Nice & Clear == Fly

Flew my Blade CP Pro this morning at the Duck Pond. Tried some onboard video again, but it came out really blurry and showcases a crash, ooops, too -- so, noone wants to see that ;)

But, my second flight went really well until I ran low on battery, came in kind of too confident, and crashed. Now, I need some new parts for my main rotor head...maybe I'll go aluminum???

Check out this site for cool aluminum mods...

My buddy showed up with his fixed pitch Honey Bee. This is a pretty indestructible heli...and it flies really smooth too. I think this is probably one of the best entry level heli's one can buy...it's a step above the co-axial one's, and a notch below the the collective pitch models (explanation of fixed vs collective here). Here's some video of the flight today.

Replaced another Blade CP Tail Boom Today

I'm getting real good at this! I even replaced my tail motor...the original one was poping it's gear out on me -- the hobby shop guy says that's normal for these things. And, as you might guess, if the gear from the motor pops away from the big black tail rotor gear...you have no more tail rotor...and if you have no tail rotor, you're spinning out of control.

Tip: It's definately easier to replace the boom by un-soldering the wires from
the tail motor and sliding the boom off the wires...than trying to disconnect the wires from the receiver and pulling them through the boom that way.

Hey Joe...why you replacing your tail boom anyways? Good question. I have had my last few flights (See previous posts) on a boom that was slightly damaged and held together with some tape. Today, while making some tail rotor adjustments with the tail motor pot onboard the Blade...an adjustment I made was a bit too extreme, so I crashed and ruined my already damaged boom : )

The new boom and motor run great in my hovering tests...I can't wait till the next flying day to do some real flying.

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:

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

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.

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"