1st session of 2015!

I finally headed out to the field to get some flying in. I went in the morning when it's usually busy in hopes of seeing some other heli flyers like myself. Instead, only some guys flying FPV quads were there :(. They hogged the flight box by sitting down to fly and took off from a small pad to the side of the pits. This made it hard to tell when I could fly as nobody was standing out at the main heli pad.

Once these guys left around 11:30am, I was able to get back to back flights in on my 550, which was fun, but it was lonely as I was the only person at the heli pad. 

I found my old beach umbrella that I used when racing rc cars.  It worked well enough to keep some shade on myself and my equipment. The main advantage was how fast it is to setup and put away vs my quick shade canopy. 

I used my icharger to charge my packs at 2C and put a storage charge on them before I went home. My marine battery provided plenty of power and I didn't even hit its minimum voltage :)

Goblin 380 on the way!

I picked up a Goblin 380 this week!  AMain put up a 10% off coupon for 48 hours so I ordered just the kit for now. I'll probably pick up the tail servo once I have time to start the build after I finish my T5m. 

Goblin 380

Getting the urge to build a Goblin 380.  I've already picked out all the electronics!

Pulse 6s 2600mah batteries

Scorpion motor, HK3020-1000

Castle 100A Edge Lite ESC

BK DS-3001HV cyclic servos 

BK DS-5005HV tail servo

Mini V-Bar FCS

Spektrum DSMX remote receiver

Time to fly again!

Well I finally got around to renewing my AMA and SEFSD memberships.  Now I can fly once again!  I really need to renew them before they expire this year, as it didn't take that long fill out the forms anyway.

Next new heli

So, I've been wanting to get another heli bigger than my 550.  I was going to get a Goblin 700, since it could use 2 of my batteries from the 550.  But, new regulations regarding large lipo batteries have made them subject to HAZMAT shipping fees!  Thus, any 6S lipos over 5000mah will have a minimum shipping cost of almost $30!!  Yuck!

Luckily, 6S 4400mah batteries are small enough to not be subject to these HAZMAT shipping fees.  This is the battery size needed for a 500 (1 battery) or 600 (2 batteries).  Now I'm thinking of getting a Goblin 630 instead of the 700.  The batteries will be cheaper and not subject to $30 shipping fees!  For now anyway.  The Goblin 630 is also a little bigger than a normal 600 heli, so that's a bit closer to a 700 at least.

I want to set it up with a Mikado VBar, Castle Talon 120HV, Scorpion brushless motor,  and BK Servos.

Update 4/22/15

I just checked Amain and you can ship large batteries via ground shipment and are no longer subject to HAZMAT fees! :). Maybe the laws changed?  Air shipments still require the HAZMAT fees though. 

All this means is that a 700 class heli is a possibility again!

Booya!

I picked up some RC Booya quick release canopy mounts to replace the Lynx canopy mounts I had been using. The Lynx mounts worked well, but hurt my fingers after screwing them on and off for a few flights. I started using a hex wrench with them, but that defeated the purpose of a quick release canopy mount. 

AMain hobbies started carrying RC Booya quick release canopy mounts recently, which I saw other guys at the field using. Before they were only available from smaller heli specific hobby shops, which is why I haven't gotten around to getting some. But I order parts from Amain all the time, so I was finally able to pick a set up :)

They install like any other canopy mount, but I needed to enlarge the grommet mounting hole to 0.343 in, so that the larger quick release pin grommet would fit in the canopy. 

I like how much easier and faster it is to mount the canopy!  I can't wait to try them out at the field. 

Labor Day Flying!

Since I had the day off from work for Labor Day, I headed out to the field to get some flying in with my Trex 550. I also wanted to test out charging my 6s 5000 batteries on my iCharger 4010 Duo when it was powered by a 12V marine battery. 

I also pulled off some new tricks for me!  I've been doing them in the sim for awhile now but never performed them with the 550. I pulled off a tail slide, but the exit wasn't very smooth.  I also did a few half Cuban 8's, but the heli lost some altitude during the roll, since I didn't transition to positive collective smoothly.  At least I did these maneuvers with my real heli instead of the sim. 

I remembered to bring my quick shade this time!

iCharger powered by my battery. 

Charging 2 6s 5000 packs at 10A on each channel, pulling 47A from the battery!  I wonder if the battery can support a 3C charge rate of 15A?