tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6950563165543376602024-02-20T01:58:34.193-07:00Jazzy's Flight DeckRC Aircraft Information, Build Logs, Photos, and Videos.Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-75123242736868017382012-07-12T08:59:00.000-06:002012-07-12T08:59:15.925-06:00Blade 130X Review<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/77816686@N02/7505119198/" title="Blade 130-X Helicopter by jasmine25011, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/7505119198_518299fc02.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Blade 130-X Helicopter"></a>
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I picked up the 130X on impulse to kind of celebrate my new job, and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect much from a little plastic heli with AS3X, but Blade has done a great job again. The 130X has the stability you might be familiar with from other aircraft with AS3X, but it's much more nimble than the mCPX, and the brushless power system makes it a real 3D machine. The shaft-driven variable pitch tail system provides solid tail control even with me at the sticks! No more tail blowouts in simple maneuvers! I think if you can fly the mCPX, or you're good with simulated CP helicopters, the 130X would be a great choice for your next helicopter!<br />
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Here's the review video, flight test at the end...<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HC18oKg_E6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-86576446671395274682012-05-11T10:43:00.000-06:002012-05-11T10:55:15.811-06:001/6th scale Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOwoD1b4TwAUlU2fxsBVXyZ-KnYX8VF_ItdUaZ_rp08r1IaSzjIzVdoX2RPl_qdsqd7XtWX7eW2hqSAGW3D2ezaCHj1o89Hkbk9Ke1g2WI6panYYxmI_KPJ40BODcfpDj6e6JioRtmhaT/s1600/Hpim1090.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650229823871975666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOwoD1b4TwAUlU2fxsBVXyZ-KnYX8VF_ItdUaZ_rp08r1IaSzjIzVdoX2RPl_qdsqd7XtWX7eW2hqSAGW3D2ezaCHj1o89Hkbk9Ke1g2WI6panYYxmI_KPJ40BODcfpDj6e6JioRtmhaT/s400/Hpim1090.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 227px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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Pilot: Jasmine</div>
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Aircraft: 1/6th scale Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser</div>
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Music preference: swing or big band, Brian Setzer, or Sinatra</div>
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Announcer Script (after a simple ad-lib introduction):</div>
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The Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser is an American three-seat, high wing, single engine fixed gear light aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft between 1946 and 1948. It is an upgraded and redesignated Piper J-5. As a three seat aircraft, the PA-12 is flown without a co-pilot, from the front seat, with room for two passengers side by side in the back. The PA-12 is known for its reliability and short take-off capability. In 1947, two PA-12s flew around the world and the worst mechanical failure they suffered was a broken tail wheel. The PA-12 is still a popular bush plane today, and in 2009, over 1900 PA-12s were currently registered in North America.</div>
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The model being flown today is 1/6th scale and electric powered. It uses a 4-cell, 14.8V Lithium Polymer battery and an E-Flite Power 32 motor, producing approximately 600 watts (just over 3/4 horsepower). This gives the model "better than scale" performance, making it an excellent trainer and all-around fun flyer.</div>
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Quote from the pilot: "This plane is really joy to fly. It is beautiful in the air and flies like an airplane should!"</div>
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<br /></div>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-40167731095923537302011-09-08T16:00:00.000-06:002011-09-08T23:40:43.830-06:00Helicopter Primer<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJasmine%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJasmine%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CJasmine%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Helicopter Primer</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Which helicopter to start with</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Simulator </span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- you can learn everything you need to know on a good simulator. RealFlight and Phoenix are the best, but there's some free ones which are pretty good (FMS is lousy and should be avoided).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><span style=""> </span>- Heli-X - download at http://www.heli-x.net/<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><span style=""> </span>- HeliSim - download at http://www.marksfiles.net/HeliSimRC/index.htm<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Coaxial </span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- These are helicopters with two sets of main rotor blades rotating in opposite directions. The two sets of blades cancel each other's torque effects, so a tail rotor is not needed. These helicopters are very stable and less maneuverable. Most of them will hover hands-off, and they are only suitable for flying indoors. The coaxial can teach you maintaining altitude with throttle, directional control using rudder (heading) and cyclic control to generate thrust in horizontal directions. The coaxial will not teach you the behavior of the other types of helicopters with a single main rotor, and may lead to some bad habits - it is not possible to roll a coaxial upside-down! Examples are the E-Flite Blade CX/CX2/CX3, E-Flite Blade mCX, and E-Sky Lama.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Fixed Pitch </span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- These helicopters have a single main rotor, and an anti-torque tail rotor. The main blades have a fixed amount of pitch, much like an airplane propeller, and the lift of the helicopter is adjusted using changes in throttle. These helicopters are generally less expensive to purchase and maintain, but most people do not find them any easier to fly than the collective pitch helicopters. The fixed-pitch helicopter will teach you to manage the helicopter's attitude using cyclic control to create thrust in various directions. It will help you learn to coordinate cyclic and rudder controls to make turns, and help you learn throttle and cyclic coordination to make the helicopter fly in various directions. These helicopters are not very stable, and are more manueverable than coaxial helicopters, but are not usually as precise as the final type of helicopter, collective pitch type. Examples are the E-Sky Honey Bee, and the Hirobo Quark.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Collective Pitch </span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- These helicopters share many features with full scale helicopters. They feature a single main rotor and an anti-torque tail rotor, both with variable pitch. Some collective pitch helicopters use a fixed-pitch tail rotor with a variable speed motor for tail control - these are generally not as easy to fly as collective pitch helicopters with a belt or shaft-driven tail rotor with variable pitch tail blades. Collective pitch helicopters are fully aerobatic, capable of flying inverted, and doing loops and rolls, sustained inverted hovering, and many other exciting maneuvers. In my opinion, they are actually not very hard to fly - but they require careful setup and a lot of practice. These helicopters are more expensive than the other types, and the mechanics are much more complicated, making them more difficult and expensive to repair in the event of a crash. The other types of helicopters are usually electric, but if you love nitro power, you're going to need a collective pitch helicopter. Examples of this type are the Align Trex, and the Thunder Tiger Raptors - both of which come in many sizes. Bigger ones are easier to fly, but can be very expensive to purchase and repair. For this reason, the 400-class electrics such as the Align Trex 450, Thunder Tiger Mini-Titan, and E-Flite Blade 400 are very popular.