What have you done with your Kasama today?

[realloser]

I have a heli jive powered by 12S 3300mAh running a Hacker Tornado Edition 530. Mini V-Stabi is used to Stabalize it.

[trillian]

Originally Posted by realloser

I have a heli jive powered by 12S 3300mAh running a Hacker Tornado Edition 530. Mini V-Stabi is used to Stabalize it.

That's ordinarily a pretty high headspeed setup, I guess you're running mode 6 on the HeliJive. It must be very low throttle!

I have a Hacker Turnado and it's a very good motor. It was in my Triabolo for a while and now it is rewound for low KV and is in my Faifa.

[realloser]

Yes... The jive is running on mod 6... I like to cruise around with the 1300rpm and then idle up to about 1800-2000 to go a little harder.... Byond seems to be an overhead for my skills...

[trillian]

I took out the Dune yesterday and played around a bit with headspeeds. Where I ended up that felt quite good for all round flying is approx 1680 ish based on Mr Mel (700mx/470kv and 49% throttle on the Jive).

At first it felt a bit sluggish and then I upped the pitch range but I didn't have my pitch gauge with me at the field so I don't know yet exactly what it is. I'll update this when I get a moment to check it. --- just checked and it's right at +/- 14 degrees.

I just received a motor I was having rewound, it's a 600mx now rewound for 420kv. Originally this was for a different heli but he took so long to finish the rewind (no idea why) that I am no longer flying the other heli at the moment. So I am tempted to try it on the Dune. It would make a headspeed around 1700 right in the governor sweet spot and even lower speeds would still be within a decent range on the Jive. I'll probably fit it if for no other reason than I need to test it and then settle up with the guy that did the work.

I'm not trying to make the Dune a dedicated low headspeed machine as I don't think it's really as suited for that as the Faifa (but I am happy to be proven wrong). I don't want it to lose all the punch, so it may well stay right at the speeds I have now because it flies great, like a mini TDR :-)

[wadders248]

Originally Posted by trillian

I don't want it to lose all the punch, so it may well stay right at the speeds I have now because it flies great, like a mini TDR :-)

That's interesting, I thought exactly the same thing after flying yesterday!

I think with the flexibility of the current FBL units, it's possible to tweak them so much that there's not much difference between model flying characteristics.

[trillian]

Originally Posted by wadders248

That's interesting, I thought exactly the same thing after flying yesterday!

I think with the flexibility of the current FBL units, it's possible to tweak them so much that there's not much difference between model flying characteristics.

Yeah that's a thought I have had before as well, it starts to come down to weight distribution and dimensions of the airframe and then really subtle mechanical things in the rotorhead, a lot of which can be compensated for in the FBL unit.

The thing is, for me anyway, I only really noticed the difference between the Dune for example and whatever else I was flying before, (probably the electric Knight 600), on those first flights with the Dune. It was like 'whoah this is very interesting and cool' and then unfortunately we get used to the coolness and it becomes normal. These days I mostly fly helis that fly really quite similar in many ways, the Faifa, Dune, Triabolo and TDR and I have essentially the same FBL units in those four, two of the regular VX1, one VX1N and one VX1e all with the same style preset.

[wadders248]

Originally Posted by trillian

Yeah that's a thought I have had before as well, it starts to come down to weight distribution and dimensions of the airframe and then really subtle mechanical things in the rotorhead, a lot of which can be compensated for in the FBL unit.

That's why I've tried to setup each heli I have for a specific size and purpose, then you're not duplicating at a certain size, weight or head speed.

I only really got into flying helis after FBL units became popular. Obviously the FB machines that I've flown only have the tail characteristics that you can tune, the rest is down to the mechanical stabilising. I've got a full FB Faifa head and tempted to do a build around that, plus there's been a few decent gyros for sale. Not sure I can be bothered though

Also when you look at the helis you fly, there's not really anything that you wouldn't expect to fly well FB or FBL!

[trillian]

In my case I was already on a little mission to get the Faifa running at low-ish headspeeds and had started working on that before I got the TDR. So the TDR being renowned for working well at low headspeeds it was a little fun to see how well they could each do the same thing.

I still have a few FB helis, basically the nitros I have now are still flybarred. I had always wanted to see how the Knight 3D FB head flies and I thought I'd try it and then if I don't like it I can convert it real easy but it's great so I left it, I just found some more aggressive paddles and then it was spot-on. And I was suprised to be honest because I thought I might be spoiled after flying FBL for the last year and a half or so. The main difference is that in windy conditions the FB heli will drift a little, so you have to correct a bit more to keep it going where you want in big aero moves. Once you get a flybar dialed in with the right paddles and dampers etc. they can be really good. But unfortunately you have to keep the headspeed up there for decent cyclic authority and that's fine with nitro where the engine has to rev anyway, but with electric (for me anyway) it's just throwing away flight times if I have to spin the blades faster than I really need.

[trillian]

Originally Posted by wadders248

Also when you look at the helis you fly, there's not really anything that you wouldn't expect to fly well FB or FBL!

This is true, 'gives me no excuses! :-o

[wadders248]

Originally Posted by trillian

But unfortunately you have to keep the headspeed up there for decent cyclic authority and that's fine with nitro where the engine has to rev anyway, but with electric (for me anyway) it's just throwing away flight times if I have to spin the blades faster than I really need.

