All us newbie pilots, lets share..

[Capt. Crunch]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Hey Gman

Congrats on your knew plane!

You mentioned being excited like a little kid..... Here's my ordeal.... I received my DHC-2 beaver a few days ago. The wife wrapped it and put it under the tree. Said I cant open it till x-mas morning.

I don't think I'm gonna make it Lol


Jeff

[Rocketeer]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Greetings Capt.,

By any chance do you have a pet that could faithfully take the fall should the wrapping paper around the Beaver "accidentally" get torn up?

Just a thought.......

Hang in there, man.

Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.
[hr]
Hey G56,

Dude, when you began this thread did you ever think it would grow to 11 pages!?!?!
I remember being the first one to reply to it way back in July!!

Incredible!!!

Bill L.
in Okla.

[Capt. Crunch]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Hi Bill

Thanks for the idea and support!! I don't think she would believe the cat ripped it open.
Knowing her, she would just wrap it again anyway!! Lol

Jeff

[Hippie 64]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Spread cat nip across it !

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

yea, go figure,huh.
I'm really pleased with the results as my original thought was to get in touch with others in the same boat or close to it as I was, also somewhere where the more experienced and willing pilots would come to give us newbies some useful and helpful tips. I think its grown into something bigger, its become a sort of cyber place to hang, now if I could just serve beer, we'd have the perfect site!! 
Update on the P51B, she's assembled, the only thing not on her now are the exhaust stacks because I'm going to paint them first.

The wiring was a nightmare.  The sequencer has this multi pin connecter that isn't anywhere in the instruction manual.  Out of this pin cluster, comes the flaps and aileron pins that should go into the receiver.  Doesn't work!  I ended up pulling the wiring apart in BBD to see what the heck I did in that one. Anyway, I had to remove the lead from this mulit-pin connector from the input of the sequencer and put the two short cables from the 'gatherer' box (The one you plug the two leads that come from the wings)into the two inputs of the sequencer and then take the two long leads out of said box and put them into the receiver.  They are the aileron and flap leads. to make a long complicated story short, I duplicated what the wiring is on the FMS P51D 1400. (didn't mention that only one landing gear would extend at first, and the fairing doors would close when retracting and not allow the one gear that was working to retract. Turns out I had a wire in to one collector box on the wing in upside down, flipped it over and WHEW, it worked ) So, in this case, it works better with less parts!  So my big question is what the heck is that multi pin connector for?  Into the spare parts division it goes.
So, I took a lot of pictures of the assembly, but doesn't look like you can post pics here any more, which is a shame, but I understand they may be working on that.  I'll have to check out 'The Hangar" and see if I can still post there.  Got a busy day ahead so probably get to it tomorrow, I'll post a pic of this multi pin connector as well, see if we can get some clarity on it.

All in all, a nice build, the manual, by the way is not the old photo copy that the Waco and the P51D were.  Also, the canopy leaves a lot less room for the receiver and wiring  A real beautiful plane.!


Grossman56
[hr]
ok, here's what you do.  Insert the theme song from Mission Impossible into your cd player. Take pictures from every angle, study the method of tape application, mark the exact spot and angle that it was sitting at.  Now, buy the wife a day at the Spa, or anything to get her out of the house.
Now the coast is clear my friend, but beware, the final reassembly of the wrapping has to be perfect and you need to substitute something that is the EXACT same weight as the airplane, so the box is the same weight.  Now, where ever you are clandestinely building said airplane, you have to camouflage the entire site.  Tell her your busy wrapping her presents so she's not allowed in!  Now, when you open the package on Christmas day, do NOT open the package so she sees that the airplane isn't in there, just a brick.  You rush off to the build room, lock the door, make all kinds of 'building noises' keep the cursing and 'what the hecks' to a minimum. An hour later, you emerge (sprinkle some Styrofoam pellets on you for effect)  and there you are my friend, new plane happy guy and happy wife.  That's what they call a win, win, win situation!!

Grossman56
MI-6

[OV10]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Hey G56,
DUDE, LMAO !!!!
Sorry man, had to throw ya under the bus just to prove to my sweetie that I am not alone in this world when it comes to conniving routines for the luv of the hobby. All she could do was stand there and shake her head and remark "boys and their toys". She says the same thing about the Harley and the Kubota backhoe too!!

[Rocketeer]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Greetings G56,

Ok, I have to tell you that your solution to the wrapped present sounded an awful lot like the voice of experience!! You sly dog!!


Bill L.
In Okla.

