RC Pilot Magazine — Now Available! 03Jan12
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, General Heli, News, Publications.add a comment
A brand new RC magazine is now out. RC Pilot Magazine is the first tablet only RC magazine, there will be no print. Unlike the Zinio versions of RC Heli Mag, RC Pilot Magazine is a standalone app for Android and the iPad. We believe it is using the Adobe publishing engine that is also used by Wired magazine. There is a nice mix of content with heli coverage as well as planker stuff. The layout is very attractive and it is sprinkled with videos including video ads. The only downside to the videos is that they do make each issue rather large with the free trial issue weighing in at almost 500MB. Overall the trial issue looks good and we hope to see more.
The app is available in the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace. The trial issue is free.
Interview With Mike Velez From RC Heli Magazine 11Nov11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, General Heli, News, Publications.add a comment
The boys over at RCHeliNation 2.0 have a nice interview with Mike Velez. Mike is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of RC Heli Magazine. RCHeli Mag has been having some tough times with the economy as of late. Mike gives the full details. We wish them well — RC Heli Mag has always been our favorite heli magazine. The interview is in Episode 8, forward to 00:23:00 to get right to the interview. Note, the interview itself is family friendly but the rest of the podcast most certainly is not.
Mike mentions Zinio in the interview. If you are not familiar with Zinio it is worth a look. Zinio is an electronic magazine hosting service. The file format served is not as useful as a PDF (no notes, search, etc) but the pages look great, you get the magazine as soon as it is published, and it is easy to have hundreds of issues without stacks of paper cluttering your space. You can read Zinio magazines on your computer via a Web browser or even better is via the Zinio App on the iPad. We gave up our physical subscriptions as soon as the iPad came out and haven’t looked back.
Heli pilots may be interested in the following publications on Zinio: RC Heli Mag, Cleared Hot, Heli News, Combat Aircraft Monthly, and Aviation Week.
RealFlight 6 — Now Available 21Oct11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, General Heli, News, Products.add a comment
A new version of our favorite heli sim is now available. RealFlight 6 is out and even comes with a free Heli Mega Pack. The new sim features improved physics and a rewind feature. The Heli Mega Pack includes over 45 heli models. Unfortunately the only T-Rex is still the 500. Where are the 550, 600 and 700? Although there is the KDE 700 which is a T-Rex 700 with all of the KDE upgrades. It is a very nice model and flies very much like a souped up T-Rex 700. Also the new Rave ENV 700 is included (not the new Ballistic but the original electric ENV). The full version with the Heli Mega Pack also includes a new Futaba transmitter that, finally, includes a smooth collective stick and a proper throttle hold switch!
[Updated: 23NOV11]
New Blade Helis — Available Soon 21Oct11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, General Heli, News.add a comment
Horizon Hobby now has the new Blade mCP X heli and mSR X heli up for pre-order. Both are the latest helis in the great ultra-micro heli line of Blade helis. They are similar to the original aircraft but now have a flybarless control unit!
Available now is the new Blade Scout CX. The Scout is basically the new low cost coax heli, but it is only three channel and should probably be avoided by heli fliers. We still recommend the mCX2 for a basic coax heli.
[Updated: 28OCT11]
Castle Recall — September 2011 26Sep11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, General Heli, News, Products.add a comment
Castle Creations has yet another recall on the ICE HV line of ESCs including both the HV120 and HV160. If your unit is not labeled ‘ICE 2′ return it to Castle.
Thanks to Casey McGinty for the heads-up.
Recall Notices — July 2011 27Jul11
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There have been a few important product recalls over the past few months. Certainly the biggest is Castle Creations’ recall of all Phoenix ICE HV120 ESCs and a recall of the recall including the HV160. Castle is asking customers to return their HV120s for replacement because of a risk of total failure in a small number of units. There is also the August recall of all BEC Pro units as well. Again, a small number of units, especially in higher vibration environments, were failing. If your unit does not have a ‘ICE 2′ or ‘Ver 2.0′ sticker on it for the BEC Pro return it to Castle.
