Heli distractions

[nunyabizniss34]

Just when you think everything is just perfect...warm evening, zero wind, perfect for flying......you take your beloved bird down to the local lake for some practice and fly for 10 wonderful uninterrupted minutes...then some kid comes running from behind you towards your heli (something that could take his fingers off) and you have to take evasive action to avoid dismembering the child and your pride and joy falls ungracefully from the sky....and you give this kid a look that makes his dad wanna kick the living crap outta you, but little does he realize his kid just cost you a week without your heli because you bent ANOTHER spindle shaft and damaged a servo. There's another $70 down the crapper because I get gouged for shipping costs because I live in Canada...I ain't happy So now my 450 is sitting waiting for parts, and I am pi$$ed off. Maybe I should find out where he lives and break some of his toys *evil grin*

Sorry guys, had to vent and you are the only ones that understand.

Colin

[akphill]

heli gremlin's come in all shapes and sizes sorry to hear they caught you today

[Solitaire]

Yep, I can relate, Colin. Kids, dogs and even some so-called adults. The last time (and I mean last) I used a public area, a few "adults" decided to play frisbee and see if they could knock the heli out of the air. Dumbasses.

The only thing to do is find a secluded area. Not easy for me in a population of 3 million.

Any news on finding an RC club to join out there?

[nunyabizniss34]

Not yet, but there is a new hobby store here that I need to check out, they sell Align and E-Flite heli's so I am hoping they can hook me up. That's JUST what I need....a store that sells Align products ;D ;D ;D Bye bye bank balance

Colin

[19000rpm]

Colin, sorry that that perfect moment was destroyed.

The damage doesn't sound too bad, but the parts wait does. You may want to think about doubling up on some stuff that get's broken most often. A second heli helps too. At least you've got something to fly while the postal service moves at the pace of a moose in a bog. ;D

I think something similar has happened to just about everybody who flies in public places. My personal favorite was the lady from my condo that honked the horn at me from behind to get my attention. The heli's altitude increased by about a hundred feet when I jumped. Luckily it turned out all right. I've also had people come up from behind and start talking or asking questions.

I was thinking about having a T-shirt made that says on the back, "I'm trying to fly here and if you startle me I may accidently F******G kill you."

Of course that wouldn't work on the totally oblivious or kids or adults that can't read. Too many of which there are in all the wrong places. ;D

Happy landings

[nunyabizniss34]

Yeah I am lucky in that I have my King 3 and the HBFP that I can fly while waiting for parts, but having just fixed the 450 it's a bit of a downer. I took the King 3 out this morning and almost lost control because it's nowhere near as stable as the 450. I ordered 2 spindle shafts just to have an extra one on hand. I also had the HBFP out this morning, she never fails to put a smile on my face. I don't think I will ever get rid of it, no matter how much I love the bigger heli's. That little bird is set up perfectly and teaches me a lesson every time I fly ;D And I love the T-shirt idea, gonna get me one of those

Colin

[fergie]

i feel your pain colin,
i was flying in my yard awhile back. my wife pulls up in the drive way behind me, and decides to honk her horn. yea, i know WTF what was she thinking. but it scared the livin crap out of me, my heli took a funky roll and bashed to the ground. so, i thanked her, got on the phone to jeremy from hobby town, and ordered what i needed, and a bunch of stuff i didn't need.
so i got the last laugh on that one ;D
i just wish people realized what kind of concentration these heli's take to fly.

[r/c basher]

I had a similar idea about the t-shirt. I thought maybe one of those wet floor signs that you could put next to you but instead of the words "wet floor". Put something like 19k said. I like 19k's idea better about the t-shirt though. Im lucky to have three big hay fields that I can fly in without anybody distracting me. The only things that distract me while I fly are bugs and bees. ;D But I have to agree I love my hbfp too its a awesome I can fly the heck out of mine on a windless day and not have to worry about crashing her.

[nunyabizniss34]

Well it gets worse...examined the heli a little closer today and found a bent main shaft also. I have never changed one, so this should be interesting. Also, the belt is damaged and keeps coming off when I spin the rotors with my hand. Not sure what that's all about.....but it also has to be replaced. Never done that either! Boy, I am gonna learn a lot in the coming weeks ;D Sucks though, I already placed my order for the spindle shaft and blades, and they already left Ka-Planes, now I gotta shell out ANOTHER $20 for shipping plus the parts. So all in all, this crash cost me well over $100 I will put the rebuild on video and post it here, maybe it will help others that haven't done a shaft replacement or belt replacement. Take care guys.

Colin

[Solitaire]

I could never buy anything from KAPlanes, as no matter how small the package it always cost $20 (or close to it)

Figure if another main shaft and belt will work on that thing and maybe order from an etailer that doesn't give you the shaft (pun intended) because your Canadian.

HeliDirect in Boston ships to Canada reasonably. Maybe something in their inventory will work on your 450. Or RCSupersales is another etailer that tries to work with us Canucks.

[19000rpm]

Another lesson learned nun: Always be very thorough when looking at the damage before you place a parts order.

The belt has to be perfectly aligned to stay on. It's a pain in the arse. Somethings bent or twisted. I ended up putting a sonix tail on it. Problem solved.

I haven't replaced the main shaft yet. Should be that difficult though. Just a new experience. ;D

Not that many places carry the BH parts. Too bad the shipping is so high from kaplanes. They're great to do business with though.

Happy landings

[flyinghigh]

I've had some close calls myself - kid on a bike decides to come flying up the street behind me, zips past me with in a foot of me and my heli, if I would have drifted the heli to the right at all, he would be eating a blade sandwich.

Another time my neighbor snuck up behind me and thought it would be funny to scare the crap out of me, well he did, I dont know how I managed to land.

Yeah, people have no idea how focused you are when flying, the worst is when they want to start talking to you when you are flying I ask them to please wait till I'm done, then ask all you want when I land.

[nunyabizniss34]

Hey 19k, where'd you get the sonix tail? See now I'm wondering if any T-Rex parts are interchangable with the BH..............

Colin

[BTCat]

Aug 17, 2009 16:39:14 GMT -6 flyinghigh said:

I've had some close calls myself - kid on a bike decides to come flying up the street behind me, zips past me with in a foot of me and my heli, if I would have drifted the heli to the right at all, he would be eating a blade sandwich.

Another time my neighbor snuck up behind me and thought it would be funny to scare the crap out of me, well he did, I dont know how I managed to land.

Yeah, people have no idea how focused you are when flying, the worst is when they want to start talking to you when you are flying I ask them to please wait till I'm done, then ask all you want when I land.

My neighbor across the street likes to walk out wearing her short shorts, her hair down and a tight top and ask me how much fun I'm having. I'm sure she knows I can't look without crashing. Especially when it is usually the HBFP I am flying out front. Honestly, the HBFP is cheap enough to fix. I have taken my chances with it a few times. ;D

[19000rpm]

Hey, nun, I bought the sonix from kaplanes. It's about $60 which is certainly align price territory. ;D

I think there are some align clone parts that "might" work like on the tail. I don't think the shaft or gears (completely different tail drive mechanisim) are even close so that probably rules out the swash and head too. Don't know that for sure, just a guess.

Happy landings