[Hippie 64]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

OV10 the rules state , open your presents on Christmas Eve . That's 12.01 AM . Then you have all day to build and maybe fly it !!!!! Make sure you give hers to her FIRST !!!! Guilt trip " ok honey you can open yours too " . Works every time . Good luck





Bryan

[Capt. Crunch]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

LMAO Thanks guys, good ideas to ponder. I was thinking of just ordering another plane in the mean time? Lol


Jeff

[Hippie 64]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

That's even better !!!!!!! Be sure to remember batteries etc.






Bryan

[Rocketeer]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Greetings Guys

I think it's a hoot that so many of us are so well versed in overcoming the dreaded "wrapped present" syndrome!!

Of course, my favorite thus far has to be the "order another plane while you wait" plan.  Classic!

Is this fun or what?

Bill L.
In Okla.

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Hmm, on second thought, maybe it's a good thing that we can't sell beer here!

BTW, my new icon is the new plane with the original 1/32 scale kit from back in the 70's. Never built the kit, its still there in the box.  Also have the Baa Baa Blacksheep limited edition Corsair still in the box, still in the plastic.  Hmmm, maybe I need a Corsair...............
Get out the Mission Impossible theme track

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Just posted some pictures of the new girl in "the Hangar" I started a new thread for Christmas Presents, feel free to post!
Ever get frustrated when you buy a piece of equipment and it doesn't perform?  Well, I bought a Great Planes Prop balancer.... Now the concept is great, the prop fits onto a bar that runs between two posts that have strong magnets that hold the rod in place, making it virtually frictionless.  The problem with it is that the posts on either side are too small to do 1400 mm four bladed props! Dang!!  Anyway, I also bought a Great Planes CG machine.  I got looking at it and thinking (Which, if you followed this post thus far, you know it could be dangerous!)
The posts are shaped something like "L's", so there is a good sized foot on them.  I grabbed a couple of those little paper clamps black thingys and pinched the posts of the prop balancer onto the feet of the CG machine, voila!  A prop balancer for big props!  worked like a charm for both Mustangs!  Cheap if you already have the two tools in the first place (McGyvered again)

Grossman56

[Hippie 64]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Saw how it was made and I went with  Dubro 



Bryan 

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

So, have a look at this, in this picture is all the parts laid out for the P51B, notice the sequencer with the  multi pin port.  Can anyone explain this?  I eliminated the pin port from the build and hooked the sequencer up the way it is in the P51D, works fine!

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

So, I ordered two Eagle A3L Gyros.   Was going to put one in the Pandora and one in the P51B, problem is that the DX 6i doesn't have a three position switch so you can turn the gyro on and off.  (Its either off, 3D or regular flying) with a two way switch, its either 3d or regular flying, no way to turn it on and off.
So, here's the plan, I need to get a Dx8, obviously, right?  One problemo, the wife factor, equivalent to Ralphies "You'll shoot your eye out" So how to circumvent this seemingly insurmountable obsticle.  So I turn to my partners in crime...............



Grossman56

[Rocketeer]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Greetings G56,

Go for the new Tactic TTX850 at half the price ($180 vs. $300). And Tactic 625 receivers make great stocking stuffers!!!
You can explain how much money you're saving HER!!!!

Hey, it's a start.......

Good luck, my friend.

Bill L.
in OKla.

[Capt. Crunch]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Hey Gman

Maybe if you get her a sexy leg lamp she'd be ok with the new transmitter :)

I was planning on getting a couple gyros too, but I also have the Dx 6i.  Didn't know there would be a problem with the switch. Thanks for the heads up.  Do you know if the dx8 has more settings for flaps?   Right now its either FULL flaps or none.


Jeff

[OV10]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Hello Crunch (Jeff)
The DX8 has a 3 position flap switch. Also has a 3 position Aux2 switch and a rotary Aux3. You guys are really adding some cost to your sport just for the gyro comfort zone. A 7 channel rx is double the cost of a 6 channel and an 8 channel is triple. But... here is the really great advantage of the DX8, you can control the servo speed for the above mentioned 3 position switches by programming up to if memory serves me correct(damn chemo brain) 15 seconds. All my birds have their flaps set for 15 and 30 degree positions with a slow deploy programmed if I don't happen to have a slow flap servo installed. The slow deploy helps minimize the ballooning effect when full flaps are "slammed" on.
Hope this helps.

[Grossman56]

RE: All us newbie pilots, lets share..

Yeah, the darned thing has three position switches coming out of its ears!! You get a free rx (an Ar8000) with the DX8, valued at $129, so 299.99-129.99=$170.00 for the radio!
Anyway, I guess its going to have to wait a while (sniff)


Grossman56