Saturday, November 1, 2008

Crash...Thrice!

I went ahead and bought an Aerobird Xtreme from Hobby Zone off Ebay for $80. It was used, but only had a problem with the elevator control horns and a broken canopy (and that seems like it was all just shipping damage, everything was in new sealed containers and it didn't look wreaked or anything. Fixed all that, got a 7.2v 3800mAh NiMH pack off Amazon for longer flights (compared to the 1700mAh stock one). Also found that the prop was busted, so went to the local hobby store, Hobby Town USA and got two new ones as well as the sonic combat module to try to see if I could play with my friend and his older Aerobird Commander original.



Well, I got three flights today. Sort of. First take off, I chucked it just a little straight out…yeah…it’s heavy and needs a good hearty shove at about 45’ angle. It crammed in and took a bite out of the back of the wing. Ok…try again. Threw it hard at about 45’ angle and it started climbing out full throttle. Ok, it is turning a little to the left…right thumb…uh…that’s worse…ok, try left thumb…better…hum…something is backwards…ok, lets try to turn it back around and come this way and try to fix it…oops…I’m backward…crap…thump…dang…forgot to kill the throttle again. Walk across the field…yup, ‘nother nick (OK, it is a 2” x 4” gouge)…this time on the other side…LOL. Check the v-tail…yes, seems right, thumb stick to the left, left elevator goes up, right goes down. That should make it roll left, just like aileron control.

Well, shoot…lets try it again…throw it hard, uh-oh, its cranking to the left…and still seems backwards…stalled and augering in (crap…forgot to turn off the motor…again). Nother deeper nick on the right. This time, it popped all the rubber bands off. OK, screw this…I’m swapping the v-tail controls…hum…maybe it is acting more like a rudder than an aileron…crap…that is EXACTLY what it is doing. Swap it, get the wing back on and pray that the big gouges on both sides aren’t going to affect it. Throw it…hey, that’s better…ok, climbing…trims a bit off…ok, don’t worry about that for now, get it up higher. Ok, now it is safer…lets back off the throttle and slow things down a little, push the nose down, still turning a bit right…ok, trim it out and trim the elevator down. Better. Throttle up and try it…nice. It is working very well. Little more down elevator trim at half throttle. Ok…all the way off…gliding nice, perfect. Wow, it floats around nice…still trying to climb…but I’m out of trim. OK, just keep pushing down elevator. Throttle up, try some turns full speed. Everything works, how about getting some altitude and try a dive, nice, pull it up into a straight up stall and kick the rudder…nose over, good! This is a blast…calming down now and not shaking. Loops, barrel rolls, 90’ tight turns…working well. Kids are going crazy.

Ok, lets bring it down here close and try some tight turns with tight up elevator right around us…sweet…that is awesome..uh-oh…getting a little low…better straighten it out and get some elevator…crap…wrong way…suck! It is stalling nosing over and going straight in. Stupid. Wow…lots of little pieces flying all over…there goes the battery cart wheeling 25 yards away. Hum..forgot to turn off throttle…again. This is going to be bad.

It was, a bit. Wing was completely demolished, tail looks fine, but motor mount is a little split and slightly crooked. Canopy I taped on blew off and, yup…looks like it popped the circuit board off the mounts (just like everyone says it does…even though I clipped the latch off the batter connector). Well, maybe it isn’t too bad. Lets get the battery and plug it in and see if the motor still works. Yup. Cool. Picked everything up, and think I’ll JB Weld the controller to the mount, and the front has a split in the side of the fuse, but looks ok. Think a new $19 wing and I’m back in business…







1 comment:

  1. Well, got a new wing for $20, and got the circuit board that broke on the corner epoxied back in nice and solid. Went out with Tony and flew his Firebird Commander also. Really like having elevators on mine. This thing flies well (I still get turned around when I get close to the ground and start panicing with the left/right orientation). Flew until the 3800mAh battery was out of juice and glided it in for a landing, nice and smooth. Swapped out to the 1700mAh stock one, and kept flying. Loops were good and Tony and mine were both up flying. Mine finally tossed the battery, I think, and lost control and it augered in, but nothing hurt. Girls tried to get some video, but the cam-corders both didn't have a good charge on them. Buzzed around a while and had a great time. Need to think about trying to get a foamie and a brushless motor setup, I think. Just swap it through some cheap Multiplex Easy Stars...or one of the Wild Hawks if I can find one.

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