I can't believe how I'm moving from LOS flying to FPV only. Its really addictive. Here are my recent adds to the fleet

I've been using giro's in RC for a while. Heli's have been using them for help with rudder input since nearly the beginning. They had a couple screw pots to adjust rate and gain. Then came programmable flybarless solutions. Their 3 axis giro solutions quickly made flybar heli's a thing of the past. Then came multi-rotors with their controller boards getting more and more fancy. Return to home or plotting flights via google earth...

This morning I used my iPhone to program axis gain values on a postage stamp RX AR6335. I'm not sure I like it. I like it when the factory has it all pre-programed in a RTF/PNP model. This starting from scratch is bleeding edge stuff for me.

My car can't hold all my planes and helis - I bought an SUV
My condo is too small for all my planes and heli's - I bought a house
My radio can't hold all my planes and heli's - I bought a new TX with SD card
My life is full with friends that share this great hobby - I get on the internet and connect with people around the world.

Fun times

Thanks everyone for making this hobby so much fun.

Here is my indoor flying site. Warm and no wind

I have had the worst luck with the new Parkzone micro/mini servo's found in the smallest RTF planes and heli's. First my Citabria lets go of the rudder in mid air and then the Sukhoi rudder follows suit the same day. What are the chances. I found replacement MCX servo's and was able to fix the Citabria but the Sukhoi has the servo go full deflection in one direction and that's with the new servo. Not good. This stuff is just above toy quality and I'm not purchasing any more of it. Just too fragile for me.

Filled the car today and went to the field. Got there and had one flight on the Trex600 when it started to spit rain. I had to pack them all back into the car. Not an easy feat with that DR-1

I had a crash with my E-Flite Beaver that was a real cause for concern. I was flying along great and then lost all control of the plane. With DSM2 and a JR9303 DSM TX I thought loss of control were a thing of the past. But I learned that my mistakes can add up and lead to a crash.

First mistake

I used a battery that had been in a minor crash. Sure it held voltage but it would react under load differently than a healthy battery. Flying with this battery and a ESC BEC driving 6 servo's and a 9ch DSM2 RX = brown out

Second mistake

Not binding my TX to RX after setting up the plane. You can see what the fail-safe location of your servos are in on a DSM2 RX when you first turn on/plug in the battery to the RX. For a second the servos go into their fail-safe mode and then the TX takes over. Well in my case the servo for the flap and aileron were still at Gear and AUX1. That's full throw.

Third mistake

After crashing I didn't know that I could read the led light on my RX to tell me if I experienced a brown out. While I know what happened it would have been nice to have actual proof.

I rebuilt my Beaver and flew it today with new batteries. It actually looked and flew great. When it first hit the ground I wanted to toss it in a barrel but now you'd never know it was in a wreck.

Here are my recent additions to the fleet.

The Citabria is a great slow SLOW flyer that is relaxing when the sun is setting.

The Walkera 4#3B is the ideal small room flyer. Great for nose in practice during the winter.

The Sukhoi is a new addition.

My background with RC started when I was a teenager. I learned to fly RC planes back when there were no ARF's. It was all stick build and all winter to complete. I took a lot of time off from the sport and then got into electrics with a purchase of a Parkzone FW190. It promptly ended in a pile in the dumpster. So I picked up a trainer and started to learn again.

I now fly all sorts of electric planes and helis