Acromaster action!

Since the first video, I've been in the groove to edit more stuff. So here's another vid of Acromasters in action at Bedok Reservoir field. Jeremy and Wei Yao provide the aerobatics for this video outing. Enjoy.



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My first shot at video editing

Here's my first attempt at video editing. Please bear with me as it seems a bit choppy. I am still trying to understand the video-editing program and video aesthetics at the same time. Enjoy.



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My ego has landed

That's one big bird. It chased my extra around a month ago when I went to Punggol Field Walk to fly. The Extra with a Slow Fly prop at that time was really struggling to out pace the eagle. It even outsized my Extra. Anyways, just wanted to post these cool pics taken by John (aka P4cm4n2000).





I have also finished building the 3DBatix FoameIIx bipe. Flew it initially with a 2s lipo batt. BIG mistake. Even with the pitch deflected to full I had lots of trouble pulling out of low hovers. The only way to recover is with a tailslide and that's impossible when you're 1 metre off the ground. Needless to say I had more than my fair share of not too pretty landings.

Had a go at the FoameIIx again the very next day. Had new "Team FlightPower" stickers on it too. But I desecrated the stickers by using Thunder Power 3s packs on the plane. Retribution was swift and unexpected. On the first outing with the plane on that day, the motor mount just gave way while taxiing. The propeller did not snag on anything but the motor decided to leave its motor mount anyways. That was a sign of more bad things to happen but I did not heed it. Instead I carried on to repair the mount and was ready to go again.

The second flight was fun. Got to a safe altitude (with no trouble thanks to 3s power), flicked the switch to idle1, and had me some variable pitched prop (vpp) action. Got the plane going into weird spins and stuff. Once the timer started beeping, brought the plane down with the softest of landing. Sweet.

Seeing Ken hucking his plane around soon afterwards made me itchy for some more action. Switched on my Tx, connected the batt, did my pre-flight checks and I was in the air hucking away. The foameIIx is a joy to harrier, slow rolls are easily executed and hovers are super easy to lock into and maintain. As usual, I'll proceed to do silly things with the plane. Coupled with the unexpected performance of the plane I started to do silly things just off the ground. Dirt flirting, some may say. Ken got some really cool shots of the plane. I was having a ball showing off.











Soon enough, I chucked the plane in an awkward position and me not being able to put enough corrective inputs the plane went smack into the ground. It wasn't a hard crash but the fragile nature of depron (which also contributes to its light weight) ensured that the plane ended up in pieces.



Picked up the pieces, acknowledged that it was purely pilot error (and not the goat which farted in Tanzania which inadvertently caused an unexpected gust at the field) and had a good laugh. It was a funny feeling. I felt sated that I had a very good low flying session but at the same time sad that such a pretty plane is now in pieces.

So I brought back the pieces home. Glued all the pieces together and I'll be trying the FoameIIx again on my next flying session.

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Engrish Please

I love Daiso. It is the wonderful world of knick knacks, DIY tools, pots, snacks, kitchen wares and everything Japanese-ish for two dollars a pop. The tools there are cheap and perfect for my aeromodelling purposes. But one of the most entertaining products in their store has got to be the paper bags with, I think, English translated Japanese "words of wisdom."





You've gotta love the sayings. But I won't spend good money to get them 'cos it's not my bag baby (pun intended).

I have also thought that it'd be cool to just showcase some of the more interesting stuff that I have stumbled upon while I'm out of the house. All the pictures were taking with my Sony Erricson K800i handphone.

















Well that's all for now. It has been a nice break from just writing about model planes. Till my next update on my foameIIx build.

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Taking it slow

I've been rather slow in updating this blog for a few reasons; 1. Nothing major happens at the flying field: I go to the field, I fly I land and bring home the plane in one piece 2. Everyone is flying so well now and that's a good thing 3. Lastly none of my builds are out of the ordinary and there are many better ones in RCGroups and DaddyHobby (not forgetting Mazon's very detailed builds in his blog).

Now, I have so much stuff to write about cos lots of stuff has happened over the past week or so.

Firstly, the tale of the Tensor. I got this plane from sky Hobbies. I have to personally say that is one of the best planes I have ever flew. The balance of the plane is unmatched, there is no bad tendencies (eg KE coupling), and most importantly its very light. with the CG a bit to the back I did rolling harriers like a pro without any additional counter stick movements. The plane also locks in rock solid into a hover and high alpha KEs are all hands off. It just tends to be a bit weird at low speed; the planes adverse yaws very bad and nothing but coordinated turns will steer the plane. I also fitted it with a variable pitch propeller (vpp) which was loads of fun... while it lasted. On the fourth flight when I already got used to the plane it suffered from a really bad glitch and went into reverse pitch while I was doing a low hover. Nothing could save the plane. I went home tore the plane and salvaged all the control horns and carbon parts. I was determined to use it on another bipe pronto.







I'm currently in the process of building a 3DBatix foameIIx bipe. I decided to go for another bipe as I enjoyed the very low wing loading which equates to very slow flights. This will help me hone certain skills like rolling harriers and rolling circles/loops. I'm now halfway to completion and will post some updated pictures along the rest of the build.









Now Ken (Madflurry) has been very busy behind his video camera and his computer to come up with some excellent flying vids. He does have a knack of editng and putting up an enjoyable coherent in flight videos of all our planes. Below are some of his work. Enjoy.







Well, I'm all tuckered out from all this writing. Will have more updates along the way and I do hope to post more regularly.

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Sunday Flight

Today's morning flight session was definitely a disappointing one. After changing the thrust angle on the Extra the plane will still roll violently to the right when I pull up hard. Also my lipo died on me when I was attempting a low tailslide resulting in a hard landing which actually cracked the ply at the undercarriage of the plane.





Only when I got home and after a thorough check thru all the parts did I find the cause of the plane's right rolling tendencies. The left elevator half had come loose and it does not correspond to the right half when the elevator servos are moved. This plus surface blowback caused the most violent right roll especially when I perform A high G elevator manouver. Fixed it up with both thin and thick CA and I'm done.

Went back to the field in the evening and had a wonderful time. The plane behaves like I expected it too giving me the confidence to go even lower and attempting other stunts at lower altitude. Hovers are getting lower but I still have to get the hang od doing KE on this plane. Should be soon enough with more stick time under my belt. It's very difficult to improve when you only have one plane and no flight simulator. Well just have to get the stick time in with good old lipos.

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Manchester United Wins Another Match!

Another victory for Manchester United. A hard fought one coming; from a goal down and losing one of the most consistent centre backs they have (Nemanja Vidic). Blackburn played a very physical game as expected but the United players' characters really came out and shine today. It was a very emotional game. Each goal just drew out thunderous applause and sighs or reliefs at the same time. I really hope they clinch the Premiership this season.

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