A HUGE THANK YOU to all my friends at Helifreak

[copterboy]

I honestly can't believe it

You guys rock A million thanks!!

Don't know where to start or how many people I have to thank, but I am deeply touched by everyone's kindness and generosity.

Eternally grateful to everyone for arranging such a brilliant surprise. Esp. Grant for building it and driving up with it, and I guess Sutty and Gaz have also played a big part in organising it, so once again, thanks to you and everyone who contributed

I did start to wonder if something was going on when Gaz invited me to the night fly, but Sutty and Grant were coming? I thought maybe Sutty's spare 450 frame had been completed, but the fact you guys got me new DX8 and a spanking new 450PRO has completely blown my mind. I was literally speechless

I'd yearned for a DX8 for so long, it was like I wasn't too bothered at the time the heli was stolen, because I was going to sell it and upgrade anyway. I was more bothered about the TX, so to have had that replaced is absolute joy. The more time has gone on, the more opportunities I've missed to nip down the local field and have a quick hour going through my 6 packs (which fortunately didn't get stolen). A million thank you's once more I now have a spanking new DX8 and 450PRO I really still can't beleive it!! I keep turning away from the screen as I type to look at it. Can't wait to give it a try.

How fortunate the weather forecast for tomorrow says sunshine and 2mph winds all day long, so it I will definatey give it a try in the garden at least. Once I get my son home after the weekend, and weather/work permits I'll get it down the field to stretch it's legs (work won't be much of a problem, I'm working for my brother and there is a nice big field just round the corner ).

[sutty]

Hey Denis, I'm sure that everyone will join me in saying you are more than welcome. It felt nice to be involved in some small way in putting a wrong right.

For those who missed the moment in person, here is a little video, that although dark you should be able to get a feel for how we did the handover. All played down a little, and although Denis may have been getting a little suspicious, I'm sure it was still mostly a surprise.

Grant had just literally barely finished building it when he decided to fly it by torch light, just to give it a little test for Denis so he could see how it handled. Couldn't believe how little you could see, yet he managed to fly it still.
Enjoy.



Cheers

Sutty

[jperkosk]

I'm moved. Enjoy, Denis, you needed a good break for a change, that's all.
Andy & Grant, thanks for organizing this

[redbird300]

Imagine that, a speechless Denis, miracles do happen after all...

You earned it buddy, it just wasn't fair at all what happened to you, we all agreed on that. I only have a very small part in this, but also wanted to say this to anyone who helped in one way or another, like Grant, Andrew, Gaz and so on:


You're a lucky man to have such good friends, Denis.
Now get your *ss out there and start flying the damn thing !

[dayshaddow]

this has made my day.
enjoy her denis, a lot of love went into her. we will need a video tho

antony

[Grant_beltcp]

Glad you like it Denis.
As has been said, alot of people helped out to make this possible so thanks all

As you know, last night was the only flight it's had, so it still needs abit of setting up to do before you go for a proper flight. It's certainly worth checking making sure the pitch is correct and even and increasing the roll rates etc. The tail most likely needs abit of tweaking too although it didnt seem too bad last night.

It's set up to fly well in normal mode with a decent headspeed. Then Idle 1 is fairly powerfull, Idle 2 is 100,90,100. you can tweak those though obviously to suit your flying.

Let us know how it goes and if you have any problems at all.

[ragge1]

christmax came earlier
have fun Denis

[Tomstoy2]

Denis, you speechless?

Was glad to be a small part of it, my friend! We truely have become a close knit group of friends here! Was proud to be part of it when Sutty approached me!!!

A more deserving person we could not have chosen.

Just do yourself a favor and find the ugliest, most beat up, lockable metal tool box you can find and bolt it into your van to store everything in.

We know that every time you use either you will always remember us, even that damn foultempered Jerry!!! May he rot in Brazil or wherever he is now.

Onto another subject,,
I'm really concerned about not hearng a word from Jack in so long!
Anybody heard anything? Jerry, do you have his phone number?
I pray he's all right!!!

[dayshaddow]

yer im also wondering about jack..please can someone pm me his phone number..please let him know first im ds, im based in the uk but will pick a good time to call. we need are master back before we all endup with 450pros

[sutty]

You're not on your own guys. I have PMd him, and no response. I hope he is fine too.

Sut

[Luke Warmwater]

Thanks for asking me to be just a small part guys.

Like the rest of you, I hope all is OK with Jack....

