Plain ole everyday heli stuff

[Jerrymac]

I just realized that we didn't have a place to talk about plain ole everyday heli stuff without a specific topic, duh. So, here it is.

Sorry for falling asleep at the wheel guys. I am surprised that nobody added this to the 'suggestion' board.

Anyhow, I hope everybody finds this new board useful, and, if you have any ideas to make the site more interesting please feel free to share them with us.

Thanks,

Jerry

[Jerrymac]

If anybody is looking for a Z20 or Z30 motor for their Hurri, Helidirect has them all marked down $20 usd. Gonna go order me a Z20 1470kv for my 425 build as soon as I go out and feed my Beagle.

[dunkonu23]

Sounds like a great deal to me!

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Well, I have a new found respect for my Hurri 550 after today. I was running a head speed of right around 1800 according to my calculations for quite some time now with the stock Gaui 850kv motor, and rather mild collective and cyclic pitch.

Today I increased the head speed to somewhere around 2000 to 2100, and the collective pitch to +- 13 degrees. Also increased the cyclic pitch to 8 degrees. This thing flys like a different heli. Much quicker response and surprisingly, absolutely no bogging even during hard collective moves.

I have some stock light-weight flybar paddles around here somewhere and will install them to see what difference they make. Not sure how long the stock motor will hold up though. Surprisingly it has tons of power, but I checked the temps. after landing and the motor was 228F.

Flight time was also a lot less. I used to keep my timer at 7 min. and batts. came down at 3.8 volts per cell. Today I lowered my timer to 5 min. and batts. came down at 3.82 volts per cell.

I lowered the head speed on the 425 to about 2700 to 2800 and it did not really seem to fly any different. No gain in flight times either. I had my timer at 4:30 and was putting back 2050mah. Today with the timer still at 4:30 I put back 2000mah, so not much difference there.

Still tinkering, so, more to come soon.
Still need a gyro and ubec to finish the "500" build, but might have to put it off for a while as I gotta pay for the families trip to Florida that the wife paid for with "plastic" money.

Hope everyone had a great holiday and got some good flying in.

[darrell]

Hi guys darrell hear i had a great fourth & a great week
i got the 550 gaui in the air. it's a stock 550 futaba 401
gyro & servo's dx6
The heli does what you said it would it gets in the air &
waits for you to tell what to do.
I took it to two flying fields, the first one said "NO HELIs
the second was just the opposite very helpfull they checked
the gaui out put it in the air, a few miner adjustments on
the transmitter and gave it to me and said have ball !
I have for the last seven days been hovering and happy
My question is what are the AMA rules at a AMA club field?
Jerry if you are interested in this nice field I can call you
and give you info. The field is about 25 miles from you.

[dunkonu23]

Darrell,

At my club, the basic rules are AMA rules. They've devised a special set of rules designed for the site. All you generally have to do is ask and you'll be told of the special rules. At my club, they're posted.

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Hey Darrell, nice to see another happy Hurri owner. Glad to know that you got her in the air. I am hoping that you were able to gain a little help from this site.

You can read the AMA rules at the following link;

www.modelaircraft.org/files/Memanual.PDF

Just wondering, how do you know the flying field you went to is 25 miles from me? I don't have my location listed, but I am in New Castle, Pa. The New Castle in western Pa near the Ohio border. There is another city of the same name in Eastern Pa.
Where are you from, and where is this field?
A satellite view would be nice.
Here is where I fly..... In the practice fields on the left of the main ball field.

www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=41.012611453975104~-80.32700955818937&lvl=16&sty=h

[darrell]

jerry you guys have been a great help,just knowing your hear to help
i read this every day and check in several times a day. i read everything
on the gaui 550 i can here and rcu and others.
I do know were your you fly. I ran factory service for years and found
way off finding people. Iam fron saxonburg not that far away.
The field is in harmony pa 16037 off rout 19 if you have a gps 124 warner la.will
allmost get you there.
scot jerry and all you have been big big big help iam glad your here
darrell darrell darrell

[Jerrymac]

Hey Darrell, glad the guys here posted some useful info that was helpful to you. That is why Scott and I started this site. So guys can share there knowledge and fun times with others in the hobby.

Is that club accepting new members? I am assuming that you have to be a member to fly there as with most other clubs. Do they have a designated flying area just for helicopters? Most clubs don't want helis using the plank flight line.

That is really not all that far from me as I sometimes fly out at Moraine state park too, if you know where that is.
I have a general idea of where that field is since I worked in Evans City a long time ago and drove past it many times, just didn't know it was there.