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Collective Pitch Helicopter Setup</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">The coaxial and fixed pitch helicopters are usually quite easy to set up and maintain, but the collective pitch type can be very difficult to get "dialed in" and they require periodic inspection and maintenance in order to fly properly. I think that learning to fly a collective pitch helicopter is possible and beneficial because you can avoid spending money on the other types which are less fun and provide fewer opportunities for flying time due to their poor handling in the wind. However, many beginners do not understand or take the time to properly set up the helicopter, and this can make it very difficult to fly, and can lead to costly crashes. An improperly set up helicopter can be nearly impossible to fly, even for an expert, so learning proper setup is very important. This is true even if you have a RTF helicopter, as they are often not adjusted properly from the factory. Tonight I am giving a basic overview of setup, from top to bottom. If you do this correctly, your helicopter should fly fairly well the first time, but it will still need fine tuning. There is a step-by-step process to perfect helicopter setup.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Build it right</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Lock-tite screws that go into metal - <i>very important on feathering shaft!</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- CA on screws that go into composite plastics<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Ball links sized correctly<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Servos centered properly<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Parts in proper orientation (some parts can be backwards or upside-down)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Gear mesh set properly (test with paper)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Flybar balanced, and paddles aligned<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Rudder push rod straight<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Tail fins and support rods aligned<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Bearings lubed (Tri-Flow)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Blade grip tension correct<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Belt tension correct<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Set up the head</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">. (Top-down method)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Hold the blade grips at zero pitch throughout this procedure<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Adjust the pitch mixing links to equal lengths, and until the pitch mixing arms are both level - 90 degrees from the main shaft and level with each other<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Snap the radius arms onto the swash plate<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- With the blades and paddles at zero pitch, adjust the washout links and the long mixing arm links until the washout arms are level - 90 degrees to the main shaft, and level with each other. This can be tricky because you'll need to get them both correct at the same time - use the suggested measurements from your helicopter manual as a starting point.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- At this point, the blades should be at zero pitch, the flybar cage level, and the mixing arms and washout arms should be 90 degrees from the main shaft, and level with each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- This sets the height of the swash plate at zero pitch.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Center your cyclic servos, and adjust the swash plate links so that the servos and swash can be connected with the swash at the 'zero pitch' height, and the servos perfectly centered.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Program the radio</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Set CCPM mode, 120-degree swash plate<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- unplug the motor<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- plug in the helicopter and let it initialize - center the throttle stick<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Move the throttle stick up and down a little bit<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- All three cyclic servos should move up and down together - if one doesn't, reverse that servo only.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Go to your pitch mixing setup<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Move the throttle stick up - all three servos should move together, and your blades should get more positive pitch. If not, change the pitch mixing number from positive to negative - we will set the actual number later, just getting the direction correct now.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Move the cyclic stick to the right - your swash plate should tilt down on the right - if not, change the aileron mixing number from positive to negative. Again, we'll set the actual number later.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Move the cyclic stick forward - the swash should tilt down on the front side. If not, reverse the elevator mixing number from positive to negative.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Double check your settings - make sure that more throttle gives you more positive pitch, and the swash is tilting in the right directions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Check that the blades are at zero pitch with the throttle stick in the middle - you have not adjusted the pitch curve yet, so this should be the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Put the throttle stick all the way up. Adjust the pitch mixing number until the swash moves up to the extreme - the washout block should nearly run into the head.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Put the throttle stick all the way down. Make sure there is no binding, and the washout block does not slip off the washout guide rods. If it is going too far, be double sure you are getting zero pitch at mid-stick, and reduce the pitch mixing number if you need to.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Go back to your servo reversing menu.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Move the rudder stick all the way to the left - the leading edges of the tail blades should move to the <b>right</b>. If not, then reverse the rudder channel.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Program the pitch curves - this is a matter of personal preference and flying style. I set mine up to give me maximum pitch in both directions, positive and negative. A 5-point curve for normal mode would be 30-40-50-75-100. For my stunt modes I use 0-25-50-75-100. It is important that the last three numbers be 50-75-100 in all modes, so that when you switch modes in flight, you don't get sudden pitch changes.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Program the throttle curves - again, this is a matter of personal taste. For my normal mode I use 0-50-75-90-100, which gives me high head speed very early, makes the transition to stunt mode less severe, makes the helicopter a bit more stable in a hover, but also makes it more reactive. For my stunt mode, I use 100% all the way across. Some people prefer a v-shaped throttle curve such as 100-90-80-90-100.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Set up the gyro</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- First you need to set the gyro direction. To do this, wag the tail to the left - the leading edges of the tail blades should move right. The tail should try to fight your motion. If not, reverse the gyro direction on the gyro itself. You should not need to reverse the rudder channel if you do this, but double check it to be sure.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- There are many ways to set the gyro gain - most setups have a remote gain setting programmed in the radio by signalling the gear channel.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- To adjust the gain, you will need to fly the helicopter. The gyro does not understand what is happening when the helicopter is not flying, and it may do weird things such as stick the servo to one side and stay there.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Move the rudder stick to both sides and hold it there. Make sure the servo is not capable of driving the pitch slider too far. Use the limit feature of the gyro, or change holes on your servo arm to limit the travel. Do not use adjustable rates on the radio to try to limit the servo travel - it will not work, and you will risk having the servo bind and strip in flight.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Using training balls to fly your helicopter the first time, you will adjust the gyro gain higher until the tail starts to wag back and forth forcefully. Then lower the gain from that point until the wagging stops. You may find that the tail starts wagging again after hard spins or loops, or during turns. Lower the gain some more if this happens. See my Trex 500 video on the "arvadamodelers" Youtube channel for an example of gyro gain too high, not causing tail wag in hovering, but wagging in forward flight. I lowered it 1% from there, and now it's perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Balance and track the blades</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Before your first flight, make sure the blades are balanced. You can use a blade balancing tool, or a very accurate scale to do this.