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mashed_penguin posted:
I have a 450 and I barely fly it because it's goddamned terrifying. The first time I powered it up I immediately realized "I am about to fly a dynamically unstable, totally unguarded fiberglass lawnmower all over this park at low altitudes and high speeds." I can't imagine flying the 500s and larger, or god forbid the really big ones with metal blades. 
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Sep 6, 2013 01:41
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x 10000 
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pzy posted:Holy poo poo, it actually happened I just got linked to this thread from the R/C Car thread in AI. I have worked in the R/C industry most of my employed life and its a good one but drat! That is crazy to read. I have seen a pic of a dude that sliced through his calf muscle (can't unsee that) and it was brutal! I've got a trex 450 SE v2 (old school now) that I wrecked a couple of summers ago and haven't gotten into fixing. Have a blade micro CX and Micro CP. I'm very tempted by the FPV multirotor stuff. I've settled on a team black sheep Discovery Pro frame. When I'm ready to part with $2000 I'll get one and learn how to wreck it. Seems like a lot of fun!!
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Sep 6, 2013 02:05
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Sagebrush posted:I have a 450 and I barely fly it because it's goddamned terrifying. The first time I powered it up I immediately realized "I am about to fly a dynamically unstable, totally unguarded fiberglass lawnmower all over this park at low altitudes and high speeds." I can't imagine flying the 500s and larger, or god forbid the really big ones with metal blades. No reason to be terrified, just need to respect it. Metal blades? I've flown some of the largest production stuff but I've never heard of anything running metal blades.
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Sep 6, 2013 02:33
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Last year I went to a fun fly at that field. A lot of those guys, including Roman (who I met), were pretty much flying right in their faces and on the deck the entire time they were flying. Even that day there was an incident where another guy was flying above his skill level on the deck, the tail smacked the ground and the heli started pirouetting out of control. Well it flew right into the pit area and hit a car, and the shattering glass injured somebody. And yet immediately after there were still about 6 or 7 guys at a time flying next to each other on a field that's about 500 feet wide without any concept of staying in their own flight box. Since that day I hadn't been there again and I definitely am not going back there now. I fly a 700 size electric heli as well and I always make sure to keep it at least 25 feet from me at all times, but I'm going to take it out a bit farther now. Something like that could happen to anybody. Such an unfortunate incident...
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Sep 6, 2013 04:12
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So i just heard about the whole beheading thing, why would you WANT metal rotors? All the R/C copters i have ever owned (mind you, these are like children's playthings, you would all flick a cigarette at) have had plastic rotors for reasons of replace-ability. Is it just a hardcore thing? RC aerial vehicles - Try not to lose your head over it
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Sep 6, 2013 13:30
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AcidRonin posted:So i just heard about the whole beheading thing, why would you WANT metal rotors? All the R/C copters i have ever owned (mind you, these are like children's playthings, you would all flick a cigarette at) have had plastic rotors for reasons of replace-ability. Is it just a hardcore thing? Did a bit more searching...apparently some of the scale turbine ($$$) guys run them. They were having issues with the turbine exhaust heat causing failures with the carbon blades. That being said metal blades are pretty drat rare and have a very specialized use on large, heavy, very expensive helis that are flown very mildly and hopefully by experienced pilots. Apparently illegal in the UK, have a lifetime measured in hours (similar to real helicopters) and are super expensive. So why would you want them? More authentic for scale helis, required on some with hot turbine exhaust going towards the rotor disk.
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Sep 6, 2013 14:26
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That's interesting. All my helis 450 and 500 trex) I used carbon or wood blades. The wood were nice because they just shatter on impact, carbon take a few more things out. It was a foam core with a gel coated carbon fiber, but the leading edge had a lead insert. I'm sure he was probably using carbon blades. 600 size blades swing at something like ~1500 rpm, right? That's definitely enough momentum to take a dude out.
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Sep 6, 2013 16:32
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Is it actually confirmed the guy had metal blades? I would have thought a 3d guy running a big 700 would have had carbon fibre.
