A few nights back, I had the opportunity to try my hand again, at some night photography of the helicopters.
This time the subject is an EC-135 EuroCopter Air Ambulance.
Photography at Harrison’s Hospital during lift-off.
Well, due to events outside of my control, I’ve decided to cut my Stacation short, and take more time off next month. Plans seldom survive first contact with enemy. This one did not.
My 2nd part of the vacation could have proceeded as normal, but I decided the increased cost (up 20% from last year!), lack of big factory demo truck support (only Kymco was going to appear) and what sounded like a very tentative offer by South Sound BMW to offer a few demos, and without my best friend there to share the roads with, the value proposition became inverted. The hundreds of dollars the event would have cost me are better spent elsewhere.
I hope Tom gets his rally sorted out soon. In the past it was THE EVENT of the year in the PNW, big name speakers, factory demo trucks, awesome food and t-shirts included (last year was the first where the t-shirt was an extra $$$$ add-on.). Pfffft. Plus the fair grounds re-did a bunch of the shower/camping facilities to make them a little *less* accessible to us.
Oh well. I’ll put together my own route for August, toss some camping into it and hit the things I want to hit. Mary Hills Loop Road. Been there, done that, and frankly, it’s not all THAT awesome to me. Others find it heavenly. To each our own.
Oh, and I won’t miss the every hour freight trains that keep the campers awake all night if you don’t sleep with ear plugs. :/
Another flight came in last night. Earlier this time, around 22:45. Still plenty dark.
Changed setup in camera to allow Expanded ISO (up to 6400). Set to ISO6400 and took a few shots. Most still too blurry, but there was at least one worth saving:
Last night, around 1:00 AM I popped outside to try some free-hand night shooting with the Canon 50D camera. Being so early in the morning, light was basically non-existent. I’ve never shot the camera at such and extreme ISO. It’s and experiment to see what noise levels are experienced at those speeds.
There are camera body options to push the ISO to an incredible 6400 and 12800! I have no idea what the noise level would be with those settings, but the next chance I get to photograph the helicopters at night, I’m giving it a try.
For this mornings experiment, I armed myself with the 5.6f 400mm lens and ISO set to a whopping 3200, I took my best shot(s) (so to speak).
Part of my latest toy delivery was a slightly larger heli than I’ve worked on before. Not wanting to get too far into this before I learned something about the 500’s, I purchases a basic intro kit.
The current plan is to build this kit, screws up, put together a full parts list and get a good estimate of what a real flying 500 will cost to build, with common spares, electronics, batteries etc.
So, onto the kit.
First, this kit arrived in a box smaller than my EXI-450 did. The way the packed the stuff in there was really something else. Here is what the array of parts look like once unpacked:
So, just exactly how large is the main frame? Pretty big.
Comparison to a fully assembled 450 behind it.
Landing gear is a one piece plastic affair. Checking the parts list on the higher-end HK-500GT shows that it uses a multi-piece gear assembly, more in line with 450 kit I have. A detraction, but one that can be solved with the purchase of a 500GT landing gear set (about $5.00).
Main rotor bearing block is plastic. I had a small issue on the plastic bearing block in my 450, and ended up replacing them with alloy. Checking parts I see that HobbyKing does sell an alloy block for the GT version, however it very clearly states that it DOES NOT fit the T500 model! That could be a major issue ongoing. When they say that it does not fit, I don’t know if that refers to locating pins only, or if the overall dimensions are different enough to prevent use.
The kit does arrive with a set of fiberglass main rotor blades (black / yellow). As you can see, these are not just a little larger than those of a 450 (middle) and more than twice the size of a 250 (bottom, shown for effect). These blades are not only big, but they are heavy! Fiberglass 450 blades I’m using come in at 18.5g each. These bruisers weighed in at 68.6g!
Main gear set seems serviceable. Operation seems fairly smooth. The trail drive gear is a little wobbly, but that’s been the case on every gearset I’ve seen so far, including a factory Align unit. I’ll take it apart and re-oil the one-way bearing. I did notice that it has not ‘fan blade’ properties to move air like some of the other 450 gearsets I’ve purchased.
Tail boom, servo link, boom support rods and flybar are all in the next package. The tail boom support struts appear to be plastic with plastic ends. Tail boom is typical aluminum alloy. Flybar appears to be stainless steel and quite rugged.
Servo link ends are plastic, but it does not look quite like the quality ball end links typically found in kits. Maybe it’s just the size of them.
