300X Flights

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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
So I got a 300X off EBay for a great price (I've seen 7200BXs alone go for more). Ran it through setup checked last night and found that there were a couple things off on it. Don't know if that was from factory or if a prior owner screwed with things. Anyway, got it all straightened out and took it for a few flights today.

Maiden
[video=youtube_share;gYnSW2BaIE8]http://youtu.be/gYnSW2BaIE8[/video]
Tackle spin up, tracking check, vibration check, and some quick forward flight. Stayed pretty cool and overall was pretty impressed with it. Battery took 850ish mAh.


Second flight:
[video=youtube_share;ihmvMn9QAb4]http://youtu.be/ihmvMn9QAb4[/video]
Dial in the tail gyro gain. Flew a total of 5m40s or so, and battery took 975mAh so set the timer to 6m30s.


Third flight: Crash. It got too far away from me, too quickly, and had thought I lost orientation. All while it was heading toward my neighbor's house. So I panicked at about 30ft or more up in the air. Hit hold but kept collective up so it came down gently until about 10ft up at which point I managed to make it glide beyond the house and I lost sight of it. I am about to do a thorough check but I believe all that got broke was the landing skids. From the looks of it, it came down in a pretty level glide path and in fact I had not lost orientation. It was pointed the way I thought it was, I just got nervous and prematurely hit hold.

Video to come.

So parts on order and hopefully back up in the air by the weekend. Lot of building happening for the rest of the week. Got parts coming in on the Blade 550X (repair), Trex-700E (build completion), and now the 300X. Also have a quad waiting to get new parts put on it.

I'm getting good a crashing them. :)
 
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Lee

Lee

Well-Known Member
That low sun in your face will disorientate you every time.
Bad luck dude.
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
I lost it when it was out of the sun, but I do think the low sun angle and poor contrast played a role, especially with the smaller heli being at distance. Just glad I didn't ditch it onto their roof, that would have been an embarrassing knock on the door. :) I should have trusted my orientation and brought it back in. Would have been fine. Have to keep it closer to me in the future, and also go out back to my normal flying spot so I have some more distance from the houses. At least it was a cheap mistake.
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
So, got the heli repaired and got it back up in the air. Ended up crashing it again yesterday while trying some flips (too much positive collective too soon). Luckily I had some extra blades and another skid set. The heli came down right on its belly, but this time is hit hard. Blades struck the boom (small dent in it, not bent or otherwise damaged).

So some flights since getting that repaired:

Flight 7
[video=youtube_share;_bkI0W6gtCk]http://youtu.be/_bkI0W6gtCk[/video]

Will post flight 9 when it finishes uploading. It had the odor of a "breakthrough" flight for me. Nose in was much more controlled and was verging on instinctive. Forward flight was snappier and smoother. Flips and rolls are starting to come together. No where near mastered on this stuff, but definite progress.
 
Ken Jackson

Ken Jackson

Active Member
Excellent Dude! That tree in the middle of your field sure sucks, huh?

I noticed on your rolls you are doing what I used to. Flips aren't as critical but side rolls give a little positive up then do the roll at pretty much center stick. Anything but center stick on a tight roll just throws you. First time I did it I almost crashed. You are doing excellent and I'll say a notch or two better then me.

Keep up the good work and cut that tree down, Lol.

Ken
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Ken. :)

Yes the tree is annoying. However, it is also good practice for situational awareness and forces me to keep the heli under control on turns and during orientation hovering.

That said, the right fork of the tree is suffering some root exposure and rot and each year has tipped more and more. This year it has dipped a good foot or two, to the point I can't mow under it anymore. So that side will be getting severely trimmed at the least. :) Only problem is I need to figure out if it is on my property or my neighbors. The line runs at a diagonal to the houses and I've never had it surveyed since buying it to know for sure. Will talk to my neighbor and see if he has an issue with it going away. The grubs and deer will not be happy, but I will be.

