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
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.
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.
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...)
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
(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?
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.
