Cascade Rotory Wings Fun Fly Day 2

It was a cold and breezy day, but it was fun. As a first impression (Since this was my first all heli event)...I'd say RC helicopter people are more "Hey, look at me!"...while RC airplane people are more "Hey, look at you!" I still enjoyed myself though and don't get me wrong, noone was mean...it just seems to be a more 'me' based side of the hobby than my airplane experiences so far. Anyway, here are some pictures and video I took.

Here's a T-Rex with a cool custom paint job...It was a nice change from most of the standard paint schemes everyone else had.






One heli that didn't make it today...

So sad : (

More Cascade Rotory Wings Fly In, Fri. Night

Here are the videos.

This heli had light strings all over it defining it's shape. My cheap video camera could only capture the lights on the rotors...Heli's are totally cool when lit up at night!


This heli was lit-up by a huge flashlight!

And this is video of one of the heli's with light strings defining it's features.

Friday Night at the Cascade Rotory Wings Fly In

I went to the Cascade Rotory Wings Fly In tonight and took some pics and some video. In was a tight-knit group of people huddled around their campers and tents. I felt a little bit like an outsider, but nobody was unfriendly when you spoke to them. But, I kindof felt the way I did when I started surfing in Southern California -- like you're maybe not truly welcome until you've proven yourself in the air...But, like I said, noone was unfriendly when I spoke to them...it just felt different than the airplane based fly-in's I've gone to. It could have also been just a side effect of the night??? Here are some pictures...

Flying my Blade!

I had 3 great flights today with my Blade CP Pro and didn't break anything!!! Here's some video of my first flight at my favorite place, The Duck Pond:

So, you think you can fly a helicopter?

Try this, http://www.topgamez.net/games/helicopter.html

Heli Fun Fly this weekend in Brooks, OR

The Cascade Rotory Wings are hosting a Fun Fly this weekend, September 28 - 29 - 30, 2007. It will be in Brooks, Oregon -- From Portland that's I-5 South, Exit 263, Go Right, Head West till road T's, Turn Right and keep a lookout on the right side of the road.

*update* Pilots meeting at nine o'clock and running from there. Dinner Sat night...at five they will start cooking -- steak or chicken -- till 7:30. When dark there will be night flying.

I'm not sure I'll be up to flying my Blade...or, if it'll be in one piece that long :)...but, it sounds like fun. I haven't been to an all Helicopter event yet.

Did you know about IRCHA? I didn't until today. The "President's Perspective" in the October issue of "Model Aviation", by the president of the AMA, mentions how big this group is now and talks about the helicopter event they conducted just after the Joe Nall Fly-In.

Tyco SKYFORCE RC Airplanes

I finally added my review of the Tyco SKYFORCE planes to my JoeFlyer web site.

These are fun little foam planes that can fly indoors or outdoors and can also be flown as RC or Free-Flight. I love these things :)

Super Cub...Super "Inverted" Cool!

This is a cool video I just found. It's of a HobbyZone Super Cub flying inverted with stock everything except a Li-Po battery. The Super Cub is my first and largest plane in my hanger...and I love this plane. It is the perfect first plane. Check out my review of it here.

Have you joined the AMA yet?

You should. The organization is here to protect the hobby for all enthusiasts and membership has its privilages...like the Model Aviation magazine; a web site full of useful information, tips, and even model plans; And, most RC club airfields are AMA sponsored, which means to be a member or to fly at their AMA sponsored events, you need to have a current AMA membership.

I didn't join until recently, but I love the magazine and I've already flown in one fun fly event, the yearly RC Airshow in Banks Oregon at the OMAS airfield. I flew my HobbyZone Super Cub with another aviator who flew his GWS Beaver. We put on a simple little cub show including some slow and low flyby's over the runway and several touch-n-go's. The audience was more impressed with the warbirds...but, we didn't care...we had a good time anyway. I took some onboard video of our flying:


Back to the AMA...If you decide to join, let me know and I'd be honered to sponser your membership. Send me an email and I'll get you my AMA info.

The 2-Channel Heli can fly pretty well...