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Sep 6, 2013 17:33
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mashed_penguin posted:Is it actually confirmed the guy had metal blades? I would have thought a 3d guy running a big 700 would have had carbon fibre. Didn't look like metal blades to me from the photo (blurry, though) *edit* this is from a video on his youtube stream, looks like carbon to me:  Align Trex 700 gasser. The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRPfLKVMGM8 CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 17:41
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Been flying the my Champ every moment I have when the battery is charged and I'm having a blast with it. It is really making the wait for my parts to come in even that much harder. I've also gone through all the builds that flitetest has done and really am looking forward to a number of them. Might even just go buy the foam board and start building the wings/power pod just so they're ready when the electronics come in. One thing I'm curious about. How do you decide which motor/prop is needed for each plane? How can I tell if the motor is going to have enough power for the size of the plane? rotaryfun fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 17:59
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rotaryfun posted:One thing I'm curious about. How do you decide which motor/prop is needed for each plane? How can I tell if the motor is going to have enough power for the size of the plane? Ahhh the magic question... The shortest answer is easy: you crash a lot. Ultimately it's up to you and what you want to make that plane do - fast speed, high manuverability, light-weight for long flights... As you build/fly/crash you start to fine tune what you want out of each plan and you can size things accordingly. But the specific details are a wide array of information that you'll pick up along the way. Here's two quick points that might help point you in the right direction: Motor sizing for speed, torque, power is one of the first things you should consider because it dictates what kind of battery you'll need, as well as your top speed, prop size and pitch limitations, and can be the difference between hard lauches where you heave the plane and hope it survives till it gets up to speed, or easy launches where the plane floats out of your hand at half throttle. Quick notes: On motors:
On propellers:
*Watt meters: http://www.hobbypartz.com/26p-twometer.html http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__28242__Turnigy_7_in_1_Mega_Meter_Battery_Checker_Watt_Meter_Servo_Tester_USA_Warehouse_.html http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__34137__HobbyKing_HK_010_Wattmeter_Voltage_Analyzer_USA_Warehouse_.html http://www.headsuphobby.com/AEO-DC-Watt-Meter-F-231.htm?categoryId=-1 http://www.headsuphobby.com/GT-POWER-RC-130-Amp-Watt-Meter-F-130.htm?categoryId=-1 CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 18:32
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Another thing to watch out for when playing with prop sizes is you may end up drawing more current than your electrical system can handle. You can burn out your ESC. This is one area where a watt meter comes in handy.
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Sep 6, 2013 18:48
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Decided to go ahead and order some control horns and the simple firewall from flitetest along with a shirt. I messed up the order and selected the wrong size shirt. Found the contact us info and gave the number a call. I was completely caught of guard as Mr Bixler himself answered the phone. After he helped me with my order I asked if it was him and we had a conversation for a few minutes. That guy is probably one of the nicest people I've ever talked too. Anyway, decided to check on my hobbyking ordered stuff too. 2 of the 3 orders showed shipped with one of the orders (the biggest order with the controller and most everything) showing as in route to JFK. So that's gotta be some promising news.
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Sep 6, 2013 20:12
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Widdershins posted:Another thing to watch out for when playing with prop sizes is you may end up drawing more current than your electrical system can handle. You can burn out your ESC. Absolutely. Also cheap chinese ESCs frequently fib about their real world power rating. You should aim for 80% of the written power rating if you're not 100% confident in the ESC's rated maximum.
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Sep 6, 2013 20:21
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Wow, 80% seems like a lot but better safe than sorry. So for my Turnigy 18A I should assume it to be closer to 14A?
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Sep 6, 2013 20:35
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How miserable are Air Hogs helis? Can you mount any kind of camera to them at all?
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Sep 6, 2013 21:42
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:How miserable are Air Hogs helis? Can you mount any kind of camera to them at all? They are pretty terrible. I think they make one that has a camera built in though.
