On May 25, 2013, I attended the 2013 Elite Performance fun fly near Zephyrhills   Florida. The event was help at the Can-Am Flyers, which is a fantastic place to fly. The field is huge, and they have fully covered pit areas. The event CD, David Warr, did a wonderful job with organizing this event and making it one to remember.

The weather was perfect yet again with clear, blue and sunny skies with temperatures in the high 80s. There was lots of talent there as well, including Justin Cook and Mike Fortin of Team Epic. 

The concession stand was keeping us supplied with cold drinks and the best cheese burgers in Zephyrhills, and they had a DJ supplying good music to fly to throughout the entire event.

I kicked off the day`s crash count by putting the Fury 55 in due to a broken rudder control rod. I got it auto rotated down, but I set it down in the high grass just outside the flight zone and dinged it up a little. That didn`t stop my fun though, since I always bring three to four helicopters to an event.

All-in-all, it was a wonderful day spent with good people, and I even made a few new friends. I`m already looking forward to the next Elite Performance fun fly.

I joined a club today, which I was hoping to be able avoid joining. I flew the Fury 55 all weekend without incident, and today...I put it in because I forgot to put it into idle-up before going into 3D maneuvers. On my second flight of today (Sunday May 19, 2013) I lifted off, climbed to about 15 feet... did a few stationary piros and then into a half piro flip to inverted.

The engine went to idle, and the helicopter started falling. I was able to get it back to right side up, but the head speed had already bled off. Not much damage was done though. Both pitch control links popped off, which allowed one of the blades to strike the boom and put a dent in it. One of the main blades ( most likely the one which struck the boom) got a small chip in it. One of the tail boom supports was cracked, and the front landing skid strut was broken.

No other damage was found, and the helicopter is already repaired and ready to fly again. Lesson learned... remember to flip the idle-up switch as soon as the helicopter leaves the ground. My husband got the very short flight on video and it can be viewed on my youtube channel Geena2112. 

Saturday May 11, 2013 was the day of the Orlando Mini Helicopter Blowout at TORCHS. (The Orlando Radio Controlled Helicopter Society) We arrived shortly after 8AM to find the flight line was already active.

Some of the pilots got there on Friday morning, and were taking advantage of the  early flying opportunities, and the sounds of rotor blades and the smell of nitro exhaust filled the air.

Aaron and I got our pit tent set up and I went to the registration booth to get signed up so I could fly. I only managed one flight all day, but fun flies are not always about how many flights you get in, as much as spending time chatting and catching up with friends you have not seen in ages.

The weather was absolutely perfect for flying. It was sunny, clear and about 89 degrees...with a very light wind. Like I said...perfect conditions. Our fun was only threatened buy the weather one time, with a storm moving in from the west. Which ended up dancing around us and never even putting one drop of rain on our parade.

There were a few crashes throughout the course of the day as well, but none of them were major.

Bobby and Bert put on an awesome mid day demo which wowed the crowd, and had a few non-flying spectators watching in disbelief.
I heard one of them say " I had no idea a helicopter could do that"

After Bobby and Bert finished their demo...Bobby did a demo flight at center stage with our good friend "Gator". That was a hoot and I could tell Gator was feeling a little nervous. But who wouldn`t be nervous trying to do a demo flight with Bobby Watts?

In addition to the 3D demos, there was a demo flight by one of the professional F3C pilots who is on part of Team USA. What an awesome performance that was. I really wish I could have gotten his flight on video.

There was a raffle at the end of the event, and one of our local guys won the main prize. A Goblin 500 kit supplied buy SAB Helicopters and Bert and Suzi Kammerer.

The Orlando Helicopter Blowout, and the Mini Helicopter Blowout are two events that should not be missed. Especially if you live in Central Florida. 

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try something new on my Miniature Aircraft Fury 55 helicopter. I have been flying Beastx flybarless controllers on all of my helicopters since I got my first flybarless machine. The only other FBL controller I have flown, briefly, was the Align 3GX which came with my T-Rex 450 Pro 3GX helicopter super combo kit.

After alot of thought and consideration, I have decided to try a Skookum SK540. I have to admit, that after using Beastx controllers for so long, I had quite a bit of difficulty setting up the SK540. The basic setup was relatively easy because the setup wizards walk you through it step by step, and I am about 80% sure I set it up correctly/ However, 80% sure is just not good enough when you`re putting a big expensive helicopter in the air.

The first issue I had with the SK540 (which was my own oversight) was an error light at start up. The error was in the INIT TRIM and was caused by the cyclic stick on my transmitter being out off calibration. A few months ago, I adjusted the stick tensions on my Sprektrum DX8 transmitter and never re-calibrated it....ooops! I got that figured out with the help of my good friend in the UK...Team Sirocco Pilot Heli Chris. Thank you, Chris!

The second thing I had trouble with, was the tail gyro. I`m not sure how to get it set up properly, and I could not get it to go into heading hold mode. Again, not the unit`s fault...I just need to learn the system and learn how to set it up correctly. Also, when applying throttle in Normal flight mode, the throttle servo moves very slowly until it reaches it`s travel limit. I honestly think that this is normal, and it is supposed to ramp up slowly in normal flight mode.

I removed the SK540 from my helicopter for safety reasons (for now) and re-installed the Beastx. I will be attending the Orlando Mini Helicopter blowout next month, (May11 2013)  so I will bring the SK 540 with me, and seek a knowledgeable SK 540 user to guide me through setting it up and make sure I do it correctly. 

Once I get it set up correctly, I believe it will be a very solid controller and I can`t wait to find out. :)

Here it is! I placed my order with Fusuno Canopies on March 6, 2013 for a canopy for my Fury 55 helicopter, and I received it yesterday...March 29,2013. They did an excellent job with not only the quality of their work, but with the speed in which they got it to me. I know some of you who read this will say... "Speed? what are you talking about? It took 26 days." Yes it did! But, the reason for that, is Fusuno does not offer the color design which I ordered for the Fury 55 canopy. So being that mine was a special request order, I`m sure they had to first make a template for the canopy in that design and then paint it, put my name on it and then clear coat it. I`m very happy that they were able to do all of that in 26 days, because I honestly expected it to take longer.

This is the sixth Fusuno canopy I have had done in the Red Assassin design, and it looks fantastic on my new machine. I may be ordering another special request soon as well, and I will reveal why in another blog post soon.