[copterboy]

Sorry I not had much time to get online, will respond to those posts later when I get my boy back to his mum's. Time slipped away yesterday, so didn't get chance to maiden her myself.

Thanks for the PM Sutty, was nice to hear the story behind the surprise. I know some of your requested to remain anonymous, and I can assure you Sutty has kept to his word.

I needed some time to get all my packs re-charged. First problem was the PS to my Imax B6 charger - after being on for about 5-10 mins, the charger would report an input voltage error. Seems the PS would start at about 11.5V, and then start to reduce as the charger ramped up the amps to the pack. Once the input voltage drops below 11.0V, the charger has a safety feature to cut-off. Spent a good hour scratching my head, changing the fuse, checking and re-checking connections, and trying again. Couldn't work it out?? So as a temporary get around, I've setup one of my server PSU's so I can get a good constant 12.2-12.3V output. All packs now charged

I've just finished removing the EC3 connector (after watching a few youtube how to's) and I got the XT60 connector soldered on now, so it's off to the garden I go (just need to get my hat-cam together) and it's good to maiden.

Will get the vid uploaded later Thanks again guy's, and I hope Jack drops in to say hi soon

EDIT : Now Maidened

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by Tomstoy2

We know that every time you use either you will always remember us, even that damn foultempered Jerry!!! May he rot in Brazil or wherever he is now.

Onto another subject,,
I'm really concerned about not hearng a word from Jack in so long!
Anybody heard anything? Jerry, do you have his phone number?
I pray he's all right!!!

Rotting in Brazil is a relative term, Tom . Indeed I got stuck here a bit longer than planned, and this is a smallish town with nothing to do (not that I have time to do stuff anyway), and work progress is desperately slow here, so I didn't make it to a very important family wedding back home yesterday , big black mark with Mrs. P
To make suffering worse, the whole of the last week the hotel hosted the national women under-17 teams of Brazil and Argentina who were in for a friendly tournament. Do you realize how depressing it gets when a 2m+ tall 16 year old girl sticks her boobs in your face in a crowded elevator? So last night we decided with a friend who's visiting from Spain to see the last game of the tournament. The suffering shows on our faces:





A short clip from the game:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOIbVo3rCs4[/ame]

As for Jack, sadly no news, been a while since we communicated. Hope he's alright. You must be telepathic, Tom, I was making my travel arrangements for the next 2 weeks last Friday and I'll be in St. Luis area for almost the whole week of October 7th, so I PMd him for a phone number and gave him mine. If he responds or calls me while I'm there, I'd like to visit the boss. Presumably he's reasonably OK, just banned from the computer screens, which of course sucks as it's difficult to stay connected on this forum without a screen . Was thinking about alternate type of tablet like Kindle reader electronic-ink tablet (it only refreshes on screen reload, hence no risk of seizures), but the browser on it sucks major league and I think they actually dropped the browser from the new generation of Kindle readers, leaving the browsing to Kindle Fires, which of course are just Android tablets with LCD screen, so that option has died. Please let me know if anyone bumps into e-ink screen WiFi tablet out there.

[copterboy]

EDIT : Deleted, see next post

[copterboy]

Well, this is the very first flight I did with her. Fell asleep waiting for it to cook last night, and now I got to rush out to work!!

The gain was set at 56-60% (can't remember exactly), so first thing was to try and get that dialed. Reduced it to 40% straight away, and then down to 35% and now 30%. It doesn't wag so much, but now just jumps around a little. Not exactly good weather for setting a gyro at the moment. Hopefully, this low pressure system will pass over quickly, and there will be some calmer weather on the other side of it (Thursday?)

I did manage another flight at the field in the afternoon. Was a little windy and a spitting with rain, but was nice to get out, get it inverted, and try throwing it around a little. Definately need to loosen the sticks on the TX, as it felt like I was fighting with it!! And just wanted to say a little thanks for the gimbal upgrade

Anyway, better get my a$$ to work!! Nothing special flight wise, but a momentus occasion all the same



Edit : The laugh at the beggining is because I didn't check which switch the timer was assigned to

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by copterboy

Edit : The laugh at the beggining is because I didn't check which switch the timer was assigned to

Set the timer to "Throttle Out" option with about 20% level and forget the timer switch, that's the nice thing about DX8, Denis

Saw a glimpse of Jack, he's cute, but in clear danger of evolving an attitude that my son has shown this summer: "Dad, could I not go to the club's field with you today? I think we've been there too many times already." Now why in the world he would think that?