Boom holder and tail gear set is a festival of plastic, right down to the cross tube/spacers that screws anchor into. Even on the cheapest of kits I’ve seen so far, that was metal (talking about the 4 bars near photo center). Is it ‘bad’, I don’t know, but I’d prefer to have seen some more metal in there, that’s for sure!
Assembly looks pretty straight forward. Which is good, since they clone kits do not come with any sort of instructions. All the parts fit snug, and turn freely. The screws in the tail kit are allen-drive, but they are on the soft side. While test fitting the parts, without even torquing them down, one of the heads stripped out, requiring the application of a small vice-grip pliers to remove it. If it had been snugged down, it would have been a much more difficult task. I’m considering a trip to Tacoma Screw for a set of torx-drive replacements
The tail and tail boom fastening components are all in the next bag:
Tail gearbox, blade holders and pitch actuator arms are plastic. Bearbox is nearly completely enclosed, so I’m not able to see the tail drive pully gear, but it also appears to by a white nylon/plastic.
Knight head, tail rotor fin and tail servo holder are made of metal alloy. Tail boom yoke and servo boom holders are black plastic material.
Probably the most important part of all, the main rotor head. One word comes to mind; PLASTIC!. Lots of it. First the overall shot:
Main head, it’s a beast. 132mm across (grip to grip) it’s 33% larger than the same part of a 450. And, aside from the feathering shaft and bearings, it’s all plastic. Having broken a plastic blade grip on a 450 recently, a similar crash might crack the entire fly head on this bad boy.
Swash plate on this is part composite, part alloy. Linkages seems appropriately constructed on the head and swash. Pictures can be worth a few hundred words, so here is the picture.
Another of the links, washout arms and tracking links.
Flybar paddles. Plastic. I’m not sure what the deal is with the vents, and the pack of decals. Based on what I’ve seen on other photos, the decals are applied to the blades to cover the ‘vents’. Perhaps those are simply there to lighten the paddles, and the decals cover the holes to make the paddles work. I’ll have to look into this further.
Anti-rotation bracket and canopy stays. Also….. (wait for it….. waaiiiiiiiiit). Plastic.
[PIC 20]
One last package of stuff. Hardware, blade holders and two different sized pairs of hook-and-loop straps. Also in the bag are two sizes of velcro adhesive pads, two bags of extra fastening hardware, servo horn accessories, balls and a pair of monster motor pinions. Of note in this bag, is also a bottle of purple 222 thread lock. I already have a monster bottle that I have used on all my kits. I just find it interesting because just about everyone is using the heavier duty blue which I’m certain is the WRONG type. Having more than a passing background in auto and motorcycle repair, you need to use the right locker for the right size fasteners. Blue (242) is really for much larger hardware. Purple (222) is the right stuff for small fasteners. Now I have a little validation (beyond what the TRex assembly manuals show) with the inclusion of 222 Purple in the kit. Good to know!
Last is the canopy. And it’s BIG. The canopy stay holes also need to be enlarged to work with the supplied (white this time) rubber bushings. That is one of the first things I’m going to do, since I want to design at moderately nice looking canopy design for this monster.
It would be harder to send a cheaper canopy! It’s simple resin, like EXI-450 kit supplies, but in this case it does not have even have the ‘cockpit’ canopy detail on it. It’s just… all white. I put a spare 450 canopy in front, and my coffee mug in the photo to give some scale.
So, there you have it. Unpacking the HobbyKing HK-T500 electric R/C helicopter kit.
I recently complete reading this fascinating book. I’ve always been a big fan of Bob Hoover, having seen him fly at countless air shows. Over the last few decades, I’ve heard some pretty amazing stories about this guy and his life, including his direct involvement in the X-1 project (where we broke the sound barrier, for those non-aviation types). Most you have likely heard of Chuck Yeager. Well, Bob was his back-up guy, on the project. Had he not nearly lost his legs in a crash during the program, he’d have likely been the 2nd guy (maybe the first) to do it.
But, it turns out that was just the tip of this great man, this hero’s, incredible life in aviation. Bob basically tough himself how to fly, became one of a rare few enlisted that earned their wings during WWII, spent a lot of time flying Spitfires in Europe and Africa, received numerous flying medals.
I don’t want to spoil the read, and give away any of the amazing stories told in this book, a fair portion of it from the point of view of the pilots that flew with him. Excerpts from their diaries and letters home provide some very unique, and amusing perspectives on his incredible life in aviation.
Some of the most striking stories from the book:
If you are at all any sort of aviation nut, this is a MUST READ book. After reading it, I had visited the Boeing Museum of Flight (where I’ve been many times), except this time a lot of the ‘other’ displays about aviation greats were people I’d read about in his book. It’s impacts go beyond Bob himself. It just goes to show what an important part of US aviation he played.
