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I will not be updating this site regularly any more, like I mentioned in a previous article, check out www.HeliChaos.com that is where I will be doing most of my updates. See you over there!

www.HeliChaos.com

It's on! www.HeliChaos.com is now live. There is not much on it, but that is where the action is going to happen. Come by and give it a look. Send us an e-mail or leave us a comment!

600 Explosion!!

I have fallen behind quite a bit. Ok, a lot. I have been flying among other things.

I am working on making HeliTalk more official. Probably focused more around a Podcast, but continue to do the videos (hopefully more regularly).

Until then, check out one of my shortest flights ever.

Before Your First Hover - Learning to Fly Helicopters

Before your first hover you need to know what each control of the transmitter does, and then you need to forget about it. Well, basically that is not accurate, but you do need to get to the point that you give the correct controls without thinking about it. Believe me learning to do this will help you down the road.

Yeas, we all want to fly right away (or flip or roll or...) but each step takes time and each step builds up into moves you can add together into better moves. An example is that you should really know how to do controlled inverted-pirouettes before trying full piro-flips. Each move in each stage builds up to moves in the next stage, and so on.

Ok, let's get on with it. In this stage we are just preparing to hover. No, not hovering. Just preparing to hover. This can take anywhere from 3 to let's say 20 batteries. What you will do is sit the helicopter out in front of you with the tail pointed toward you. Now spool the helicopter up until you think it might want to take off. Now give it some rudder (tail) input. When you moved the stick to the right did the nose move to the right? If it did not you need to stop and shut the helicopter off and then reverse the rudder servo in your transmitter.

Now, this time you are going to spool the helicopter up even more. The helicopter is going to want to slip to the left. It will do this every time! There is nothing wrong with your helicopter. You will have to give some right aileron to keepp it in one place. Once the helicopter starts to slide some spin it down and move it back to where it was and start again.

You did remember to keep the tail pointed toward you didn't you?! This is probably the most important thing at this point (even though you probably think the important thing is hovering). If the tail turns on you then you will crash. The controls on the right stick will stop making sense and you will 'put-it-in'. Turning the helicopter is for later.

You need to do go through a few batteries getting it light on the skids a few times a day for maybe about a week before you are ready to hover (maybe less than a week?). I do know you want to hover, but if you can't hold the helicopter from sliding or turning when it is on the ground how are you going to do it while it is in the air?

I saved mentioning the of the training skids for last. You do not have to use them, but if you are using a big expesive helicopter you may want to put some on until you can hold a steady hover at about 10ft. That is a few weeks away. Trust me. :-)

Next weeks post, your first hover!

Learning to Fly Helicopters

Ok, so I have been toying with the idea of doing videos that will teach/coach people in the techniques used to learn to fly a helicopter from the first hover right up to piro-flips. What do you guys think? I have done a couple of videos as demos for myself and I am not completely happy with the format yet. Again, let me know if you like the idea and maybe even what you would like to see!

First 90 Flight

The wind is still pretty bad. You can sure tell it is April in England. Even so, the guys are getting their helicopters out, cleaned off, and set up. I helped Darren at the field setup his Avant Freya .90. Well, actually I hovered it while he tached it. Then, for the second time and second weekend in a row he let me fly it. The video below is the second time I have ever flown a .90 size helicopter. After this video I had another quick flight and did a bigger moving auto at the end. Too, bad it is not on video, but I know that this has convinced me that I need a larger helicopter in the near future!

Jim's Slo-Mo crash.

The wind in Britain has been killer recently. Guts up to 50mph some days (why have I not moved back to the USA yet?). We managed to get flying in anyway. I flew the Protos, but it was not a great flight so I have a different video for your that I think is more entertaining.

Jim was ready to land, timer was going off, and we were talking. We often talk while we fly, but this time he had just finished a circuit and his brain melted down...

Windy 450

This video was filmed about 2 weeks ago. It was pretty windy. I ended up smashing the Protos on the next flight because of the wind (and Piro-Flips, but mainly wind ;-). So still no good Protos video.