Saxonburg huh? That is kinda like on the other side of Butler from me if I remember.

I will definitely give you a call some Sunday and meet you at that field. I think it would be great to meet a fellow online heli pilot. Hopefully I can talk to some of the other members about joining the club.

I am hoping to make it to IRCHA one of these years also , so that I can personally meet some of the guys that I know from the forums. I believe that Scott and Ivan were going to be there this year.

Have a great day, and enjoy flying that new Hurri.

Jerry

[dunkonu23]

Yep... IRCHA is on the schedule... rented the golf cart for zipping around there last week! We did the Mid America Fun Fly (Where I butchered my Gaui/Head Hunter 550) as a dry run for IRCHA. Looks like clothes for four days are going to be an afterthought.

Glad we could help out in some way, Darrell!

Scott

[darrell]

your post here is best thing i have found, I had all kinds question
and I got the answers here. All I had to do is read.
I used the mods t rex landing gear, moter plate mod even if I don't
need it the hurri is still flying great .you guys need a big thank you

darrell darrell darrell
Thank you for making my grandpa happy.
Darrells grandson , 8 year old kade

[Jerrymac]

Hey Darrell, you gonna teach that 8 year old grandson how to fly helicopters? I have a 10 year old grandson and he wants to learn to fly. He actually practices on the sim waiting for the day that I will hand him the TX at the field.

[Jerrymac]

Well, my 425 took it's first dirt nap today. Actually, it was a great recovery from a mechanical failure. The grandson bugged me all day to take him to the field, so , at about 6:00 pm we headed out.

First flight with the 425, about 2 min. in, he begs me to do a back flip. So, I pull back on the elevator, and as it comes over I input the the proper collective, and, great flip, but, as I finish the flip to upright, it keeps on track with back elevator.
Not sure what to do, so I just continue with a second flip, but, it keeps coming back hard. I pushed forward on the cyclic stick, but it continues into a back elevator orientation.
Next thing I know, it is headed for him while he was standing next to my truck. Gave it a bump of rudder to spin it around and head it nose in into the ground, then hit TH and added a little positive collective.

Surprisingly, it hit rather softly nose in, then flipped over on its head. Took it back to the truck and looked it over and found that the elevator arm split at the ball end and came off the ball on the swash. I haven't checked it over yet to see how much damage was done, but it looks to be very minimal. Might have a bent main or feathering shaft, but not sure as I did not tear it apart yet. The flybar is only very slightly bent which makes me think that the damage is very minimal, although I will need to get a new elevator arm assembly

I flew 3 packs out after that with the 550, but the grandson sat in the bed of the truck looking out through the windows of the cap. He was scared to death, poor little guy. I hope it did not discourage him from the hobby as he has loved it so far, but, this is the first time that one of my helis had an inflight failure that scared him like that.

I'll know next weekend how bad it scared him, if he says he don't want to go out to the field with me. I hope he forgets about it and keeps his interest in the hobby. He flys on the sim all weekend just to try to show me that he is ready for the real thing.

Jerry

[dunkonu23]

Jul 12, 2010 2:12:02 GMT -5 Jerrymac said:

Well, my 425 took it's first dirt nap today. Actually, it was a great recovery from a mechanical failure. The grandson bugged me all day to take him to the field, so , at about 6:00 pm we headed out.

First flight with the 425, about 2 min. in, he begs me to do a back flip. So, I pull back on the elevator, and as it comes over I input the the proper collective, and, great flip, but, as I finish the flip to upright, it keeps on track with back elevator.
Not sure what to do, so I just continue with a second flip, but, it keeps coming back hard. I pushed forward on the cyclic stick, but it continues into a back elevator orientation.
Next thing I know, it is headed for him while he was standing next to my truck. Gave it a bump of rudder to spin it around and head it nose in into the ground, then hit TH and added a little positive collective.

Surprisingly, it hit rather softly nose in, then flipped over on its head. Took it back to the truck and looked it over and found that the elevator arm split at the ball end and came off the ball on the swash. I haven't checked it over yet to see how much damage was done, but it looks to be very minimal. Might have a bent main or feathering shaft, but not sure as I did not tear it apart yet. The flybar is only very slightly bent which makes me think that the damage is very minimal, although I will need to get a new elevator arm assembly

I flew 3 packs out after that with the 550, but the grandson sat in the bed of the truck looking out through the windows of the cap. He was scared to death, poor little guy. I hope it did not discourage him from the hobby as he has loved it so far, but, this is the first time that one of my helis had an inflight failure that scared him like that.