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Now bring your helicopter into an eye-level hover, and have an assistant look at the blades - there should be no gap between them. If there is, you will need to adjust the pitch mixing links to close the gap.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Usually, I just pick a link to adjust and see if it makes the tracking better or worse. Mark the link with a silver Sharpie, and adjust it in the other direction if it makes the tracking worse. Do one full turn at a time, as this is a very sensitive adjustment.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- If you use carbon fiber blades, and you zeroed your blade pitch properly, they should track perfectly - if not, be sure to check the pitch again before adjusting the tracking.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Final inspections and test flight</span></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Lube all the bearings<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Pull on the ball links and make sure they are tight<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Check the belt tension<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Check the blade grip tension<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Check the rudder direction while spooling up<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Make sure everything sounds smooth<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Watch for vibrations when spooling up<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Fly for only a minute or two the first time<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">- Check the parts temperature after first flight - motor, servos, gyro, and battery. Hot parts can indicate a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Courier New";">Remember - the helicopter is the only type of aircraft capable of crashing into <i>itself</i>! If you build and maintain properly, this won't happen.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-82604080514235726062011-03-18T21:47:00.003-06:002011-03-30T11:42:10.224-06:00Blade mCP X<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXrtm4QGQx8TA9JHjTEM7KdFjV7MTAvx8txYgpdE_hyphenhyphenERQJBxm64LQcszf0cDVROHXoRGGP_5MjiFkxN_ivtbYqg63X1Ax9L2VOKiq9Bbk3LU8r2qSQqy9-3xs9BsGqb7O6sjPoGNsFKn/s1600/Hpim1046.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXrtm4QGQx8TA9JHjTEM7KdFjV7MTAvx8txYgpdE_hyphenhyphenERQJBxm64LQcszf0cDVROHXoRGGP_5MjiFkxN_ivtbYqg63X1Ax9L2VOKiq9Bbk3LU8r2qSQqy9-3xs9BsGqb7O6sjPoGNsFKn/s400/Hpim1046.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585632881403450130" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fFvqjQ9uTbc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /></div><br /><div><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ceChGP0x-ZQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br /><div><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/djOja7zg3nA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-82456369010936874842011-03-11T19:42:00.002-07:002011-03-11T19:45:48.813-07:00The Simulator is Boring<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I hear this comment occasionally - "The simulator is really boring, and I can't stand to use it long enough to learn anything" - here's my response to that.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><br /></span></div>Are you trying to learn to fly? Or just pass the time? The simulator can be entertaining when your flying is fairly good, but crashing a lot can be very frustrating. This hobby is like that, regardless of simulators, <i>it has always been like that</i>. You do a lot of work, and it sucks and some of it is boring, some of it is difficult, a lot of it is confusing and frustrating, but then after a while, it all starts to click, you stop freaking out about the details all the time, and suddenly... <i>you're having fun</i>! Works that way every time.<br /><br />So, maybe you just need to work through the training stage and learn to have some fun. In order to train most quickly, you need to practice every day without fail - do not miss a day. The part you will like is this: if your practice is focused and effective, you can only handle 15 minutes of it anyway, so you only need 15 minutes per day. You will improve much faster this way than if you have hour long sessions only once a week.<br /><br />When you learn to fly on instinct, you'll have a lot more fun. You might not like the simulator still, but you'll be able to fly your real stuff without worrying so much about crashing. Fear of crashing is the single biggest source of stress in this hobby - get over it as soon as possible.</span>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-8611731835904595212011-02-28T19:47:00.004-07:002011-02-28T19:56:17.590-07:00Stryker REDThis is my new Stryker. I haven't clocked it yet but it's in the 90mph range - not ridiculous but respectable. It's a ton of fun to fly, and I did win a pylon race with it on crappy old batteries. I'm using the 35C Hyperion 2200 3S Lipos now, and she really screams. That's the only problem with Strykers - they are LOUD!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0IMCnUCEJH3gYPLM0stYwzQUnWVgIvW6vlxXRZqg9Z4VyrHrwAJyK29yCmfcGkWhyphenhyphenV1Xn701ltDnw7eP6iXvCppjnlB1FLvp2FDjJDc5cPdkqRjV7NLrYy3qKrwiK4rtx_lsBNlqwjj8/s1600/Hpim0862.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0IMCnUCEJH3gYPLM0stYwzQUnWVgIvW6vlxXRZqg9Z4VyrHrwAJyK29yCmfcGkWhyphenhyphenV1Xn701ltDnw7eP6iXvCppjnlB1FLvp2FDjJDc5cPdkqRjV7NLrYy3qKrwiK4rtx_lsBNlqwjj8/s400/Hpim0862.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578938344325535490" /></a><br /><br />E-Flite Six Series 2700kV Motor<br /><div>2200mAh 3S Hyperion 35C Lipo</div><div>HS-81MG servos</div><div>Castle BEC</div><div>AR500 Receiver</div><div>Align 35X ESC (heli ESC, has a nice LVC feature which shuts down slow)</div><div>Custom Painted with rattle cans (Testors Metallics, Black and Ruby)</div>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-83210006053900963812011-01-28T21:39:00.004-07:002011-01-28T21:54:13.721-07:002,3,4 and 6-Channel HelicoptersI really wish the marketing department would call these what they are - the number of channels doesn't really help noobs figure out what it is. Just so you know, the number of channels is how many things you can control on the aircraft - so for example, an airplane with throttle and rudder only is two channels, add an elevator and it's three channels, add ailerons for four channels, control each aileron independently is 5 channels, etc, etc, etc....<br /><br />On helicopters, there are two channel toys like the Air Hogs. They typically have throttle and rudder control only - so they can go up and down and they can spin around, usually in both directions. These are fun but they are toys.<br /><br />Above that, we have the fixed-pitch helicopters. There's two types, the coaxial and the normal type. The coaxials helicopters have two sets of rotors on top, which spin in opposite directions, and they don't have tail rotors. Coaxial helicopters almost always have rudder control which is done by speeding up one or the other rotor and turning by the reaction force. These helicopters can be 3 or 4 channels - they all have forward/back, rudder, and throttle. The 4-channel coaxial also has side-to-side control. Coaxial helicopters are naturally stable and very easy to fly - they hover by themselves without pilot input usually.<br /><br />The "normal style" fixed-pitch helis have a single main rotor on top and a tail rotor. As far as I know, they are all 4-channel helis. They have throttle, rudder, sideways, and front/back control. There's a wide range of these available now, from super easy (the Blade mSR) to fairly difficult (the Novus FP). These typically require a little skill to fly and they need constant management by the pilot - but some like the mSR are super stable, like coaxials.<br /><br />OK that part is easy to follow - you have helis which fly by controlling throttle and direction, no problem... well, kinda. Since these helicopters change their lift by changing the speed of the blades, they can be difficult to control because it takes time for the motor to ramp up and down, and the pilot will need to be putting in throttle changes very early in order to maintain or change altitudes. Turns out, it's a whole lot better, and faster, to rotate the blades at a constant speed and simply change their angle of attack in order to change lift. This can be accomplished almost instantly. So... we want to control a 5th thing now, the angle of attack on the blades, and we need 5 channels. We call the angle the "collective pitch" of the blades, and these helicopters are more properly called "collective pitch" helicopters rather than 5 or 6 channel. The 6th channel is usually used to control the sensitivity of a gyro which assists the pilot in operating the tail rotor for rudder control.