I got myself a CopterX BlackAngel FBL kit from ehirobo.com a few months ago and really like it. I'm really happy with the service I got and I've ordered a few more items since then.

First, when I placed the order there was a question about my PalPay verification. Even though I've placed many orders using PayPal, eHirobo wrote to say that my order was delayed because my PapPal account was not verified. After pointing out that they had already been paid by PayPal, eHirobo apologized for the 1 day delay and upgraded the shipping at no cost to me.

I was really impressed by this and when I ordered some spare parts I chose the cheapest shipping but still got the order very quickly.

On to the build. I didn't get the electronics package since I already had a lot of the parts. I got the 3X1000 gyro and programming cable though.

As of now, my BA 450 FBL has 3 EXI digital MG servos for cyclic and a Coronoa digital MG servo for the tail. I use a Dynam/Detrum motor and Exceed Proton 40A ESC programmed with soft start.

The BA isn't a 450 clone and the parts aren't 100% compatible with a TRex 400. Some are, but even the skids have different screw positions.

Setting up the 3X1000 is a little difficult for me because I don't have the program box. Maybe I'll get one soon so I can stop connecting to a computer.

The BA 450 FBL kit I got is here
http://www.ehirobo.com/shop/RC-Helic...duct_info.html


More to come ...

It's been a while since I posted anything about flying. I put up a few youtube videos but that's all.

I've been busy doing all the things that go along with summer - camping, swimming, going to amusement parks and the beach, tending to the yard and chickens, and doing repairs on our vehicles and lawn equipment.

I haven't had a lot of time to fly. I do try to fly something every day but it's for no more than 15-30 mins.

I'm finally making complete circles with my 450 helis. I now have a HK 450GT an EXI 450, a Xieda 9958, a v911, and a v929 quadcopter that I try to fly at least once a week each. I try to get in a Champ, a UM T-28, and a SlowStick flight in the evening.

I bought and assembled a GWS Formosa II but haven't felt like flying it yet and I started cutting a 25" wing out of FFF last weekend. Haven't made any more progress on it this week though.

It's been a fast summer but I had a good time.

I had some time yesterday afternoon so I picked out 2 wings and the Champ to film flying in the late afternoon sky.

I don't like the hatcam video quality so I used my DV camcorder mounted on a tripod to film the flights. The video is a little grainy due to the low light. But I was able to capture the Champ silhouette the way I wanted to when the sun went down.

First was the 42" KESL

42" KESL No2 (5 min 26 sec)

Second was the 48" KFm-4ward
...Continue Reading

Hello

If any of you are obsessive/compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) I'd like to hear from you. I have it.

My obsession for a year has been rc aircraft of any shape or size. As long as it can presumably fly I want to try flying it.

I remember last year flying the Champ with my 6 yr old son in a snow covered field. Even while it was snowing. I'm so dependent on it now that a 30 deg day with no wind is a good day to fly. I like to fly things with bigger batteries when it's less than 35 degs because the little 1S batteries don't hold a charge very long in those temps. When it's less than 30 degs I want to go out and fly but when that first gust of hits my face I usually go back inside. Then I either go fly in a gym or spool my heli up in the house just to hear the sound.

I flew the Champ a few mornings ago around 6:45 am. It was 34 degs with no wind. Nevermind no sun either. Perfect for flying the Champ. I stepped out into the yard and let her go. To the east the sun was starting to rise and to the west a full moon was on the way down. So I flew for a while, alternating the backdrop for my Champs silhouette.

Today I had to choose between buying Valentine cards for my Wife and kids and going by a local park and flying a wing I just happened to have with me. I also happened to have my DX6i and a spare battery. You never know when you might have to stay late at work or get stranded and can't make it home before dark. I have that one just for...Continue Reading

Alright, I know. I know.

I was in Tupelo, Miss for Christmas and got introduced to a store called "Dirt Cheap". Man, it was trashed. I cannot describe this place except that it's a lot of returned stuff to Target and maybe K-mart.

Everything is "dirt cheap" 80% off when I was there. It went to 90% off a few days later.

Well, I found lots of Airhogs boxes with no heli or plane in them. Or maybe the plane was there but the remote was missing. I got lucky (lucky?) and found a couple of Airhog F-14 Tomcats still in ripped up boxes with parts missing. The store does not accept returns or exchanges so it was a gamble but these were marked down to $12 each so I got them.

I have a lot of RC tools so I was able to fix them up once I got home and tested them both out right away. Satisfied they worked, I packed one up to bring home and gave the other to my nephew.

