Flight Chronicles - Wounded Child and a Pile Driver

My bird has been very unruly lately. I have been through two tail motors and much frustration trying to fly it. Turns out, what I really needed was patience. I talked to the mentor today, and got a few pointers. After that, I was determined to tame the bird. I took more care tweaking the gain and proportional, and I'll be dogonned, patience and minor tweaks are better than drastic changes. O.K, so I new that. But sometimes my impatience gets the best of me, and it takes a little talking off the cliff to bring me back to my senses. Thanks Oracle, I needed that.

This evening was perfect for flying. I can not remember a gust of wind during my flight, other than the wash of the blades as it hovered near me. If I had more time, I would attempt that other beast. The yellow one that taunts me every time I near it. Lets me know, it is still in control. I would take it out for another round and show it, I have not given up. For, my goal is to tame the plane before the summer ends. Well, secondary goal that is. First is the heli. I do think the heli flying will help with my plane. It has shown me patience, and how little to correct the stick. So I think the next time out with the plane may be promising. In the mean time, back to the heli.

I learned a couple of valuable lessons today. They are:

• Don't fly over women and children
• How the bird acts 20 feet above ground when the battery is dying out
  

Yeah, unfortunately I learned them at the same time. The wife and youngest were out watching me fly in the back yard, sitting in their patio chairs enjoying the show. All of a sudden, I was about 20 feet in the air and it starts wigging out on me. The tail starts off left, then right, it seems everything I do is either overcompensating, or under compensating. Unfortunately, I am directly above my wife and youngest. My only thought is, don't land on them, and avoid the fence. Mostly, don't land on them. Well, any bets? O.K. so I kind of gave it away already. Yep, right on top of the youngest. The main blade smacked her right in the cheek. All is well, those plastic blades scare more than hurt. I have certainly taken my share of smacks. But then again, I am not 11, and things tend to hurt more at 11 than old age. She is doing much better now.

So that was the wounded child. Now lets talk about the pile driver. Yeah, you thought that was it. Nope. I had a second battery waiting to be discharged, and I so hate to disappoint an eager battery. So I slapped her in and away I went. I am determined to get the left side in and right side in hover. I was working left side in when in a fraction of a second I went nose in. No problem right? I will just turn tail in quick and get control. Sure thing, in the midst of that attempt, the heli went ballistic on me, turned course straight for the garage and stopped. That is when it reached the garage. Garage 1, heli 0. I thought for sure it was going to be down for the count. It was a very similar crash to when I hit the house. Except, when I hit the house it was at more of a downward angle, this was a direct hit, then fall straight to the ground, where soft dirt was awaiting. That little helicopter is a trooper though. I checked her out and sent her off flying once again. Not to be deterred, I went right back to left side in hovers. I think I am slowly getting it. I can just tell, it is going to be a while before my fingers get wired directly to the controls and automatically correct movement. In time, it will come.

Till the next still day,

-JbJ

The Projects - Patio Time

So the wife wants a patio. Yeah, I have been putting this project off for quite some time now, so I finally gave in. This last weekend we didn't have anything going on, so why not build a patio. Saturday I rented the tiller, o.k, attempted to rent a tiller. Turns out someone else also wanted the same tiller. Great, he was going to be done by 3:00. I'll just wait till then. In the mean time we can go pick out the pavers. We wanted to match the sidewalk pavers we put in last summer. Unfortunately, Menards doesn't carry them any more. Strike 2, this project is not starting off well.

We didn't see anything we liked that matched close enough, so we headed to Home Depot and picked out a brick we liked their. We are in business. Problem is, it is getting close to three, and I was supposed to pick up that tiller. Now I have 3 loads of brick and paver base to transport home. Turns out that stuff is a lot heavier than I thought. I am going to need to take 3 loads. I started out with a load of 30 pavers, which is about 1200 pounds, close to the max load of the Suburban. Called Suburban Ace and asked them if my tiller was in? Nope, the previous renter had not returned it yet. "Great" I thought, leaving them to believe that I still wanted it this afternoon, I sounded disappointed, but told them that I would just pick it up the next morning when they open. Knowing darn well I was not going to get the dirt tilled today. I had a lot of pavers and rocks to move. So, 3 loads and ~7000 pounds later all my materials had been procured. For those of you doing the math, thinking what a liar I am, after all, 3 loads @ 1200 pounds a piece is 3600 pounds. Well, the first load I only took 30 pavers. The second and third load I pushed the Suburban a little more and took my 30 pavers, but I also added 35 and 40 bags of paver base each time, this added another 1500 pounds. So There!!! Thanks to the kids for helping unload the pavers and bags of rock.

The next day, I picked up the tiller and my lovely wife and I began to loosen ground and remove dirt. I originally rented the tiller for 2 hours, thankfully, due to the mishap on the previous day, they were very leniant and let me keep it for 4 hours. Worked out great, cause I took most of that.







Well, we laid out the paver base, some sand and started putting down pavers.