<br /><br />Generally, we have people start with fixed-pitch helis, usually coaxials. To progress to collective-pitch helis, I recommend you start with a quality simulator rather than the real thing.<br /><br />These are starter helis for flying indoors:<br /><a href="http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLH2400"><img style="width: 378px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_vejCaxAepMi9jKL9lM5-MixAb1x6RDA-JLJeS9bjBqwH9HgtzCKKBE3aUpE_iRNWUU_DVD9sLYaylKmNia6n1LKGuTb4uFDklY1juYMzHSy1XzqzonXesP9m2Zy4uQwyUrvS3Y6eonY/s400/Hpim0519small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567465415800949938" /><br/>E-Flite Blade mCX</a><br/><br/><br /><a href="http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLH3000"><img style="width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo/EFL/250/EFLH3000-250.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/>E-Flite Blade mSR</a><br/><br/><br /><br />And this is a starter heli for flying outdoors:<br /><a href="http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=BLH3100"><img style="width: 250px; height: 250px;" src="http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo/BLH/250/BLH3100-250.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br/>E-Flite Blade SR 120</a><br /><br />Is that what you are looking for?Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-7804367830806231482008-12-14T23:35:00.005-07:002009-09-07T00:18:00.762-06:00Align Trex 250<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_eN6hc_uE5Op-pcgyaVnj1Up8Zpi-PXAwIaHh-_qbsqveFeVl7UBBC7PqEu2Z3jMlE1cNJ7Tqh3q7BTALXExRZ0Ym5SGy_fqSotYrMQE8MI9bY7-0HQbhDYmnGbvijhVvL-yLI_YjzB6y/s1600-h/Hpim0551.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_eN6hc_uE5Op-pcgyaVnj1Up8Zpi-PXAwIaHh-_qbsqveFeVl7UBBC7PqEu2Z3jMlE1cNJ7Tqh3q7BTALXExRZ0Ym5SGy_fqSotYrMQE8MI9bY7-0HQbhDYmnGbvijhVvL-yLI_YjzB6y/s400/Hpim0551.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279902406587274322" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />This is the Align Trex 250 micro 3D helicopter. It is a fully 3D capable micro helicopter, and since it's small and has no momentum, it can fly some impressive punchy moves.<br /><br />Here's some videos of mine.<br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nvF5eTTKsi8&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nvF5eTTKsi8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q6Pe2AaYPyg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q6Pe2AaYPyg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-6863893394594367972008-10-12T13:48:00.001-06:002008-10-12T13:48:51.850-06:00My Flying VideosMy flying videos. I'm flying all these aircraft. Just kind of testing out the "widget" feature from Vimeo.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300" data="http://vimeo.com/hubnut/?user_id=jasmine2501&color=00adef&background=000000&fullscreen=1&slideshow=1&stream=album&id=33757&server=vimeo.com"> <param name="quality" value="best" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="scale" value="showAll" /> <param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/hubnut/?user_id=jasmine2501&color=00adef&background=000000&fullscreen=1&slideshow=1&stream=album&id=33757&server=vimeo.com" /></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-69548031166194163432008-07-26T21:13:00.010-06:002008-10-20T19:07:53.087-06:00E-Flite Blade 400<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJidIYTDoYCBtQqfQXMce_N4PTjGjV6Fz294OCecHojW1OTPe8YaOGRQTZXhMs7tCiWYilA-42SYaJXgTDuMrBm_AvwoDff-mxPuwmZ9mWQnS3dcBvnjWZDKuUwoiMjlTJxeigcRlTlMr/s1600-h/Hpim0508.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJidIYTDoYCBtQqfQXMce_N4PTjGjV6Fz294OCecHojW1OTPe8YaOGRQTZXhMs7tCiWYilA-42SYaJXgTDuMrBm_AvwoDff-mxPuwmZ9mWQnS3dcBvnjWZDKuUwoiMjlTJxeigcRlTlMr/s400/Hpim0508.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227528853785105122" border="0" /></a><br />This is my E-Flite Blade 400. On the second flight, the tail servo stripped in mid-air for some reason, and the pitch servo stripped on the resulting crash. I replaced the cyclics with Hitec HS55 servos, and I replace the gyro with a GY401. The overall feel and performance of the helicopter was vastly improved by these upgrades.<br /><br />Stock ESC and motor<br />HS55 cyclic servos<br />GY401 Gyro<br />Thunder Power 2100 3-cell<br />JR 290G tail servo<br />Align tail hub and carbon blades<br />Thunder Power Carbon main blades<br />Spektrum DX7 radio with AR6100e receiver<br /><br />Here she is in flight:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qADIdfEiTvrosMnp0pvWLJAbSEPesSDZpZ42OkMbVJ0ow7Hr2zzVPPsrnvScKWzBOnqsmjuVmBujtMtI9sJ4LUKzC_5bjfgLn24_EE2lSRm22NnFc01-fd46HNe_aaLfBlAge1kSHPCa/s1600-h/43.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3qADIdfEiTvrosMnp0pvWLJAbSEPesSDZpZ42OkMbVJ0ow7Hr2zzVPPsrnvScKWzBOnqsmjuVmBujtMtI9sJ4LUKzC_5bjfgLn24_EE2lSRm22NnFc01-fd46HNe_aaLfBlAge1kSHPCa/s400/43.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248607787037643570" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And here's a photo of the new color scheme. I crashed it into a fence one day and had to re-build the whole thing. Instructional videos of how to build it are on Vimeo (search "Blade 400 Rebuild").<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOzTgkPZyWwu1sDcStAys4m02yhniyDuPtinKU75TU9M6E91X-CqFYfozfvON8T4fsdVJqDBke0eaXc0UH5QBs7BRsqbdU_iKz0hpU9A-TJlv_FkgA98ezBFV0gVoLu_fSr7UnEivZjvn/s1600-h/Hpim0516+%283%29.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOzTgkPZyWwu1sDcStAys4m02yhniyDuPtinKU75TU9M6E91X-CqFYfozfvON8T4fsdVJqDBke0eaXc0UH5QBs7BRsqbdU_iKz0hpU9A-TJlv_FkgA98ezBFV0gVoLu_fSr7UnEivZjvn/s400/Hpim0516+%283%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248608378901977794" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's the videos - first one is recently, but before the crash. After the videos are my radio settings for the Blade 400 and DX7 radio.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1707288&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"> <embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1707288&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/1707288?pg=embed&sec=1707288">Blade 400 Light 3D</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user735482?pg=embed&sec=1707288">Jasmine2501</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/?pg=embed&sec=1707288">Vimeo</a>.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SbHgLt-U0L8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SbHgLt-U0L8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Radio settings</span><br />Aircraft Type: Heli<br />Model Name: Blade400<br />Swash Type: 3 Servos 120 degrees<br />Input Type: AUX2-AUX2 <span style="font-weight: bold;">GEAR-GYRO</span><br />Thro recovery: INH<br />Trainer: INH<br />(Is it possible I actually have 17 hours on this thing?!)<br /><br />OK then on the flight settings I have this:<br />OK on the dual rates screen, I have 30% expo on all three channels. VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure to switch the dual rate switch for each channel and program the same expo again. You will use the dual rate switches for other things and it's pretty important that you don't end up changing the expo when you do that, so program both options to the same expo and rate (100%) on all three channels.<br /><br />Timer: 6 minutes - gives me time to land<br />No programmable mixes are entered.<br /><br />OK, "Gyro sens" screen: Set it to Auto - then next to the "0:" set your gyro gain rate for normal mode. Then next to the "1:" set the gyro gain you use for idle-up. Mine are 74% and 71%, but I'm using a GY401 and these numbers are never the same for any two people, so you'll have to figure out the numbers for yourself. They may be different from the gain settings on your DX6i, but that's a good starting point. OK, then on the side I set NORM: 0, STNT:1, and HOLD:0.<br /><br />No revo mix is used - I'm not even sure what it is.<br /><br />Pitch curves are:<br />HOLD - 0-25-50-75-100<br />ST-2 - 0-25-50-75-100<br />ST-1 - 0-25-50-75-100 (these are all three the same, important for autos)<br />NORM - 35-INH-50-75-100 (INH lets it calculate the line for you)<br /><br />Throttle curve for ST-1 and ST-2 are both set to 100% all the way across.<br />Throttle curve for normal mode is set to 0-50-85-100-100, with "exp" activated which smooths out the line. You may want something different - don't be afraid to experiment. I'm at high altitude, and I find that this setting gets me off the ground nicely and pretty much eliminates any jumping when I switch in and out of idle-up mode.<br /><br />Thro Hold: -5.0% SW:GEAR (you could adjust this for your personal preference)<br /><br />Swash mix: AILE:-65% ELEV:+65% PIT.: +85% (again, personal preference, and checked to eliminate binding on my bird - I had to reduce the aile and elev channels. I may change that around though and reduce the pitch channel and increase the others. Just make sure you don't get any binding)<br /><br />My travel adjustments are all 100% at the moment. I've some CCPM coupling though, so I'll be messing with that eventually.