Just arrived!!!
My latest toy box (or box of toys) arrived during the conference this week. I’ve had a lot of time to work on building this machine, but I did manage to get some HXT-900 cyclic servers and a general test/fix mockup completed. ! I still have to order several parts before it will fly.
My package from Hong Kong has almost arrived. It appears to have cleared customs and it on it’s way for delivery!
| Item Number: CP829903851HK | ||
|---|---|---|
| Posting Date | Drop-off Point | Origin |
| 6-Jul-2010 | Air Mail Centre (Counter Section) | Air Mail Centre (Counter Section) |
| Date # | Location | Delivery Status |
| 6-Jul-2010 | Hong Kong | Item posted and is being processed. |
| 7-Jul-2010 | Hong Kong | Processed for departure. |
| 7-Jul-2010 | Hong Kong | The item left Hong Kong for its destination on 7-Jul-2010 |
| 8-Jul-2010 | United States of America | Arrived and is being processed. |
| 8-Jul-2010 | United States of America | Pending customs inspection. |
| 10-Jul-2010 | United States of America | Arrived the delivery office and is being processed. |
But it’s the risk you have to take if you’re going to fly these things, especially when there are gusty winds. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing real helicopters having trouble with wind, sometimes with tragic results. I
In the grand scheme of things, a little bit of bent aluminum is hardly much to worry about. Being grounded with a busted helicopter is still not the ideal situation.
I noted yesterday that the Blade 400 tail tube turns out to be remarkably similar in dimension to the one used on the 450. I really would have thought that the ‘smaller’ 400 class model would have a shorter tail boom, but it turns out to be about 15mm longer.
Easy enough to rectify. A little cutting, sanding and filing is all it took.
The new tail boom, and new Sport alloy tail case are now installed on the helicopter. One of the advantages of the new Sport tail case, is an alignment pin (the original did not have, it uses the hole seen in the blade 400 tube) that keeps the tail case from rotating. An issue I had a couple of times with the original part.
A closer look at the alloy tail case, new tail rotor blades also installed:
During lunch I’ll be able to finish mounting the tail servo, knight head and support bars.
UPDATE:
I just checked on the status of the replacement parts and some other fun stuff I ordered from China, using the ‘slow-boat 7-45 day shipping’ option. I regretted not spending the extra $20 for faster EMS 3-5 day shipping, until I checked the shipping status this morning!
For a slow boat from China (OK, it’s air post but the website said expect 7-45 days transit), it’s already here in the states. I just needs to clear customs. Not sure who long that will take but, you know I’m going to post here when it does!
Some days are just not meant to be. That’s the conclusion I had at noon today.
The day started out innocent enough. The 4:30 AM sun woke me up, I only managed to make it to 6:00AM before I was ‘awake’.
Work day started at 6:30AM. At this point things were pretty good. No overnight issues (there really area, I have a great IT team working for me!), fired up my data modeling software and continued laying out some concepts for our IT off-site next week. It should be good and productive.
Weather was warm, a little gusty, but so warm, I just had to go fly the helicopter. Fresh from a makeover, and confident after 2 full flying sessions with no issues and crashes, I set out for the Sheridan Airpark at 10:00AM.
With the opportunity to practice some flying with perpendicular and quartering side winds, I set to flying (sadly the on board video camera was accidentally set to audio only.. on well).
The flying was going very well. Had full control, heli was still climbing and settling at odd frequencies.. maybe the motor was OK, ESC was OK, it’s just got this tendency to drop from time to time. Better throttle management required by me.
After doing some fast forward runs, then backing up, and running again, my confidence was building. Had a few gusts push the bird around a bit but I was having a blast. Then.. I got cocky.
Pulling pitch hard a couple of times, it was accelerating up nicely. Up down.. fast. I was starting to really fly it around, then I got behind the curve and started to get close to a fence than I wanted. Cutting back the throttle, also reduced pitch, and the bird started to roll left. Applied hard right cyclic, pulled out some more pitch and tried to flare for a landing when, it happened. Tail Strike. Drove the tail into the ground, stalling the tail rotor. This immediately whipped the heli around hard into a ball in the grass. I thought for certain by the sound, I’d shunted the main blades.
Must to my surprise, and happiness they were completely in tact! So was the very frigile, but very critical flybar. “Sweet.”, I thought, “Flip it upright and fly again. Hm.. uh.. wow.. that looks funny… OH NO!”.