On Sunday my son and I had a blast flying this thing. We were laughing and having a great time together. I know. I know. I have great flying planes. I've had great flying planes. And I agree with you, this is not a great flying plane. That said, it is a great $12 RTF plane!

The fun part about the Airhogs F-14 Tomcat is not flying it - the fun part is trying to fly it The plane is very hard to control but once you learn the tricks it's a blast. But learning the tricks is where the fun begins. If there is even a slight breeze, the plane will loop unexpectedly or simply...Continue Reading

It's been too windy lately to fly outside. Even when it's not windy, it's cold so I'm taking a break from scratch building for a while.

I bought a Dynam SR trainer around Thanksgiving that I finally got to fly the other day. I've had it over a month now but no good time to maiden it. I don't like flying new planes in the wind (or testing repairs) becuase I can't tell which bahaviors are caused by wind and which ones are caused by incorrect CG, lateral balance, or trim problems. So I waited and a good day finally came. The plane flies really well, btw.

So I'm now flying my Champ a lot in a big gym several times a week. It's a good thing I like the good ole Champ so much. Since I have some free time due to not building wings and such, I bought myself a EXI 450 heli kit and started assembling it this week.

I'm glad I've got a year of RC building experience, a lot of RC hobby tools, and a lot of patience. I would have quit already if any of these were not so.

As it is, I've spent many hours now tightening screws, installing the motor and servos, watching lots of build videos and reading lots of build threads. I didn't get a good tail servo so I ordered some from Value Hobby this week. They should be here by next Wed. I think I've done the worst parts of the assembly so I don't mind the wait.

I'm at a crossroads that I don't like so the delay on the tail servos is welcome. With all my store-bought models and as many scratch-built models, my Dx6i is full...Continue Reading

I wanted to build myself an indoor flier similar to the 12" version I built for a friend but without the expensive PZ brick.

It's amazing how fast the weight goes up on a disc shaped aircraft. At 125% the size of the 12" version, the weight is about 300%.

I started out with a 5g hexTronik motor and a 350mah 2S but it couldn't keep it in the air at all. I switched to a 3S battery and could smell the wires melting in the motor after a few minutes of average throttle. I replaced the motor and battery with a hexTronik 2211 (250 size) and a 500mah 2S. That made a big difference.

Now, I've been using the 2211 on wings of various sizes. The 20" and 24" KESL wings (see my blog posts below on those) and a few failed builds fly great with these motors. But I wanted this one to be indoor not a fast outdoor flier. I learned from my Electrifly Pluma that a large motor with a large prop can fly extremely slow so that's the direction I went.

I put a 8x3.8 prop on this motor and went with a 2S to keep the rpms down. I don't want a lot of rpms this time.

Here's a video of the result. I'm flying on low rates because on high rates the axial roll is pretty fast. I think if I increase my expo from 30% to 70% I can fly it normally on high rates and be able to a good hover too.

16" Sport UFO (4 min 32 sec)

Hello! Greetings!

I finally got around to finishing my 48" UFO build. It took longer that I thought because I had a few setbacks, but first let me describe the project.

After building 2 successful UFOs and looking at lots of plans for Mantas, bi-planes with disc wings, and other oddly shaped aircraft that could be reduced to a flying disc at the most basic level I decided I wanted to try something large.

I knew the wing loading could be low - maybe 3oz / sq ft - but how low was to be seen. My first step was to buy the sheet of 8 ft x 4 ft 1/2" Dow bluecor insulation at Lowes for $12. The plan was to make this a KFm2 with the step on top being a semi-circle of 48" diameter.

I cut the full 48" dia circle and the semi-circle quickly. After fitting them and doing some tests I realized that the weight of the back half caused it to flex and bow and bend. Like a cattail on the end of a reed has a lot of leverage when the wind blows.

Then I realized I needed a strong spar of some sort to hold the back half of the craft straight and level with the front half. I used a 3 ft 1/4" wooden dowel from Michaels for this. Melted a trench into the center panel all the way along the center thrust line and glued the dowel in with hot glue and gorilla glue. Didn't have to be neat, just straight down the center. It would be covered later with the fuselage.

After glueing the spar down the center it was time to cover the front half with the 1/...Continue Reading

So I managed to maiden a new wing and fly an older one today. Several times. But I also brought out the 22" UFO and the PZ UM Pole Cat.

Man I like the Pole Cat. It is a fantastic little plane. I don't have a UM T-28 but I wonder if the Pole Cat is sutable as an aileron trainer if used with a good transmitter. I use a DX6i and set the ailerons to 45% for now. I admit I'm not that good - but I can still fly this plane. It's very light (runs on 3.7V) and will float like the Champ or fly like a pylon racer.


