Heli Expo

[dknguyen]

At a RC hobby exposition...

 

[Sceadwian]

Interesting sticker in the window there =)

 

[audioguru]

I still fly my cheap Havoc Heli indoors and outside when there is no wind. It is IR controlled.
It ran out of battery charge when I was flying it above my wife and it landed on her and got tangled in her hair. (Hee, hee.) She got very angry.
My Twin Thunder Heli (dual rotors) flies fast and crashed and broke too many times.

 

[tcmtech]

My brother flys the big electrics. Did you know that if you spend several hundred dollars on a toy and the universal transmitter does not calibrate properly it will suddenly take off and drill itself into the garage ceiling at full power?
He does now!

 

[dknguyen]

Aren't you supposed to do a flight check first with no engine power to make sure that doesn't happen?

 

[tcmtech]

As I understand it thats what he was doing. he just did not have it anchored down to test the motor throttle controls. Instead of idling up it just went to full speed!

 

[Sceadwian]

I bet Tcm's brother knows it now =)
Also I hear anchoring during spin up tests puts the airframe under a LOT of torque, not advised. I've heard stories of people mounting heli's in vices for testing and the torque oscillations that setup in the air frame cause it to all but explode. If you're doing a test, you don't do it live with the throttle connected!!

 

[dknguyen]

Don't flight checks have the main drive unpowered? So you can check the collective and cyclic first to make sure it won't flip over or rocket off when you do apply power.

I heard that anchoring down helis is dangerous because of ground resonance. And if that's not an issue, the landing gear of helis aren't made to fight the torque of the main rotor so it might break off and go off uncontrollably in a direction other than up.

 

[Sceadwian]

dk, are you copying my posts =) J/K we just said the same thing though =)
I lost the clip, but I've seen video of a nitro heli exploding because someone decided to do full revs while it was firmly mounted on a vice.

 

[tcmtech]

His toys, not mine. Far as I am conserned the money would be better spent paying off his vehical before its worn out or knocking down his credit card debt.