Check out www.captaincrash.co.uk for some new types of carbon blades

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Im really sorry to the Hull guys for not mentioning them in the clubman report

there like a real support team with offers of drinks and food in the mornings(they also seem to keep the bird population down!!!).

So with this I apologise and  bow my head in shame.

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I thought id start to play with the 600N settings this weekend and im so glad I did Ive gone from -10/+10 to -13.5/+13.5 and boy does that make a difference it’s a real animal now and its defiantly taken over as the best machine I have ever flown

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The 600N has had another Prang nothing too bad shafts, skids and a few odds and sods held up real well considering I wasn’t flying it

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Ive been sneaking in quite a few flights in on the 600E at work latly and ive just got a second battery so that should be more fun

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Sunday the day of the st neots flyin
Got there fairly early plenty of people had beaten us to the flight line I took the 600E out for a flight and when I came back Steven Gerrard commented on the lack of performance my 600E had. And with that he helped me setup the heli using his packs due to the fact I only had one man was I impressed with the 600E it was a rockin I will post the settings once I find them…. Then Steven G had a go with my 600N and he seemed very happy with it and thought it only required a single click on the main needle. Later that day Duncan Osborne also had a go and you could see he was having fun with my machine its realy something to see people who can fly better than you putting your heli though its pace’s it also proves that my heli is capable of doing everything that I cant!!!! Then as usual the 600N throws a magnet and the heli engine starts to scream and Duncan lands and hands it back so I set out to set a throttle curve up which I do and then I proceed th fly it to prove its fine. I get the heli locked into a tail down pie dish and then the glow plug pops out and the engine dies I figure im too low to flip so opt to land the heli on its head bleed out all the head speed and it rested on the ground and then it tipped over from the weight and bent the flybar and snapped a mixing arm RESULT.

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Friday (two days before the st neots flyin) the 600N arrived so I called on Peter and Mark to help get the 600N built ready for the flyin we managed to build the heli in one night and I spent 3+ hours on wire routing and radio setup. Later that day I took the 600N for a test flight at a field round the corner from me and to say I was happy was an understatement in its first flight I was doing hurricanes and pie dishes loops rolls ect. With out the canopy on which was a first.

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The 600E arrived first
The Build was just as easy as I remember from building a friends of mine. I upgraded the motor to a 600XL and upgraded the tail to torque tube powered in order to keep the two 600’s as close as possible for spares. Had a few flights during that week and wasn’t overly impressed with the power (governor mode with 90% throttle) but other than that the heli was flying nice and smooth

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Ever since hearing about the Align 600N I decided that I was going to replace the trusty old raptor and so an order was placed with Real Raptors and the wait began and with the N9 coming home in a black bag I decided to not repair but replace the N9 with a 600E.

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At  the end of the Clubman Competition Andy from Real Raptors came up to me and said he wanted to sponsor me which for me is great news ive been shopping with Andy for around seven months now and have had nothing but the best service so much so that when I wanted my canopy painted I asked if I could put the Real Raptors logo/website on the paint job which they agreed. Well sadly that canopy is no longer with us in a flying way. But as part of the sponsorship I now have a new one for my heli’s with the Real Raptors design on.

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Clubman 2007 review HERE

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Went to Charmouth on Sunday with peter and John meet loads of people Ive been talking too in conection with 3D championship. some excellent flying too. Aslo Duncann Osbourne put my N9 though its paces and came to the same conclussion as I had that the cyclics are too slow so I ordered a few parts from Real Raptors and will make a few changes this week

As for 3D Championship things are really progressing well and the pilots slots are filling up and also the sponsors spaces are filling up too!!!

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Im now sponsored by UK Toys Direct many thanks Mark

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Looks Like I’ve made myself even busier

Check out the Compettion Me and Rob Turnbull are organising
www.3dchampioship.co.uk

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How Quickly things change!!!!
At the field where I currently fly we applied for planning permission which in turn has been refused and Im now in the process of appealing this decision which isn’t easy. The local papers have had a few articles about us being evicted ect. Which have had a detrimental effect on our members and possible new members, so I called the paper to enquire why the repeated paragraphs about the planning permission, well there wasn’t really a reason but I offered them the chance to come see what we do so that we can put our side of the story across, So there coming to take a few pics and write an article good I hope!!!
I managed to crash yesterday trying a ½ piro / ½ flip auto which went south pretty quick and by the time id got it level the blades stopped and whack went the boom / blades. Not too bad of a crash but serious enough for me to order a load of parts that are due replacement but being putting the maintenance off.

