What Gasser?

[ChrisB]

And thats why i wont fly other peoples models

[Fixer]

And thats why i wont fly other peoples models

Well I can understand why but I don’t blame the guy and told him so before I left the field. It was destine to happen and the only deference would have been I probably wouldn’t have been so high but it would have still suffered the same damage.

[col9]

No, thats so bad luck. Still 40ft is bloody high for a test flight. When mine was test flown it had 10 mins of hovering to see if anything would let go (after a very thorugh ground check) and then some low gentle circuits. I think altogether it had a couple of tanks of test flight/setup before it and I were allowed to fly.

I suppose 20ft or 40ft if its coming in its gonna hurt. Whats trashed and what survived?

Col.

[ChrisB]

I have flown other peoples models before and had problems that were unforseen and i have cocked up myself also

It makes you feel pretty bad even when the person assures you its OK

Dont want to feel like that again so i only fly my own,then its totally down to me if anything goes wrong which i can accept

[Disc]

Sometimes a model has to be tested and someone has to step upto the line. Now who and why is often the question.

But if your the tester always make sure people know the risk. I always state that I didn't build the Heli so I only do it at the risk of the owner allowing me to do it and they understand the risk.

I test fly a few planes and again I always state at there risk no 100% guarantee as I didn't build the plane. I do what I can to eliminate most problems before the test flight.

Test hovered a few Helis and slowly doing more.... I don't fly them around for other people yet.

Fixer:
Sorry your Gasser went it

[Fixer]

When it went it I couldn’t go with him to retrieve it because I was that gutted, I put every last penny into this heli mainly so I could carry on flying on a weekly basis, the nitro is just too expensive for me as I don’t have an income.
40ft does sound high for a test flight but I had been hovering it in the field behind my house for a few days just to make sure everything was ok,
I had previously replaced the servo arms because when I bought it the sub trim on the swash was in the 70 + range, when I finished it they were all 0 sub trim and 100 end points right through.
I felt very confident in this heli after a few days at ground level so to be fair it wasn’t its first test flight and Justin is a very competent pilot, he is also still taken back about the whole thing.
Well that’s my gasser experience over for a long time to come; I still have a 30 to fly when I can afford the nitro.

The next time I ever buy a second hand Heli every nut and bolt will be taken off and then rebuilt because you think you know what to look for but this episode proves different.

[Disc]

Hum 40ft was high for a test flight?

Ade pushed my Gasser about 100ft and inverted it.

I had kind of hovered it about but Ade had shown that he is more than capable during the day.

thing is unless you have built it then you can never be sure how good they are but my build skills are not good anyway i'd rather trust someone esle than me.

But it isnt good when they go in I still dread the day my predator goes in the thing is it will one day. When though is the important bit, the longer it doesnt the better!

Best thing is to buy the bits at a time or ask for the Spares at Christmas. Make a list out and give it to the wife/parents etc.

I admit to keeping a few of the common parts for the Raptor and buy the bits to hold in stock for when it happens... Although I cannot afford to keep 2 sets of blades really.... eBay I love for spares....


I am always buying Predator Gasser bits on ebay so far I have a heavy duty clutch (20pounds) and swash plate(24 pounds) tail blade shaft thingy(3pounds).

[Fixer]

Back up and running

Well with my shear determination and engineering skills the vario is back up and running for £5.
I borrowed the use of a friends engineering shop and straightened the frames in a 60 ton press for starters, the muffler took the blunt of the impact and was a mess but fortunately the canopy wasn’t on at the time, I cut the muffler open did some tin bashing the brazed it all back together, the boom was the same length as the raptor 90SE and I had a spare already , the inside diameter is slightly bigger so I had to drill three holes on the underside and use some small screws to stop the plastic bearing housings from spinning, the drive shaft is 6mm tube that you cut to length and fortunately I had a length that I used for making T-Rex skids so I used that. The drive shaft bearings are the same as the ones in the Raptor 30 blade grips and I had a set. I repaired the skids by using a bit of ally sheet, nicked the blades off my 90SE and the gyro and servo of my 60, straightened he fly bar in the press and bobs ,your uncle, the only money I spent was £5 for a can of black exhaust paint for the muffler to hide my chewing gum welding. Don’t worry I will only be hovering a couple of feet from the ground for today just to make sure it’s ok.
God I feel better now it’s back together.

PS
The vario shafts must be better quality than the raptor, I stripped them out but they were both perfectly straight. The raptor ones would have needed replacing after a crash like that.

[Disc]

Fixer:

Glad its kind of fixed. At least you can compare Booms with a Raptor 90 so work out which is cheaper to buy

Also if the shafts dont bend you know the quality is there as well!

so how did the hovering go?

[col9]

Glad to hear its back up and running, I'm dredding my first crash.

The quality is definatly there with Vario even if they are not the most popular choice. Mine has had a few very very hard landings and everything is OK so far.

see ya
col.

[Fixer]

Fixer:

so how did the hovering go?

Cancelled until tomorrow unfortunately, hope the weather holds.

The booms are about the same price so if I was buying one it would be vario unless I needed it in a hurry then at least I know the raptor boom will fit.

[Fixer]

Disc
My afternoon was allot better than last week, nothing fell off or broke and once the governor was sorted out I found it very stable considering I was only using 710 X 60mm main blades and not the Vario 725 wide core. I just hovered around today but it felt good and I love the fact I only used two tanks of fuel all afternoon.

[Disc]

Fixer:

I got a Raptor 60 and something went wrong in the tail gears Saturday.. Today opened it up and there was a metal washer which had gone through the gears! Just got all the parts needed about 5 pounds posted off ebay. Ordered 2 sets of tail gears as there were cheaper than the shops plus a main shaft for when I need one. Saved about 4 pounds in all.

Goes to show buy 2nd hand or swap the risk we take is the unknown what can/could happen.

[Fixer]

Yep you’re right, and if I buy all the parts needed to put mine back to standard it will have cost me more than buying a new setup.
Do we ever learn.

[Fixer]

Had a stroke of luck and sold a PC I’ve had knocking about for months after a Pratt gave back word on it, guess what I did with the cash, yep took a trip over too Warrington and bought most of the parts to put the Vario back to original, when I got there he didn’t have the blades in stock so the only way I could come away with any parts was to update it from 1630 to 1780 and that meant buying a new set of gears as well as the 800mm blades, anyway it’s back together again still with the patched up muffler but it works fine so I’m leaving it until the next time.
I've considered fitting the predator muffler as its rear facing and cheaper.
I’ve been out with it for the last few days and after adding some expo all seems well apart from a hunting problem and also a tail kick, after trying to solve the problem I’ve ordered a Stator Gator and revlock to match and hope I will have more luck with those.