Macdad's flight progress

[macdad]

That's a good observation jbobb. I have to correct with back elevator normally. I will check next time I load a battery. Honestly, I just slap a battery in and fly... I should pay more attention now that I'm doing this piro stuff! Thank you for the feedback!

[mqowen]

Originally Posted by macdad

Here is a video from yesterday. My piro hovering was all over the place. I can actually do much better than this. 2 excuses 1) I just did a bunch of inverted piros on the last flight. I am at the point where I still have to mentally transition. It is not automatic yet... 2) This heli does not piro flat at all. It is a job to keep it even close to level. It keeps me on my toes though. I can piro quite a bit better on my X5 and Mostro.

Tried some more half piros at the end of the flight. They are getting better, but I am still a long ways away. It is a very fun journey, though

Nice job Fred. You have a lot of nice control in your flying. i think that will get your further down the road faster in the long run. I need to take time to post up another video of my flying, however as you have alluded to in other posts, cameras sort of give me stage fright and doesn't usually show my best.

Speaking of stage fright, I was at a fun fly this weekend, my first, with a lot of good pilots. Somehow that felt so intimidating and I literally did shake most of my first flight. After that not as much, but i still stayed way conservative.

Stay at it. I enjoy following your blog.

Marc

[macdad]

Thanks Marc! I am being a little deliberate with my flying right now. I plan on hitting the sim hard this winter. The goal will be to hit the spring with much improved skills! If I hit the sim like some folks do, I know that I would be much further along right now. I have a pretty busy family life though, so there is a balance.

I would love to see another of your flying videos. Sounds like you have made great progress and are really tearing up the sky!

I don't usually get that nervous, but it just sort of hit me on that flight... I know what you mean at the fun fly. I hate when I am shaking so much, that I give an accidental rudder input or something. I just tell the onlookers that I had a blowout I don't think they buy it, though!

[birdie_in_texas]

I have a stupid question..what is the "piro"..?

is that just spinning the heli "around"..? Like for instance, you are just flying forward down the runway from left to right, but if you just hold the tail right or left, it "spins" but is still going from left to right, just turning while doing so..right?

Wow, I am a total heli noob..

[macdad]

Piro is just short for pirouette. Yeah, it is just spinning the heli around. I am practicing piro hovering. Attempting to pirouette in place without traveling. A slow pirouetting hover or travel can be challenging. Especially inverted.

The goal is for full control while pirouetting. Not just flying across and hitting the rudder. You want to be able to change direction at any point in the piro. My goal is to be able to do piro flips.

[macdad]

The wind finally slowed down enough to go flying today. It was 10-15 mph and a little gusty, but not too bad. I had a total of 8 flights, before I had to head home. I also had an opportunity to visit with one of the other club members. Pretty good morning!

X3 - 4 flights
Mostro - 4 flights

On my 3rd flight of the X3, I started to do half piro flips. I was able to continuously pirouette as I flipped from upright to inverted and back. I have been practicing on the simulator. I am attempting to piro slow and "fly through" the piro flip. It is coming along nicely. On the simulator, I tried to speed up the piro and flip... It didn't go so well. I think it is gonna take a lot more time to get to a full piro flip. Plenty of time this winter!

I was throwing both the helis around pretty good today, at least as hard as I can. Now, I just need to keep the progress moving as I head into my second winter in this hobby

I also ordered a bunch of bearings and new dampeners for my X5. Hopefully they will be in this week, then I can wrench on it!

[macdad]

Well, I received all my bearings and stuff to overhaul my X5. The bearings in the main grips really really SUCK! I put some heat on them, put them in the freezer, then just old fashioned elbow grease. Finally got them all out and put new ones in.

The old bearings all seemed to be in good shape. They went in a baggy in case I need them and don't want to wait for new... (I hate throwing anything away apparently )

I think I will start digging into the frame on Thursday. Still thinking about whether or not to replace the TT bearings. I think I will, but the head took almost 1.5 hrs alone. I think I am slow

Flying wise, nothing... I have hit the sim a little bit more. I bought some new stick ends for the Taranis and had to try them out. They work great! Our club is planning an impromptu fly-in this weekend. If the weather is as forecasted, it will be a wonderful day to fly!

[macdad]

I was able to replace all the major bearings in the X5 last night. The TT bearing seemed to be in good shape, so I didn't bother to remove it from the TT. Probable spent a couple hours. I had to hit several of the areas with heat to get the bearings out, but overall, it went pretty well.

The X5 is a really nice design for this kind of stuff. It is pretty easy to pull apart. I spent a lot of time setting the gap on the TT gear mesh. I am still a little concerned about that. I know that you can melt them pretty quick if you don't have it right. It is fairly tight on the high spots, but there is a proper amount of backlash on the low spot. Overall, it sounds about right when I spin it. Not too much resistance. We shall see, I guess.

I am really excited though. We have a fun fly tomorrow, sort of a make-up for last week. I am really trying to have all my helis in flying order for it. It is supposed to be a beautiful day. I really can't wait!

[macdad]

Today was a great day at the field. There were a lot of folks there! Sort of the last hurrah before winter. I didn't get a lot of flying in, but I had a lot of fun and did a lot of socializing. Total flights:

X3: 3 flights
X5: 1 flight
Mostro: 2 flights

The x5 has a bit of delay on the cyclic. I need to make sure there isn't any binding in the drive train after my overhaul. It flew ok, just didn't feel quite right. Felt a little sluggish.