I have also put my forms in for 3dmasters and Clubman 2007 I just have to wait to see if I get a place. Id filled in my forms and decided to put CSM down as my sponsor *(note that I have been part sponsored for 4 months).. then today thought that I should have spoken to CSM about this first so I call up Wendy at CSM and the outcome of that chat is that I’m now a fully sponsored CSM pilot. The best part of this is that I should be getting the CSM mixer rather soon (this is something that I have been waiting for since first speaking with Colin 4 months ago) so I now wait for a package of goodies.

In the last 6 months I have had nothing short of excellent service from Andy at Real Raptors. Which is why I asked Andy if he would mind me putting the “www.realraptors.co.uk” on my soon to be painted canopy.

All this inside a week -- Busy me

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Happy new year
So 2000 and 7 has arrived and its now time for me to start taking all this 3d stuff seriously so I’ve started to make a plan of the year with goals and achievements.

First the dates:

Competitions
Clubman 3dx 20th May
3DMasters 20th – 22nd July. (am I going to enter?)
Flyins
Charmouth 21-22nd April
MK Heliclub 7-8th July

What’s required?

3mins of Freestyle
3mins flight to music
6x set manoeuvres no more than 10K total

Need to decided on my Sets by mid jan 2007 (less than two weeks)
Hot favourites are
Tumbling loop (1.5)
Tumbling circuit (2)
Pie Dish (1)
Inverted backwards loop (1.5)
Travelling Back Flip (1)
Piroretting wall of death (2.5) or K 1.5 Auto

Backup
Stationary Metronomes (1.5)

DATES

Create draft Freestyle by end of Jan early Feb
Choose music end of Jan 2007
Hot favourite is Pumpit Black-eyed peas
Mid Feb have music cut down to 3mins

Jan – Feb Set manouvers Practice 70%
Jan – Feb Freestyle Practice 30%
March – Flight to Music 60%
March – Set manouvers 20%
March – Freestyle 20%
April – May Polish off prior to Clubman
20th May Clubman
June –July Polish off Prior to 3DMasters 20th – 22nd July

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All Good Again
Go The N9’s motor back great news spent a couple hours dialing in the hub again, then got a couple of tanks though. Once again im back to where I should be three working helis. Busy Sunday started to try and do pirouetting pie dish for real and its not looking too bad, also I had a go at chaos on the trex which went better than I expected. Somehow I managed to sneak in a half decent snake as well so I went away with a smile on my face and three complete helis. Although the Raptors tail doesn’t feel right not sure why but I will l strip the tail drive system down and re-build to find out. Its funny how things seem familiar as it was this time last year when I was planning Clubman trying new moves and working out weather I can perfect them before the comp ect.

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Now the Bad news!!!

My flying getting stronger but my 50’s suffered from all its flights and its now time for another set of bearings (3 sets in 10 months)but whilst getting out the Bearings I broke the piston ring Doh… so that’s heli number one out of action for a week or so. And now the really bad news my 1 and ½ gallon OS91szh ps Hyper decided during a flight to go really lean and now the piston, ring and sleeve are all messed up also the rear bearings are showing signs of rust. Spoke to Ripmax and im going to send the engine in for diagnosis. The real issue here is the fan and hub are all dialled in.
so out of three helis im down to one the T-Rets which at the mo im loving flying in fact I got three good flights in at work, only thing was the last flight I got a little careless / confident and came closer to the ground than I wanted to be (didn’t crash though). My set of 315mm Radix have arrived so ill compare them to the current SAB’s. Talking of blades I was tempted to change the 710mm SABs on my N9 for a set of 690 Radix’s but im not sure if I need to now as it could have been the Engine that wasn’t performing as I expected and not the blades fault.
So ive begun that arduous task of getting ready for 2007’s comps, with this www.3dx.eu.com means that there maybe more comps next year Clubman have already joined up to 3dx and with what the website says there could be a lot more smaller comps going on time will tell, I just hope that Clubman doesn’t loose its way. Ive spent the past few months practising my backwards inverted stuff which is coming along very nicely also Ive spent a lot of time on pirouetting pie dish which is something that’s hit and miss on weather I can do it. Also I think ive chosen the music I want to fly to Black Eyed Peas “Pump IT” and if started to put together a routine however not sure if it’s wise as im still waiting for confirmation on what they are looking for at the comps but I guess any thing I practise now can be used if broken down into small chunks. Over the last year ive been building up a collection of moves which I have written down with a start position and an exit position I plan to use these as a story board for the freestyle / music sections any that’s enough for today….

