DID YOU FLY TODAY???

[Slyster]

I thought I'd start this thread since the 400 forum has one... and I miss it... somewhere just to BS and shoot the breeze...

Flew my ESP up to flight number 66... no crashes yet... what a GREAT heli... holy cow!.. getting a full 8 minutes with the 3300 lipos at 92% idle up. That is 6x8 minutes so 48 FULL minutes of stick time .. I got my rolls down.. did some fast forward double rolls.. and finally inverted it (nose in) for 1 minutes stretches. So much easier than the 450.

With my sim practice and after a few lipos I "felt" ready to attempt some slow circuits I've been practice so long... but I didn't push it... that will have to wait. It was calm, 74º, sunny with a deep blue sky and good sun angle.. those white blades stood out like they do in Phoenix. I love those conditions.

Did a couple new things today too... a fast loop where at the top (inverted) I rolled to upright instead of finishing the roll. And also a loop where I stop at the top (inverted) and go nearly full negative.. shoots up like a rocket.. then push the stick forward to lift the nose up and around.. makes a great sound.

Here's my first video (already shared in video) from 2 days ago with my first rolls.

"Tiny Tim" my T-Rex 500ESP flight number 60... loops and rolls (3 min 19 sec)

Hope you all got to fly today!

[haha101]

sweet! i wont fly until tomorrow

[woodwalker]

I got in one battery, a little hovering and some slow forward flight. It was nice but windy here this afternoon. I spent the morning turkey hunting and then was going to fly but too windy for the 500 and my skill level. The local heli expert was flying his N9 and making it look so easy. As soon as I get my DX^i back from loaning it out as a slave buddy box he is going to buddy with me on the 500 to work on some things.

[snjbird]

Yup flew a few myself Sly. My Girlfriends son did his first hover today 11 and very enthusiastic, he can fly the CX like a pro, and was shocked at how much harder the 450 was! Will's B-day is in early Jan, so he gets kind of Xmas ripped, so I gave hit an old 450SA that I had learned on. We spent the next 3 months evenings building it to flight condition! So I helped him fly that for two packs. After his nerves gave up I flew my 450, and then the 250.

[helitomm]

Nice flying!I got to try the new 6s batteries today,way better than 2 3s in series!Im still learning my hovering but ive got nose in and left and right pretty much down.Just need to get more confident doing it clockwise now.Hopefully i will be flying soon!!!!

[airpup86C]

Good topic Slyster. Yes, I did fly today. The sky was blue, the winds were light and the sun was warm on this beautiful NW Ohio morning. So much so in fact, that I blew off work for a few hours (business has been slow anyway) and grabbed my 500 and headed out the door to my back yard heli pad. Here's a slice of what transpired:

...I banked the heli back towards me, picking up speed, then pulled up to vertical, white blades glistening in the sun. A quick 360 pirouette, and back down tail first, pulling out inverted. Almost as if I was still flying the sim, I went for an inverted backwards circle, and around she came, one full revolution, picking up speed. I went around again, then rolled to an upright backwards circle, with my tail blades grinding the air to fight against blow out. Around for a half circle, then a half piroette to a forward upright circle, then with a little more push of the tail, I pulled the bird into a tail down funnel, around and around till it was stable, then maybe 6 rotations. Woo hoo! I'm holding altitude!

What was that noise? Damn, the flight timer already! Back to the landing zone, set her down and shout out like a 10 year old kid, "Yes!" Maybe today is the day I try for a piroflip!

So much work and wealth goes into this hobby that it's a good thing the high points are so high. After four flights like that one this morning, I was on an adrenaline buzz for the rest of the day. I know I'll never be a great 3D pilot, but just doing what humble moves I've learned so far has provided me way more of a kick than I thought possible when I first started out.

Al

p.s. I tried the piroflip. Not ready for prime time yet. But soon...

[Slyster]

NICE... I can't wait to fly like that.. "I can do it on the sim!" as everyone else can agree with... but not there yet.

I forgot to mention I did my 500's first funnels today too! I can do all (upright only) orientations on the sim.. but only have flown clockwise nose in for real... but the 500 sure delivered some nice easy funnels and they sounded great!

Then I flew my 450 6 lipos too today... was FUN and RELAXING compared to my 500... (on the nerves)... I am finally to the point where if I try new things and get the shakes.. I can just do some FFF circuits and actually relax and not crash!

221 flights between the 450 and 500 and only TWO crashes.. due to mechanical issues!

(but.. more to come I'm sure as I work on inverted orientations...)

[rosebud]

All done in a 6 min. period of time before i had to leave for work and before the winds came up...nice

[crowe73]

I flew my B400 today. I flew two batteries practicing side in hovering both left and right side. I almost crashed on one of my flights but I was able to recover the helicopter in time to avoid crashing.

[Slyster]

That B400 will train you well!

[airpup86C]

Originally Posted by Slyster

NICE... I can't wait to fly like that.. "I can do it on the sim!" as everyone else can agree with... but not there yet.

Oh, soon enough, you'll be outflying this old greybeard.

But I'll still be getting my jollies, as long as I can keep covering my crash costs!

[Shef]

Flying tomorrow at sunrise (yes, 6am)....got my 10 packs ready to go! Just added the TT yesterday so can't wait to test her out. 60 Full minutes of flying before running back to the city to spend time w/ my boys.

[cbrodine]

I got to fly in the awesome weather we had here in NW Ohio today also, had my Vibe 50 out to practice hovering...sheared a tail pinion gear...AGAIN! 3rd one, I get a little spooked and set 'er down a lil to hard.

[rosebud]

All charged up and ready for first am flight in the back yard. Still a nuub , I am going to try and set my gyro for rate mode and try that. My Aux sw is still set for 72% in both settings from what I can tell is i need to set one position for a number like 50% so it doesnt go into Head lock.

[Slyster]

Originally Posted by Shef

....got my 10 packs ready to go!

I like the sound of that... if I go ALL OUT... I bring 16 packs.... 8 Zippy-H 2200's for the 450 and 8 Zippy-H 3300's for the 500.. nothing like a BUFFET of flight!... all you can eat!

[heli-on]

I flew 24 packs today and loved every freakin minutes of it. Weather was nice. Slight breeze, otherwise a heaven sent day for flying in the desert.

7 on the 250
4 on the 450
6 on the 500
6 on the 600
1 scale 450 flight (nice 9-minute floater)

Finally getting funnels down. Getting real good on my tic-tocs. Forcing myself to do inverted circuits and orientation/direction changes. After almost 2 years in this hobby, I'm just about at the point where my crashes are mainly mechanical. Getting real sick of those, so I think I'm even getting good at pre-flighting. :o

[Slyster]

WOAH

Hard core! I thought when I flew all my packs (16) that I was nuts!

[Shef]

Flew the 10 packs this morning....amazing weather....70 degrees, 3mph winds, on two back to back soccer fields and no one else there....so peaceful.

[jlharv]

Got to fly 3 days in a row and today will make 4. Got to love spring!

[heli-on]

WOAH

Hard core! I thought when I flew all my packs (16) that I was nuts!

Nuts for me is 20 packs in the morning session and then another 20 in the late afternoon. The heli-gods have to real kind to be able to pull that one off.