The new Spektrum DX8 transmitter has had a couple of recalls as well. First is a chance of un-commanded servo movements in some of the initial units. The latest one is a problem with certain receivers that may result in a ‘hold’ (loss of control). If you have a DX8 be sure to check your transmitter against the advisories to see if you need to send it in for repair.
[Updated: 26SEP11]
Align 3G Update 26Jun11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, TRex.add a comment
The new T-Rex 600E Pro ships with the all new Align 3GX flybarless system but for owners of the previous 3G unit Align recently released version 3.0 of the firmware. You will need the USB updater to apply it. You can download the new firmware along with instructions and a setup video from Align’s site. We have not had a chance to load it ourselves yet so cannot comment directly on any changes but it supposedly allows for finer adjustments, saving and sharing of settings, and improved pirouette.
Well the not so mysterious disappearance of the T-Rex 550 flybarless kit is solved. Align released a new 550 v2 3GX kit. This is the same 550E kit as before repackaged with the new 3GX unit and the new Align flybarless head. If you are getting, or have, a 550 don’t forget to check out KDE’s 550 upgrades. They have a number of nice choices. We especially like the metal Tail Servo Mount.
[Updated: 27JUL11]
Align T-Rex 600E Pro — Coming Soon! 13May11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, News, TRex.add a comment
Certainly the big news this month is the official announcement of Align’s newest version of the T-Rex 600E. The all new 600E Pro is a completely new design including a top mount motor, under slung 10-12S power, and more. Also announced is the next generation of the Align 3G flybarless unit the new 3GX.
The T-Rex 600E Pro will ship in both flybar and flybarless combo sets that include motor and servos and even a Castle ESC.
Here is a video of the heli in action.
We suspect we will see some new packaging of the other T-Rex helis with the new 3GX unit as well as Align’s new flybarless head design.
Specifications (T-REX 600E PRO):
- Height: 353mm
- Width: 210mm
- Main Blade Length: 600mm
- Main Rotor Diameter: 1347mm (53.03 in)
- Tail Rotor Diameter: 260mm
- Motor Drive Gear:13T
- Main Drive Gear:112T
- Autorotation Tail Drive Gear: 131T
- Tail Drive Gear: 34T
- Drive Gear Ratio: 1:8.61:3.85
- Weight(With Motor): 2350g (5.18 lbs)
Mikado Logo XXtreme — Video 29Apr11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, Logo, News.add a comment
Perry Kavros released a very nice video of the new Mikado Logo XXtreme. This heli is looking real nice. 12-14S power with a torque tube. More pictures courtesy of ReadyHeli.
Also see, Logo XXtreme Coming Soon.
The Ultimate Guide to the Spektrum DX8 — Review 20Apr11
Posted by tanker in Advanced, Beginner, General Heli, Products, Publications, Reviews, Transmitters.add a comment
Chuck Bassani wrote a nice guide to the new Spektrum DX8 transmitter. It is entitled, surprisingly, The Ultimate Guide to the Spektrum DX8.
The book is a small 95-page, black and white, soft-cover. It has plenty of well done photos and covers pretty much anything you need to know about the DX8. It covers both helicopter and fixed-wing functions.
Of course your first question might be, “You need to read a book to use the DX8?!” Well good question! But no you do not. We have found the DX8 much simpler to program overall than the DX7. But this does not make Chuck’s guide superfluous. There are a few advanced features in the DX8 that will be new to many flyers especially those coming from the DX7. The Guide explains all you will need to know. We found it helpful with our first heli setup on the DX8 to explain the various gyro options. Recommended.
Note: When moving from the DX7 to the DX8 be aware that the DX8 uses 0 to +100% for HH and 0 to -100% for rate mode. It also reads true values rather than having to multiply by 1.4 like previous JR/Spektrum radios.
[Updated: 22APR11]
