Spectra G: first flight today!

[brunobl]

Just short of a year flying RC helicopters, I decided that a gasser heli was for me. Made up my mind and ordered the MA Spectra G. The kit spent what seemed a lifetime trying to untangle itself from customs bureaucacy, but eventually it came through. Assembly was interrupted for a hollidays trip and resumed a few days ago.

Today I took the heli to the flying field (sans the canopy, still waiting to be painted... haven't decided on a scheme yet) and fired up for the first time.

I did the Greenlee Voltage Detector test. From the spark plug end, I get only short flashes (1 to 3 LED pulses) from the detector by pressing its probe rather hard into the gap between the RF shield (coaxial braid) and red plug boot. Testing around the ignition coil, the detector flashes continually about 1/2" to 3/4" away - and closer of course- from it (Is this OK?). This came as a surprise, as I fully expected more emmisions from the HV side of the ignition. The HV cable shielding seems to be doing its thing. Farther out than that 3/4", I got no flashes whatsoever. The antenna is of the base-loaded whip kind and range testing did about as well as my Raptor which uses a full-length antenna.

Did a couple of high-idle 10-minute runs with ample time to cool off in between. Everything was smooth, with blade traking as true as my sight will resolve without any adjustment needed, so I lifted her to a hover. A litthe nose-down trim was needed, but then again the canopy is not yet on. In the hover, blades still tracked true.

I did a total of 3 flights, the last one doing some slow FF, 8-shaped circuits at waist height, getting some air through to help cooling.

In short I had a great time. Not needing a 12V battery, starter and a glow-battery felt great. Just grab the heli and the Tx, walk to the flight line with the heli powered off, start it right there with no external support. Wonderful. Just like they said it would be. Oh, and endless on-board electrical supply (rbort's generator) adds yet another level of convenience to the hobby, not making assembly more difficult in any way.

Now I've got to complete the engine run-in, learn the subtleties of gassers in general and of the Spectra in particular, without any local help as I am the first in my heli-exclusive flying field with a gasser.

From what I saw today, this is going to be fun!

[rbort]

Awesome! Its great to hear its finally out of customs, built and flown today!! One word of advice that comes to mind right away is make sure you pull start it with the chord in line with the boom just about. If you pull with too much of an angle towards yourself the starter can pop off and over time will wear the plate that it locks onto. Other than that go have some fun and get yourself a flight counter so you can keep track! You can label it with today's date as the date of the first flight and then down the road you can figure out flight time on this thing. I count 1 flight as 15 minutes of airtime.

Mine flew the first time on 9/21/2005 and to date has 228 flights logged. It took about 22 flights for it to settle down and me to adjust things the way I wanted finally before starting to 3D it and enjoy.

-=>Raja.

[Grinchman]

Sounds great. I have also just built my first gasser heli. I hope my first flight goes as well as yours. with the weather we have now, it will have to wait a few months.Keep us up to date on your progress with it.

[brunobl]

Originally Posted by rbort

One word of advice that comes to mind right away is make sure you pull start it with the chord in line with the boom just about. If you pull with too much of an angle towards yourself the starter can pop off and over time will wear the plate that it locks onto.

Excellent point Raja, it happened a few times until i came up with this acrylic block to prevent the pull starter case from rotating. I think your method is better since it does not involve any mods to the heli. Anyway, here is a pic of what I have done. The diagonal surface is the one that touches the case (there is a thin layer of rigid foam bewteen it and the pull starter case which can barely be seen in the image). A thick washer worked to the correct dimention would probably be better (no risk of breaking).

[brunobl]

Originally Posted by Grinchman

I have also just built my first gasser heli.

You are in for lots of fun!

[ClayK]

Interesting mount. I've been trying to figure a more permanent way to mount it without pulling the bottom frame assembly off. Truth be told, I haven't flown my Spectra in a while. Been dumping loads of gallons through my 50 though.

[rbort]

Originally Posted by brunobl

Excellent point Raja, it happened a few times until i came up with this acrylic block to prevent the pull starter case from rotating. I think your method is better since it does not involve any mods to the heli. Anyway, here is a pic of what I have done. The diagonal surface is the one that touches the case (there is a thin layer of rigid foam bewteen it and the pull starter case which can barely be seen in the image). A thick washer worked to the correct dimention would probably be better (no risk of breaking).