[macdad]

No real flying, but I did some SIM work this morning. It was one of those frustrating days... I couldn't do things today that I could do last week. I think I am at another stage where things seem to get worse before they get better. That is my story anyway. I am getting into SIM season. I need to set some goals for things to learn over the winter. I would love to have another step improvement next spring!

Ideas for goals:

1. Continuous piro flips - At least half piros
2. Piro circuits
3. Funnels in all orienations and directions (upright are pretty good now, inverted not so much)
4. Hurricanes in all orientations and directions (I need to get closer to knife edge on them)
5. Rolling circuits

I don't know if I will get all these down. Pretty sure I will get my funnels good and at least upright hurricanes. I am getting better at Piro Flips, but these were kicking my butt this morning. Trying to fly through them was not working today. Seems like my edge orientations are not right yet. Haven't even tried Piro circuits, but I think, if I break them down, I can get them down. At least the basic ones, maybe not piro funnels...

[macdad]

Getting stir crazy. Working all day, teaching karate 4 nights a week, birthday parties for my daughters... Life is crazy! It is truly great to have so much to do, because it is also what I am most thankful for.

However, I am going through heli withdraw! I really want to get out and fly. Did a little simulator work tonight. Trying to fly precise is really hard! I crash a lot. I hope I actually get better from it. I have been able to fly through my piro flips, but only when pirouetting slowly. When I increase the piro rate, I crash! It is really challenging to say the least.

Anyway, the extended forecast is looking decent for Sunday. 10 mph wind and in the mid-50s. I hope to get out for a few hours and burn some batteries!

[jbobb1]

I know what you mean about heli withdraws! I need some therapy!

[macdad]

Yeah man! My Thursday afternoon opened up. I may try to get out after work on the way home. A few flights on the X3 and maybe the X5... We shall see

[mqowen]

Originally Posted by macdad

However, I am going through heli withdraw! I really want to get out and fly. Did a little simulator work tonight. Trying to fly precise is really hard! I crash a lot. I hope I actually get better from it. I have been able to fly through my piro flips, but only when pirouetting slowly. When I increase the piro rate, I crash! It is really challenging to say the least.

You will get it. You are making good progress. From what i've learned some pilots take years to learn piro flips and some never learn it. You've been at this a short time and your flying looks great.

[macdad]

Thanks for the encouragement, Marc. Learning new tricks is always a bit frustrating for me. Part of my problem with the flips is that I want them to look perfect. I know that I need to do thousands of them before I get to that point. I will step back and break the flip down. I think my problem lies in the speed of my stir. I speed up the rotation, but stir slow still. That is when I crash. Just have to get the feel for it.

It seems like I have good days and bad days on the sim. The only thing I can really attribute it to is focus. I have a long winter to practice though

[jbobb1]

You're doing great in my opinion! There's a lot to soak in! Tried piro fllips for awhile, but I'm more interested in trying to perfect my forward, backwards, upright and inverted circuits! It's hard on an old brain!
Been fooling around with funnels also. Talk about screwing with your head!

[macdad]

Yeah, funnels take a bit to wrap your head around. About halfway through a funnel circle, you forget which direction to move the elevator! I think that is the other orientation that we need to practice, edge orientations. My upright funnels are getting a lot better (more round). My inverted funnels are another story. It shouldn't make that big of a difference, but I still mess it up too much to really practice in real life.

[macdad]

I made it out to fly! Really a beautiful afternoon. I little overcast, which makes it difficult with orientations, but really helps with the setting sun. Total flights:

X3 - 4
X5 - 2

The X5 flew a lot better today. It is doing well again. I am really thinking about upgrading to a better FBL on it. The Neuron would make a perfect Christmas present

The X3 flew pretty well also. It really seems like my Gensace batteries are sagging more than they were at the beginning of the year. Maybe I am just pushing the heli harder now. I don't know. I am getting voltage warnings at 2:30 seconds with hard maneuvers.

I did a lot of piro practice, upright and inverted. I am still struggling with CW funnels. I am having a difficult time adjusting the rudder input between CW and CCW maneuvers. I think I don't give enough rudder in maneuvers that require right rudder. Practice, practice, practice!

I had a great time. Fingers crossed for good weather on Sunday.

[jbobb1]

Originally Posted by macdad

The X5 flew a lot better today. It is doing well again. I am really thinking about upgrading to a better FBL on it. The Neuron would make a perfect Christmas present

I might be your Santa Claus!
I have one on a X3 I'm thinking about replacing with a Neo. It's only been set up, never flown.

[mqowen]

Originally Posted by macdad

Thanks for the encouragement, Marc. Learning new tricks is always a bit frustrating for me. Part of my problem with the flips is that I want them to look perfect. I know that I need to do thousands of them before I get to that point. I will step back and break the flip down. I think my problem lies in the speed of my stir. I speed up the rotation, but stir slow still. That is when I crash. Just have to get the feel for it.

It seems like I have good days and bad days on the sim. The only thing I can really attribute it to is focus. I have a long winter to practice though

Oh I know what you mean on the stir. I think i can do them haphazardly but I can't stay in one spot or even keep the spin rate steady. I enjoy following your blog. Keep posting.