<br /><br />I have the subtrims set to various numbers - I replaced the servos, so these numbers will be different for you. NO subtrim on the rudder... !<br /><br />Reversing: THRO:N, AILE:N, ELEV:R, RUDD:R, GEAR:N, PIT.:R, AUX2:N (again, this might be different for you because I use different servos.)Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-65138352945747423332008-06-24T00:45:00.006-06:002008-10-30T19:23:36.870-06:00Align TRex 450<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhinNHZSvof2qlCM6nzv92lKS4fXDsX32hyZXC4PVjmcpTfcoHp05qceKTIYNiBLKkUsYp-LVtZ9o5cJ5-RSVXZlH_sSMpyBQjPSPnKSCDfJwYfmqG_YSe2Yl8Hicb6hW2HbKRo5_bAH1L_/s1600-h/Hpim0490.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhinNHZSvof2qlCM6nzv92lKS4fXDsX32hyZXC4PVjmcpTfcoHp05qceKTIYNiBLKkUsYp-LVtZ9o5cJ5-RSVXZlH_sSMpyBQjPSPnKSCDfJwYfmqG_YSe2Yl8Hicb6hW2HbKRo5_bAH1L_/s400/Hpim0490.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215336096717308194" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Align TRex 450 - Custom Decals came out a little light. This is the most solidly built aircraft I have owned, but also the most expensive by far. If you count the battery and don't count the radio, it was a little over $700 all up. WELL WORTH IT!!!<br /><br />Spektrum radio - DX7 + AR6100<br />Align 35 ESC<br />Align 430L motor<br />Futaba GY401 Gyro<br />JR DS285 Cyclic servos<br />JR DS3400G Tail servo<br />Thunder Power Extreme 2200 battery<br /><br /><br />Video of the maiden flight.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GhaAkt0VL2U&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GhaAkt0VL2U&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-30637293556831927292008-06-12T23:31:00.002-06:002008-06-12T23:34:12.108-06:00Blade CP Pro<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4CFJo_8rtcxnEbD2oQFLwbD0hMoUq8vMxHz5z2ApITAHSAkbPFQvXogjWfMprt_1CjgBB0YXqSjzJ1vQwOD4ob-jiZ3eLuaeuvc_1aKbv3sZFJ_s_5TC2EOu6RciGuK4hQ0PnWxkFuW1/s1600-h/Hpim0483.jpg"><img style="margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4CFJo_8rtcxnEbD2oQFLwbD0hMoUq8vMxHz5z2ApITAHSAkbPFQvXogjWfMprt_1CjgBB0YXqSjzJ1vQwOD4ob-jiZ3eLuaeuvc_1aKbv3sZFJ_s_5TC2EOu6RciGuK4hQ0PnWxkFuW1/s400/Hpim0483.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211235157808797042" /></a><br /><br />E-Flite Blade CP Pro with carbon fiber main and tail blades, and metal swash plate. Also, I set this up to fly with my Spektrum DX7, and it flies a little better with the expo and other features of the DX7 radio.Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-32690271880002870822008-06-12T23:21:00.004-06:002008-08-09T18:52:18.133-06:00Seagull X-Ray<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAU739CbRZUCSsaG9sMHuD3yKIQH-MJF5fE_w_QXYOp_SfZy9sMlW__8PBDNwcPTyuZB8eFo3PMUSSRWs0gbLLSPm3c5f-Pes-IEHh3yBvkePHcSw0gCiseIYf4y35sLyla7I6prwHvUT/s1600-h/Hpim0473.jpg"><img style=" margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAU739CbRZUCSsaG9sMHuD3yKIQH-MJF5fE_w_QXYOp_SfZy9sMlW__8PBDNwcPTyuZB8eFo3PMUSSRWs0gbLLSPm3c5f-Pes-IEHh3yBvkePHcSw0gCiseIYf4y35sLyla7I6prwHvUT/s400/Hpim0473.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211232542828596834" /></a><br /><br /><br />This is my best 3D plane to date. It flies very nice and is way more durable than it looks. I did biff it in to the dirt one day pretty hard and all that broke was the wheel pants and prop. Pikachu is permanently mounted in the cockpit :)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/THQ5frKWhlU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/THQ5frKWhlU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-43990671240347352422008-06-12T23:15:00.003-06:002008-06-12T23:43:24.344-06:00E-Flite Funtana 300<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8E1L_1ei1r4XF-XhbCApiI3Mx9Gw0uMuwof75xQS81DtCqeTGom-3s6RQwmED9zeyujY0eOqbq7bpKQOi8h_QNw-H-SM_tCxZRE8JlxqIFSdpGQ6NNw_X6x91kIb6pepfqgTJND3LvJEh/s1600-h/Hpim0470.jpg"><img style="margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8E1L_1ei1r4XF-XhbCApiI3Mx9Gw0uMuwof75xQS81DtCqeTGom-3s6RQwmED9zeyujY0eOqbq7bpKQOi8h_QNw-H-SM_tCxZRE8JlxqIFSdpGQ6NNw_X6x91kIb6pepfqgTJND3LvJEh/s400/Hpim0470.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211231123772142642" /></a><br /><br /><br />This plane exploded in mid-air (kinda cool actually, hehehee), so I returned it for store credit. It flew wonderfully though... one of the best planes I've ever flown. It just needs reinforcement around the motor mount.Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-24668289145080089142008-06-12T23:11:00.002-06:002008-06-12T23:14:03.192-06:00Airfoilz Extra 260<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Q0uMpRxSLRk37ouiYZJZ0u8c0XO41JpjoNjhjTMFRt_18zjPqxf0sqjh-XzI9aS6uVJQTgtVAw_BKi2FaOlJmm1kySeECUL_7P9kKX4CwUWpkOYMEpRBPc8kUHCBGFWRMUO2wdxy5Lkg/s1600-h/Hpim0415.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Q0uMpRxSLRk37ouiYZJZ0u8c0XO41JpjoNjhjTMFRt_18zjPqxf0sqjh-XzI9aS6uVJQTgtVAw_BKi2FaOlJmm1kySeECUL_7P9kKX4CwUWpkOYMEpRBPc8kUHCBGFWRMUO2wdxy5Lkg/s400/Hpim0415.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211229974018060242" /></a><br /><br /><br />Airfoilz Extra 260 - I have crashed this plane 3 times fairly badly. It flies so well it tempts you to try moves you can't do. <a href="http://jazzyflight.blogspot.com/2008/04/airfoilz-extra-260-lazy-aerobatics.html">Click here</a> for video where I didn't crash it :)Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-60269512954936856932008-06-12T23:04:00.005-06:002008-08-09T18:41:21.122-06:00Pink Lightning - SIG Hummer Electric<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEj5WiUspSqfwJn424KXadth7mg3FrQC1ngkmtkNg50hDS2w-N-LrdrO1FrTeLXXJ83M1xqLjn2AxO6P1cNhY-p7v-_ndY4Ww-AmzWrcT21yftEzjxz6X91lko92ddGWTGCWguk-QMAZUI/s1600-h/Hpim0415.jpg"><img style=" margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEj5WiUspSqfwJn424KXadth7mg3FrQC1ngkmtkNg50hDS2w-N-LrdrO1FrTeLXXJ83M1xqLjn2AxO6P1cNhY-p7v-_ndY4Ww-AmzWrcT21yftEzjxz6X91lko92ddGWTGCWguk-QMAZUI/s400/Hpim0415.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211228410940925554" /></a><br /><br /><br />This is my SIG Hummer which I converted to electric. It goes over 100mph and is very aerobatic as well. Here's the video of the maiden flight, in which she reached 86mph!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kx2-3M3SmoY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kx2-3M3SmoY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0CpKXzO-qQg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0CpKXzO-qQg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-76593551632886088132008-04-28T22:09:00.001-06:002008-04-28T22:10:37.940-06:00Brio 10 Flying - Crash LandingFlying my Brio 10. When I was landing, the wind was blowing and it suddenly stopped, stalling my plane. There wasn't much I could do. The whole bottom of the fuselage needs to be re-built now....<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w_W-AR7jo5U&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w_W-AR7jo5U&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-91890148144389525472008-04-28T22:00:00.003-06:002008-04-28T22:07:42.091-06:00Airfoilz Extra 260 - Lazy AerobaticsVideo of my Extra 260 - I'm flying lazy aerobatics because I broke the wing completely off a couple weeks earlier and wasn't sure about the repairs.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sN6Zdxl_-rQ&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sN6Zdxl_-rQ&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-27240248151617299132008-04-28T21:13:00.002-06:002008-04-28T21:15:50.528-06:00SIG Hummer MaidenSIG Hummer Maiden Flight<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kx2-3M3SmoY&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kx2-3M3SmoY&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-24264730657319429502008-03-21T19:22:00.005-06:002008-03-21T20:07:04.372-06:00Be someone's inspirationI have only been flying RC about a year if you don't count a few hours as a kid, but after you read this, you'll know why I think it counts. I have been building (flying) model airplanes all my life though mostly free-flight stuff, paper planes, and I built my own free-flight helicopter as a kid (a modified Guillows glider). When I was maybe 7 until I was 12, I would often be cared for by the town mayor and his wife, Lester and Mary Rogers. He was the mayor, and one of the coolest people I'd ever met. He built and flew model airplanes which were all gas-powered, and he invented a thing called a "ufo" which is a bizarre free-flight vehicle, and he also built a lot of 'toys' which were technologically interesting to me at that age.<br /><br />This was Kansas farm country in the mid to late 1970s, and technology was nearly non-existent, and Lester (Mr. Rogers?) had HAM radio and other fun stuff. I remember he taught me how to make a pop gun with a manilla folder some typing paper and some tape. We must have killed each other hundreds of times with those things! Anyway, I must have annoyed the heck out of the guy, always begging to go fly planes, so he came up with other fun things to entertain me.