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I started flying sometime in the early 90's. I've not been able to keep ships around very well. Well Yesterday I bought a MCX. .... and I found out the controller was compatable with the ultra series of parkzone planes. Knock $30 off a $120 airplane and i'm there. I took home my t-28. And proceeded to do something hilariously stupid. The winds today are 5-17mph variable. And my flight area is small, and surrounded by 50' trees. That means it's turbulent as hell. Enough that when I was learning to fly gliders I learned to punch through the turbulence zone so I could land. ......... Four battery packs later, I'd finally damaged the T-28 enough that I had to give it up for the night. As it turns out, I can fly 4 channel ships without any real trouble. I'm pretty pleased with myself. I'm sitting here with elmers glue on my fingers and waiting for my repairs to dry. I think I'm happy with this plane. And I expect to fly it much more. Maybe I'll have enough balls to take my 4 channel heli out there.
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Sep 6, 2011 03:28
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| # ¿ Apr 30, 2024 04:55 |
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Lessons of the day: #1 Change your transmitter batteries frequently. I was flying... and lost control. That sick in the pit of your stomach, sheer terror, that comes from noticing nothing you're doing actually is affecting the flight of your plane. That crash ended in a battery coming loose. And ripping the connector off. Which proceeded to short out and smoke. ... $8 of 150mah lipo down the toilet. #2 If you crash once due to lack of control, don't just fly closer, replace those batteries. ...... I gave up after that crash. I am STILL loving this ultra-micro t-28.
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Sep 12, 2011 05:21
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The one that came with it. It's not amazing. As I am finding out, flying with the landing gear on is like flying with airbrakes on. The plane will fly at 1/3 throttle, easily, without the landing gear, it needs 2/3 with the gear on. I also stuck it in a tree today. ... retrieval was by basketball. Woo, more damage.
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Sep 13, 2011 01:48
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I am quite close to getting a little 3d aircraft. I think I'm going to pick up the pylon plane they make.
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Sep 13, 2011 15:18
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Something feels like cheating when it comes to using dual rates and expo. I learned to fly before ARF's hit the market. :-) Lemmie tell ya, buildinga plane just to crash it is a harrowing experience. My first "real" plane was a Future Flight Thermal Thing. A near 2m HLG that I put heavy servos in and flew off a high start. I built it with the wrong dihedral, yet it still flew well. I think it actually flys better than the one I built properly... I have also built from scratch.
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Sep 13, 2011 21:11
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Vitamin J posted:Sweet man. I built a kit out of balsa long ago but never flew it, was too scared. I love foam though! Gonna put a camera on the old .40 trainer one of these days. Balsa flys amazingly. I am willing to bet, I could make a balsa version of my T-28 that's the same weight, and won't flex during maneuvers. :-) And given how beaten to crap my current airframe is, that might not be a bad idea. ...... now i'm going to spend $40 on balsa and a balsa stripper. I hate you.
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Sep 14, 2011 15:57
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I think we may have found a use for my old spirit 2m. A pod on top with a motor.... and away we go. What do they use for long range radios? say.. a mile.
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Oct 13, 2011 21:19
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I want to build a new HLG. With modern servos and radios I could knock down the whole flight control gear down to the weight of one old standard servo. :-) I'm a ham.. so I can abuse the radio waves. *grins*
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Oct 21, 2011 17:51
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I should scan some of the plans I have from the old british magazines. They used to give you a GOOD plan every month. Maybe two.
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Oct 21, 2011 18:53
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well crap. I bought a new airplane.... Because hte old one was flying like a whale. I thought it was because I had to much weight on it. After buying the new plane, I investigated moving bits over from the old airplane to a new airframe. I discovered that the elevator was torn, and the servo horns were all floppy. I fixed that last night, and it now flys well again!
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Oct 25, 2011 02:08
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Oh the joys of a laser cutter. Wings are something I hate. So I work on them first.  I got bored of wing building....  And after three hours of build time, I had this.  Tonight I finished sheeting the wing, and the fuselage.  I think I want to put pretty wing tips on it. I need to decide what servos to use, and what's going to power it.
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Oct 31, 2011 05:28
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I picked up a parkzone UM sukhoi, and a DX6i. I have very quickly learned that the interface on the DX6i sucks. :-) Beeping constantly, and click, press, wait, press, wait... wait some more... wade through poorly labeled menus, wait more... Ugh. *stabs the radio* I still haven't flown the DX6i yet.
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Nov 10, 2011 06:23
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helno posted:Multiroters are far better suited for FPV than conventional helicopters. I don't understand why people think multirotors are any better. Instead of having the main shaft, and body of the heli providing some dampening you're directly attaching high frequency noisemakers to your camera platform. To make a conventional heli shake free you just need to balance two blades. You don't need to worry about interaction between rotors. You have a larger swept area for longer flight times. Multirotors also have the distinct disadvantage of being utterly unstable. If you add the sort of stabilization you need to keep a quadcopter flying to a conventional heli you'll have a camera platform that rivals a steadycam. You'd wonder why the film industry never thought of that... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1D3fvltj4Q&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...559l0.1.3.2l6l0 Oh wait, they did... and have since the early 80s.
