**In-Flight Mind Glitches**

[3dee]

that good I tend to do the other a stay with it till i get it or run out of monet trying, and i am at that stage right now. my raptor 90 went in last weekend doing autos i flicked out of throttle hold by mistake and powered into the ground with loads of neg pitch. i had "v" blades on the full set main and tails carbon boom and quick uk head all smashed to bits. and a 90 size helly they are not cheep. we all do it some times

[jahatton]

Ouch! Sofar I have not had the guts to switch throttle hold in flight.. I had a close call with the camera
I got the Raven on Aug 5th 05 and up to Apr 17 07 had 145 flights and 5 mishaps and counting the Apr 17th crash will have spent $1200 in repairs.
I have had much less airplane flying but have never broken a prop or not able to fly because of a crash. J

[jahatton]

Hi all, well I just ordered a new heli! While looking through a Tower Hobbies catalog I saw a Heli-Max Kinetic 50. It sure looks like a Raven! I called the hobby shop and found it is made by Century for Heli-Max, the downside is it has a Hawk rotor head and clutch bell which are plastic and has wood blades. It doesn't have CCPM but everything from the Raven can be swapped out.
So much for the sabbatical!
Jim

[3dee]

welcome back to the land of the flying, and got some weekend work and start it sat morning all weekend, but i ordered the parts for my raptor 90 Friday night and i will have to put about $15 to the pay to get the parts but she will be in the air by next weekend.

[jahatton]

Thank you it's good to be back.
Jim

[jahatton]

Hi Gang, finely got the Heli-Max Kinetic 50 yesterday and is now ready for test flights.
The kinetic is made by Century based on the Hawk 30. The cost of parts to get the Raven back was more than the whole heli. This kit comes with a huge fuel tank it's at least 4 oz's larger!
The product report:
Plus Side
1. Kit comes assembled (all major components) Every nut, ball end and bolt on this baby got the Locktite... I will not have anything fly off it again!!!
2. Canopy glass is tinted (Smoked)
3. The lower frame has access slots for muffler bolts. No more need to remove landing gear.
4. They even included the long throttle arm for the carb. (Mine broke in flight and had to sit and wait around as it screamed on the grass)
5. All the pushrods were made and just had to be made to the proper length.
6. Fuel fittings are pre-bent with no messing around. (I added a third line that goes to a second clunk for gravity feed)
7. All parts are interchangable with the Falcon and Hawk. I have the Raven so the upgrade is on the shelf.
8. Cost. Works out to $302.00 Canadian. The parts are cheaper as well. ie: $22.98 for wood blades (Century) $19.98 from Heli-Max
9. Easy to setup and program. The instruction booklet gives actual picture of Futaba 6ch heli, 7ch and 9chps and how the different windows should be set.
Total time to assembled and setting pitch 10.5 hrs. Test Flying when canopy is decaled.

Negative Side
1. Very tricky to assemble the bottom frame with the extra large fuel tank.
I got the engine and muffler installed then went to put the landing gear on to make assembly easier... Not! Had to install the boom struts first when it's all appart then had to remove the muffler to get at the front gear bolts.
2. Rotor head is from the Hawk 30
3. Clutch bell is plastic (Basically it's a stripped down version of the Falcon 50)
3. Shipping from Tower Hobbies... slow as a snail! Ordered it on May 18th, shipped on the 21st and got it June 7th.
4. Would I buy another one? "Yes!" for the cost savings and free parts.
5. Tail Rotor has a one-way bearing on gear at the bottom of mast.
Jim

[Raptorpilot]

Had an issue last night. It was getting dark but i wanted to show one of my friends. I realized I could see the heli pretty easily when it was in the air but when I brought it down to land the second it went below the horizon I lost track of the orientation. There is nothing I have so far experienced that is more scary than flying based on the movement rather than on the actual shape of the heli. I saved it but just barely I had probably under 10 feet of space left when I got it under control and I believe it was nose in upside down at full positive pitch and throttle. I suppose the moral is don't let it get out of sight and if its getting dark, it will be harder when you land than when you take off.