<br /><br />I finally understand what he meant by "it's too windy, maybe later" - but when it wasn't, we would go fly planes and always had a good time. You know, in all those years I didn't actually see him crash once, but my dad tells me now that he used to crash all the time and tell funny stories about it. I do remember people in town finding his UFOs on their roofs and in their yards and stuff. It was a free-flight vehicle made from pie plates, and (I think) powered by a .049 motor, and designed to fly in one direction - straight up. Needless to say they almost always disappeared, but it was a small town and I'd like to think he probably got most of them back. He was the mayor after all.<br /><br />These days I know how amazing all this was at the time. It was 1976 and he was flying big 4-channel gassers, presumably with home-made equipment. Watching those airplanes in the beautiful Kansas skies at that age, I instantly fell in love with aviation. Ever since those days as an insufferably precocious child begging to go fly planes, I've been building airplanes in one form or another. I organized a paper airplane contest at my grade school one year, I've built hundreds of rubber powered planes of all kinds, and I've experimented with electric free-flight planes.<br /><br />That experience as a child gave me a real love for science and technology, and as I grew older I spent a lot of time learning about airplanes and other technologies. In the 1980s I became positively obsessed with computers and this led to my current career as a programmer, but I have always also loved electronics, physics, math, and of course, aviation. In 1999 I graduated from Hastings College with a degree in Biology, but I only worked briefly in that field before I went into computer programming.<br /><br />Now that I'm old enough to afford it, I have taken up RC airplanes and I really love it. It is the perfect way to combine my love of technology with aviation, and get out in the world and participate in a healthy hobby in the great outdoors, and meet other people who love it too! I have had the good fortune to meet many inspiring people over the years, but I credit Lester Rogers with starting a trend that has lasted a lifetime and has provided a lot of happiness, and led to a career that I enjoy. I sincerely hope that everyone has an opportunity, no matter what age they are, to meet inspiring people like this, and I hope that people will continue to take advantage of the opportunities to be inspiring and helpful to others as well, in this hobby and in all of life's endeavors. So get your neighbor, friend, or kid and get out there and fly some planes!<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">(If you haven't already done it, you should join one of the forums on <a href="http://www.wattflyer.com/">Wattflyer</a> or <a href="http://www.rcgroups.com/">RCGroups</a> and try to help out when you can, and if you can instruct, please sign up for the <a href="http://www.modelaircraft.org/parkflyer.aspx">AMA Park Pilot Partners Program</a> (I think they need more P words in that name) </span></span><br /><br />Over and out!<br />JasmineJasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-43776316326506152342008-02-26T22:26:00.002-07:002008-02-26T22:29:38.454-07:00Predator Bee<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1fSanRioA3l9TjRKiPczwSL4SbdfPmfdqkwXyB6cVYlZCdWK9sEM1RoxvAARBgXX6SRgc8feBNalIt9sETlsmk8JKUhtEGJjfaZ_vShLU4FUsA8E5rYSx2Y6yylABCkT4ROV_B_K8AVw/s1600-h/Hpim0355.jpg"><img style="margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt1fSanRioA3l9TjRKiPczwSL4SbdfPmfdqkwXyB6cVYlZCdWK9sEM1RoxvAARBgXX6SRgc8feBNalIt9sETlsmk8JKUhtEGJjfaZ_vShLU4FUsA8E5rYSx2Y6yylABCkT4ROV_B_K8AVw/s400/Hpim0355.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171527772545183778" /></a><br /><br /><br />This is a slope glider. That's right! No motors!Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-58381154754267155872008-02-09T00:10:00.000-07:002008-02-09T01:09:46.635-07:00Practicing with a flight simulatorPracticing with a flight simulator such as FMS or Realflight can make a big difference in your skills advancement. For beginners it can make the difference between crashing on your first flight and NOT crashing on your first flight. For experts, it can improve your precision and reactions with more advanced maneuvers and teach you how to "feel out" a new plane much faster.<br /><br />These are not necessarily in order, but they do get harder as you go down the list. The first few should be done with 3-channels planes if you're new, and 4-channel planes as you get better... the last ones will <span style="font-style: italic;">require</span> 4-channel planes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVvDrt5zyHbEpE7_4-cUnG6t0BWky5rwOuHPXC4aoppFdKagfIhzipUYFr3_CQ-P44PGYUaLGm9Mbne8X1bW7VfmeX8f5airqTxHbfx8eKDJWqVXOxeiY-RDgK4_X0uyvmYARqiYwErKG/s1600-h/ScreenShot1202543525.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVvDrt5zyHbEpE7_4-cUnG6t0BWky5rwOuHPXC4aoppFdKagfIhzipUYFr3_CQ-P44PGYUaLGm9Mbne8X1bW7VfmeX8f5airqTxHbfx8eKDJWqVXOxeiY-RDgK4_X0uyvmYARqiYwErKG/s400/ScreenShot1202543525.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164886026528714770" border="0" /></a><br />1. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Taking off in a straight line without stalling</span> - practice this with an under-powered plane that stalls easily. Try it with different wind directions and try to do it with the plane out of trim.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Le</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ft turns and right turns</span> - they are different. Try these coming toward you as much as possible. Learn to do it without losing altitude. Try big turns first and then make them sharper until you can do it in all 4 directions without losing altitude. Do this until it is second nature - until you don't have to think about it. Practice this with 3-channels first, then go up to 4-channel planes where you'll "bank and yank" - rolling and pulling up to make the turn. Return to straight and level flight after each turn. Then when you are good at that, practice linking your turns without flying level in between each turn.<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Landings</span> - same as take-offs - try it with different wind settings and try it with the plane out of trim. Try landing with an over-powered plane that glides well, and then try it with an under-powered plane that stalls easily and needs to be landed at a higher speed. The Pitts in FMS is good for this... you can't just cut the throttle and let it float down like a Slow Stick.<br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice flying a pre-determined flight path</span> beginning with a take-off and ending with a landing. The take-off and landing should be in the same direction. Try it with different wind settings. Try figure-8 patterns and left-hand and right-hand circles. One of the mistakes I made when I was learning was to always fly left-hand patterns - this became a small problem at the club one day when the wind was blowing the other way... I had to fly a right-hand pattern, and it actually did mess up my thinking a bit. Practice both directions equally.<br /><br />5. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice simple loops</span> - get some airspeed and pull full up elevator and stop when the plane recovers back to level flight. Gradually make your loops bigger and learn to reduce the throttle at the top of the loop to make a more perfect circle. Some planes can not do a big loop - learn to recognize this. Learn to recognize when your loop is not going to make it, and figure out how to "roll out" of a loop that is not going to end well. You will know what I mean when you practice it.<br /><br />6. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice recovering from trouble</span>. Stall the plane and recover. Put it into a spin and recover. Get a 3-channel plane on its side and recover. Have someone move your trims to a weird spot and practice taking off and trimming the plane and then landing. If you have RealFlight, you can program it to simulate problems with the plane - this is very helpful, since problems during flight do occur and this feature can help you learn to save a plane that is not functioning correctly.<br /><br />(Those are the basics - for the rest of these you will want a 4-channel plane)<br /><br />7. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Try simple rolls using ailerons only</span> - point the nose slightly up and roll the plane all the way over and back to upright and level flight - then get back into the pre-determined flight pattern. Your rolls will make an arcing path (gaining and losing altitude), but this is ok at this point.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVNJ7_axXEyZ2WQ7W49wSA-MAWNR4ebSdUBf89RD-2Saiyswfd2P05F2AjSgS4nJXDE_tyDP0YD_6ucfysNXCXSCEL7r5vUMMf-jFWhCpA_xEtKZAIZZTylGcznWw5CDEvO2_mUhqwah_/s1600-h/ScreenShot1202543298.