

I have all the parts. It should be a quick fix. Busted out the FB heli and flew 3 more batteries without incident. Even flew backwards for a few figure 8s. They were a little rough, but they were legitimate turns. The simulator definitely helps.

Total crash count=8

Your total crash count could still be zero with a 3sx FBL unit. Just saying.

[macdad]

Originally Posted by DavisBladeWorks

Your total crash count could still be zero with a 3sx FBL unit. Just saying.

I don't know about zero, but it would be much lower for sure. It would have saved me on this last one. But then, I wouldn't have anything to whine about

Mqowen, thanks for your post. It has been a very fun journey to date. Above all else, I love to learn. Plenty of opportunity here! Btw... I have a little FP heli that I fly in the house. I have wrecked that close to 1000 times too. I don't like to fly it much now, because it behaves so differently.

On a side note... I'm gonna blame this last crash on the simulator. The controls on my simulator are a bit more sensitive than on this heli. That is why I got in trouble. I need to do two things:

1. Continue to adjust the the sim and real helis to react as similar as possible.
2. Start out a little slower on the first flight to adjust to the differences in the controls.

[lcc014]

Originally Posted by macdad

I don't know about zero, but it would be much lower for sure. It would have saved me on this last one. But then, I wouldn't have anything to whine about

Mqowen, thanks for your post. It has been a very fun journey to date. Above all else, I love to learn. Plenty of opportunity here! Btw... I have a little FP heli that I fly in the house. I have wrecked that close to 1000 times too. I don't like to fly it much now, because it behaves so differently.

On a side note... I'm gonna blame this last crash on the simulator. The controls on my simulator are a bit more sensitive than on this heli. That is why I got in trouble. I need to do two things:

1. Continue to adjust the the sim and real helis to react as similar as possible.
2. Start out a little slower on the first flight to adjust to the differences in the controls.

What sim are you using now ? How do you adjust the sim to react like the real helis as close as possible ? My thought is that the sim just use settings in Transmitter (end points (ATV/Travel), expo, pitch/throttle curves, etc to control the helicopter, correct ?

[macdad]

Originally Posted by lcc014

What sim are you using now ? How do you adjust the sim to react like the real helis as close as possible ? My thought is that the sim just use settings in Transmitter (end points (ATV/Travel), expo, pitch/throttle curves, etc to control the helicopter, correct ?

I'm using Heli-X. I'm not getting too deep into the simulator settings. I turn the expo to zero on the sim model setup and manage the expo on the transmitter. I use the same transmitter for sim and flying. Basically, I'm not doing anything scientific. I am just adjusting settings on my expo on the real heli to feel like the sim heli.

[lcc014]

Originally Posted by macdad

I'm using Heli-X. I'm not getting too deep into the simulator settings. I turn the expo to zero on the sim model setup and manage the expo on the transmitter. I use the same transmitter for sim and flying. Basically, I'm not doing anything scientific. I am just adjusting settings on my expo on the real heli to feel like the sim heli.

I see, thank you.

[macdad]

HK450 is dead... It was flying ok, but I was flying backwards and it turned 180 on it's own. I thought... "Maybe I was pushing the rudder and didn't realize it" It seemed to fly ok for the rest of the battery.

Next battery and it seemed to have a drift on the tail. I checked it out and everything seemed good. Started flying again. About a minute or so into the flight, and the heli became unresponsive and rolled hard to the left (this is a Flybarred heli). It all happened quickly, but it didn't seem to respond to my inputs. I hit TH, and it piled into the dirt.

Pretty much everything is shot except the servos, esc, tail box, gyro etc. The frame is trashed. I am sure there are components in the head that are bent...

I don't know... I am thinking it was an electrical issue. Either the ESC or the Gyro. I know for a fact that this was not my thumbs.

Gonna be down to a single heli for a while. I don't have the money or desire to buy another one. I'll just repair the FBL heli and fly it. If I build another one, it will be an FBL heli just for the ease of setup.

The real conundrum is that I wanted to save some money and buy a Taranis radio. So, do I buy the radio or another heli. I can't help but think some of my problem is the cheap HK electrics...

Edit: Total crash count = 9

[kenkadish]

I really can't address the monetary issue, but if you were to buy a trex 450 dfc super combo, you'd never look back.

Ken

[macdad]

I have actually been thinking about my next heli for some time. I was thinking Dominator, Warp 360 or X3. I would like something that would use 360 mm blades.

Honesty, I have been leaning towards an X3 kit. I was going to ask Santa for one, along with a better ESC and an FBL unit. Then, I would pull the servos out of my sport heli.

So, I think I will continue to save money for a radio and fly one bird for now. I have time to choose a heli.

[lcc014]

Originally Posted by macdad

I have actually been thinking about my next heli for some time. I was thinking Dominator, Warp 360 or X3. I would like something that would use 360 mm blades.

Honesty, I have been leaning towards an X3 kit. I was going to ask Santa for one, along with a better ESC and an FBL unit. Then, I would pull the servos out of my sport heli.

So, I think I will continue to save money for a radio and fly one bird for now. I have time to choose a heli.

If X3 came out a year early, I definitely would buy it over 450 Pro.

[macdad]

Originally Posted by macdad

Went to the field. Started flying and wrecked on the first battery. Lost control, over-corrected, and panicked. Hit TH from about 8' up.