Bruno:

Did you permanently mount it? That defeats the purpose of it being a removable pull starter. That thing weighs 5oz or as much as a battery pack. Best left on the ground as the machine with be a good 1/4 pound lighter and we all know lighter is better for flight!

In any case, I think it would be best to learn the proper technique but if that isn't working then your fix will be good until you decide your heli needs to go on a diet!

As an FYI my stock plate is still original after 228 flights. It is showing some signs of wear and is not holding as good as it used to, but still works. If I have to replace it every 250 flights then that's better than carrying around the starter for me.

-=>Raja.

[Racer944]

Originally Posted by brunobl

Excellent point Raja, it happened a few times until i came up with this acrylic block to prevent the pull starter case from rotating. I think your method is better since it does not involve any mods to the heli. Anyway, here is a pic of what I have done. The diagonal surface is the one that touches the case (there is a thin layer of rigid foam bewteen it and the pull starter case which can barely be seen in the image). A thick washer worked to the correct dimention would probably be better (no risk of breaking).

Guys;

Is it possible to install the mounting plate in two different orientations (i.e. upside down)? Reason is that on my bird pulling towards tail appears to loosen my starter... My mount twists on in a counter clockwise direction when viewed from bottom. I start from the left side of heli and pull towards me (note this is a new heli that I have not actually started yet so...).

Whats different about my bird compared to yours?

Cheers;
Eric

[brunobl]

Originally Posted by Racer944

Guys;

Is it possible to install the mounting plate in two different orientations (i.e. upside down)? Reason is that on my bird pulling towards tail appears to loosen my starter... My mount twists on in a counter clockwise direction when viewed from bottom. I start from the left side of heli and pull towards me (note this is a new heli that I have not actually started yet so...).

Whats different about my bird compared to yours?

Cheers;
Eric

Eric,

Rotating the pull-starter one way (clockwise as viewed from below) should engage it to the heli, while rotating the other way (CCW seen from below) should release it. If this mount-release procedure is the other way around then it seems that the secondary engine plate (#125-43) is placed upside down, as the keyholes, if you will, are on this plate.

Do take a look at that, and good luck!

[brunobl]

Did you permanently mount it? That defeats the purpose of it being a removable pull starter.

Yeah, I know...
I did mount it permanently, at least for now.

One of the prerequisites in my fantasy for the ultimate "standalone heli" was not having to remember to mount/remove a pull starter at every flight. Banning the electric starter & its battery and having unlimited on-board electrical power were also high in the priority list.

I'm not into 3D so I am not too worried at this time about the extra weight. In the future, if I find I'm getting into aerobatics I'll know I can save that weight by returning the starter to its removable state.

my stock plate is still original after 228 flights.

Wow. Yours must be one of the highest-time Spectras around. How is it holding up? I flew about 150 flights with my Raptor and had all kinds of problems, replaced lots of parts (never crashed it) but I got it second-hand, age unknown. I promised myself the next heli would be in kit, and I would build it myself. Not only that, it turned out to be a Specrta, to boot!

[rbort]

Its been holding up pretty good. I had the tail rotor gears fail on me on flight 149, other than that everything else is good so far. I also had a servo problem at the MHA FF that I got out of pretty good (elevator servo stopped working) as I managed to get it down from 200 feet up before boom striking at the bottom due to my fault of using collective at the end....nevertheless the damage was not very serious and I'm still flying with my first painted canopy!

-=>Raja.

[Racer944]

Originally Posted by brunobl

Eric,

Rotating the pull-starter one way (clockwise as viewed from below) should engage it to the heli, while rotating the other way (CCW seen from below) should release it. If this mount-release procedure is the other way around then it seems that the secondary engine plate (#125-43) is placed upside down, as the keyholes, if you will, are on this plate.

Do take a look at that, and good luck!

Hi There;

It looks like my secondary engine plate may be on upside down... I can't see any immediate reason why this would be a problem though. In fact, it works to the advantage of the pull start. In order to stop hijacking your thread though, I I will post a new thread on this topic to see what comes out of it.

Cheers;
Eric

[brunobl]

Originally Posted by Racer944

In order to stop hijacking your thread though, I I will post a new thread on this topic to see what comes out of it.

No problem, Eric.

Let's go on from there then.