Weekday flying becoming more popular at the Sandy River Airport
Posted on July 11, 2008 by aaronredbaron
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at Sandy River Airport we had a pretty good showing of flyers show up. Tim Schelhaas from Tammies Hobbies came out again with his girlfriend, and Anthony Vo came up from Salem with his Trex 450 and Raptor 30. Tim brought out is Synergy and Trex 600 nitro to thrash on. Anthony has been in the hobby for a few years, but only recently became absorbed with the hobby when he picked up his little ‘rex. Tim was working with Anthony on the buddy box and helping him through his first flips and rolls. Anthony is progressing at a very methodical pace. He was flying around very competently upright in his comfort zone, and when Tim had him on the buddy box he improved rapidly. In the few flights Tim had him on the box, Anthony went from doing some sloppy, scary flip/dives, to doing pretty darn clean and axial flips and rolls.
Rick Bixby came down from Vancouver to join us and had his Trex 600 electric and 86″ Quique Somenzini Yak 54 with a DL 50cc Chinese made engine. Rick works on the east coast and takes every opportunity he gets to come home to the northwest. He didn’t hesitate to get the big Yak in the air, and after a few flights he started to get fairly comfortable with the airport. The line of trees along the runway does limit the area, but the width is deceiving, it looks a lot narrower than it is. Before you first fly at the Sandy River Airport, I recommend walking out to the tree line to get a better perspective of how wide it actually is.
Elvan Wilson Brought his whole family out for a nice afternoon picnic. There is a grill and some picnic tables, and some nice shade from the tree behind us. Elvan brought his Trex 450 with Microheli frame, and did his usual smooth flying. Elvan has been flying a long time… since the days of the Concept 30… and he has helped a lot of people in his years. He flies mellow, in control, with some occasional aerobatic maneuvers. I fly with Elvan pretty often, he is a really outgoing guy who loves the hobby.
I flew my MSH Protos, as well as my RCer Dragonus Pro 2, which I recently revived and began flying again. The Pro versio has been out for a few years but never became very popular, Hobby Lobby now carries the base version and all the hop ups. Its a pretty nice heli because it offers lots of ratio options on the head. The Dragonus can be set up tame and mild or really wild depending on the what the pilot wants out of it. I have mine set up really aggressive with a high flybar influence, and paddle weights halfway out. That gives me quick response, but good stability for fast, big air maneuvers.
My rant for the day:
The next big fad in model helicopter flight is going to be flybarless electronic stability systems. The concept of flying a model helicopter without a flybar is nothing new. Stable flight is possible without the Bell/Hiller flybar system, but strange tendencies can pop up. Flybarless models will tend to pitch up and roll severely with forward flight, and may react strange in wind. Weight can be added to blades to improve stability, but at the cost of performance and safety. Electronic stability systems are the answer. They eliminate the need for the mechanical flybar stability system, and make the model fly like it has heading hold gyros on all axis.
Flybars use up to 15-20% of a helicopters power, they detract from the looks, and they are limited to physical relationships that define the stability and agility. Electronic stability systems can provide all of the stability and agility a pilot desires, while at the same time providing superior looks and performance. Mikado revolutionized flybarless flight with the V-bar, and paved the road for other manufacturers. A number of manufacturers have since announced future product releases of stability systems. With the availability of high quality solid state sensors increasing and new competition in the market, the flybarless systems are going to become more competitive and affordable. These systems make it practical for the average modeler to have set up practically any model helicopter to fly exceptionally well. When set up properly, a flybarless helicopter has more power, flies longer, and is more “locked in.” Imagine a 450 that flies better in wind than any 90.
until next time, Happy Landings
-Aaron
