(Pic of Rayclose 420 in action)

Arrived at field around 10:30am today. Grey overcast skys with gentle breezes (approx 15km/h) forming my welcome to the field.

Mick Stefani, had arrived ahead of me this morning and whilst waiting patiently for companion pilots to arrive, looked to have a few flights under his belt with pax also cooking away. This was the second weekend in a row for me arriving rather later than usual in the morning ( my usual run is arrive at the field around 7:30-8am). Naturally I was keen to get things moving quickly and make up for lost time.

It wasn't long before (no surprise) Bryan Stu also arrived. I mention no surprise as it is very often and typical that Mick Stef, Bryan Stu and I form the morning crew at the field. Sean Xue often forms our fourth but today Sean Xue was no where to be seen.

By midday the overcast clouds had cleared and winds had increased slightly to around 25km/h. At times, from within the clubhouse, it looked like the wind had eased, but Mick Stef returning from the flight line after one of his flights was quick to comment "Winds are definitely stronger".

Midday also saw the arrival of Ian and Ant Sisley and by early afternoon Ray Close too had also joined our merry crowd.. And so played out the remainder of the day with no further club companions arriving.

Mick Stef
Mick Stef had with him today his dazzling logo 700. Approximately 4 weeks old, Mick Stef put his logo 700 through its paces. The logo 700 didn't disappoint and it moved through the air with sophistication and presence. I remember looking at the logo 700 on the arming bench just before one of Mick Stefs flights. The logo 700 has such a bold and powerful presence even without the canopy on. Such a lovely looking machine.

Mick Stefs flights today were strong and fast. Fast being the operative description.

Full collective, maximum exhilaration and heart pounding adrenaline come to mind in describing one of Micks very very low and close speed runs. This particular speed run was the mother of all speed runs ( i kid you not!) It started high and very far out with a piro stall turn at maximum height then .... suspense unveiled and with full collective and nose down attitude, the giant 700 , plunging sweeping accelerating to maximum speed and at 1m off the ground , jetted directly over the hover patch (that's close!!!- Less than 10m)and past Mick and I (I was standing close). Secretly i wanted Mick to do it again. My knees were shaking (the way they do when you know you have pulled of something incredible for the first time or when you fly harder than you have before).

Mick didn't repeat it, but it was such a great speed run!



Bryan Stu
Bryans Goblin 630 and Logo 600 were back for more today. Bryans flying was strong and it looked like Bryan was practicing his routine flights and head overspeeds. Sadly we didn't see Bryan try that nose in funnel he got so close to completing as a whole last weekend. Maybe next week? Good confident flying overall though !!


Ant Sisley
One of the things our club is renowned or known for (or at least what i have come to learn and realise during my last 2 years) is the caring and helpful people that make up our club. I recall during my early days the free advice and help i received which assisted me in starting off in this hobby the right way.


It was great to see Ant sharing his vast knowledge with Ian ( a relative newcomer) today. Ant looked to be showing Ian through the bronze / silver wings schedule and also assisting Ian with the basics to help him get setup and flying.

Overhearing conversations between Ian and Ant during the course of the day, i learn't Ian has a Goblin and Logo(???) both of which running Brain Gyro setups. Whilst i dont consider myself to have vast experience with the Brain ( i have setup a number of them (including Brain2) and do run Brain on my fleet and love them so much) . Naturally I volunteered to assist Ian with setting up his Brain gyros next weekend also.

Ant had brought with him his Trex 700e which looked in fine form and flew (as Ant admitted also) "just as good as my Silphide". Looks to be a great f3c setup.

Ray Close
No surprises here. Ray returned with his pride possession- Goblin 420.
Watching Rays flights today, It felt like Ray was holding back some. But for anyone that knows how Ray flies, holding back for Ray is like most proficient hard 3d smak pilots going full ball! LOL. When and if I commit to buying that next 400-500 heli it will be a very very hard decision to make between the Goblin 420 and the EXO500. Rays flying didn't disappoint, he had his 420 pulling out of funnels, spinning into piroflips and pushing into tick tocks with efficient momentum.

Overall Rays flying was short but intense. By 5pm Ray had left leaving Bryan, Mick Stef and I to tolerate (LOL) the almost perfect weather conditions now upon us.



Nabil.
I had a rather busy week so had no time to put together parts list for the 700 (From its dirt nap last Sunday). Hopefully time permitting will get the bits i need to get things going again from Zenrc,

When i arrived at the field this morning, both my 600L Dominator (trex) and my 500L Dominator (trex) had no main blades installed.

I had started maintenance on the 600 on Friday night (needed to replace head dampers) but realized mid way through maintenance 2 of the head bearings were slightly notchy. Mick Stef came to my rescue this morning, kindly giving me his spare H60002 bearings. I finished off the head maintenance shortly after arriving and my 600L was back in action for the most of the day and in between my 500 flights.

Having maiden-ed the brain2 on the 500 during the week (which flew great) , i had come across some rather strange behavior of the brain2 relating to how the event logs recorded information (or lack of recording being the operative description). With blades off, i ran through some further testing before deciding that ultimately this little unit would need to go back for replacement. From the testing, it was obvious the gyro and flying capabilities were not affected. I quickly reinstalled main blades which saw the 500L back in action also for the rest of the day.

Throughout my flying i had always relied on either castle or hw speed control governing. Today was the first time i setup governing through the brain and boy oh boy, it definitely felt better having predictive governing over a reacting governer setup. Tic tocs even on the 500 (once i adjusted the brain gov gain) had no impact on headspeed and i was able tic toc very very fast.

I had a few thought wrenching moments during the course of the day, one of them was due to brain2 gyro tweaking where i accidently set cyclic D gains to 45 from a default 5. My next hover takeoff saw the 500 violently shake along the aileron axis. It took me a while to figure out what i had done, but once sorted , the heli was in the air again.

I was happy to be flying the 500 again. It has been some 4months with this heli bench ridden (due to chasing phantom vibes, but with the new 14t pinion, running 3000hs and brain2 setup, this little nostalgia was flying beautifully and its flying characterstics had been redefined.



By 530pm all other pilots had left the field leaving me on my own to do some more flying practicing.

During the afternoon i turned up piro rate to 640, roll rates to 460 on the 500L and was doing the fastest piroflips i had ever done which so happened to be the most stationary i had every accomplished also.

It was a great day for me a full 10 hour day (SUPER SIZE ME LOL) and for all with no heli casualties.

Alas, commitments will hold me back from flying tomorrow but hope the rest of you all enjoy what looks to be a ripper of a day weather wise!

Take care and fly hard!

More pics below

Ant Pics!


More Bryan Stu Pics

More Mick Stef Pics




More Ray Close Pics