...with the proper mods. I ended up taping two AA batteries to the front of the canopy, a little left of center, and it's flew pretty well today. I didn't have the supplies with me to properly mount my Cobra DMC300 5-in-1 camera to the heli, but I managed to stuff it inside the cockpit. Below is some really bad/shaky video of one of the flights. I'll try to be better prepared for the next flight.

So, the camera was mounted upside down at an angle...as I said, I wasn't prepared, so I just fit it in the cockpit the best I could. I used my video editing software, Pinnacle Studio, to try to flip the video so you wouldn't have to tilt your head too much.

More tests of my planes from China

Yesterday, I performed some more tests with my planes from China. Since I had previously broken the prop on the red low-wing plane...I replaced it with a similar size prop -- only difference being that it's a tri-prop vs. the original single. The new prop seemed to work as well as the original and I did get the plane up into the air, but any attempt at turning always sends the plane plummeting to the ground...the design is just not as good as it's yellow cousin, the top-wing version. See the short video below:

Today's a Simulator Day

Have you used a simulator? When I started this hobby 1 year ago, I spent my first month on a simulator -- I used and still use the free one FMS. When I bought my first plane, the HobbyZone Super Cub...I flew it without crashing on day 1 -- I believe it was from the simulator practice. FMS is a great and free RC-Based flight simulator that has hundreds of models available from all over the Internet. There's a forum at the FMS web site that is full of FMS info and links to different models and landscapes. You can even connect your existing transmitters or buy a cheap USB transmitter to fly your simulated models with the same controls that you're used to at the field.

There are more expensive simulators, like Great Planes RealFlight ($199, +extra $ for additional plane packs etc)...and, many hobby stores carry this simulator and even have a stand setup so you can try it. It's a nice simulator...very realistic...and when you crash a model, it has great simulation of parts flying off. I suppose if I had the extra money (you can make a donation to my efforts here, hint, hint) I might actually buy a simulator like this. But, when it comes down to it...I think you can learn all the necessary flying basics from the free one and save your money for the plane or heli you've been dreaming about.

Other simulators I know of: Pre-Flight, AeroFly PRO Deluxe, ClearView, RC Flight Master eXtreme64 & RC Plane Master, RCFSim v6.01, and A general link that lists several simulators

I've tried FMS, Pre-Flight, RealFlight, and RCFSim v6.01 -- They each have their pro & cons. You should find the one that fits your needs by trying several of them out. Most have a free demo download.

An RC-Based simulator is a definite must for the RC enthusiast. You should use one before your first flight...and have one available for late night urges or when the weather doesn't permit flying. Get one...Use it...Love it!

Flight Tests of my new 2-channel Heli

I got this heli the other day...see previous posts...and found that it flew backwards by default...So, I tested it today with weight (taped on 2 AA batteries) added to the front -- like we've all done with our Picco-Z heli's. It seemed to make a difference. You can also see, in the video, that this is a pretty durable copter. I smack it to the ground pretty hard several times and it's only received a few cracks in its canopy. The main rotor blades are a flexible rubber and are pretty strong -- I'm impressed. I still have some more testing to try, but it's not too bad of a heli as long as you're OK with Picco-Z performance i.e., it pretty much flys where it wants to go with limited controllability by the pilot.

Hey Joe, what's it cost to own an E-flite Blade CP Pro?

Whew! I think I wish I hadn't have done this...but, here's a link to a spreadsheet I just put together detailing my costs for my 1st year with my Blade CP Pro.

Click Here for the data

Friday afternoon, who wants to work???

Not us! So, my flying buddy "Blade-Changer" decides he's going to attempt flying his E-Sky Lama over the cube walls...We've got two cameras on the first shot: One on-board, looking down (kindof dark) and one held by "E-Systems". Check out this video to see what happens.

Proof that I can fly my Blade, yeah!

Took my Blade to this years departmental day-off party and flew my best flight so far. My onboard camera messed up, dang it, but here's some video my buddy "Blade-Changer" shot. I went for it, put the Blade in the air, and it was awesome. This is a stock CP Pro with yellow plastic main rotors. Thanks for watching.

Heli's at the company picnic

Today, work was a department picnic at the Wilsonville Memorial Park in Wilsonville Oregon -- nice place, you should Google Earth it.