SB

I built a KFm-4ward on yesterday and just flew it today.

I put a ExceedRc Rocket motor on it with a 7x5 Master Airscrew prop and a 1800mah 3S lipo. This setup gives me over 200W at 20-25A. The motor can take 30A but max efficiency is only up to 18A. Balances nice and flies smooth on low rates. In this video I'm flying at 50% aileron and 60% elevator so it flares nicely at low speed landings as you can see at the end of the video. On high rates (100% throw) it will turn on a dime but I don't want that much throw when getting to know my planes.

It is a gentle giant on low rates and very maneuverable on high rates.

Here's a video of todays flight and some pictures

48" KFm-4ward (3 min 57 sec)

This is a nice flyby filmed Dec 17
...Continue Reading

Hello

Thanksgiving turned out to be a great day to fly some wings. A little bit of breeze kept the Champ indoors. But not the KESL.

I've been flying it for months and still enjoy bringing it out on days that my small planes would be blown around.

Heres a flight video.

It doesn't have a super powerful motor on it (I wanted about 800g of thrust) but it's still around 1:1 thrust/weight ratio. Not a speed demon at all. I fly on low rates most of the time and in this video. I have my low rates set for 60% aileron and 60% elevator for low and 100% for high. When I want to do some tight turns I switch to high rates for a little while and then go back to relaxed flight on low.

The KESL build thread by rdjay is in the Foamies Scratchbuild forum...

SB

42" KESL (1 min 34 sec)

Today was great for flying. Finally the wind was down and the temp was relatively warm (60 F or so).

I flew my 22" UFO this afternoonand this evening I flew it again, along with the HZ Champ and PZ UM Pole Cat. What a range of flying characteristics. All 3 fly differently but incredibly well.

SB

I wanted to see how small I could go and make something I consider stable. I've tried wings down to 16" and found that they are very unpredicatble at that size (other than predictably fast and unstable).

So I decided to try a 12" version of gpw's UFO. Based on my experience with the 22" version I theorized that if the wing area was kept at slightly better than a HZ Champ and the same electronics were used I could create something that flies at about the speed of a Champ but have the stability of a disc. That's how the idea came about.

Here's the result

12" UFO (2 min 3 sec)

It weighs 55.5g and the wing loading is just under 2 oz / sq ft. My target weight was 60g so I was happy to be a little under that.

The details:
6mm FFF circle @ 12" diameter
3mm $Tree semi-circle @ 12" diameter
Champ/Vapor ESC/Rx brick
Champ motor/gearbox/prop
Champ/Vapor CF control rods
Flyzone Playmate landing gear
450mah 3.7v lipo

This build has boosted my confidence after a failed build this weekend. Now I'm working on a Sky Ray build by gpw, a 48" UFO, and a KFm-4ward wing by ombudsman.

The build that failed? A very unstable butterfly shape based off a cartoony butterfly clipart picture I liked.

...Continue Reading

On Saturday I wanted to build something quick and did a 22" version of a UFO. Need a break from wings.

BTW, the wings I've had great success building and flying are from the KESL thread. I've done a 20" with a little more sweep than the plans, a 24", and a 42" version. I like all 3 of them so they are still in rotation. One of these days I'll get some video of all 3 to post on the thread. I haven't reported on my builds yet but want to say thanks with some video.

Same goes for the UFO. It flies really nice. I tried to get some video of it today but the hat cam was looking up and the plane was out of view most of the time. I need to work on the placement...

Edit:

Ok, I got some video of the UFO model. Certainly not the best but I've tried flying and filming with my DV camcorder and that didn't turn out well either.
So hatcam it is when I'm doing the filming and the flying.

USAF UFO (3 min 34 sec)

and some video of the 20" KESL wing

...Continue Reading

Went to the park today and flew my Champ, UM Polecat, and Mini Slinger wing. The conditions were just right.

I've read in the Polecat thread that the rudder doesn't turn the Polecat but that's absolutely untrue. I practiced turns using the rudder with a little up elevator, rudder and ailerons coordinated, and rudder only. At first my low rate for rudder was 60% but I gradually increased it until I got what I wanted. The final low rate for rudder = 90%, aileron=45%, elevator = 80%. Now it flies like a trainer haha. I'm flying it better than my Airfield T-28.

Anyway, while I was flying the Mini Slinger (it makes more noise than my scratchbuilt wings) a group of young children came over to watch. They looked to be from 4-8 yrs old. The oldest was a boy and he watched as I moved the sticks around. eventually came the dreaded question "Can I fly it?"

