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Did anyone spot the '20,000 Leagues under the sea' reference in the title? 
Well, it's been a funny few weeks. Chronologically speaking - this is how it went:
Larry, my poor little Larry (mcpx) died a most horrible death from which there was no possible chance of recovery. HeliMeds worked for minutes, hours, DAYS! but could do nothing for the poor little creature. He was... well, read on.
Me and Larry were flying out in the garden and enjoying ourselves when it started to spit with rain. So, we adjourned into the bathroom for a little more hover practice. Little did I know that this room, and its close companion - bedroom, were going to become, bam, bam, bammmmmm - rooms of HORROR!
Larry was flying nicely in centre of the bathroom when he suddenly developed a nasty tick! His little tail started pulsing left and back by 90 degrees. Slack jawed I stared at my little baby wondering what the hell was going on - he looked like a fish trying to escape a rather hungry shark with his tail flicking madly about. At that point he shot over my right shoulder and into the bedroom.
I stepped back and heard a sickening crunch. Larry hadn't gone into the bedroom, he'd caught my hubby's dressing gown hanging on the door and had slid silently to the floor right behind me.
Cursing, I picked up his broken little body and marvelled at how pancake flat he was. At that point I recalled that I weigh close to 100kg and didn't marvel much more after that realisation. Little Larry was no more. I asked Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells if they could rebuild him - better, stronger, faster, but they just told me where to go (I swear I heard Steve Austin sniggering behind a door).
So, like a goldfish being casually dumped head first into the toilet bowl, Larry was dropped head first into the bin - along with suitable words of sorrow and soul saving and rest in peace my broken little friend.
So, with Larry (sadly) out of the picture (much to Blizzard's joy [120SR]) I turn my attention to Blizzard (the little bastard).
It's a wonderfully calm day and I take Blizzard to the field at lunchtime. I've found an even better field to fly in at lunchtimes close to work. So, off Blizzard goes into the air and we hover and hover like we're old pals and have been forever. The wind is about 3mph and Blizzard starts to move away from me so I point his nose at me and give a little forward stick. Nope, that didn't do anything. A bit more stick and he's hanging there like he's glued to the air. More forward stick and still the little sod sits there.
So, stick all the way forward and Blizzard sits there then suddenly throws his nose straight down and tears off in that direction. The major problem with that is the planet earth was in that direction and he hit it like a dog leaping into his masters arms after a lengthy separation. I swear I felt the earth move a fraction!
As it happened, all it did was break the front canopy holding toothpick and put a hole or two in the canopy. Ok, quick look and a hand launch and Blizzard (the bastard) flies off quite happily. We go through the same bloody process but this time, when his nose tips straight down, I let go of the collective. My God! He rocked back so hard his tail pointed straight at the ground so I rapidly gave forward stick to even him out.
I decided to call it a day at that point and pretty much decided the following: Blizzard is a sports hall heli. He's too big for indoors, he's too small for outdoors and that bloody 45 degree flybar is a true pain in the butt. Seems he's only good for hovering practice - and he pretty much does that on his own! So, Blizzard, whilst intact, is also out of the picture.
Ok, let's get Chopasaurus (Blade 450) into the field on a calm day. Thankfully a calm day was quick coming. Almost wish it hadn't but it did. There's a slight wind and it's coming from behind me. Gooooood. Spin up the blades and lift Chopsaurus into the air. He's showing signs of going off right and backward so I land him pronto (I got training gear on). Have a ciggy 'cause this is seriously scary stuff.
Now, sims are great. But they're not that bloody great. They do NOT prepare you for the sphincter clenching fear of a Blade 450 spinning up in front of you. They do NOT prepare you for the fear of hard cash spinning up in front of you. The DO prepare you on how to feel a right prat with dumb thumbs
Ok, ciggy over and done with I spin Chopasaurus up again and lift off by about 2 feet. Like a rabid whippet he's off to the right and backward and he's losing height somewhat rapidly. Ok, here's where the sim helps - I instantly shut the throttle down before he can gain any more speed 'cause I'm heading for a big crash if I don't and I'd rather have a little one. His tail is hanging down and that hits first. Then the blades just kiss the ground with the characteristic buzz saw in wood sound before the training gear rights him.
I - BLOODY - FROZE!!!! (Except for throttle thumb, thankfully). I was caught off guard and already tense and I - BLOODY - FROZE!!!! (Except for thr.... oh, already done that bit).
I went and had a look and was expecting the worst. The tail case had broken. He's come down hard on the vertical fin and that caused the tail case to crack and splinter. The tail rotor was fine.