That's a really good point! I've really enjoyed the six minute TDR flights on 4300 packs, around 1,700 to 1,800rpm. With 13° pitch and a lightweight heli that's plenty for nice smooth 3D.

[wadders248]

I've been flying the Faifa 800 quite a bit recently and getting more confident with what it's capable of on 8s. Running with 8s means I can still run governed, so around 1,250rpm, but the more I pushed the heli, the more I realised the governor wasn't responsive enough. So I upped the Kosmik RI setting to match the motor IR and it's loads better.

It delivers when you need the power, which you can also tell by hitting the capacity limit quicker when using heavy amounts of collective. The tail also feels more solid, which was what I was hoping for. It's never fully blown-out, but I've noticed it lose hold very slightly when I'm not smooth enough.

First day for a while that I've had cold fingers, winter is coming, though the low sunny conditions were perfect for flying.

[trillian]

Where do you have the Kosmik mounted on the Faifa? I played around with it quite a bit and the only place I could get it to fit and still get the canopy on is if it sat next to the LiPo on the top battery mount. The only alternative I have seen involved modded frames.

[wadders248]

I've chopped the frames, used a Minicopter Kosmik mount and a home brew brace to hold the front together. There's actually more space on the side of the Dune frames to mount a Kosmik. My other little project is redrawing frames for both Faifa and Dune to allow for a Kosimk, just not had time to get them into CAD.

[trillian]

I see! Yeah it's surprising the Kosmik can actually fit on the Dune. It is a massive and kinda awkward thing compared to pretty much any other ESC. In any case that mod looks really good :-)

I borrowed your red headbutton idea on my Dune :-) I was fitting a rewound motor I just got in order to test it and when I was looking through my spares for motor mount bolts I ran across this head button. (I'll probably take it back off but just wanted to see what it would look like).

The motor is a 600mx that is rewound and is supposed to be 420KV now. So I was flying at approx 1600 with 1730 on my idle-2. I need to play around with it a bit more and get my Jlog going to look at the power stats and then compare that with the 700mx/470 (the 700 is much smoother as some of these 600mxs have slightly out of balance cans).

[wadders248]

The red button rocks!

It took me a while to figure out how to mod the frames and retain the same strength in the most economical way, but it's worth it to be able to use the Kosimk. It might be a big unit, but when it also has one of the best BECs available and logging, it's worth the hassle. I've got two Kosmiks now and trying to resist another for the TDR.

Was it the same person who rewound your Faifa motor? I could do with getting the Xera motor in the Dune Speed rewound to give it maximum grunt...

[trillian]

I just have one Kosmik which is currently in the Triabolo. At one time I was sharing it with a Rave Ballistic that I have since sold.

It was someone else that rewound the Faifa motor, I'll PM you the details.

[Roebellini]

I fitted the new metal crown gear set on my Faifa today.
It is way smoother and somewhat quieter too.. I am very satisfied! Now to do the same to my Dune.

[Oat Insane]

Originally Posted by Roebellini

I fitted the new metal crown gear set on my Faifa today.
It is way smoother and somewhat quieter too.. I am very satisfied! Now to do the same to my Dune.

Don't forgot to bump up your tail gain too.

[thefrog]

I've had a few changes recently. My Srimok Classic was sold earlier this week. It was pretty bittersweet as this was my first 700, even my wife was upset when she heard it was going (she generally has zero interest in my hobby).

My Faifa recently went through a couple of changes too. I installed a BD3SX a few weeks ago as a comparative test (had only run Skookum controllers on my Kasamas up to now). It's been crazy windy here so I didn't get it dialed in perfectly but it flew well as expected.Earlier this week I got my hands on another Vortex - a full size VX1 this time. This is on the Faifa now after being on the to do list for about a year (VX1n is incredible on my Logo).

Lately it takes me two weeks to get things flight ready as I don't spend much time on this stuff anymore. So hopefully next weekend I'll get the Faifa flying. I'm curious about the feel - there's often debate about airframe feel vs. FBL feel. So I'll have tried SK540, BD3SX and VX1 pretty much back to back on a common hardware platform. Curious as to the outcome.

[trillian]

Speaking of the VX1, like a complete bozo I only just realised that when I updated the firmware on the one in my Dune I never went back and levelled the swash again. So I just did that and I'm curious now if it makes any difference in flight. I also noticed the cyclic 8 degree calibrations were just slightly out so those are better now as well.

On my first Faifa I put a Total-G on it and it flew really well but when I got the second airframe I put a VX1 on it and then put a new VX1e on the TDR using the same style preset (just the stock '3D' setting, but I had to make a few minor tweaks to the one on the TDR).

So I have some version of the VX1 on the Triabolo, the Faifa, Dune and TDR.

I kinda wanted to have both Faifas flying and compare the VX1 with the Total-G but it just didn't make sense to have two complete Faifas going so I concentrated on just the one and put the Lowrider head on it and have it setup for low headspeeds like the TDR. So I can compare the Faifa and the TDR airframes as closely as possible.

By the way how did you like the Skookum? I recently got a Helix-Trex gasser with an SK540 on it and still need to set it up on my TX and everything.