In this video we see the tail blow out a couple of times and we have a dog join us. At the end I could not help but do a few autos since it was so windy. I hope you enjoy.



Click here to add notes to the video for all to see:
Youtube - Two Blow-outs and a Dog

Probably around 20mph with guts to 30mph. It has gotten worse and yesterday I got in 2 minutes of autos before having to take shelter from a hail storm. After the hail it was just too windy to fly anything smaller than a 600 and even those guys were struggling. Nick could not land his for about a minute because he was worried it would be smashed into the deck. Video should be posted soon showing their struggles in the wind.

Indoor Soft 3D

At the fly in the other night I was able to film a few flights and asked one guy to film me. I do not remember his name, but I should find out because he filmed very well!

I am going to try and start updating the site more often with more videos. I will start putting club day videos up and probably some 'how to learn to fly helicopters' videos up too.

Anyway, enough banter for now. I hope you enjoy the flight.

Fly-in and other updates

Went to the the Midland Helecopter monthly Fly-in last night with Keith. It was loads of fun (see video below). They only let 450 or smaller electrics in, but that is ok. it is nice to stretch the legs of the 450 now and then.

I also have crashed the Protos and ended up spending a bit on parts (took out the blades and tail case). I also spent a little extra and bought the new fiberglass canopy from MSH. It is nice! It has a metal-flake in the paint and looks much better in person than in photos.

I have a little winter project planned. I will put updates here once i get past the testing phase (need to see if it will work in theory first. Take care all. -J

Gala - First 'Demo'

Was asked to fly at a Gala last week that was happening this last Saturday. Well, the weather held out just enough for us to get about one flight in each. I flew the Protos and just got to fly the 450.

Flying the Protos I got a few flips and rolls, and inverted hovering in, but the space was limited so I could not get anything more in. They did really seem to like it. The kids just wanted it to go higher, and as it would a flip or two were pushed high because of the wind, but they loved it.

It was gusty all day and as soon as I was done with the 450 flight the rain and wind hit, and hail! We were holding down the gazebo. It only lasted about 5 minutes. After that everyone was doing something else, so we packed up.

We got a free drink out of the deal. So not only was it my first demo, I got paid for it.. ;-) Hopefully some in-flight pictures will be forthcoming.

-J

Fibreglass Canopy - Final

Well, I have been flying the fiberglass canopy for about 2 weeks now (I know: too busy flying, not enough updating the blog). I guessed I had better show off how the final canopy looks. It is a spray can job, and the fiberglass is a little bumpy on the sides, but I like it. i do not know how it will stand up in a crash (yet) but I am sure I will find out one day. It feels very sturdy and the way I glassed it means the nose is nearly solid epoxy.

Fibreglass Canopy for Protos

Ok I have been slowly working on buidling my own fibrerglass canopy. It seems someone else (sorry can't remember RC Groups name) has taken a plastic canopy and reinforced it with fiberglass. In hind sight this would have been a lot easier that what I have done.

• 1st day - I created a fiberglass mould over a plastic canopy.
• 2nd day - Then I split the mould. I greased it (should have used wax). Then I coated it with PVA and let it dry. Then I strapped the two halves together and put on more PVA. After the next layer was dry I coated the inside with resin and started laying down fiberglass matting as it dried. Then after that was done I soaked it with another coating of resin.
• 3rd day - After this finished curing I popped the mould off (breaking it in the process, remember, wax). I pealed off the PVA. Then I started sanding, and sanding to get my bad PVA job smother.
• 4th day - Primer, sand, primer, sand, primer, sand...
• This weekend I will hopefully put on the color coats of paint (need to come up with a style) and may go as far as a polished gloss coat (if it looks smooth enough to go that far...)

Take care. -J

Painting Plastic Canopies

I had always just bought canopies before. Now I am playing with painting the plain plastic white ones you can get. No, I am not doing air brushing (yet) but I thought this was a cheaper way to make the heli look good. Well, I have painted one and this is how I did it.