Thought for a moment it was a wind sock on the top of your house, but it turned out to be a regular TV antenna... Well, the flag works almost as well, that was 15-20kph wind at the roof level and much more than that higher up, judging by poplar trees, very unpleasant flying condition as it changes from perfectly controllable to barely manageable with a change of altitude...

[copterboy]

@Tom, Definately going to get a van vault at some time, probably a project for next year, as I want to get it ply lined first.

@Raf, yes I do promise to 'get out there' and fly it. This year has felt like one thing after another, so I'm really humbled by everyone's generousity.

@Jerry, it was a bit hairy out there, but I couldn't resist and didn't want to miss the opportunity before the rain came. And keep all you good good people waiting any longer. I'm not worried about Jack, he like's the SIM, but doesn't like the noise of anything bigger than a 450 (which is why he's covering his ear's when he comes to the door, and then closes it )

Think I would have sold my kidneys to get stuck in that elevator with Brazils No.7 What a peach, I can clearly see how traumatised you and your friend are in the pics

I do hope you get to go see Grand Pubaa and send him our best wishes. Nice idea about the kindle

I changed the setting to 'throttle out' and it's brilliant. As soon as the throttle goes above or below the preset throttle %, the timer stops and starts as you do. I missed that feature on the stolen DX8. I tried to set it up, but I only used the 'throttle' setting. I didn't like it, because it doesn't stop if you land to do some adjustments, so I just went back to using the trainer button. Now this is even better than before, thanks again

@Grant - dont know why the gyro gain was so high (was it 56 or 60%?) Throttle range was spot on (+/-12), but I always tamed it down on the V2 to about +/-10, with a fairly high headspeed (3200rpm). I'll do some checks on the headspeed before I decide what to aim for with pitch, but it's not too far off as it is. Roll rate's are definately slow, but will check cyclic pitch precisely with the gauge before doing anymore adjustments. After the warning on Friday, I upped the swashmix from 60 to 65%, before I even maidened it. Must remember to check for binding at stick extreme's next time!!

@Everyone else

Before this surprise happened, I was contemplating getting a 130X with my wages this week. However, I still need to fix my van's lock from where the door was forced open. And guess what - today, the lock for the drivers door has seized up, so I now have no choice and need to spend the money on getting the locks fixed asap. Now I have to access my van via the passenger door

[Luke Warmwater]

Originally Posted by copterboy

Now I have to access my van via the passenger door

When someone tried to break into my old Ford Orion many years ago, the locks got knackered and the insurance wouldn't pay out as they said it was vandalism, not theft!

For 3 months, I had to get into the drivers door by opening the boot (or trunk for those on the other side of the Atlantic), letting the back seat down, crawling so that just my feet were sticking out (it wasn't a hatchback, so that was a contortionists trick in itself) and then using an umbrella to reach forward and flip the lock from the inside!

That was especially impressive leaving work in a suit.....when you are working in the Barbican in London!

[jperkosk]

Originally Posted by Luke Warmwater

That was especially impressive leaving work in a suit.....when you are working in the Barbican in London!

Almost made me fall off the chair

Originally Posted by copterboy

Think I would have sold my kidneys to get stuck in that elevator with Brazils No.7 What a peach, I can clearly see how traumatised you and your friend are in the pics

I do hope you get to go see Grand Pubaa and send him our best wishes. Nice idea about the kindle

We were traumatized because between my friend (corporate projects, electrical engineer) and myself (automation, electronic engineer) we couldn't find the damn fuse-box to arrange getting stuck in the elevator with her, Denis

Will keep you informed about Gran Pubba, but there has been no reaction from him so far

[copterboy]

Hey Luke, I once had to do the same with a Ford Escort. I parked it near work, and when I returned a lorry had hit the side of it and driven off without leaving his details!! I was parked against a wall, so couldn't get in the passenger side At first, my insurance company didn't want to know, but I managed to find a witness to the accident, identified the transport company responsible, obtained a copy of the delivery note the driver left at the company he visited. I left my findings with the police and my legal team at the insurance company. It took 21 months, but eventually the other insurance company backed down when it came to appearing in court and I eventually got a payout. Infact, that might have been the money that got me my t-rex and DX6i, was about 4-5yrs ago!!

Just charged my pack up from the field trip on Sunday, noticed it's put back 1520mah's into a 2200mah pack (80% limit is1760mah's). The timer was set to 5mins, and I managed a few tic-toks and punch-outs. Will be interesting to see if this remains consistent as I get back into it. Hopefully will get a few more seconds on each pack without getting to close to the limit