Archive for the ‘RCheli’ Category

When demonstrating my Raptor last week, I noticed some resonance in the body just before reaching my normal flying RPM. I only noticed it briefly during the spool-up, once the rotor reached its normal speed of ~1700rpm the vibrations where gone. This called for a checkup of the rotor balance, which is what I’ve done this weekend. I used the page over at Raptor Technique to guide me through the process.

The blades seemed to be fine; their Center of gravity matches almost perfectly (less than 3mm difference). Their weight also looks fairly identical, as I could balance them on the (blunt) edge of a knife (1.5mm wide).

Next up was the flybar. I noticed that both paddles are not aligned as it should be. After some tweaking, this is the result:
Raptor 50 Flybar
Which seems a lot better than before!

All that’s left is give it a test-flight and see if it’s better; but with the current weather, it will have to wait a few days.

lace: Halle
Tanks flown: 2
Time flown: 0h48 (cumulative model timer: 19h18)
Rx battery recharged with: 1968 mAh
Tx battery recharged with: 1173 mAh
Glow heater battery recharged with: 541 mAh
Starter battery recharged with: 191 mAh

Comment:
Again a windy day. Corrected tracking. Engine preforms fairly well.

Place: Halle
Tanks flown: 2.8
Time flown: 0h58 (cumulative model timer: 18h30)
Rx battery recharged with: not recharged
Tx battery recharged with: not recharged
Glow heater battery recharged with: not recharged
Starter battery recharged with: not recharged

Comment:
Fairly windy; Engine was a bit boggy on the second start; leaned it 3 more ticks.

The throttle-servo had a bit of play (tightened that) and the “black” blade was tracking a bit below the “white” one (corrected that as well)

Place: Halle
Tanks flown: 6
Time flown: 1h28 (cumulative model timer: 17h32)
Rx battery recharged with: 1921 mAh
Tx battery recharged with: not recharged
Glow heater battery recharged with: 453 mAh
Starter battery recharged with: 110 mAh

Comment:
Left earlier from work. Very nice weather, but still fairly windy.

Some flying from left to right and very slow turns. Leaned the engine 3 ticks; I could still touch the backplate for more than 10 seconds.

Place: Halle
Tanks flown: 1
Time flown: 0h?? (cumulative model timer: ??h??)
Rx battery recharged with: not recharged
Tx battery recharged with: 739 mAh
Glow heater battery recharged with: 1958 mAh (initial charge)
Starter battery recharged with: not recharged

Comment:
Too much wind and too long ago.

The glow heater battery leaked again. Bought a new one.

Place: Home
Tanks flown: 0.1
Time flown: 0h07 (cumulative model timer: 16h04)
Rx battery recharged with: 870 mAh – 3028 mAh (@-330mA) + 3624 mAh
Tx battery recharged with: 933 mAh – 1615 mAh (@-200mA) + 1957 mAh
Glow heater battery recharged with: 386 mAh – 1651 mAh (@-180mA) + 2569 mAh
Starter battery recharged with: + ??? mAh – 4279 mAh (@-360mA) + 4572 mAh

Comment:
Not really a flight. Just testing everything after winter maintanance.

Cycled the batteries. The glow heater battery was totally corroded. Mechanically removed the corrosion. Seems to do the job.

Place: Halle
Tanks flown: 1.5
Time flown: 0h31 (cumulative model timer: 15h57)
Rx battery recharged with: 836 mAh
Tx battery recharged with: 619 mAh
Glow heater battery recharged with: 257 mAh
Starter battery recharged with: 80 mAh

Comment:
Lots of wind. Did some “forward flights” to keep the heli stationary.

Place: Halle
Tanks flown: 1.6
Time flown: 0h33 (cumulative model timer: 15h26)
Rx battery recharged with: 881 mAh
Tx battery recharged with: not recharged
Glow heater battery recharged with: 244 mAh
Starter battery recharged with: 101 mAh

Comment:
Some more turns. First nose-in “hoovering”.

Place: Halle
Tanks flown: 1.1
Time flown: 0h25 (cumulative model timer: 14h53)
Rx battery recharged with: 948 mAh
Tx battery recharged with: 396 mAh
Glow heater battery recharged with: 353 mAh
Starter battery recharged with: 125 mAh

Comment:
Cold winter day. First maneuvers that resemble a “turn”. Flew the tank completely empty and ended with a micro-autorotation from 20cm height.

Place: Halle
Tanks flown: 3
Time flown: 0h50 (cumulative model timer: 14h28)
Rx battery recharged with: not recharged
Tx battery recharged with: 789 mAh
Glow heater battery recharged with: not recharged
Starter battery recharged with: not recharged

Comment:
Flew left to right, back to left; turning in a hoover