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Dec 5, 2011 07:57
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I'm not buying it. What are the advantages. What advantages would be there if you put the same sort of gyroscopic stabilization on a conventional heli?
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Dec 5, 2011 16:26
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If you're flying someplace, an antenna down is just as effective as an antenna up, and you'll be further from the noise of all the speed controls. Hell, mount your antenna on the end of the tail rotor for some serious electrical quiet. Any electro-trickery you have on a multi rotor heli will translate happily to a single rotor craft. (I'm saying if you put one of those advanced gyro stabilized boards in a single rotor heli you'll have a more stable platform.) I will not buy that the vertical dimension of either sort of aircraft is any limit to where you're flying it.
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Dec 5, 2011 23:44
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As much as hobbyking being stupid cheap rocks, they are also not based in the us, and you're not going to get repair parts fast. Your best money would be on a parkzone ultra micro champ or cub from the local hobby shop. The champ may get you out for less than $100 with tax. The cub will be a little steeper. Both are three channel rigs, which makes them a lot easier to fly. If he likes it, he can use the same transmitter on the mcx, msr, helicopters, and a bunch of 4 chanel airplanes later. Truthfully, I would go the heli route. $80 buys you a mcx, radio, charger, and battery. And that radio will work with a dozen other models. The big benifit of the heli is indoor flight, he can fly any time,not just in calm conditions.
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Dec 7, 2011 00:40
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At this point price defines size. I would recomend something 30" or bigger for learning. Something small enough to bounce, big enough to not be a twitch fest. I learned on 2m gliders. They were gentle in yaw, vicious in pitch. :-) I think the best gift is a coaxial heli. It won't be dead on the first flight.
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Dec 7, 2011 02:13
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blindjoe posted:I had a few crappy helis and didn't like them. They were air hog ones with only up-down and rotate though, so you couldn't do much with them. I had much more fun with my air hog plane. That's the point. They're crappy helis. This is not: http://www.bladehelis.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdId=EFLH2200 And... how about lets talk a little about what I am up to:  Well that's some parts... They're going to go in a DLG. Hopefully this: http://www.pcm.at/english/Nano/index.html
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Dec 7, 2011 22:46
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helno posted:I live in Canada on the shoreline of lake Huron. The winds are incredibly strong in the winter once the ice builds up. This is the reason to build fast, heavy ships. Faster planes care less about crosswinds. :-) Heavier planes care less about turbulance. ... can you tell I have big ship envy? My Spirit 2m is on the shelf. But I need to build a new tail for it, and buy a new high start. Did you know surgical tubing turns to hard candy after a decade? So I was busy tonight. I bought $17 of balsa, $17 in paint and sandpaper... and started to build my Nano DLG.  Some Electronics... The reciever case is 7g, and will be shed. As will all the connectors that won't be needed. (a full half of them!) I will be using my e-flite batteries for this. 120mah will last until I'm done.  Yeah, I do my building on the kitchen counter. Marble is CyA proof!  The first fitting of all the parts. The tail is painted properly. I will be doing orange tips on the wings too.  With reciever, but the wings aren't sanded yet.  About 1/3 of the wings ended up as a fine balsa color powder.  Oooh, airfoils. The plane got it's first coat of laquer so I don't have a final shot for the night. But it was 55g before some post paint sanding.
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Dec 8, 2011 08:35
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Oh, look at that: And I even flew it tonight. Sadly it flies like a brick. Here's why:  It IS a brick. I'll bet I can really get some altitude with that much mass behind it. I modified my reciever.  I figure I can save 10g with new servos. I can save a few more grams trimming cables, and removing the metal plugs on the receiver. And i'll bet I can save 5g shaving off some more paint. Yes, I built it in two nights.
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Dec 9, 2011 08:58
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So I'm taking another shot at building my Nano DLG under 50g. The last one met a terrible death while trying to imitate a javelin. It's in four parts now... So here's the build process...       Shaping the wings should bring their weight down from 22g down to 11g. Which gives me something like 25 grams for radio gear. 3.7 grams for the receiver.
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Dec 14, 2011 22:28
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I have a motor, battery, and a 2 meter glider. Even better I have a reciever. .... what's the cheapest way to get FPV going? And.. I want my darned servos.
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Dec 15, 2011 07:25
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Hmm... I've seen lots of the FPV aircraft that are really kinda clunky. I would imagine that my Spirit would make a very stable platform. We shall see. I have a DX6i, and I would like to stick with that. I'll need to do range testing.