Me and a few work buddies took our RC Heli's to the park. I flew my Blade CP Pro and my buds flew their Lama's. I had an excellent flight for 5+ minutes...I lost track, but it felt like forever and it was the first time I flew this thing and actually used up the battery.

I flew it high and long...sounds like a joke punchline...and I was proud! I whipped it around and made sharp turns. Because of my altitude, I was able to correct mistakes before they turned into crashes!

JoeFlyer's tips for flying Heli's:

• Make sure all the important parts like landing gear, blades, and gears are
  in good working order
• Throttle up and get in the air several feet - don't hang around at ground
  level, too unstable
• Get some altitude - so mistakes can be corrected in the air and not at the
  work bench
• Land smooth

Well, I had strapped my Cobra DMC300 5-n-1 digital camera to the bottom of my Blade...but, when I got home I discovered that the thing didn't record my flight !#*!@^#* So, I can't show the cool aerial photography that I had hoped to -- but if you Google Earth the park you can see the same view. I'm hoping one of my buddies caught some of my Blade action on their cameras.

I'm still having issues with my last tip. I landed a bit hard again today, and so I need to replace a landing gear strut and some tail rotor parts...but, other than that, my flight was awesome, yeah!!

Until I find video of my Blade, entertain yourself with this video of the Lama's...it's a pretty cool co-axial heli that flew really well today and even in a pretty good breeze.

You get what you pay for part deux...

Here are some pictures of two of the cheap RC planes I just imported from my contact in China. They look real promissing out of the box, but I've yet to get them to fly more than 20' or so before hitting the ground -- don't fly them on your street, you need a park with space.

The red one is a low wing configuration...

The yellow version is a top wing type...

I was hoping they would fly as good as my Fastlane Arrow Flight that I got at Toys-R-Us for $20...The yellow one is close, but not as good -- see my attached comment for my pros & cons list. I still haven't had a good chance at trying the red one.

You get what you pay for...

I recently made contact with a RC toy company in China and ordered samples of 3 planes and one helicopter. 1st impressions...they all look really good, they appear to be of good quality.


But, so far the flight experience has been less than desirable...


I watched this video just the other night and it made me laugh because I had a cheap 2 channel heli from China coming to me in the mail. That heli and the 3 planes arrived today and the heli flys just like the one in this video backwards and spins around alot. Mine even attacked me, like it did the other guy...but, I caught mine before it could bite me.

If I had only paid what I paid and didn't also have to pay the overseas shipping + the electronic funds transfer fee, then it wouldn't be too much of a loss...but, my advice would be to stay clear of these toys -- unless you like frustration, then please...enjoy.

Honey Bee Mk 3

I flew my buddies Honey Bee last night, indoors, in our church gym. If you aren't familiar with the heli, here's a link http://www.hobby-lobby.com/honeybee3.htm?c1=google&source=camp13esky

It was a blast to fly. I've spent almost a year trying to have a succesful flight (I had a pretty good one last Friday) with my first heli, a Blade CP Pro...which I think was a bit too much to bite off for my first RC helicopter. But, this fixed pitch Honey Bee was very stable and much more easier to control. It's really satisfying to have a great heli flight.

I flew my Blade last night too...and I did OK...until I attempted a hard landing on my already crippled landing gear. Now, I'm dismantling it (see picture) and need to replace the main shaft, landing gear and tail boom (3rd time in a month!) -- see my JoeFlyer review on the Blade to find my FixIt Shop videos on replacing the boom. I was stupid, so now I have to fix it...lesson learned: "Don't fly with defective parts"

First blog...more to come

In an attempt to be more proactive on my love for this hobby...I'm going to attempt to run a blog.

I hope to share my daily flying experiences and learnings with all my readers...and hopefully, we'll all become better pilots and hobbyists through the exchange.

In an attempt to allow for corrections and enhancements to the info I present, I will be allowing comments -- but, I'm going to start out with monitoring them before they get posted for I fear the malicious comments that stear conversations towards the war on iraq or whatever...when the topic is say "what prop do I use..." etc.

So, thanks for stopping by

JoeFlyer