Of all the spare parts I have, a tail boom is not one of them. Now, mine looked like this:
Suddenly this pretty darn good day is looking less rosy. Ugh.. I just wanted a little fun flying time and my exuberance got the best of me, and the helicopter. Having been to my local hobby shop SO MANY times in the last month, I knew they did not carry the TRex 450 tail booms in stock. I’d had the forethought to order a spare boom with some other parts direct from a plant in China. But that shipment is 2-3 weeks out!! No way am I going to be happy not flying for 2 or more weeks. 🙁
Back to work, I’d got take care of that and another errand at lunch time. This damage has to wait. 
Around 12:30PM I took lunch. One of the errands I wanted to dispatch today was to sell off my HK-45 Tactical pistol. It was stolen when I left California in 2000. Recovered from a drug dealer in Sacramento a couple of years later. It was found under the front seat of his car when they searched it. There it sat in evidence for another 3 years during his trial. Once it was done, the Sheriff’s department shipped it to the S.O. here in Kitsap (Washington) were I went to pick it up. It’s been mostly untouched since that time. I’ve always had a bad feeling that it was involved in some very unsavory/evil activity. I’ve never shot it. It’s been stored for years. Taking up valuable space in the safe, collecting dust, and as it turns out, rust too. 🙁
So, today I decided to sell it, and took it to a firearms dealer I’ve worked with before to see what they would offer. When I got there, the ‘head guy’ was out. A couple of his workers, enthusiastic, but not knowledgeable about the H&K made an offer that was just way too low. They did suggest I come back later, as the ‘head guy’ might be personally interested in the H&K. Now double disheartened, headed home to complete my work day, looking out the windows at the great day slowly passing by me.
Around 4:30PM, I’d put in a solid day of work, and I needed to go do *something* positive to cheer me up. Weather was so nice, I didn’t care what it would be. So the first order of business was to wash the SUV. I’d washed the car the weekend prior, but the SUV has been dirty since my last trip to CA. Filthy! So.. today it got some TLC and I felt a little better after that.
I’m one of those hope springs eternal type guys, so I packed up the gun again, went to the shop to see if the head-honcho was there, and in fact he was. After some examination he made me an offer 50% higher than his employees did, and I took the deal. It was more than I’d actually expected, so I was happy with that. Suddenly the day was starting to look a heck of a lot better!
A pile of cash in hand, I thought I’d now try my luck at the hobby shop. Worst case, I enjoy a nice drive around the water and back. As it turns out, they do not have the Trex 450 tail boom I needed. No matter, I know that I can drive the 70 miles to Olympia to a big helicopter parts shop and get anything I need.
It was at this point the day improve a bit more. I noticed that another brand of helicopter (EFlight Blade 400) had a nearly identical tail boom for their Blade 400. A smaller helicopter, but.. the boom looked so close, I might be able to use it. And after some measuring, it turns out the diameter is identical, the it’s not only long enough, but TOO long. But that I can fix with a hack saw! Best part, is they sell them in a pack of two for $6.00. 🙂 Ah… I might be flying again today yet! After digging around a little more I found some factory TRex tail boom support parts (also damaged in crash), so I was just about 100% whole, with the exception of a tiny plastic saddle part that the booms attach too. Eventually I found those as well, but only as part of a knight head and tail kit. Parts that I have PLENTY off, and these are white (gag). OH well.. I know how many days it will take to get just the part I want, and drive 70 miles for a part I can get now for $5.00 is just not really practical. So.. I have some more fugly parts for the tail, but I *can* fly! Provided I do the work to replace the parts that is!
High from my great encounter with a Glock specialist at the gun shop, and now the parts I needed for the helicopter, I started the journey home. On the way I looked for a new patio chair. Something to sit out front, read, enjoy a cocktail.. just take in the summer. But I didn’t find exactly what I’m looking for. Close, but I’m going to hold out for the ‘right’ thing. That quest continues.
Without the ‘perfect’ chair to sit outside on, I opted instead to go home, pick up my book about Bob Hoover, and head to the waterfront for a German sausage and a 9lb. Porter. It had cooled to just 90F at this point, so sitting in the shade by the fountain, drinking a great beer, reading a great book and having a great sausage, it REALLY made the rest of the day just about perfect!
Once I finished up, handed the plate and glass back to Amber, I decided to walk further down the boardwalk, find a table and keep reading. And that’s what I did until 10:00PM, when it was starting to get too dark to read.
It really was a MOST enjoyable day in the PNW. If only to have a couple of old friends to have been able to share it with. Well, friends, this is the best I can offer, until next we break bread.