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVNJ7_axXEyZ2WQ7W49wSA-MAWNR4ebSdUBf89RD-2Saiyswfd2P05F2AjSgS4nJXDE_tyDP0YD_6ucfysNXCXSCEL7r5vUMMf-jFWhCpA_xEtKZAIZZTylGcznWw5CDEvO2_mUhqwah_/s400/ScreenShot1202543298.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164885107405713410" border="0" /></a><br />8. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fly inverted in a straight line</span> for short periods. Roll the plane upside-down and use up-stick to hold it level. Then roll back to upright straight and level flight.<br /><br />9. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice perfectly straight and level flight.</span> This is harder than it sounds. Learn what a plane looks like when it's flying level. If you are seeing the wing edge-on, you are not level. A plane that is higher than your head and flying level will show you a little bit of the bottom of the wing. Learn what this looks like. At this point, you will be practicing more precision flight, where before, you were just noodling around getting your reactions straight. Try this inverted as well, and in various wind conditions. Learn to use the rudder to keep your plane tracking straight.<br /><br />10. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice rolls using the rudder</span> to keep the plane tracking level during the portion of the roll when it's on its side. For a left-hand roll, the sequence is this: holding left aileron through the whole roll, first apply right rudder as the plane gets on its side, then apply a bit of down elevator when the plane is inverted, then a little left rudder as the plane is on the other side, then return to level flight. You may want to break this up into a 4-point roll to slow things down, but eventually you should be able to do a smooth roll without stopping and without gaining or losing altitude.<br /><br />11. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice flying the pattern inverted</span>. Learn to make turns when you are inverted, using the rudder and ailerons to bank and turn. Learn to control the throttle and use down elevator to keep the plane from losing altitude.<br /><br />12. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice knife-edge flight</span>. Use the rudder to hold altitude and the elevator to make turns. Try to fly figure-8 patterns and try rolling from side to side. Practice entering the knife-edge from upright and inverted positions. When entering the knife-edge from upright flight, you will "cross the sticks" with the rudder and ailerons, but when you enter from inverted, your aileron and rudder direction will be the same. Do this until it becomes instinct. Learn the exact right moment to apply the rudder... too soon and your plane will not track straight... too late and you'll lose altitude. Try to slow down the knife-edge flight until you enter a knife-edge "harrier" maneuver. This is one of the easiest of the "3D" moves to do. Learn to control the throttle to hold the plane in the knife-edge at about a 45-degree angle, still moving to the side, but very slowly. This will help you to learn to hover later.<br /><br />13. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Try precision "pattern flying"</span> - this involves doing loops and rolls and combinations of those while making very precise straight lines. You will be drawing patterns in the air, with smooth radii and straight lines. This is a competitive style of flying, and it is difficult, but it allows you to judge your progress because it is very easy to see when you've gone off line. The basic pattern maneuvers for the Beginner (or Sportsman) level of competition are listed <a href="http://www.nsrca.org/technical/beginners/begin3.htm">here</a>. Learn to do these moves perfectly. If you have Realflight, you can record your flight and play it back later. I find this very helpful in judging how well I did. As you progress, look up the advanced pattern sequences and practice some of the more advanced moves. Pattern flying is a never-ending challenge - you can never be perfect.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGY0jNhtl2SdcL6Zm08F1ShqcaLScl_p1Fz37xqchKic9zYEmLswVqjrY7lf6HMyteVdsiHeUqB08zvHMlWV_QL1A7YLVPQUgeUpCt8dhqbq0WFtFPk1O7qgVLoOAKBG-TB-SZBVHjlfS/s1600-h/ScreenShot1202542961.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGY0jNhtl2SdcL6Zm08F1ShqcaLScl_p1Fz37xqchKic9zYEmLswVqjrY7lf6HMyteVdsiHeUqB08zvHMlWV_QL1A7YLVPQUgeUpCt8dhqbq0WFtFPk1O7qgVLoOAKBG-TB-SZBVHjlfS/s400/ScreenShot1202542961.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164883870455132146" border="0" /></a><br />14. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice harriers and other "3D" moves</span>. There are entire articles about this. When you get to this point, you will know what to do. Learn to hover and harrier, and learn the flat spins and other fun moves. In my opinion, this is the pinnacle of precision flying. If you can do this stuff, get the hell off the simulator and go out and fly already. Or if you have Realflight, go online and find me and show me your stuff!<br /><br />This by no means is a set order of learning. You can practice the advanced stuff in any order you want. This list is not intended to be a step-by-step lesson plan, but is more intended to help you identify specific areas where the simulator practice can help you improve your skills for real-life flying. Most of all, have fun!<br /><br />Over and out!<br />JasmineJasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-40981931918655890732008-01-14T13:45:00.000-07:002008-01-14T14:00:59.906-07:00Energy usage and motors and propellers(this is in response to <a href="http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29190">this thread</a> - questions about props and pitch and diameter and so on)<br /><br />You're correct so far about props, but it's fairly complicated. Here's the long explanation...<br /><br />We know that energy can not be destroyed, right? So that means that any electricity you send into a motor will either be turned into kinetic energy by spinning the prop, or heat, which is the enemy of metal parts. That's beside the point really, but keep it in the back of your mind for when I talk about efficiency, because the losses due to lowered efficiency show up as heat, usually in the motor wires, some in the bearings too.<br /><br />First some definitions:<br />A <b>Newton </b>is a unit of <i>force </i>- it is the force required to accelerate a one kilogram mass by 1 meter per second squared. So, if you apply 1 Newton of force to a 1 kilogram mass for one second, it's final speed will be 1 meter per second faster than it was before you started applying the force.<br /><br />A <b>Joule </b>is a unit of <i>energy </i>- it is the amount of energy expended by a 1 Newton force over a distance of 1 meter.<br /><br />A <b>Watt </b>is a unit of the <i>rate of energy</i> usage - it is one Joule per second.<br /><br />The units of electricity usage were set up deliberately such that 1 volt times 1 amp will be one watt of energy usage - 1 Joule per second.<br /><br />So, if you have a 1 kilogram airplane, and you want it to accelerate at 1 meter per second per second, you need to have one watt of power. If there was no drag or gravity or anything, your theoretical plane would be going 1 meter per second after 1 second of time, and speed would be 2 meters per second after 2 seconds of time, and so on.<br /><br />When you measure the wattage of your power system, this is exactly what it means... so for example, my Brio draws 250 watts, and it weighs about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds). This means that if all the energy put out by the battery were used to accelerate the plane, it would have acceleration of 125 meters per second per second. Obviously, the Brio doesn't go that fast... so there is some huge losses going on there.<br /><br />The losses are due to the efficiency of the motor (about 85%), giving approximately 40 watts lost as heat in the motor. If you've ever put your hand on a 40 watt light bulb, you know that's a lot of heat. The rest of the losses are due to the drag of the plane and the propeller itself. Propellers are not very efficient - anywhere from 10% to 50% loss. On small planes at normal speeds it's closer to 50% losses. So now my Brio has about 100 watts remaining, and that is being turned into kinetic energy...<br /><br />However, it is not all turned into forward momentum... some of it is lost to drag, and some of it is turned into lift by the wing. An airplane must consistently overcome the force of gravity time its own weight. That is 19.8 Newtons for my 2-kilo plane... every second - meaning I need 20 watts worth of lift just to stay in the air. Wings are horribly inefficient, so I'm wasting a ton of energy just turning forward momentum into lift.<br /><br />It was a long journey, but here's where the propeller comes in...