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Dec 15, 2011 21:18
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Carbon is just so sexy. I was expecting it to be a lot harder to apply. With some care it goes on quite flat and with a very even width. The plans for the plan recomended using a plastic shopping bag to smooth out the carbon tow. I wrapped packing tape around my finger, and that worked out well.  I made a little table so I could make the airfoil even. I didn't do that last time.  Now it just needs radio gear.  Watson always thinks he can help. Fur and CA aren't a good combination. If you look closely you can see the elevator is sprung up. Since there's no radio gear there's no tension to hold it down. If I am really lucky I'll get a package from china today.  I also bought a new toy this weekend. The MSR in the middle is the new one. It came with that fancy 4 port charger. Port 2 on the charger has now blown up two batteries for me. Eflite is gonna pay for that. :-) 
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Dec 19, 2011 16:01
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Well hey.. Eflite did something really nice yesterday. The charger I just bought has a bad port. They're shipping me a new charger, and as soon as they're in stock, they're sending me two new batteries.
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Dec 20, 2011 16:18
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The MSR is awesome. I own one, and I am still learning to eek the best from it. It's NOT easy to fly. At least to fly well. the MCX flys really well, even hands off.
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Dec 27, 2011 08:53
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The MSR is HARD to fly. Don't start with it. The MCX will happily fly in 450 square feet, and you will have fun flying it there. It is fun to fly in 100 square feet, much less 400. Get the MCX. It's worth the $80. Once you are sure you like it, the $80 for the bind'n fly MSR makes more sense.
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Dec 27, 2011 16:43
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The MSR with the high speed on the dual rates is a real screamer. It's nearly as fast as my novus cx.
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Dec 27, 2011 17:09
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Sypher posted:Thanks for the input, guys. I think I will go with the mcx and maybe upgrade to an MSR/SR in the summer! Smoother than the long series of crashes sure to ensue starting with a conventional heli. ;-) it won't be perfect, but it's a heck of a lot easier.
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Dec 27, 2011 19:27
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hovering is a pain. It's the most difficult thing you'll learn to do.
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Jan 8, 2012 16:09
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you're only getting about half travel on that servo. Check your dual rates.
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Jan 16, 2012 03:54
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CrazyLittle posted:Latest project - fixing a burned motor:
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Feb 22, 2012 16:51
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 Added 4" to the wingspan, and i'm making weight. Now I just need to put the battery on, and hook up the control surfaces.
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Mar 7, 2012 23:40
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Bigger rotor blades will help. A lot. Like double the span. Goto to like a 12x2.. if they make them. You've got the space, you're just wasting swept area. Even somehting like a 9x2 would make a huge diffrence. Nearly doubling your swept area.
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May 15, 2012 15:42
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CrazyLittle posted:if he wants bigger props he'll need bigger motors and bigger ESCs. Those park300's are only rated for a max 9A and a 7x3.5 prop. I'd hope he could go with a shallow enough pitch. But here's only so much available, eh?
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May 15, 2012 17:02
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So.. I found out last night that a MSR and MCX will carry video camera.... I need to order one of those keychain cameras and buzz my back yard. OH yeah, and i bought a MCX2. Because I melted the rotors, and body on my MSR, and MCX. Don't leave them in your car people. :-) Nerobro fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jul 16, 2012 |
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Jul 16, 2012 16:00
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Slanderer posted:Wait, it melted in your car? Wow, why the hell would they make it with ultra-low melting temperature plastic? That's just asking for trouble. Yes, both canopies, for my MSR and MCX melted in my car. And the rotor blades for my MCX. That said.. sit a car in the sun all day on a 105 deg day.. and it's hard to blame the plastic for becoming.. uh.. plastic.
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Jul 16, 2012 19:40
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There's a lot to be said about proper ground testing... Geeze...
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Sep 25, 2012 15:11
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Slanderer posted:Sounds like nerd stuff to me. I prefer the thrill, the danger, the inevitable regret. I suppose my time building planes from scratch makes me more protective. Spend a couple weeks building a HLG.. see what you feel like when it flys off the hi start wrong because you didn't test to see the radio was turned on....
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Sep 25, 2012 18:46
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| # ¿ Apr 30, 2024 04:55 |
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Hummer Driving human being posted:Has anyone built their own airframes as opposed to buying one off the shelf? Could a larger vehicle be built from blocks of balsa or foam that could carry heavier payloads? I'm thinking of something capable of carrying in IP dome camera that could be imbedded on the underside of the fuselage to allow for 360 degree pan and decent zoom. Yes, hobbiests have been doing just that since the ... 1930's? I've built a long series of planes with wingspans in the 6' range, out of balsa, plywood, and spruce. People do fiberglass, foam, carbon fiber, all the time. They also make real airplanes the same way. :-) The KR-1 and KR-2 are built just like a radio control airplane. http://kr2s.r-farley.com/Construction/fuselage4.html Seriously... If you want a "off the shelf" large airplane, they're out there. I'd recommend the Telemaster. That's a plane that's been the go to heavy lift r/c plane for at least the last 20 years. http://www.hobby-lobby.com/telemasters_216_ctg.htm The reason why you'd go kit, versus ARF, is it's easier to incorporate modifications into a kit, rather than an ARF, and if you're careful, nobody will build you a lighter plane than you building your own plane. A rig that will track a point in space is a very, very tall order. I wish you luck on that.
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Oct 20, 2012 18:56
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