Bent feathering shaft
Stripped main gear
Busted Ball link
Potential bent main shaft...

I have all the parts. It should be a quick fix. Busted out the FB heli and flew 3 more batteries without incident. Even flew backwards for a few figure 8s. They were a little rough, but they were legitimate turns. The simulator definitely helps.

Total crash count=8

Repaired the FBL heli. Everything above was replaced except the main shaft. It was still straight.

Findings with the repair:

1. The bottom jesus bolt on the main shaft was almost sheared off. It was a SS bolt, because it was all I had. I really need to get some carbon bolts for this, otherwise the repairs are gonna be overly complicated.
2. I was missing the plastic ball link off the right cyclic servo. Looking at the links, I don't have much thread engagement on them. So, I took the extra time to turn every link in a bit and readjust 0 pitch on the blades.

It seemed that TH saved me on this one. I am wondering regarding item 2. How does the heli react if the link comes apart in flight? If I lose the link on the RH side, will the heli fall to the left?

[kenkadish]

Originally Posted by macdad

Repaired the FBL heli. Everything above was replaced except the main shaft. It was still straight.

Findings with the repair:

1. The bottom jesus bolt on the main shaft was almost sheared off. It was a SS bolt, because it was all I had. I really need to get some carbon bolts for this, otherwise the repairs are gonna be overly complicated.
2. I was missing the plastic ball link off the right cyclic servo. Looking at the links, I don't have much thread engagement on them. So, I took the extra time to turn every link in a bit and readjust 0 pitch on the blades.

It seemed that TH saved me on this one. I am wondering regarding item 2. How does the heli react if the link comes apart in flight? If I lose the link on the RH side, will the heli fall to the left?

Lose a link, and the swash no longer pivots on 3-axis...maybe right, maybe left, or ff or back....there is no good result...

Ken

[salrica]

Originally Posted by macdad

Repaired the FBL heli. Everything above was replaced except the main shaft. It was still straight.

Findings with the repair:

1. The bottom jesus bolt on the main shaft was almost sheared off. It was a SS bolt, because it was all I had. I really need to get some carbon bolts for this, otherwise the repairs are gonna be overly complicated.
2. I was missing the plastic ball link off the right cyclic servo. Looking at the links, I don't have much thread engagement on them. So, I took the extra time to turn every link in a bit and readjust 0 pitch on the blades.

It seemed that TH saved me on this one. I am wondering regarding item 2. How does the heli react if the link comes apart in flight? If I lose the link on the RH side, will the heli fall to the left?

Get this:
http://gogo-rc.com/store/index.php?r...product_id=315

I used a dremel to shave off the flat end of the ball, inset the ball screw in the servo arm and use a nut to hold it.
Use a drill but to make it for the ball screw to fit in the servo hole

[macdad]

Originally Posted by kenkadish

Lose a link, and the swash no longer pivots on 3-axis...maybe right, maybe left, or ff or back....there is no good result...

Ken

Thanks Ken. I have had to accidents that the heli was not responding properly and there was an issue with one of the servos. I just don't know what came first... The chicken or the egg

Originally Posted by salrica

Get this:
http://gogo-rc.com/store/index.php?r...product_id=315

I used a dremel to shave off the flat end of the ball, inset the ball screw in the servo arm and use a nut to hold it.
Use a drill but to make it for the ball screw to fit in the servo hole

Thanks salrica. You been out flying much?

[macdad]

4 batteries today without incident. Thanks to my wife for some of the video to log my progress. Practicing my backwards flight. Trying to be a little slower and more deliberate. I needed a good day without incident to raise my spirit and my confidence.

[ame]http://youtu.be/wg44_jajW6s[/ame]

[kenkadish]

Sweet...when you're practicing like that, of course there are going to be accidents, but not today. Good for you! I just started practicing inward turns, like in figure 8s, and am using my mcpx, and, over grass, no harm, no foul. Not easy to see the mcpx at any distance, but it beats expensive repairs.

Ken

[macdad]

Yeah, I'm really thinking about an mcpx or a heli-max 100 or something like that to practice on calm days. My list to Santa is growing!

[macdad]

Flew about 1/2 battery and wrecked again, but I am actually pretty happy about how it went down.
I was flying circuits and figure 8s. Did a couple backwards figure 8s, and the heli did a 180 on its own. Then, it started spinning uncontrollably... I realized that I lost controll of the tail, kept calm, and hit TH. I was about 20' up. Leveled the heli and autoed to the ground. I realized about halfway down that I needed to give it negative pitch, so I didn't have quite enough rotor speed for an easy landing.

Total damage: broken skid and missing bolt and washer on the pitch arm. It didn't appear as if I even bent the feathering shaft!

All in all, it could have been way worse. I'm only counting this as a half crash . I can have it back in the air in less than 10 minutes.

[kenkadish]

Going to get myself a 130x...the mcpx really has helped me progress, but just a little too small. The 130x is on sale now for $200, so with batteries, a parallel charge cable, and some extra parts, I should be all in at around $300.00.

Just started flying the mcpx over grass as opposed to asphalt, and other than having to re-align the main gear in a crash, and the random missing link or two, a crash is a non-event. I know the 130x has a tt, but it also has a real tail with servo, and crash damage has to be minimal.

At almost 900 flights, the mcpx owes me nothing.

Ken