Two rows later the tornado sirens start going off. Great, this is going to put a damper on things, I thought. Well, the weather was calm, so we decided to carry on, that is after shooing the kids in to the basement to watch T.V. A few minutes later, the wind was starting to pick up and it started to rain. Guess this is it, lets cover it up. So we found some plastic, coverd up the sand and put most everything away. About the time we picked up the site, the weather calmed down. Great, what do we do now? We were both exhausted, and a break would be great, but we both wanted to finish it. So we decided since it was packed up we would start working on it until the weather drove us back inside. Thankfully enough, the weather held out the rest of the evening and we were able to finish. Sweet, cause I did not want to start laying pavers the next day. I figured I was going to be very sore.

Here it is, my new patio. I am going to enjoy it. Especially not having to move the lawn furniture and grill every time I mow any more. Wooo Hooo. You all need to come over for a little back yard BBQ on the new patio. Maybe we can follow it up by a bon fire.









Catch you all later,

-JbJ

Flight Chronicles - Bird still bad

DAMN, so I swapped out the tail motor. Those things must be touchy. O.K. moving back in time a bit, I moved my tail boom fin forward, leaving the support post all by it self. Well, this support post does a crucial function, it keeps the tail rotor from dragging on the ground during take off (Not landings, since it really has no affect when the bird approaches the surface at break neck speeds, or sideways). Well, with the fin missing, the support post, having no fin support, eventually broke off. Not a big deal I figured, I am getting this take off thing down any how. WRONG!!! Now I need to take off very carefully, and it is difficult to keep the tail rotor from dragging on the ground. If you know anything about electronics (Yeah, I know all three of you that read this do), you know that a motor that is not in motion provides very little resistance to current, and high current for extended periods of time = bad for motors. This is exactly where I believe I went wrong. I just did not believe it would burn out that quick.

Any how, I flew for almost a complete battery, it was handling so sweet with that new tail motor too. Well, I guess those few times I drug it on the ground were a little much for it to handle. Towards the end of the battery life, it was starting to handle as though the old motor was in it. "Maybe the battery is close to dead", I thought. Nope, put the new battery in, and I can hardly take off (those cement steps are hard). So I need another new tail rotor motor, and this time I will get something to keep the tail blades from dragging on the ground. Maybe this is the right time to get that direct drive kit.

Oh well, live and learn. Flying is still fun, that one battery was like that sweet drive off the tee in front of the clubhouse. That one drive keeps you coming back. I am determined to fly this thing nose in by end of summer.

-JbJ

Flight Chronicles - Bird gone bad

The chopper has a mind of its own. Flying it is like flying a Boeing 747 without fly by wire technology. As soon as it leaves the ground, it wants to spin, and spin, and spin. It is out of control I tell ya. Any how, I am not sure what is going on, but I think it is time for another major tune up. The last time I did it, it flew like a champ. I fear though, that the tail motor may be on the fritz, it spins up, but it is not holding the tail well. I just hope it is not the gyro unit, it is the most expensive replacement part. I will give it a tune up and see what happens. If not, at least a motor is not difficult to come by.

I'm tired, good night,

-JbJ

Flight Chronicles - Slow Goin'

This flying thing sure takes a lot of super glue, thread, parts, and most of all... patience. Yeah, it is a lot of fun to learn, but man, I want to fly like an eagle. So far I feel more like that fly that keeps beating his head on the glass just trying to get to the other side.

O.K, now that I have that out of my system, I will quit my whining.

It was a little windy today, but I had the urge to fly. So I flew. That is, after I replaced the broken part. It was a good thing I guessed right last time I ordered parts and ordered extra of the right things. So a few minutes after fixing the bird up, I was flying. I have this hover tail in thing down quite well. But the left side in is getting the best of me. Not to mention that the small gusts of wind today made it a terrible day to practice what I don't know. But this evening, right before the sun dropped below the surface, the wind died down, and it was perfect. What did I learn today, well, I have learned not to practice over concrete surfaces or near hard objects, grills in particular. Thankfully the heli bounced off of the grill without injury. Oh, and I also learned that when a small gust of wind comes around, it can have a tendency to take the heli straight up. Yeah, that hurt too.

All right, I need to get back to doing something else unproductive. So that being said, happy flying.

-JbJ

Flight Chronicles - The bird's all tuned up

An RC helicopter sure takes a beating when an inexperienced pilot is behind the controls. Funny how you don't even notice how bad it is flying after a while. This weekend I removed all the gunk out of the gears, rewrapped the landing gear in sewing thread and super glue (cyanoacrylate for you Ray), and fixed the gyro mount (it was kind of hanging by rubber bands and sticky pads and bouncing around in the cabin). What a difference, it feels a new bird, kind of like it did when I took it out of the box. Well, at least I think it does, since I am not real sure. When I took it out of the box I could hardly hang 5 seconds of hover time. Now I can hover all day, or at least a full battery charge, tail in of course. I tried left side in and, well, lets just say I need a new set of main blades. But in the mean time cyanoacrylate and packing tape is doing the trick to keep her in the air. Surprisingly, quite balanced as well. I have even removed the training balls. Now it is time to work on forward flight, side hovers, oh, and landings, they are tough. I am up to about 15 seconds on left side hover before I have to bring the tail back in, hopefully that will improve quickly and I won't have to be so dependent on tail in flight. I also need to work on right side in at the same time, I don't want to be better on one side or the other. It is funny how they are so much more difficult on the real thing than they are in the simulator, even Rays fancy simulator is much easier than the real thing. Oh well, I will get there. Tick tocks by Christmas (2015 maybe).