<br /><br />A propeller has two measurements... diameter and pitch. Diameter is obviously just the length of the thing. Pitch is a little more complicated... it is defined as the linear distance that the propeller would move if it was turned one revolution in a thick fluid (air is not a thick fluid). A 10x6 prop will move 6 inches forward in one revolution, but a 50x6 prop will also move 6 inches forward in one revolution, but it will use a lot more energy - but it will use it more efficiently.<br /><br />Thrust is the acceleration force of the propeller - it is the amount of Newtons that the prop creates. Multiply that by a distance, and you have Newtons times meters, and remember, that is the definition of a Joule. Multiply that by a unit of time, and you have Joules times seconds, which was the definition of a Watt. So, to bring that full circle, the Watts used by the prop are directly related to the thrust it creates, bigger diameter props use more Watts, have more Newtons, and we call that more thrust. The 50x6 propeller is going to have more of that, even though the pitch is still the same as the 10x6.<br /><br />I know that was a convoluted explanation, and for those who don't want to know why things are the way they are, it's simple enough to say what Sir Raleigh said... more diameter, more thrust, even if the pitch is the same.<br /><br />Pitch is indirectly related to speed, but it's fairly complicated. If the RPM is kept the same, more pitch will result in both more thrust and more speed, because the speed if there was no slipping or drag or anything, would be the pitch times the RPM... it would be 6 inches times the number of rotations, divided by a time period, and a distance divided by a time period is the definition of speed. It is not that simple though, and more pitch will only create more speed if you can keep the RPM the same. Due to losses from efficiency problems and drag and lift and so on, there is never a direct relationship between pitch and speed. Speed comes from thrust, so if you want the plane to go faster, you need more thrust (more Newtons of force). In practice, what we see is that increasing the pitch gives more force, and we realize an increase in speed, but it is not that simple. You only get more speed (which requires more thrust) when you can keep the RPM the same. With electric motors, the RPM will drop a little when you increase the pitch, but not by much, so we do see more speed.<br /><br />I know that is more than what you wanted to hear, but these things are never simple. I just hope that if you could stand to read that all, you'll understand more why we have to measure things. It is not a guarantee that increasing the pitch will give more speed, but if you increase the diameter, you will have more energy usage, and that always translates to more power, more speed, more everything... but it also means you may overwork the motor.Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-49885222096583940782008-01-07T22:43:00.001-07:002008-08-09T18:39:38.284-06:00SIG Riser<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPD7JmiBZ7VVb4Sf9kxrJ6-4F1Sv2Xsz9aXcAkvbb6_CQS6YgTscCOvxs0UYRWAkkbl-NqE3yNMuLRaARa6dQbhFxfn92d288B2j4HzVHyIh9iwaJlQqnw840FQ8eUWgPWJC8ngYX5mCW/s1600-h/Hpim0314.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPD7JmiBZ7VVb4Sf9kxrJ6-4F1Sv2Xsz9aXcAkvbb6_CQS6YgTscCOvxs0UYRWAkkbl-NqE3yNMuLRaARa6dQbhFxfn92d288B2j4HzVHyIh9iwaJlQqnw840FQ8eUWgPWJC8ngYX5mCW/s400/Hpim0314.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5152979541165529602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is my SIG Riser - it was fun to build and I covered it myself. It is a 2 meter glider, but I'm going to put a motor on the front. This is the first plane that I built and covered myself, and I think it came out pretty good!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g6zQu2DHTtE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g6zQu2DHTtE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Jasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-695056316554337660.post-24470175939363889142007-12-27T13:08:00.000-07:002007-12-27T14:15:53.115-07:00Troubleshooting 72MHz RC SystemsSometimes, you plug everything together and it just doesn't work. In this case it's good to be able to figure out what part is broken. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you figure it out. I assume that your radio is transmitting, and if it's not there really is no way to know. If none of this stuff works, you can assume that your transmitter is at fault, but that's usually the last thing to go wrong. This guide only applies to 72MHz systems with electric motors, and assumes that all your parts are quality parts. If you have low-quality parts, the first thing you want to do is replace them with higher quality parts and see if that fixes the problem.<br /><br />First, plug everything together like in this video:<br /><a href="http://jazzyflight.blogspot.com/2007/09/video-wiring-up-3-channel-brushless.html">RC Wiring</a><br /><br />OK, now what is the problem:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Servos don't move and motor won't start:</span><br />1. Possibly "transmission not received" - see below<br />2. Check the battery with a voltmeter - should be 4.2 volts per cell if using Lipo, and 1.2 volts per cell if using Nicad/NiMH. Charge it up if it's not fully charged.<br />3. Make sure the ESC is properly programmed for your battery type.<br />4. Try using a receiver battery on the receiver. If this works then you probably have a bad ESC, or the ESC does not have a battery eliminator circuit (BEC) or the BEC is not functioning. Replace the ESC with a new one that has a BEC.<br />5. Try reversing the plugs into the receiver on the servos and ESC. They won't work if plugged in backwards, but it won't harm them.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Servos work but motor won't run:</span><br />1. Check all the connections with an Ohm-meter. Make sure they are tight and conducting.<br />2. Make sure the motor isn't shorted or damaged. The easiest way is to try another motor that you know works properly. The other way is to test it with an ohm-meter or testing lights. For brushed motors, you should be able to run current through the leads and there should be no current between the leads and the housing. For brushless motors, there should be connectivity between each of the three leads to the other two, and no connectivity between any of the leads and the housing.<br />3. Try reversing the throttle channel on your radio<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Motor runs but servos don't work:</span><br />1. Try reversing the plugs on the servos into the receiver.<br />2. Try different servos.<br />3. Try the same servos in different channels.<br />4. Try replacing the ESC - if this solves the problem then your ESC is bad, or it does not have a battery eliminator circuit (BEC) and you will have to use a different ESC, or use separate battery to power the receiver.<br />5. Try using a receiver battery plugged into the receiver. If this works, then again, your ESC is bad or its BEC is not functioning or it doesn't have a BEC.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Motor starts and stops or servos randomly move:</span><br />1. This is almost always a sign of "transmission not received"<br />2. Make sure the transmitter is on full charge. Some radios will have a very weak signal when the battery is down to 60-70% charge. Make sure it is charged up all the way.<br />3. Pull the antenna up on the transmitter and see if this helps. Make sure the antenna is screwed tightly into the base.<br />4. If you've done all that and the signal is still not received, continue in this list.<br />5. Check the receiver antenna. It should be fully extended, with no loops, and should not be touching any metal parts. It should be firmly soldered to the receiver.<br />6. Check the receiver crystal. It should be pushed all the way in and taped in place so it doesn't jiggle loose. Loose crystals are a common problem.<br />7. Check to make sure the channels are correct. Your radio will have a channel number on it somewhere, like "72.150" and the receiver crystal should have the exact same number marked on it. If these numbers are different, nothing will work and you will have to replace the crystal with one for the correct channel.<br />8. Replace the receiver and crystal with another one. If this does not solve the problem then it is likely that your transmitter is bad. Send it in to the manufacturer and have them fix it. You can not service your radio per FCC regulations. Don't even try it. To confirm that the radio is bad, you would need another one on the same channel, which you are sure works properly, and test to see if the signal is received from that one.<br /><br /><br />This guide only covers the most common problems, and there are many other things that can go wrong. If you haven't checked all this stuff though, please check it before you post a question on a forum. I will add things to this guide when I discover them, so please let me know if there's a problem you can't fix.<br /><br />Over and out!<br />JasmineJasminehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09618734526176282409noreply@blogger.com0