• I went over it with 240 grit (or finer) sandpaper. Go over the whole thing until it looks like it was painted matte white.
• Then clean the thing. I used a rag and some white-spirit. Just make sure you do not use soap. You want it very clean. What ever you might use to clean paint brushes is probably a good choice.
  
• Getting some pliable paint is going to help (Plastikote, hobby spray paint, Krylon. just ideas). I think the sanding is more important than the paint, but good paint will help.
• Spray on lightly. The first coat should not be shiny. Let that dry for at least an hour (depending on paint).
  
• I would go with two coats of any color you use. I went with two coats of white.
  
• Let that dry over night.
  
• Mask it with newspaper and low tack masking tape.
  
• Spray your next color, again two thin coats are better than one runny one.
  
• It is probably a good idea to take your masking off while the paint is still wet, but not runny. The new paint in the masked area won't peel this way.
• Repeat the steps the are necessary to get the style you want.

I have posted a picture of my partly completed canopy. I will try and get some (day glow) orange paint and finish it up for the weekend. -J

High timing - Lower motor temp?

(posted in RCGroups.com but slghtly edited and update for here.)

Well, I did some testing today (well really just flying and then measuring). I set the ESC to High timing and then tached the headspeed and set it to 2400 where I have been flying.

Running the Align 60a ESC in HIGH timing mode on the stock MSH Protos 14 pole motor made a noticeable difference in motor temp! It past the 3 second rule. Actually I was able to keep my finger on there for over 7 seconds. The battery was ambient temperature but I did not check the temp of the ESC. It seemed to slightly raised the amp draw, but still need a couple more flights to know for sure.

The helicopter also seemed to perform better and hold headspeed better. This may have just been me, but it did feel like it. I know some ESC allow for timing advances of 7 degrees to 30 degrees for 10 to 14 pole motors. Anybody else want to run their ESC with High timing and let us know your motor temperature results?

-J

Nuneaton RC Helicopter Fly-in

Jim and I went down to the Nuneaton RC Helicopter Fly-in and it was the start to a pretty good flying day. We met a couple of our other flying buddies down there, Keith and Nick. It was hot and I am sure Jim and Keith both got burnt.

There were some very good pilots down there. Adam Crane, Duncan Osborne, and Steven Gerrard to name a few. Damn Gerrard has gotten even better. He was burning a lot of fuel while we were down there. With as much flying as he does there is no wondering why he is so good. I regret to inform you that I did not take any video or photos from the field. I was just having too much fun.

I had a couple of flights while we were down there. Jim, Keith and Nick did not. I understand that. I flew toward the quiet end of the field not down where Gerrard was flying. :-)

We left there after a few hours and went to a quiet field to fly at. It was a very good flying session, except for the point where Jim accidentally flew behind his head and flew right over me. He handled it well and gave it just a little bit of elevator until he could see it again without turning his body. Then he gave it a very hard turn and recovered and continued flying as cool as can be. It is part of the sport. You could have a failure at any point that is why I always try to watch the helicopter no matter who is flying.

Keith did a flip and a roll. He has been flying for under a year. I do not have video of this last weekend, but I have some from the weekend before.

-J

Flying again - No Static

I picked up my 15t pinion this morning and yesterday I received back my updated AR6200. So tonight I went and did some test and setup flights. I did not have one twitch or glitch.

I did a few things to make sure I did not have static problems again:

• I grounded the tail shaft bearing to the sanded tailboom.
  
• I then grounded the front of the tail boom to the motor mount.
  
• I also grounded the upper mainshaft bearing to the motor mount.
  
• Then I went all the way and grounded the motor mount to the negative side of the battery connection.
  
• I updated my recevier to 'quick connect'
  
• and finally sprayed my belt with silicon again.
  

I do not think everyone will have to go this far (I might have gone too far with the mainshaft bearing), but I was not going to take any chances.

I sanded both ends of the boom so that I could get good connections with the wire. I also tinned (covered with solder) the ends of the wires so they would last longer and not fray. Finally I checked to make sure there was continuity between the tail bearing and the negative lead. I will be very suprised if I have any issues again, but if I do hopefully the receiver will reconnect quickly and then let me know there was a problem by starting to flash.