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Sep 6, 2013 22:53
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Am I correct in my flight time estimate? Take my Turnigy 500mAH 3S 20C lipo http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9275 divide it by the max A draw of my motor 9A http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=19034 multiply that by 60 min That comes out to 3 1/3 mins... that seems awfully... short
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Sep 7, 2013 00:55
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rotaryfun posted:Am I correct in my flight time estimate? At full throttle...which you'll rarely be using.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:03
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I went by the store to check them out in person and they seem tiny. I assume the IR control means no outside at all, or even open garage door stuff. Is there a radio helicopter for $60 or so? My indoors is very cramped and cluttered, but I've got a huge still-wind parking lot and a reasonably open garage. This is just for dicking around.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:04
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rotaryfun posted:Am I correct in my flight time estimate? That's your shortest maximum flight time, where your motor is under 100% full load the entire time... which rarely happens. The way to know for certain is to setup your motor/prop/esc combo all together and then slap a watt-meter on there. Strap the thing to the bench and then test the -actual- amp draw under 50% / 75% / 100% throttle. That'll tell you how much power it's going to use as your flying it. Then you can calculate your max flight times that are closer to reality. About the parts you're picking: Turnigy ESCs are actually pretty damned good quality. Even so, the stamped Amp rating is typically the 30 second maximum, that you should only run that hot for 30 second bursts before throttling down again. I would comfortably run a Turnigy 30A ESC with a 30A load for a minute or so before thinking "oh yeah this is probably going to set my plan on fire." And even then it's probably the motor that's going up in flames first. That said, the motor you linked is a max of 9A and 85W, and from the comments it looks like a 6x4 prop only draws 7A and full throttle. You're totally OK with setups in that range. I had a "blue wonder" 24gram 3000Kv motor where running a 5x5 prop at 11.1 volts = instant smoke... because it's pulling around 35A and 400 watts! But then again I can take the burnt copper off the stator, re-wire the motor with quality wire, and end up with a 300 watt motor at 2300Kv. So even if you do push the envelope there's lots of options for you to fix it or replace it with something that works. Batteries have a maximum amp draw too: (C-Rating) X (AH) = Maximum Constant Amp Draw so a 500mAh 20C battery can feed 10A of motor/prop, and they say on the specs that you can draw 30C (15A) for 10 seconds without damaging the battery.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:54
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:I went by the store to check them out in person and they seem tiny. I assume the IR control means no outside at all, or even open garage door stuff. Is there a radio helicopter for $60 or so? My indoors is very cramped and cluttered, but I've got a huge still-wind parking lot and a reasonably open garage. This is just for dicking around. Correct. iR = indoor only. Honestly if you want to fly outdoors you should look into getting the micro 4-channel fixed pitch helis. Coaxial copters (twin stacked rotor) can tangle their propellers in wind, which doesn't have to be much at all. Heck - I've tangled the rotors just doing hard turns. I had a 9958 which I controlled using my Turnigy 9x: http://www.xheli.com/27h-9958-miniheli-purple.html There's also a ton of other ones just like it: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__20138__S_Pro_FP_II_2_4Ghz_Micro_Heli_w_2_4Ghz_Tx_V2_RTF_USA_Warehouse_.html
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Sep 7, 2013 02:12
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Wow awesome response thanks. I picked up a 8/4.3 prop. Is that larger prop going to give me a problem?
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Sep 7, 2013 02:54
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:How miserable are Air Hogs helis? Can you mount any kind of camera to them at all? Seriously I would suggest you find a 1SQ quadcopter. They're cheap (I think somewhere around $80), replaceable parts, flips, outdoor flying, etc. pretty damned awesome.
