I do not want to curse the rain, God knows we need water to survive. Hovever I can not wait for a long sunny calm streak to come my way..

Originally Posted by BARRRICK

in a bad mood AGAIN !
got to explain the problems with losing the changes when I turn on the transmitter to the FUTABA technician. It seems that is a problem for which I need to return the transmitter to them, for FIXIN !
so OFF it goes....:-(

I will now set up the HARNESS for the PEGASUS ENGINE and wait for the TX to return. By then the weather should ease up for the first flight :-)

I had already been aware of the BACKUP system that JPEE recommends. It seems to be the best. My own PC contains nothing but useless stuff so I don't need it.
However, THE DOCUMENTATION of everything (possessions) for the purpose of replacement in case of loss, IS A VERY GOOD IDEA.

here's TWO PICS of some of the planes I used to build. The white and blue on the ground is my own design and was one of the BEST FLYING planes I ever operated. The first try was done in a .40 size but based on the great performance I expanded to the 1/4 size....... LOST IT when I went stupid and sold my whole estate..... still regret that !
for a small backwards story: notice my hair in the next pic. (not then white ! ) but the wind was blowing 30mph+ that day and after the pic was taken I made the CUB do a LANDING BACKWARDS into the tail wheel, the wind was strong, steady and the plane actually made a normal descent to the ground and after touchdow, with the Quadra35 still idling kept on going....That was the only time anyone applauded my flight and yes it was truly unique.....this CUB is still around in my garage, but needs a lot of fixin up

LMAO....Rick with a COMBOVER.

Well....I made the same BONEHEAD mistake I did some months ago. I soldered on a new deans on my battery....BACKWARDS POLARITY. I smoked my 40a ESC and all 3 collective servos. Well, I had enough spare parts laying around that it's completely fixed and back as good as it was before I screwed it up. So the heli is back to perfect flying status with 3 NEW servos, another 40a ESC AND a UBEC this time to power the RX.....smoking!!!!

Nice planes. They look really nice in the pictures.

VIC



The STANDARD position to solder DEANS is that the WIDE portion of the plastic head is where the RED WIRE goes..

yes, " i know " YOU DON'T need a SMARTASS "after the fact" BIG MOUTH opinionated
OLDE PHARTTE

signing off

OLDEPHARTTE

Originally Posted by JPee

***************COMPUTER BACKUP*****************

Hey Guys,

I went through what you guys are talking about, loss of information off the the hard drive. So I got like Choppers said, a mess of Thumb drives a few years ago and then kept them backed up and in my gun safe (fire proof). But to tell you the truth that was a lot of work. For insurance purposes you need to keep videos of your house, RC stuff (fire flood, EARTHQUAKE) at another location to insure they will be there when you need them. I did my research on On-Line Back Up Service's. I checked with CNET and took their information at heart too. The company called Carbonite came in the highest. Yes it costs............but pictures of my grand children, my children and more are priceless. Carbonite is only company that has a NO LIMIT storage for one flat annual fee of............ TAH TAH TAH TAHHHHH $57.00. Hells Bells, that wont buy supper out on a Friday night. It is pretty cool, once the software is loaded it backs up everything you do, and I mean everything (you can opt out anything you want). But docs, spread sheets, vids, pics, folders the works is all covered. When it starts its instant backup there is a little yellow button by the doc, pic and so on. As soon as it is backed up, then the little spot turns green to verify that is saved. The beauty of this too is you can gain access to your complete backed home computer from anywhere in the world! The cost of this package as I said $57.00 per year or .16 cents per day. Heck, we use .16 cents per day just on wire ties LMAO.

Thats my 2 cent on this topic, I hope it motivates some of you. I also set my daughter up this past Christmas with this service too.

JPEE

Thanks I have heard of Carbonite before, my problem with online backup is my internet speed/bandwidth. My connection is so slow it would render my internet useless while the backup was active. I can with Steve's help create a custom program to do what I need done.

The question is what tail drive do you perfer on a heli 500 size and up? The brand of heli will be Align.

1. Belt drive

2. shaft drive

And why, give full explanation on your choice so i can evaluate for my next heli purchase..

Thanks in advace guys this will really mean alot to me..

