What I've been doing recently...

[gregw]

I haven't been visiting CPF for a while now, since there doesn't seem to be anything that I find interesting/excited about the new flashlights that have been coming out. So, I've gone back and spent more time in my other hobby, flying RC helicopters and planes...

There was a gathering last Sunday, and a friend finally put together a nice video of my Logo 10 helicopter, which I want to share. See the video on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnCOR4FvNPA

 

[glockboy]

Cool, now put some rocket on that thing and shot at some target.

 

[flashy bazook]

Out of curiosity, why are you not finding the current crop of flashlights of interest?

The new Rebel 100/Q4/Q5 LEDs are putting out amazing output and runtime combinations. The little AAA's, in their tiny key-chain formfactors, but with top LEDs are able to put out reasonable approximations of outputs and runtimes to those of something like a Surefire L1!! (say 85 lumens, or even 100 with li-ion batteries). Multiple LED lights can now put out 600 lumens of output.

Personally I think these developments are pretty interesting!

 

[gregw]

Let's just say that for my everyday flashlight usage, the existing flashlights I already own, are bright enough and have a long enough runtime. The LionHeart I use as a nightlight for my daughter's room still has a LuxIII in it because the Lioncub I converted to Seoul P4 is too bright on low.. I've come to realise that I'm no longer excited by the never ending improvements due just to LEDs being brighter and longer running.

 

[evanlocc]

Try hook some of your flashlight on it and you can still fly after sun set!

 

[Fallingwater]

I love RC helicopters.
Sadly, I'm, shall we say, too economically challenged to afford the nice ones. All I have is a Walkera 5#4 (which I reviewed here), two micro mosquitoes and two infrared picoo-z style ones.

I've been wanting a FP model for a while, and maybe a CCPM later on, but the thought of the constant expense for spare parts scares me...

 

[gregw]

I highly recommend that you buy a simulator so that you can actually learn how to fly without too much expense. I started out with RealFlight G2 (current version is now G4), then bought Reflex XTR, and now I'm using PhoenixRC. With practice on the sim, you should be able to go directly to a CP helicopter instead of a FP. If you don't have anyone to help you locally to set up the heli, there are a lot of setup videos at http://www.helifreak.com/ which will definitely help.

Crashing is a fact of life when flying RC, but if you know your limits, then you are much less likely to crash. I only tend to crash when I try new things on the real helicopter even after practising many hours on the simulator.

 

[Fallingwater]

I already have the simulators, and I've adapted my 5#4's remote to work on them.

My problem with the CP is that even if I had the money, I don't quite have the patience.

With a FP when you crash you just set everything straight again, maybe replace a blade, and off you go again.
With a CP you have many more parts that can break, and lots of careful regulation to be done. I don't want to spend three hours tinkering for every hour I fly.

 

[gregw]

That would actually depend on the CP heli you buy... After setting up my Logo 10, it's basically maintenance free, except for the occasional check to see that everything is tight before the next flight...

I also have a Compy 300, which is a small 300 sized CP helicopter... It's much more fiddly than the Logo due to the smaller size, but once I had it setup and balanced, it's also been very reliable as well.. A 450 size heli, like the T-Rex is much easier to setup and maintain than a smaller helicopter like the Compy. From what I've seen, the T-Rex takes crashes very well, especially the V2 with all the aluminium parts. Unless the crash is very very hard, chances are that you won't need to change anything except the main blades...

The only thing about CP helicopters when you're just about to crash, is to hit the throttle cut/hold before it actually hits the ground. If you do that, then damage should be minimal.

 

[Fallingwater]

Oh well. I can talk about it all I want, but I need some income before I can spend more money on any hobby.

 

[spoonrobot]

You guys have any recommendations for good general R/C forums?

I'm mainly interested in electric airplanes but would like to learn a little bit about the entire scope of R/C. So far I hit up RC Groups and WattFlyer but those are the only ones I have found that haven't been spam-infested, dead forums.

 

[jumpstat]

Another fact of RC, RC Helis/Planes are much much cheaper to run than cars or buggies....

 

[gregw]

You guys have any recommendations for good general R/C forums?

I'm mainly interested in electric airplanes but would like to learn a little bit about the entire scope of R/C. So far I hit up RC Groups and WattFlyer but those are the only ones I have found that haven't been spam-infested, dead forums.

RC forums that have electric aeroplanes and other RC vehicles:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/ (a little too commercial for my taste, but quite a lot of activity)
http://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/index.php (specific to large scale RC)

RC helicopter specific forums:
http://www.runryder.com/
http://www.scalerchelis.com/ (info specific to scale helis)
http://www.helifreaks.com/ (great for "finless" bob heli setup videos)
http://logoheli.com/smf/index.php (specific to Mikado Logos only, but not many people visit these days)

 

[gregw]

Another fact of RC, RC Helis/Planes are much much cheaper to run than cars or buggies....

Hmmmm... That's interesting to know, but I've always had the impression that helis and planes are more expensive.. Anyway, I can't confirm that since I'm not into RC cars or buggies...

 

[Fallingwater]

Another fact of RC, RC Helis/Planes are much much cheaper to run than cars or buggies....

That doesn't seem rational to me.

Crash a car and you only have to fix/replace the body (you don't even need to do that if you don't care about the aesthetics). Maybe fix suspensions if your car is a buggy type with exposed wheels.

Crash a CP helicopter hard enough and you can practically see money flying away from the wreck. Blades, flybars, gears, belts/shafts... yow!