On flight 9 (uploading now, posting a link a bit later tonight) the rolls and flips got better. Started getting more comfortable moving to center collective and catching it on the top and bottom. Also practicing some high stall turns to help in that area.
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Flight 9. Breakthrough? Maybe...

[video=youtube_share;STpLga2YJrg]http://youtu.be/STpLga2YJrg[/video]
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Heh. Spoke too soon. Just crashed it. First "big" crash with a heli. Always seems to happen toward the end of the pack. Where others say it happens on their "just one more pack", for me it's always on the "just one more minute". :)

Video coming. Flight was looking good up till then. Got careless and dumb thumbed it near the deck in forward flight.
 
breeze400

breeze400

Spagetti Pilot
Oh well! Fly and crash! Fly and crash! It's the visiuos circle! Lol. Least you gat away cheep! Every time I crash a heli it's at least $300.00 to fix!
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
I'm dreading that day on the 550 or the 700 that's being built now. I try to be a bit more tame and controlled with the 550. No flips with it yet, for instance. :) Plan to get things fairly locked in on the 300 before graduating a maneuver to the bigger birds.

I am loving this 300. Can fly quick and slow. Stable. Full collective in either direction is not ridiculously fast. Motor provides a decent amount of power without being overboard and it's enough to keep from bogging the head as long as you're careful with the collective. Repair costs are reasonable when you screw up.

Only down side is the size for visibility purposes. The canopy change from red/white to the yellow/blue helped a bit. A full white or yellow would have been better. But it trains you to keep it close and to mentally anticipate orientation and attitude. And the smaller size suits my back yard well. A 450 would probably be ideal, but I'll roll with this 300 I think, at least until a smoking deal on a quality 450 comes along.
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Repaired. Got the blade tracking issue figure out ( I get it now). Test flight went well. Had to tighten up the belt a little bit (too much slop) but overall it behaved as hoped. Forgot to do some piros. Will get them in first thing next flight.

[video=youtube_share;JvvfhgRGQBo]http://youtu.be/JvvfhgRGQBo[/video]
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Got more flights in. Tested piros and all seemed well. Flipping, rolling, orientation, fast forward, some stall turn attempts. Havin' fun and getting better.

Here's the latest, with a *very* close call with the tree I hate after the tail blew out on the bottom of a flip near the end of the battery:

[video=youtube_share;TKdhX1_FG0A]http://youtu.be/TKdhX1_FG0A[/video]
 
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pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys. Had a two or three more great flights yesterday (Friday) with the 300X. Also great flight with the 550X today (Saturday).

Then I decided to fly the 300X some more today after the 550X flight. Was doing good. Forward flight, flips and rolls in forward flight, stationary flips and rolls, some orientation hovering. Then, in a fit of over ambition, I attempted some prolonged inverted flight. It is was mindless. I've barely started trying it in the sim. Most I was doing was half flips and rolls and then quickly completing.

But I just had to try my hand at hovering inverted... I was actually doing alright but I got it a bit too low and it was moving away from me (inverted nose in). I knew what to do to get it to start coming back to me and to get some altitude (pull a little back elevator and a little more negative collective). But it was moving away kind of quickly and I panicked, wanting to get it tail in right side up. I pulled back elevator but I also jacked negative collective for reasons I don't understand (panic does that).

Buried it hard on the skids.

Frame is destroyed. Skids are toast. stripped the main gear. Broke elevator servo horn (maybe servo too, need to power it up and do a resistance force test). Think the main shaft is bent. Haven't checked feathering shaft but likely bent too.

Tail looks good (tube, rear block, shaft, blades, holders, etc.).

Main blades may be okay. Severe divot in one from blade holder contact. Probably will chuck that one and see if the remaining good one is a balance match for my good one from a prior crash.

So repairs will take a while. Have to almost totally teardown and rebuild. I have the parts on hand for it, though.

No vid of it. I had accidentally left the camera on after the 550X flight and the battery was dead.
 
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