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Finally some good news!!!

Got the Engine back from real-raptors.co.uk all dialled in to 1/2thou thanks Andy. I bolted on the clutch and got it too 1thou at the tip. So off to the field again to see if this fixes the tail wag problem that’s been bugging me for nearly 6 weeks (constant violent tail wag) well it wasn’t engine related, I remounted the gyro using different mounting pads no joy, I then mounted the 720 up front still no joy and after spending two hours on the phone with CSM (great customer service thanks Colin) and calling Andy we where all stumped at that point I had decided to mount my 611 in the N9 and to put the 720 in the raptor to see if it was a gyro problem. But before I got that far I stumbled though a post on runryder that by me mentioning my problem out came the solution maybe I should have asked sooner!!!!, well here’s the fix I used.
1.) Reamed out the tail grip to 10mm (it should have been that but it wasn’t)
this made the tail 10x better but not perfect so on to the next mod.
2.) Take the thrust washer with the smallest inner hole and grind off 0.03mm of the outside edge.
What this did was truly amazing the heli instantly was a new heli night and day difference. Also during this time we set the tail to be perfectly trimmed in non heading hold. All this would not have been possible if it wasn’t for John. John If you are reading this I am ever grateful for your time and patience.
So a tank hovering and doing a few climb outs and that was the end of that day I went home with a big grin I now had a heli I could trust.
The following day I was off to Cambridge for a day / night flyin only got two flights on the N9 first was its first true flight I pushed it a bit not too much though once I had landed I had a massive grin. Later on towards dusk I got the N9 out for another flight this time I pushed it a little harder still not to its max two reasons for this.
1.) I wanted to take the thing home
2.) Its still new and I was just trying to get the feeling of the N9
Had to be careful this heli really is a charmer trying to lull you into a sense of security I was almost about to try pirotting pie dish on its second flight before I stop myself(I can only just do these on the sim).

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Night Flying

The Flyin its self was great fun both me a John did the most flying not sure why though but I aint complaining. As usual it was great to put names to faces and to speak to other guys that have the same hobby but different ideas.
Then as the sun set it was time to get the Helis ready for night flying myself and john had T-rex’s thanks to paul for the loan of the night blades and paul had has rappy 30 plus one of the club guys had a raptor 50(the 50 didn’t fly till quite late due to those heli gremlins) also I belive the heli went to meet Satan in the ground oh dear!!! This was my first reall attempt at night flying I have hoverd at hoime in the back garden but trust me it aint the same as fun on at the field thrash the heli around night flying I really enjoyed my self, only problem for me is I want a set of night flying gear but don’t have the cash ?.

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Woo-Hoo

My N9 arrived ordered from www.realraptors.co.uk , and that’s when the fun really started, the kit build is simple but frustrating, let me explain this heli is simple very few parts, big chunky parts(think Tonka toy) but then it lets itself down with its frustrating bits, Like those damn C-clips, the torque tube ends(hammer out time) and finally the biggest problem I faced the Fan Hub / clutch dial indicating I have given up on this and sent it away to be done, I have spent something like 6 nights on this and still the engine vibrates(inside the tank it looks like its raining)

Also I have a problem with the gyro but I think that’s down to the tail linkage being tight and the vibration from the engine

Other than all the problems the heli flies real nice if not a bit intimidating I really can’t wait till I can “Fly” the thing

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Synergy N9
Whilst I was at 3D Masters I phoned the wife to see if I could get my synergy but alas she said not until you’ve sold your two helis. So I didn’t come home with a N9. so I sold my shuttle. Then wifes say’s that I can get my N9 great off I go in search of that elusive heli the N9 its like that film "Trojan wars" not one left for sale. Ive have every thing sitting on my desk that I need to get the thing flying but the Heli how annoying three weeks later and still no Heli im told it will be in next week like I was last week, I’ll just have to wait.

