Learning To Fly.. without wings...

Good Day...

Flew the helicopter again last night, and I dare say, successfully... the repairs added a little tail weight, which oddly enough seems to help it fly better... I've also been pounding the simulator, 30 to 60 minutes per day, and it seems to be working. I'm starting to sense how much easier this thing is to fly than a conventional Rotor-tail boom design...

I should back up, my new helicopter is an "entry level" style with 2 main rotors, which counter-rotate, thus theoretically cancelling out the torque effects of the main rotor, and thus no tail rotor is necessary.

Theoretically, this could work, and probably does work, but I remain convinced that my right side motor, for the top rotor, is not performing. Either that, or I have a defective drive shaft. My top rotor is just not turning hard enough to match the bottom.

Since the crash on the previous flight, I need a body kit anyway, so maybe I'll order a couple more motors while I'm at it, and see if I can get 2 that match each other better... My mix control is maxed out, I've been dialing up the gyro... I'm convinced this is all due to the fundamental imbalance in the rotors.

Enough about that though, I took it to work, to a big indoor area, and flew it pretty nicely. NO crashes, not even really any real scary moments. It hit nothing. I flew it around in a racetrack pattern in a big area, and it went fine... It even landed rather gently on the cement floor, on it's skids. I know, amazing.

My Hobby Guy, Big Mike, will be glad to hear that what this little whirlybird is doing is causing me to want a Blade CP...

The other little nagging thing about it, and this is a nitpick, is the instructions say the charger should recharge the battery in 60-75 minutes. Ehhhh! More like 2.5 hours...

Now that I've bored everyone who deosn't fly, let's see... got some coins yesterday from EFence... very nice. Turns out they were a really good deal. I paid like $7-ish apiece in a "pre-order" type of deal.... now that they're out, the lowest price I could find was $30 each... not bad.

The E-Dog yesterday got me all fired up for an Escalade EXT again.... thanks buddy. Heh heh, maybe after we get a new contract.... best I can offer.

PGR3 - review the last post, that's Project Gotham Racing 3 for the XBox 360... I drove the Cadillac Sixteen in a "drift" challenge... yikes. Correct that, I'm not sure they need to build that... better focus on the Cien instead... and of course, bring back the Eldorado (keeps pounding the drum...) The Sixteen is like a limo, with a monster V-16 motor... so it smokes the tires constantly, the rear end slides all over... and it's so big, it's constantly crashing into something while sliding all over the road.... what a nightmare... Imagine a 96 Fleetwood, last of the big ones, with a 600 horse motor... and the same "barge-like" handling...

So, annoyed by that, I bought a different "cone" and "drift" car, a Callaway C12. For those who don't know, Callaway has made a name for themselves by taking stock Corvettes, adding greatly to the horsepower, tweaking the handling & body & appearance, and reselling them for huge bucks. The Callaway C12 is a super super sweet car! Heh heh... Fireplug Likes! Ruff!

A last note, I looked at my Bike Yesterday, and I have a burnt out headlight... so, I must go for now, and address that...

Until next time! Go get a Bacon Cheeseburger!