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Sep 7, 2013 03:06
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rotaryfun posted:Wow awesome response thanks. I picked up a 8/4.3 prop. Is that larger prop going to give me a problem? You should be okay as long as you're not trying to burn up the skies at full throttle all the time. And if you do, then chalk it up as a learning experience!  Here's my earlier post about rewiring a burned out motor: CrazyLittle posted:Latest project - fixing a burned motor: CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 09:05 on Sep 7, 2013 |
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Sep 7, 2013 08:11
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Now semi-related to the watt-meter (which I need to buy) and all the prop talk. Other than by going by what you can find on forums, building a thrust test stand or just flying a ton of props what is the best way to figure out the prop that is going to give you the most thrust or top speed? If you have a watt-meter is the one that pulls the most amps going to produce the most thrust or does it not work that way? I've been lucky so far using off the shelf stuff and have been able to search for recommended pairings but I have a stack of CD-motors to rewind and have no clue where to start. This may be airplane 101 but I've only done SPAD's and cheap stuff which was so hilariously overpowered it didn't really matter.
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Sep 7, 2013 12:23
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I can't imagine anything nicer than a nano mQX for indoor flying. The thing is so much fun.
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Sep 7, 2013 16:34
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NitroSpazzz posted:Now semi-related to the watt-meter (which I need to buy) and all the prop talk. Other than by going by what you can find on forums, building a thrust test stand or just flying a ton of props what is the best way to figure out the prop that is going to give you the most thrust or top speed? If you have a watt-meter is the one that pulls the most amps going to produce the most thrust or does it not work that way? The watt meter just tells you if you're going to puff your lipo, burn an ESC or melt the motor. I mean yeah, there's some connection between electrical work-force (watts) and how much power you're putting out, but a low-pitch prop (imagine a 12x2 prop) can still take a lot of wattage without producing lift. Similarly a high pitch prop can take a TON of watts but never have enough RPM/thrust to get up to a speed where it's actually moving air... Like trying to drive a 8x8 prop with a 12 gram motor - it's never going to happen. Thrust is just the amount of locomotive force, so you'll need a directional force meter to judge that. Thrust test stands are the most direct way of doing it by "weighing" the difference in force. Top speed is the prop pitch * the ACTUAL RPMs at full throttle (minus the drag induced by the craft). Since the motor's top RPM is slower than the Kv rating when under load (with a prop) you'll need a RPM meter to measure the actual rotational speed with the prop you're going to use. The reductive formula is this: (Prop pitch in inches * RPM / 1056) - (drag) = top speed And with Kv ratings, that's RPM/volt, so a 5x5 prop on a 3000Kv motor on 3S in a perfect world (HAH) could go 157 mph. (5" * 3000Kv * 11.1v * 60min/hr * 1mile/63360inches) - (0 drag...)
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Sep 7, 2013 16:57
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:I went by the store to check them out in person and they seem tiny. I assume the IR control means no outside at all, or even open garage door stuff. Is there a radio helicopter for $60 or so? My indoors is very cramped and cluttered, but I've got a huge still-wind parking lot and a reasonably open garage. This is just for dicking around. I've had a lot of fun with v911 helicopters. They are about 40-60 bucks, handle lots of crashing (one dive bombed into the side of a brick building then into sidewalk, battery popped out and was fine). I bought mine from banggood, though my friend said the site triggered some virus warning. So maybe try another place. They can actually hold up in a breeze, and other than being far more agile and quick than the co-axials, really aren't much harder to fly. Just being able to strafe left and right almost makes them easier really. Hell, I let some random little 6-8 year old girl try flying it, and she did pretty good! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cumZIdNYVwc ^^^ that isn't the little girl flying ^^^^
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Sep 8, 2013 06:27
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CrazyLittle posted:POWAH Thanks for the write-up on that, will come in handy if I ever get around to rewinding some of these. I picked up two older OS 40FP engines last night, looks like I'll be making some combat PBF's in the near future. Looks like they were ran within the last 6 months or so but I'll tear them down for piece of mind.
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Sep 8, 2013 12:50
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Loving 1258 & 433 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=546S73Gs14w
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Sep 8, 2013 18:51
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ease posted:Loving 1258 & 433 : Oh, looks like you crash landed in Russian territory there. What Vtx and camera are you using on that? Its video like that that makes me anxious to learn how to fly my Bixler so I can get some FPV equipment on it. Landing gear is installed so hopefully I can practice just barely lifting off and landing again. Should also give me a chance to trim things out beyond eyeing it. I tried a bit to get it going straight just on the ground, however it seems I have to balance between veering a bit left rolling, so that it doesn't go as much right under power. Adding steering seems like it could be tricky.
