Is our hobby really SAFE ?

Hello again dear friends,
I didn't planned to write these lines now, but I read about a tragedy that happened this week, on Thursday, when a fellow RC pilot, named Roman Pirozek Jr. was killed by his own Rc helicopter during a flight in a public park in New York city(Calvert Vaux Park in Gravesend, Brooklyn)...I was thinking maybe daily about what could happen during flying, and this thought is hiding all the time in the back of my mind, troubling me...

My honest and sincere condoleances to the mourning family, and as a parent myself, I can't think of something worse on this world than seeing your child die before your eyes...But now, even if maybe some of you will argue about this and disagree,  I would not fly anything bigger than a 450 class in a public park, assuming there are no people nearby...Bigger birds( and I assume he flew one) should not be flown in other places that flying fields, to minimize the risks on public...Just imagine that the heli could have fallen on someone just having a walk with his family in the park...This thought is just real...Again, these things are NOT TOYS...They can be deadly...To be honest, I think also a 450 size heli carbon blade at 100% RPM could easily cut your throat open, leading to certain death...
So, just hoping that the following compilation of personal safety rules could help avoiding a tragedy or any type of rc heli accident, I will just lie down a summary of the rules I use when flying my helis:

1. Always connect transmitter first and helicopter second;
2. Always, I mean ALWAYS, use Throttle Hold(TH) whenever you don't plan to take off, but the battery has to be plugged in;
3. Always hit TH and then remove the battery no matter what;
4. If you loose the heli and there's no way to recover, hit TH ASAP;
5. If you fly a flybarless heli, always tilt the heli and check for the FBL compensations before taking off;
6. Always land ASAP if you see or feel something is "not right" or you hear any strange noise;
7. Regularly maintain your heli, and lubricate whatever needs that to be done;
8. Don't fly the heli over your head, you could loose orientation easily;
9. Don't fly when you are too tired, you need to be very focused when flying;
10. Don't fly when you have any alcohol in your blood, again focus is key when flying;
11. Always try to have someone with you(behind you) in case something bad happens he/she can call for help asap;
12. Don't fly when friends are around, you could push your limits "to impress" and you can make mistakes;
13. Don't push your limits when flying, take normal steps and only when you master it, move on;
14. Always take your time to check the sequence of steps before a flight, sometimes you're rushed to see the heli in the air and forget important things;
15. Maybe the most important rule of all : NEVER FLY OVER PEOPLE or near them....

I am sure some of you have their own lists, and you are welcome to share them here via the comments section...
We all enjoy flying and sometimes just disregard the risks we take, and unfortunately people need to die so that we open our eyes and realize that this hobby is fun but can be also deadly...
Please be responsible and please consider the safety of other people nearby and yourself also...

Life can be beautiful...Let's not waste it...
You can see the full article posted by the nydailynews here

Rest in peace Roman Pirozek Jr. and let's try and stop this count by being more responsible

Sony 600 TVL FPV camera

Hello,

Like many of you, I was looking to get a camera for my FPV quadcopter, and based on too many good reviews to ignore, I decided to go with the Sony 600 TVL.

Camera with additional metal case, PCB OSD and OSD manual

The camera comes like you can see in the below unboxing video with the separated OSD PCB board and you can connect it when needed, adjust whatever settings you need, and then simply unplug. Since currently I live in S. Korea, the seller automatically choose the NTSC camera, but after contacting them, they sent  another PAL camera that I will need back home in Europe.

Another “good thing” that came out of this wrong spec camera being sent to me is that I got  the first camera with the 2.8 mm lens, and for the second one I choose the 3.6mm lens, so after I will set it up, I will have two lens to choose from.

My camera comes with the metal case, already mounted, and since the PCB is not so crash resistant, I suggest getting it also…

Please check below the unboxing movie, and I will come back with more details during my quadcopter build.

Here is the unboxing and short presentation of the camera:

Walkera Master CP Metal Swashplate

Hello Friends
Since I really like my little flying tank, I thought of an small up-grade...Since the plastic stock swashplate developed quite a big slop, I considered a metal up-grade version from X-treme Production...I put some pictures of both old and new, and by flying a bit with the new swash, I feel the heli reacting a bit faster and feeling a bit more "locked" in...You can find the part on miracle mart website that sent it to me for a small review, here. I think a more interesting up-grade, would be their combo that they also sell, but at the time of this post, it was out of stock, here.

Side by side: left-metal version/right plastic version

Underside view

Profile view - metal swashplate

Profile view - standard swashplate

Stock swashplate has 3.2 grams

Metal swashplate has 3.6 grams

Finally installed on the heli

Now, hopefully my budget will allow for the addition of more metal parts in my Master CP, and later on I will have to see how the metal absorbs shocks in the eventuality of harder touchdowns compared to the stock plastic...
But you  can't have it all, can you ? :)
What up-grades do you guys have on your Master CP's ?
Let's share this info, and maybe consider these also...
Take care and happy flying :)

My new Walkera Ladybird quad

 

The backside of the box

Hmmm, why would I need a micro quad? I asked myself not long time ago…

The obvious answer was: I don’t need one, especially this small, right ?