I'll know next weekend how bad it scared him, if he says he don't want to go out to the field with me. I hope he forgets about it and keeps his interest in the hobby. He flys on the sim all weekend just to try to show me that he is ready for the real thing.

Jerry

Hate to see a failure cause a crash that scares a child. But, think about it this way: He now has a healthy dose of reality. Helicopters are dangerous and he's learned it without getting hurt. That is a plus. Respect for the nature of the beast is essential.

On the crash, man, that sucks. I hope it's an easy fix, Jerry.

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Well, I checked the 425 over and all I found aside from the broken elevator arm, was a slightly bent flybar. Rather surprising as it flipped over on it's head after the rather ugly nose-in landing with no elevator control. Replaced those and rechecked the head set-up.

Took it to the field today along with the Gaui 200 the Blackhawk 450 and the Hurri 550, and the 425 flew great.

And, btw, the grandson went with me again today and enjoyed himself very much. He was switching out the batteries, installing the canopies, and carrying the helis to and from the landing pad for me. He asked me if we could bring some golf clubs and balls next time so we could "hit a few" between flights.

[dunkonu23]

LOL! Golf and helicopters! Next thing you know, he'll want to hit balls AT the helicopter in the air!

Glad he's having a good time!

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Jul 19, 2010 7:46:41 GMT -5 dunkonu23 said:

LOL! Golf and helicopters! Next thing you know, he'll want to hit balls AT the helicopter in the air!

Glad he's having a good time!

Scott

Geez, that thought never crossed my mind. Guess you know kids much better than I do, lol.
I think we had better just leave the golf clubs at home.

[Jerrymac]

Well, had another "almost" perfect day at the field today. Took my 10 year old grandson, Logan, 4 helicopters, and the golf bag ,lol.

Flew the Gaui 200 and it flew perfect. Hit some golf balls with Logan, then went and gathered them up. Flew the Blackhawk 450, then hit some golf balls. Flew the Gaui 425, and yeah, then hit some more balls. Flew the 550, and hit some more golf balls. He is getting very good at hitting his driver nice and straight.

Before leaving, he asked if he could try to fly the lil Gaui 200 now that I got it sorted. I said, sure, give it a go. His first hover lasted about 15 seconds and he got real nervous and landed. His second hover lasted again about 15 seconds and he started shaking and landed.
His third hover ended in a crash. He was about 4 feet high, hovering nicely, then a gust of wind made the lil 200 quickly balloon about 15 feet high and drift hard to his left. He got scared and just pulled back hard on the throttle. It landed hard on its left side and bounced a couple times. No damage report yet as I have not looked it over, but the blades are trashed and spindle shaft bent.

I felt bad as the little guy had tears in his eyes after the crash. I told him, don't worry about it, I crashed many times while learning. We will fix it and be back out next weekend.

On another note, my wife also had a great weekend. Kentucky had their "Miss Teen beauty contest " this weekend and my wife's best friends daughter won it. She is a little doll.

My wife is also a big Facebook fan and tinkers with the FarmVille thing there in her spare time, where you buy and build a farm. She got a new neighbor there yesterday that bought the farm next to hers and she has been all excited about him. Her new neighbor sent her a "hello" today. He is actor Richard Greer. I think she wet her pants, lol.

OK, nuff for me today It is bed time.

[dunkonu23]

Sounds like you both had a really fun day! It's heart warming. Except when the little guy cried. That's heart breaking. All in all, though very cool day.

Gere or Greer? Never heard of the latter but the former... yep.

My day of flying... Velocity 50, excellent. T-Rex 450 excellent. Head Hunter, not so good. I move the tail servo to the boom Saturday evening and didn't get a chance to check it out thoroughly because of darkness and the swarm of mosquitos that attacked me mercilessly. I gave up on it. :0

Sunday at the fun-fly, I got a couple of quick hovers in it that yielded the tail had a visible vibration in it. So, I landed, tightened the boom supports screws on the frame and tried again, no go. Looks like I need to investigate bearings.

Scott

[Jerrymac]

Well, I hope you get the HeadHunter Gaui sorted soon. IRCHA is just around the corner. Glad to hear that the other helis where flying great.

My BH 450 has a nasty wobble in it while spooling up. It just about shakes itself apart, so, I gotta look at that someday. Parts are really scarce for it now that Ka-Planes closed. Might have to do some checking to see if parts from other helis will work on it, I dunno.

Oh yeah, Gere, lol, that was a bad typo.