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Sep 8, 2013 20:27
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Golluk posted:Oh, looks like you crash landed in Russian territory there. Are you doing any sim work at all?. The thing is that it's much more easy to learn up in the air rather than just off the ground. First most RC planes simply don't track that well and I think what you are setting out to do,is just an exercise in frustration. Alternatively, get a smaller, more crash-resistant plane to practice on. Either small trainer like the Hobbyzone champ or go the Flitetest route and work through their beginner swappables.
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Sep 8, 2013 21:17
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Golluk posted:Oh, looks like you crash landed in Russian territory there. Yeah, neighbors yards I'm entering are all friends and have permission. VTX is a 400mw 1258 direct from Shenzen. Camera is a Sony PZ0420
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Sep 8, 2013 23:12
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Decided to see if the old Raptor would fly this morning after sitting, mostly on a shelf in a garage, for five years. Engine turned by hand and the carb was a little gummy but some WD-40 and some manual cranking then the starter made it feel decent. Put in some 10% (also 5 years old), tossed on the flow warmer and the drat thing fired right up and settled into a smooth idle after 1-2 seconds on the starter...amazing. Idled a 1/4 tank then got bored and spooled it up. Adjusted blade tracking a bit and flew two tanks through it. Flies just like I remember and I had to resist the urge to toss it around a bit in the dead end of the subdivision. Love the sounds and smell of nitro in the morning. Need to track down a fuel leak in the brand new fuel lines I put on yesterday then see how many more gallons that engine will burn...parked it with 17 through it by me and unknown by the previous owner.
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Sep 9, 2013 00:00
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ImplicitAssembler posted:Are you doing any sim work at all?. The thing is that it's much more easy to learn up in the air rather than just off the ground. I'm fairly decent with changing orientation from my helicopter. I'm still not sure which would be a good sim, or if I should just use that IL-2 game from ground camera. I did manage some success today with the landing gear. Took off and flew about 150-200 yards, then "gently" let it landed into a hill. Next few attempts I got it up into the air and got it circled around a few times. A few ok landings, one of which was into a tree. I actually considered that a good landing as nothing broke and overall was gentle. I really should have stopped one flight sooner though. I noticed the wings were angling up a fair bit going in straight flight. Then on the last one, about 50' in the air, and wondering if I was actually still in radio range, that suddenly wasn't an issue. The wing snapped, plane folded up, and nose dived into the grass below. One wing needs the tabs that go into the fuselage glued back on. Needs a new wing spar. The prop came off somehow, but I found most of that (short the centering plastic ring). And the front part of the fuselage broke up just ahead of the wings. Bit of Gorilla glue and I think it will be fine. There is a few spots where the foam is bent out of shape though. I'll go google it, but if anyone wants to enlighten me on the best way to fix that problem I'd appreciate it.
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Sep 9, 2013 00:59
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Hot or maybe even boiling water is supposed to return the foam to its molded shape.
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Sep 9, 2013 02:00
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ease posted:Hot or maybe even boiling water is supposed to return the foam to its molded shape. Steam works too, probably even better. Just be aware that it's mostly for EPS (polystrene / foam ball), and it will make the foam lumpy/bubbly in that area. But yeah it'll help you re-shape a bent up foam plane.
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Sep 9, 2013 03:30
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6otspjStNn8 More air to air filming with Implicit Assemblers crack pits mini.
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Sep 9, 2013 15:10
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Is that the baby blender? Do you plan on moving to another plane at some time? Duster/Racer/Spitfire all seem really fun to fly to me and I am almost sad that I got the motor/prop/battery combo that I did and didn't start with something bigger for those planes. I've been having a lot of success with my Champ and it's sort of getting stale at this point. I've got a Delta made and ready for electronics as soon as they come in so maybe that will sedate my desire for the larger parts for those other planes.
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Sep 9, 2013 15:36
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