-J

Field Story - No Flight Line

I figure while we are waiting for my RX to come back (actually we are probably always waiting for something...) I figured I could share a field story with you. I know a lot of characters that I fly with, but this story is about 2 people I do not know. I know their names now, but I only met them on Sunday. Anyway...

Jim and I go down to a very large feild to go fly. This place is toward the north side of Leamington's Galley Common (kind of like a park owed by the people or a trust). We get out there and start flying our T-Rex's and my Protos. As always we stay away from paths and always have one of us watch for dogs and kids while the other is flying.

It is all going well until a guy on a bike starts riding right through where I am flying. We will call this guy D. So, I move my flight area becuase maybe this guy does not understand how dangerous an inverted 450 with carbon blades spinning at 3000rpm can be. He makes his way over to us just as I am finishing flying and we say hello. He is a RC helicopter pilot too and has a 450 size in a plastic bag in his back pack! He tells us he has just gotten done rebuilding it from a crash he had earlier in the day. We let him fly next and both Jim and I had to step back. He flew close, over his head, and was one of these people who walk toward their helicopter while they are flying it. Okay, so we just make sure we watch his heli while he is flying.

Then another guy comes up with a EPP airplane. We will call him P. I can't remember the model, but it was a Multiplex pusher jet. He says he has flown it about 3 times. He does tell us he has a Raptor 90 too. This is when Jim and I look at each other and remember when we saw him before flying his 90 here at this feild. He flew high and fast, but it was way too close to people as far as I was concerned. This is a park with paths down all sides, so basically no flight line. Well, he puts up his plane, the whole time commenting on how he has trouble hand-launching it. He almost puts it in, but does get it in the air.

This is when he starts flying everywhere! The plane must be doing 60mph at points and he is flying over us and around us. I had to strain my neck to keep an eye on it, and the way he was flying I did not want to lose site of it. After a while D walks over to P and tells him that he should probably not be flying over the old guy walking his dog. P listens and flys elsewhere, but it was not a good experience and I was not happy with their lack of safety. Especially P's.

Nothing disasterous happened, but I do not think I want to fly with these guys again.

-J

Testing and Spektrum Quick Connect

OK, I have just got back from test hovering two batteries through the Protos. I did not have one glitch or twitch. I am still not 100% confident in the helicopter though. So I have gone even further...

Yesterday I sent my AR6200 Spektrum receiver back to Horizon UK to have the Quick Connect firmware installed. I would hate to have missed something in my grounding (which I am sure I have not) or pull too many amps and reboot my receiver. With this update the receiver will reconnect in about .75 of a second. That should be quick enough to be able to recover in most situations*. Another bonus is that if the receiver is restarted and the transmitter has not been (RX brown-out or ESD hit) the RX will start flashing slowly. The bad thing about this is that you have to re-start your TX every time you change heli batteries. That won't bother me too much as my 'smart-safe' is set to zero throttle and I shut of my radio right after landing anyway**.

Horizon/Spektrum have been in contact today and it looks like I will have the receiver back by the weekend.

Tonight I will try and put up photos of the new grounding wire on the tail bearing going to the boom.

J

* Well, maybe hovering inverted a foot of the ground .75 seconds would be too long
** do not shut off your radio first unless you are on a Spektrum radio set AND you are sure your 'smart safe' fail safe positions are set correctly. You do not want it to spin up again when you shut of your TX. Don't ask...

Crash - Spektrum Static Lock-out

Well, a crash was going to happen at some point, but I would have been happier if I had done it and it was not something that I could not control.

It seems that grounding the tailboom to the motor mount block was not enough. I have ground the tailboom out to the negative lead now. This is what I did on my 450 and never had major problems again.

It would not have been so bad, but one of the designers told us there would be no problems with static. Well, it seems he does not understand how static can build up in the electrically isolated boom. I will not be the last to suffer from this. Ground your booms to the negative lead please. This was a costly lesson. If it happens again I am going to be sending this thing back to Italy for them to look at.