TRex-250...Man! I'm having a ball with this tiny helicopter!

Hope you enjoy the video.

TRex-250 (2 min 15 sec)

...make RealFlight color schemes that match your RealLife models.

I did two in the last few days.

My HDX-450SE V3 Helicopter:
Download the scheme here: http://knifeedge.com/forums/download...o=file&id=8758


My Su-37 Super Flanker:
Download the scheme here: http://knifeedge.com/forums/download...o=file&id=8756


Thankfully, the pneumonia is getting better now. I hope to be back at work on Monday.

I received this FlatOut RCU Biplane from my lovely sister-in-law at Christmas. This was the maiden flight. It's a great little plane. Now that I've got the CG tweaked, she flies awesome. It's easy to hover, and do all other kinds of 3D flight. Nice and slow. It's all stock setup. I get about 9 minutes on a 20C 600mAh 3S LiPo. She hovers at 1/3 throttle.

Christmas Bi-Plane (2 min 30 sec)

One camera on the ground and a FlyCamOne on the helicopter. Thanks to Jeff (Vicarious) for letting me use the FlyCam, and for videoing my flights.

I hope you enjoy it.

HDX-450SE Multi-Cam (3 min 15 sec)

Here's a quick video of me flying my FuntanaX. I hope you enjoy it.

E-Flight Mini FuntanaX (4 min 2 sec)

This is the second video of my scratch-built Su-37 Super Flanker. This is a compilation of several flights over several days. I hope you enjoy it.

Build thread: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...2#post10412272

Yellow 13 Mission 2: Su-37 Super Flanker (3 min 44 sec)

I’m a big fan of the Ace Combat series of video games. I’m a big fan of the Flanker series of fighter jets. This is the result of the union of both.

This is a 28” wingspan version of the Su-37 Super Flanker designed by Steve Shumate. Before I even started this build, I had it in my mind to do the paint scheme of Yellow 13, you’re arch nemesis, from Ace Combat 4. After about 50-60 hours, I had a finished aircraft and I think she turned out great. I’m still amazed that I was able to do this from scratch out of two sheets of Depron.

Follow this link for more details: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...2#post10412272

This video was shot yesterday over the course of two flights with two cameras (thanks to Jeff and David). I edited this video together to be like a mission from Ace Combat. At almost four minutes long, this video is a little long for me, but I hope it holds your attention and keeps you entertained. The music is edited from three different tracks on the Ace Combat 5 soundtrack using Audacity. All the graphics were created in Paint Shop Pro 11. The video was created with Windows Movie Maker 6.0.

Yellow 13 Mission 1: Su-37 Super Flanker (3 min 54 sec)

Here's the June episode for my HDX-450. A little different perspective with a surprise at the end.

HDX-450 On-Board Camera (3 min 20 sec)

Here is the April episode for the HDX-450.

Although, it was way windy in March and I didn't get much stick time, there are a few new tricks included...

HDX-450SE April 2008 (2 min 18 sec)

At long last! As always, thank you to Jeff (Vicarious) for being a great photographer/videographer!

All the build details are in the X-42 thread.

X-42 Deltastorm II (2 min 27 sec)

And some pretty pictures!...Continue Reading

Here's the latest video of me flying my trusty HDX-450SE v3 at lunchtime to show my progress...I hope you enjoy it. Comments appreciated.

HDX-450SE Progress... (2 min 33 sec)

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In my last blog entry, I stated: "Next week: loops and rolls..." Well, here ya' go. They're not clean, and I'm still a n00bie, but now I'm having a lot of fun at it!

This time I'm flying my BeltCP.

ESky Belt CP at Lunch... (2 min 16 sec)

I have been flying helicopters (or trying to) since mid-September. With helicopter piloting, I had always read that one day it will just "click". I thought I had somewhat of an idea what they meant...boy, I was wrong!