Actually since my Devo 10 tx passed away with no reason, I was looking for a new TX, but then

a Devo10 deal bundled with the Ladybird caught my eye on RC711.com.

I only fly helis, so getting this quad should be an interesting experience…

So, I started reading about the ladybirds or ladybugs on the net, and I realized there are two versions of it…

-version 1, which is the one I got is the original bug with telemetry 6 axis gyro and up-gradable firmware;

-version 2, is the cheaper one with 3 axis, no telemetry and no up-gradable firmware.

I guess Walkera released V2 as a response to the huge number of Chinese ladybird clones starting to pop-up in the market and their main goal was price reduction in order to re-gain the lost territory.

What can I say about the Ladybird ?

I was surprised how stable my Genius Cp V2 was, but the bug is even more stable and unlike helis, you don’t need constant aileron/elevator correction to keep it leveled, this thing just hovers nicely…

Of course, you could use it to improve your orientations on your helis, but orientations only, since flying is totally different and I think the learning from quads cannot really be implemented on helis, as per se.

Since I already have some batts for my GCPV2 I am able to use it on the bug and reduce the downtime needed for recharging. I want to suggest you should leave it a couple of minutes between batteries to cool off the motors, since this was probably the reason my GCPV2 motor passed out. This is the bad thing about brushed motors, but I guess it was the only way to keep it simple.

So, please check the various sides and angles picture for your reference below:

The box

The bird came with 240mAh batt, you can use as size reference

Rear view

Left side

Right side

The "belly"

Canopy off

Closer look inside

Receiver board and the firmware update connectors

Weight without battery

Battery weight (240 mAh)

Canopy weight

Ready to fly weight

Also, you can check my unboxing movie and the really first time flight below:

What I liked :

-ultra stable

-small sized

-due to size it’s safer to fly indoor;

-my daughter loves the red ladybug canopy which is a plus on design;
-climb rate and forward speed are surprisingly fast for the size;

What I didn’t liked

-not really a dislike, but I think the motor booms can break easily during crashes/need to check if a micro heli landing skid will do ?
-my throttle stick on the Devo 10 was very stiff, but that's also not a complain for the bird

Now that I was innoculated with the multirotors bug, maybe a bigger one will be next?
p.s. hope my wife doesn't read this post :) 

 

My Genius CP V2 finally going brushless

I am sure there are about a ton of different variations to having a GCP converted to brushless motor, but I choose mine, and I want to share it with you guys, so maybe you go my way and find it easier to get the needed items for the conversion.

The 3 pin connectors, the motor screws, the 7A Airbase Esc+converter and the C05 motor+8T pinion

Despite the fact that this conversion is apparently something complicated to do, I can say it was really easy as long as you know what you need and how these things work.
Now let's look at the "ingredients" needed:

• C05 brushless motor - comes in different KV ratings and pinion sizes, personally I chose the one I found at hobbyking despite other more expensive deals already had terminals soldered onto them;
• The Airbase 7A ESC and brushless converter - this device has a double role of speed controller and brushed to brushless signal converter and I bought it from Miracle-mart, but at the time of this post, the only version on their website is the most expensive 10A version, link here
• 6 pin micro plug - you need this to connect the ESC with the C05 motor, I got this from hobbyking also
• Heat shrink tube(2mm) you will need this for the connections to the motor, link here
• Pinion - for better flight time, you can use the 8T pinion, for higher headspeed you can go 9T, anyway this is what I used, again from Miracle-Mart, a 1.5mm 0.5M

Now, assuming you got all the above in front of you, you should prepare the soldering iron or gun and after inserting hss of suitablle length on each motor wire you must proceed in soldering them to the 6 pin connectors. In order to get the right motor direction I tested the rotation direction before soldering and swapped if needed...After this step you will have the motor with soldered connector like below.

The C05 motor is about 3 grams in weight

The original Genius CP V2 motor is 3.9 grams

Already the motor is secured to the frame, be careful not to overtighten and leave some gear slack

View from above - the C05 motor and the 7A Esc and brushless converter combo

The problem I had was that the pin spacing on the motor connector didn't match the spacing on the ESC combo perfectly, so I just helped it by hand to settle in the right way.

For the pinion, I just add a bit of blue loctite and it sits there very nice, no more worries about it...

Next things is to fix the motor, and make sure you dont' put it very tight against the pinion, otherwise it will wear the teeth faster and the battery life will decrease. After you do this step also, you should find a place where the ESC combo should sit on the RX mainboard, without damaging any connections, some people use a bit of velcro to secure it in position, but I leave that to you guys...

Now in order to connect the ESC combo, you should do the following:

• the two wires on the motor's side must be connected to the battery(red (+) black(-));
• the original board's power supply connection(to battery) will be connected to the opposite side of the motor's connection point(3 pins), and the remaining connector will go the the original's motor connection point.

Please follow the picture's info on how to connect it to the Rx board

All these being done, change your throttle curves for more headspeed, and fly...
I got some 300mAh batteries that are designed for the solo  pro but with my modded Solo Pro 180 landing skid, they can be used without any issues...
The landing skid mod in a future post...
Enjoy your new heli, and you will see it flies so much better with the new heart...
Happy flying...