Got him home and ordered the tail case (two of them) and then noticed that the feathering shaft was bent, my God was it bent! So ordered a pair of them and, just for good measure, ordered a pair of main shafts. Total damage? Less than a fiver! Phew! Ah, I also ordered a swash levelling tool.
So, today. I put him back together. I used the swash levelling tool and adjusted the subtrims to get a perfect 90 degree on the servo horns and the like (as explained in the video) and then adjusted the travels for top and bottom points and everything in that area is perfect.
I noticed that he was tail heavy when checking the centre of gravity and moving the battery forward didn't help as I couldn't then get the canopy on. So, chucked some brass bits into the canopy until he was balanced. Took the brass bits into the kitchen and weighed them. So, 31 grams needed to go up front. Found a bit of round brass that weighed the same and chucked it on my lathe to face it off a little. Yep, got that puppy up front cable-tied to the frame and Chopasaurus now balances very nicely indeed. That was today.
Now, we need to go back a bit to between Chopasaurus tasting dirt and Chopasaurus after surgery.
How, can I get some good, physical stick time with real money in front of me without scaring the poop out of myself? I thought about an MQX quad but decided it wasn't man enough really. I couldn't see those motors lasting very long. So I start mooching about and was on the point of settling for a Guai 500X when I spotted this:
Naza F450 - YouTube
Quadasaurus.jpg
Oh, my. The Naza F450 is a dream to fly. I've not crashed it (came close twice). It is a pleasure to tear it round the sky and the blasted thing shifts like a whippet with a bum full of dynamite! This is giving me my stick time. This is honing my thumbs. This is toning down that fear of having real money flying in front of you. This is making me feel comfortable with my transmitter. Oh yeah, it feels so fine it's almost funky!
I did have the Contour HD on the bottom of Quadasaurus (ok, I'm not that imaginative with naming things) but when I landed after 8 minutes I saw that the camera wasn't on. DAMNNNNNNN!!!! In clipping it in I must have disturbed the battery that caused it to shut off (a known problem).
So, all told, fun has been had a plenty and here is where my tale ends. Chopasaurus is going to go out again next week and so is Quadasaurus.
I do apologise for the video, it's not that good but it shows me having great fun. It was a Contour HD strapped to my head and the music is my own.
Best regards to all.
Vikki. (Typos are FoC).
Well, it's been a funny few weeks. Chronologically speaking - this is how it went:
Larry, my poor little Larry (mcpx) died a most horrible death from which there was no possible chance of recovery. HeliMeds worked for minutes, hours, DAYS! but could do nothing for the poor little creature. He was... well, read on.
Me and Larry were flying out in the garden and enjoying ourselves when it started to spit with rain. So, we adjourned into the bathroom for a little more hover practice. Little did I know that this room, and its close companion - bedroom, were going to become, bam, bam, bammmmmm - rooms of HORROR!
Larry was flying nicely in centre of the bathroom when he suddenly developed a nasty tick! His little tail started pulsing left and back by 90 degrees. Slack jawed I stared at my little baby wondering what the hell was going on - he looked like a fish trying to escape a rather hungry shark with his tail flicking madly about. At that point he shot over my right shoulder and into the bedroom.
I stepped back and heard a sickening crunch. Larry hadn't gone into the bedroom, he'd caught my hubby's dressing gown hanging on the door and had slid silently to the floor right behind me.
Cursing, I picked up his broken little body and marvelled at how pancake flat he was. At that point I recalled that I weigh close to 100kg and didn't marvel much more after that realisation. Little Larry was no more. I asked Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells if they could rebuild him - better, stronger, faster, but they just told me where to go (I swear I heard Steve Austin sniggering behind a door).
So, like a goldfish being casually dumped head first into the toilet bowl, Larry was dropped head first into the bin - along with suitable words of sorrow and soul saving and rest in peace my broken little friend.
So, with Larry (sadly) out of the picture (much to Blizzard's joy [120SR]) I turn my attention to Blizzard (the little bastard).
It's a wonderfully calm day and I take Blizzard to the field at lunchtime. I've found an even better field to fly in at lunchtimes close to work. So, off Blizzard goes into the air and we hover and hover like we're old pals and have been forever. The wind is about 3mph and Blizzard starts to move away from me so I point his nose at me and give a little forward stick. Nope, that didn't do anything. A bit more stick and he's hanging there like he's glued to the air. More forward stick and still the little sod sits there.
So, stick all the way forward and Blizzard sits there then suddenly throws his nose straight down and tears off in that direction. The major problem with that is the planet earth was in that direction and he hit it like a dog leaping into his masters arms after a lengthy separation. I swear I felt the earth move a fraction!