Oh well, I am out, gotta retune the bird from my previous flight. Oh, and I have some video from a bit ago, I will get it posted soon.

-JbJ

Flight Chronicles - Parts are in

The heli is no longer grounded due to broken parts. I returned home today to find that sweet little brown package stuffed in the door full of little goodies. I even ordered a few extras, so hopefully if, err, when I break more, I have guessed correctly so I can be flying quickly after.

After replacing the pieces I gave it a quick hover test in the basement. All went well, no more darting left. It seems all of the simulation time I have been putting in has been helping as well. My hover seems much more stable on the heli now. As soon as I get some spare time and a good day I will record some video for all to see. I am going to try and wait for a calm day for this. Since I have experienced the great outdoors, I like flying there better. More room for error. Although with that comes more room for larger crashes.

That is all for now folks,

-JbJ

Bumper Talk

Hah!!! I saw a great bumper sticker today.

Guns kill people in the same way spoons make Rosie Fat.

It may not be a new one, but it sure made me laugh.

O.K. I wanted to get some chatter going on the e-mail sent out by Harq. If you haven't already read it, I have posted it below.

From Joseph Farah's commentary

For president: None of the above

---

Posted: May 01, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

© 2008

It's probably no secret to anyone who reads my column regularly that I will not be voting for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for president.

But I will also not be voting for John McCain.

I could tell you all the reasons, and have already expressed them myself in a number of columns in recent months. But, this time, I'll let someone with whom I seldom agree express them for me.

His name is Jonathan Chait, senior editor of the New Republic. Here's what he wrote in that magazine:

"Even though it is in the public record, McCain's voting behavior during Bush's first term is almost never mentioned in the press anymore. Yet McCain's secret history is simply astonishing. It is no exaggeration to say that, during this crucial period, McCain was the most effective advocate of the Democratic agenda in Washington.

"In health care, McCain co-sponsored, with John Edwards and Ted Kennedy, a patients' bill of rights. He joined Chuck Schumer to sponsor one bill allowing the re-importation of prescription drugs and another permitting wider sale of generic alternatives. All these measures were fiercely contested by the health care industry and, consequently, by Bush and the GOP leadership. On the environment, he sponsored with John Kerry a bill raising automobile fuel-efficiency standards and another bill with Joe Lieberman imposing a cap-and-trade regime on carbon emissions. He was also one of six Republicans to vote against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. …

(Column continues below)

"McCain voted against the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. He co-sponsored bills to close the gun-show loophole, expand AmeriCorps, and federal airport security. All these things set him against nearly the entire Republican Party."

It is no wonder McCain actively courted the idea of switching parties before his run for the presidency. He clearly belongs in the Democratic Party – even in these times when there is so little distinction between the two major parties.

No matter who becomes president this year, the White House will become a bully pulpit for the religion of global warming.

No matter who becomes president this year, the White House will support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

No matter who becomes president this year, the White House will be in the corner of those who want more government regulation of campaign finance, meaning more restrictions on fundamental First Amendment rights.

No matter who becomes president this year, the White House will be firmly in the corner of wildly out-of-control illegal immigration, firmly opposed to building the barriers needed to suppress it and in favor of some form of amnesty for tens of millions of illegal aliens already here.

No matter who becomes president this year, the White House will oppose tax cuts, as McCain did in 2001 and 2003.

No matter who becomes president this year, the White House will name judges and justices more in the mold of American Civil Liberties Union political director Ruth Bader Ginsburg (whom McCain supported) than President Bush's judicial nominees defeated by the Gang of 14 (organized by McCain).

In other words, there is simply no reason for me to support McCain – no matter who his vice presidential nominee might be.

John McCain may indeed win the presidency. But it won't be because he is in tune with the will of the American people. It will be because they don't really know John McCain's record and because the Democratic Party will be split over the schism created between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

But John McCain won't get any help from me. He won't get my vote. In fact, to be honest, if the Republican Party is ever going to recover itself and become the party it was under Ronald Reagan, it will happen faster if John McCain is beaten. It will happen faster if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton gets elected and implement the Big Brother, socialist agenda they both endorse.

Bring it on. I'll do my best to expose it. Maybe the American people will wake up and rediscover the meaning of freedom after tasting elitist, top-down, command-and-control, centralized socialism.

We're all going to experience it in the next four years. It's simply a question of who is going to be force-feeding it to us. I'd rather it come from the Democrats, so the American people know whom to blame.