Rotor Blade Damage Fries

flight log:

Friday I stopped by the hobby shop near a great noodle joint I eat at all the time and purchased a radio controlled helicopter. I've always wanted one and have loved R/C stuff since I was a kid. Now a prudent man would have purchased a simulator first. I, however, choose to be a jackass and jump straight into the sport with both feet. More on this later. I tested the helicopter liftoff speed and made a few small hops. Feeling confident after about five short hovers I set off on a short flight. The natural progression to goal 2! My plan was to fly about six feet out, lifting off from the lower step on the deck, and only three feet high, turn around and come back for a nice gentle touchdown. Actually, a gust of wind sent Bug about eight feet up and nearly into the swing set in my back yard! This naturally spooked the hell out of me and I made helicopter flying mistake #1. I concentrated on easing up to power till the helicopter was just starting to lift off and trying to stay within a few feet of the deck. I began to test the controls a bit more, realizing that less is more very quickly, but was soon hovering, albeit very drunkenly. This second flight was mostly taken up with small jumps and flight control test, but before the battery gave way, my yearning for a larger flight gave way. I was doing great! The take off was awesome, I turned and glided out over the yard but on the return trip I started heading for the window where Rachel was watching and I knew all was lost. Panicking I instinctively pulled the power off again, and again Bug fell from the shy. So much for my diagnosis work. No battery charge. The stock battery charger was already pissing me off, but this was ridiculous. So I went back to the hobby shop (visit #4) and bought a peak detection charger. This is cool because it allows you to charge batteries very fast, 15 minutes versus 2.

Damage

Damage

Damage

Damage, a novel

Blade runner, (Do androids dream of electric sheep)