A New friend of mine let me fly is new N9 this is the first 90 size heli ive “flown”. Other than hovering and a quick circuit with a friends raptor 90
Thanks for that Steve
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Busy Time's
A very busy month or so for me
First up I went to 3D masters that was an awesome display of flying so much so that im now not bothering entering 3dmasters next year ;-) Got to meet so many people that ive meet though my short time of going to Flyins (ie this year only)

So far this year ive been to:
Clubmans
Orwell model heli club (my club)
Miltons Keynes heli club
3D Masters
Orwell model heli club (my club)
North Nottinghamshire model flying Club
Clacton model flying club to do some demo flights
Going to Graveley (Cambridge) day / night fun fly

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New Friends
As stated before I haven’t been in the hobby long but I have made friends/acquaintances all over the country. One of the things I really like about this hobby is the enthusiasts. I‘ve sold a bought quite a few things over the past few months and on all occasions the sale of the items only took a minute to negotiate of the 20+ minute call time the rest was spent on discussing other parts of the hobby for instance I bought a set of blades from a guy on the BMFA we spent most of the time discussing the Pros and cons of the new 90 size birds and engines ect.
This to me is great that I can call or be called by a perfect stranger and have a conversation with them unlike most things when you buy stuff you phone find out the details ask questions then buy you don’t go out of your way to chat about things other than the sale
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Basics
So earlier this year I did the clubman 2006, I can 11th but felt I could have done better (don’t we all?). I kinda had a break practising new tricks after the comp and spent some time tidying up my basics. Which I have to say has made a BIG improvement. Well worth going back to basics boring I know but its made a difference that’s noticeable. Hence I’m going spend even more time on this. I have spent time learning inverted backwards flying, which was for some reason very easy for me to learn (I hope it’s down to “going back to basics”). I had as most people have trouble with one direction but not the other so I have spent most of my simulator time working on the “hard side” again this has paid off with much neater inverted backwards figure of eights. I tried the other day my first attempt at invert pirouetting circuits. They went ok but the first couple of tries I bailed out at between 6 O’clock and 3 O’clock im just not a happy bunny at that time. But later on I managed to pull my self though it and flew many good pirouetting circuits (again I feel this down the basics).
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Natural
Also lately I have found that things are more natural (no not the wife)

I do less thinking about what to do with heli and more about how to get the heli where I want it not where it wants to go. I guess you could use the example of driving when you first start you concentrate on moving the car but as time goes by you don’t think of driving you just concentrate on where you’re going and how fast you can go without getting caught!!!
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Next Year
Im now setting my sites on next years competition(‘s) at present I’ve decided to aim my flying towards competing in the 3Dmasters and what ever I produce will be valid in the Clubman 2007 competition. One thing though is that if my flying is not of 3Dmasters quality then I won’t enter but use the skills learnt in the Clubman competition.
So that brings me onto what am I doing in prep for the competitions, lately ive been flying with my MP3 player in my ear and I must say im loving it its nice to kinda switch off to your surrounding and concentrate on the heli. The only thing I don’t like is not been able to hear people behind/around me so ive started making a point of telling people that I wont be able to hear them shout / call ect, but other that that I’m loving it. I notice that my flights do tend to be like the music im listening to, soft and slow though to aggressive abit like listening to good music on the radio. The point of this is for me to get used to flying with and too music, ready for the flight to music rounds.
Ive also been looking into the set manoeuvres which there’s a hell of a list to choose from I was tempted to use the manoeuvres that I used at clubman’s but thought that I wouldn’t learn too much but I also don’t want to over stretch that poor old mind of mine. So I’m using some of the manoeuvres from clubman and some new ones. As for the freestyle well I see how my flying progresses and use what I learn to create a freestyle routine.

That’s all I can think off for now

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Clubman3d 2006 Been and Gone Click here for my thoughts (I came 11th)

So weather you know it or not im entering the Clubman 2006 3D competition on the weekend of the 5th May. And that’s where this site has developed from.

I currently fly at OMHC on the outskirts of Ipswich. We are holding a Club Flyin where all are welcome (that includes you!!!)