K2

K2...SHAFT DRIVE....I have one. Better respose, smoother operation, easy to remove the tail rotor gearbox. I'll NEVER go back to belt drive because for one, cold SHRINKS the belt enough to cause problems while flying. I have NOT had any issues with the tail having shaft drive in cold....I did with the belt drive.

Rick...easy to screw it up if yer NOT paying attention, and I wasn't. Oh well, all fixed, all is well.

The only shaft driven heli I owned was a piece of . The tail would strip gears from almost any bump or contact. Then the replacing of the parts was a pain. I like the ease of belts fewer parts more reliable. I cant really say on newer TT tails Dave, Vic and some others will give you that feedback.

Originally Posted by Oracus

The only shaft driven heli I owned was a piece of . The tail would strip gears from almost any bump or contact. Then the replacing of the parts was a pain. I like the ease of belts fewer parts more reliable. I cant really say on newer TT tails Dave, Vic and some others will give you that feedback.

Yes....you cannot BUMP the tail at all. I put a stinger on my 206 that keeps the tail OUT of the dirt/rocks/concrete....no problem since. Changing the gears....yeah it's a bit of a headache, but the overall smoothness and reliability is far superior to a belt driven tail. The shaft NEVER loosens up, slips, or shrinks.

Originally Posted by metalbenderusn

Yes....you cannot BUMP the tail at all. I put a stinger on my 206 that keeps the tail OUT of the dirt/rocks/concrete....no problem since. Changing the gears....yeah it's a bit of a headache, but the overall smoothness and reliability is far superior to a belt driven tail. The shaft NEVER loosens up, slips, or shrinks.

You are correct,plus it was a walkera marketed towards begginers and I was a NOOB.

Originally Posted by metalbenderusn

LMAO....Rick with a COMBOVER.

Vic,
A couple of bobby pins would have worked wonders.


Rick,

I would have loved to see you landing backwards in that wind. Sounds pretty amazing.

Kyle #1,

I've got my pictures and spread sheets in several different "dated" folders.
That way when I do a back up on a DVD disc. I only have 2 folders to back up, because the older dates are already on a DVD disc. I may get a few of the USB flash drives (16gig's). I don't have a hugh amount of pictures, and most aren't priceless anyways. LOL!

Dave

Originally Posted by Enguneer

The question is what tail drive do you perfer on a heli 500 size and up? The brand of heli will be Align.

1. Belt drive

2. shaft drive

And why, give full explanation on your choice so i can evaluate for my next heli purchase..

Thanks in advace guys this will really mean alot to me..

K2

K2,

Both the shaft drive and belt drive have their pros and cons, as mentioned by Vic and Kyle #1.

The belt drive is a bit tougher and doesn't break during minor mishaps like the shaft drives can.

The shaft drive has less friction also, and robs less power from the drive train and auto rotates better too.

The performance of a shaft drive is better than the belt drive, but not by leaps and bounds. However, the shaft drive doesn't make the heli fly any better.

As far as recommendations, that would depend on your flying skills. If you still have a tendency to crash alot and / or hard landings, I would get the belt drive. You could always upgrade to a shaft drive for about $80.

Dave

JPEE,

Thanks for the tip on Carbonite back up of system files. I hear Rush Limbaugh advertise that all the time. However, I really don't have that much to back up. MAYBE 3,000 pictures and a few dozen spread sheets. I will take your recommendation to have a set of discs off-site. I'll make a duplicate set and give it to our neighbors.

I read somewhere that the USB Flash Drives degrade / wear out over time. I had a Scan Disk for my camera that went to hell in a hand basket about a year ago.

Dave

Bobs,

This ones been around before, but if you haven't seen these pictures, it's a pretty cool collection.

http://www.cdsg.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=337

K.O.

Forgot to attach picture. Here what Vic and I were talking about by adding a stringer to the vertical tail. It helps keep the tail blades from hitting the ground and shearing the crown gears on a shaft drive system.

Mines made from an old set of 450 skids. I took one of the poles and heated the end to make a bend in it. Then CA'd it to the vertical fine. CA alone won't hold it in place in a hit. So, I took some black sewing thread, double it up to make it quicker to install. Wrapped it around the vertical skid and pole, then applied a few drops of CA to the thread. Now it holds great.
Usually, it's the front crown gear that goes first, don't know why though.

Dave