As it happened, all it did was break the front canopy holding toothpick and put a hole or two in the canopy. Ok, quick look and a hand launch and Blizzard (the bastard) flies off quite happily. We go through the same bloody process but this time, when his nose tips straight down, I let go of the collective. My God! He rocked back so hard his tail pointed straight at the ground so I rapidly gave forward stick to even him out.
I decided to call it a day at that point and pretty much decided the following: Blizzard is a sports hall heli. He's too big for indoors, he's too small for outdoors and that bloody 45 degree flybar is a true pain in the butt. Seems he's only good for hovering practice - and he pretty much does that on his own! So, Blizzard, whilst intact, is also out of the picture.
Ok, let's get Chopasaurus (Blade 450) into the field on a calm day. Thankfully a calm day was quick coming. Almost wish it hadn't but it did. There's a slight wind and it's coming from behind me. Gooooood. Spin up the blades and lift Chopsaurus into the air. He's showing signs of going off right and backward so I land him pronto (I got training gear on). Have a ciggy 'cause this is seriously scary stuff.
Now, sims are great. But they're not that bloody great. They do NOT prepare you for the sphincter clenching fear of a Blade 450 spinning up in front of you. They do NOT prepare you for the fear of hard cash spinning up in front of you. The DO prepare you on how to feel a right prat with dumb thumbs
Ok, ciggy over and done with I spin Chopasaurus up again and lift off by about 2 feet. Like a rabid whippet he's off to the right and backward and he's losing height somewhat rapidly. Ok, here's where the sim helps - I instantly shut the throttle down before he can gain any more speed 'cause I'm heading for a big crash if I don't and I'd rather have a little one. His tail is hanging down and that hits first. Then the blades just kiss the ground with the characteristic buzz saw in wood sound before the training gear rights him.
I - BLOODY - FROZE!!!! (Except for throttle thumb, thankfully). I was caught off guard and already tense and I - BLOODY - FROZE!!!! (Except for thr.... oh, already done that bit).
I went and had a look and was expecting the worst. The tail case had broken. He's come down hard on the vertical fin and that caused the tail case to crack and splinter. The tail rotor was fine.
Got him home and ordered the tail case (two of them) and then noticed that the feathering shaft was bent, my God was it bent! So ordered a pair of them and, just for good measure, ordered a pair of main shafts. Total damage? Less than a fiver! Phew! Ah, I also ordered a swash levelling tool.
So, today. I put him back together. I used the swash levelling tool and adjusted the subtrims to get a perfect 90 degree on the servo horns and the like (as explained in the video) and then adjusted the travels for top and bottom points and everything in that area is perfect.
I noticed that he was tail heavy when checking the centre of gravity and moving the battery forward didn't help as I couldn't then get the canopy on. So, chucked some brass bits into the canopy until he was balanced. Took the brass bits into the kitchen and weighed them. So, 31 grams needed to go up front. Found a bit of round brass that weighed the same and chucked it on my lathe to face it off a little. Yep, got that puppy up front cable-tied to the frame and Chopasaurus now balances very nicely indeed. That was today.
Now, we need to go back a bit to between Chopasaurus tasting dirt and Chopasaurus after surgery.
How, can I get some good, physical stick time with real money in front of me without scaring the poop out of myself? I thought about an MQX quad but decided it wasn't man enough really. I couldn't see those motors lasting very long. So I start mooching about and was on the point of settling for a Guai 500X when I spotted this:
Naza F450 - YouTube
Quadasaurus.jpg
Oh, my. The Naza F450 is a dream to fly. I've not crashed it (came close twice). It is a pleasure to tear it round the sky and the blasted thing shifts like a whippet with a bum full of dynamite! This is giving me my stick time. This is honing my thumbs. This is toning down that fear of having real money flying in front of you. This is making me feel comfortable with my transmitter. Oh yeah, it feels so fine it's almost funky!
I did have the Contour HD on the bottom of Quadasaurus (ok, I'm not that imaginative with naming things) but when I landed after 8 minutes I saw that the camera wasn't on. DAMNNNNNNN!!!! In clipping it in I must have disturbed the battery that caused it to shut off (a known problem).
So, all told, fun has been had a plenty and here is where my tale ends. Chopasaurus is going to go out again next week and so is Quadasaurus.
I do apologise for the video, it's not that good but it shows me having great fun. It was a Contour HD strapped to my head and the music is my own.
Best regards to all.
Vikki. (Typos are FoC).
and a platinum star 
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