It happened to me on New Year's Eve. I had no idea how profound this "click" would be. All of a sudden, I was at ease (not a tense ball of nerves as usual) while I was in the air. I wasn't afraid of crashing or losing orientation. I tried a bunch of stuff I had never done before and the funny thing was that I never left my comfort zone. I was banking and yanking, FFF, pirouetting, piro turns, tail-in, tail-out, collective punches, and various simple combinations of them...and it all felt extremely natural and smooth. I'm now flying in Idle-Up mode 100% of the time. It's slightly different than normal, but I've got the hang of it....now just to re-program my thumbs to hit a switch instead of dropping the stick after setting down.

I can't believe what a difference it was.

Thank you to everyone that has helped me here at RCGroups.

Next week: Loops and rolls...
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Look what Santa left under the tree for me!

The maiden was yesterday. After six flights, I've got her all tweaked and flying great. This is one smooth, quiet, and stable helicopter! I've been flying a BeltCP since September and I didn't think there would be much of a difference, but I was wrong! Holy cow!

I think I'll re-set-up my Belt to see if I can get it to fly this smooth and responsive.
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Introducing my new (and first) pusher jet design: the X-41 Deltastorm.

Here is the full story/plans/build-log.

X-41 Deltastorm (2 min 29 sec)

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Since it's been a month now, I thought I update about my heli. I happy to be able to report that I've not crashed anymore (yet). I got a new canopy and a new paint job thanks to my dog. I have a loft that's pretty much my space in the house. I looks down on two sides; to the living room and dining room and the family room on the other side. So, one night after a flight, I'm upstairs adjusting my Belt CP. I hear this crunching sound. I look down into the dining room only to see our 8-month old Border Collie/Boxer mix puppy chowing down on my canopy. I yell down "bad dog...no!". He scurries away, but it's too late...my custom canopy is totaled. He pulled it off the kitchen table. Into the garbage it went. The next day I ordered a new canopy along with a few other parts from HeliDirect. Even with the el-cheap-o $4 shipping, I still had it in two days (ordered Thurs, arrived Sat.). We took a trip to the auto parts store and picked out a new color...a metallic blue this time. I added a little trim with some aluminum duct tape, and she's all done.

I'm getting better at piloting this thing too. I'm just about as good at tail-out hovering as I am at tail-in hovering. I now have a set of Align 325mm CF night blades that light up...since I do most of my heli flying in the evening. Those are very cool and I believe they've actually helped me being able to see the blade disk better as I'm flying...

Latest picture.

Update 10/26/2007: This canopy has been smashed into a hundred bits when I nose-in crashed from about six feet. The heli is already back in the air and flying great...just no more custom paint jobs until I'm a better heli pilot.
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Yesterday many of the Rocket City Renegades met up to fly at lunchtime. It was good time. dee-grose was there with his sweet camera snapping away. Here are some good shots:
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This is my latest obsession…the ESky Belt CP helicopter. I’ve never flown a helicopter before. I’ve logged about 20-30 hours on an MX400 in RealFlight 3.5….that’s it. I’m hooked for good I think. I’ve had two minor crashes. With the LHS out of stock of the feathering shafts, I’m getting quite good at straightening them.

Parts I've gone though so far:
Straightened Feathering shafts (x2)
Main Shafts (x2)
Main Gear (x1)
Blades (x1)

All in all, this has been a very enjoyable, humbling experience. This video is my first try at hovering on a windy day. I've got about two weeks and 15 flights on this helicopter.

While flying this morning, my friend Vicarious was good enough to play videographer and photographer for me. I took the clips, some music and threw it all together. This video is a nice showcase for Grayson Hobby's GH2212-06 Motor.

I hope you enjoy it!


http://www.vimeo.com/2015943
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I've been wanting to do a clear canopy and humorous pilot modification for my SU-27 for some time. I found the time and got it done. Here's the pictorial on how I did it.

Note, the vacu-forming was a failure (I kept getting folds in the plastic as I pushed it down over the mold onto the vacuum box. Next time, I'll make a wood box and put the whole thing in the oven and simply turn on the vacuum after the plastic is ready.

Edit: Due to a couple of inquiries about purchasing my canopy, I added five more detail pictures that show the flaws...mainly, lop-sided to the left side of the aircraft....Continue Reading