He had been very nice, observant, quiet, and not the slightest bit distracting - but I had to say no. I tried to be as nice as I could by reminding him that it's not easy to do and even dangerous. And I added that if he crashed it would cost me a lot of money. He was satisfied with that and didn't ask again. I do wish he could have though.

Alright. This is neither build nor rant.

Today it was fairly windy again. Great for soaring. I was outside flying my scratchbuilt 20" KESL wing to see how she performed. I had been flying for about 15 mins when I noticed a hawk overhead soaring in the breeze making lazy circles. So I circled around towards the hawk to see what it would do. It seemd to be curious but not threatened so it kindof stayed close to the wing but followed behind it. I thought that was cool but then I noticed two more coming over to have a look. Soon there were 3 hawks circling overhead slowly but clearly interested in my wing. After a few minutes the wind picked up and I decided to bring the wing in while it was still possible. The hawks left shortly after.

Failed projects so far:
16" David Wing
20" David Wing
18" Dead Simple Wing
Divinity Wing
SewSlow Wing
Air Hogs Titan bash

I've learned a lot from building these things even though they failed.

The first one I ever built was the 16" David. The electronics I used were too heavy, it was too twitchy, and I didn't know anything about expo and the magic of low throw rates. This was a mix that doom any build project.

I learned from this one that Kryon spray paint may be foam safe but it's still a terrible way to cover your foam. The tape sticks to the paint and not the foam. And spray paint don't hold on too well. Now I use a good airbrush to decorate my foam and spray adhesive to make the tape stick.

As for the 20" David, it was very fast but I couldn't get it to track straight ahead. It was very prone to deviate off course if left unattended. Not what I'm looking for.

The Divinity was my second wing build. If I tried it again today I'm certain it would do so much better than it did that day. My problem was I was new to scratchbuilding and had no idea how to do things like make a motor mount out of foam or plywood. I didn't know about all the various plastic mounts out there or triangle stock plywood. So my motor was barely glued onto the back of the wing. Whenever it came down with any speed and stopped abruptly, the motor maintained its momentum and would fly off. Of course, this was tearing the one layer of 6mm Dollar Tree readyboard....Continue Reading

So I've had several brand new Champs. And I've bought several fuselages to experiment with brushless motors. The stock fuse isn't suited for a motor that mounts from the back or front so you have to be creative when fabricating your own mount and installing it into the fuse. Mounting the servos required cutting away a little foam but the motor mount problem should be on an IQ test.

Of all the experimenting I've done on the Champ, I always enjoy flyng the stock Champ the best. Yes, the P-51 motor with a 5043 prop gives it more authority. So does a 5g Hextronik motor. But the scale flight characteristics, the docile and floaty flight disappears as more internals get replaced. I've since learned that when it's too windy to fly my stock Champ, I should just fly something else.


Mini Super Cub. There are some upgrades that should not be upgrades. Like the transmitter that comes with the MSC. Like the removal of the ACT sensors. Like a 2.4ghz receiver.

I also have 2 of these MSCs. One with the stock motor and another with a 24g blue wonder. I have one MSC that I outfitted with a brushed ESC, a HK DSM2 compatible Rx, 9g servos, and a discovery buzzer. No ACT, no cheap transmitter that is spring loaded to return to center. No sir. But the motor is stock brushed 180. And I use a 350mah or 500mah 2S battery.

The other MSC is similar except that I put a TowerPro 2209 or so motor in it. It balanced well since it's a heavy motor so I thought flight would be just...Continue Reading

Since I started flying rc aircraft with my son in January, we've gone through quite a few models. Taking the wrong path, buying cheap kits, having a great time and having some bad days too.

We live out of town on a 3 acre lot surrounded by other lots of various sizes. The 3 lots behind and adjacent are 10 acres so we have quite a bit of usable airspace to play in.

We started with a Champ (and keep going back to it) and a HZ Mini super Cub. Flew the Champ in a gym on weeknights and outside on the weekends. Even when it was snowing. Flew the MSC on more windy days. I flew it just today with a keychain cam for fun.

Then I got a UM P-51 for my son as he was getting very good at flying the Champ indoors. But I didn't realize how much different it would be. That didn't work out. So I got out an old SlowStick and we added that to our rotation. And an E-Starter later. The old EPS stuff just can't take a head on collision with a power pole, the wood pile, or the ground. The cowl area was pretty hollow after those. The E-starter is repairable if the damage is from the main wing back. The GWS firewall in these EPS planes is a 10mmx10mm hole in the nose. Once it's messed up you have to start adding your own materials to build it up again. I considered getting a replacement but it was too much work in the first place. After that, we tried a T-34 Mentor of similar quality. The motor was underpowered and not heavy enough to balance it. After a few crashes I put...Continue Reading