Rotor Speed
By Paul Tradelius
Getting ready for a new
flying season
Now that the weather is getting better, many of you will be getting your helicopters ready for another season of flying. Although this is a time for general maintenance, I also recommend you spray down your entire helicopter with WD- 40. The WD stands for water displacement, and the 40 is the number of compounds the Rocket Chemi- cal Company tried until finding success. I
have been using WD- 40 for years and have
never found it to harm any part of my
helicopter. It’s especially important to use
WD- 40 on all metal parts because it not
only provides good lubrication, but it also
creates a coating against rust. I also spray
each individual bearing every few flights,
allowing the WD- 40 to seep inside to give a
nice coat of protection.
Another one of my favorite products is
Tips for summer success!
petroleum jelly. This is a great lubricant for
anything made of rubber or plastic, such as
grommets or main gears. Some heli pilots
think petroleum jelly will attract dirt and
dust, but I have never found that to be the
case. I just smear a little on the part, rotate
it by hand several times to get an even
coating, and then just let it sit. It will protect the part from moisture and provides
a nice coat for lubrication. I hope you like
both these techniques.
experts on the subject, and if you aren’t
going to use a LiPo pack for more than two
weeks, the best procedure is to fully charge
the battery, then bring it down to a storage
charge. Many of the more advanced chargers have this storage feature built in as
part of their options for charge/discharge.
I do this on the first of every month for
those batteries I have not used. I think it’s
also a good idea to cycle the battery every
few months, with a complete discharge
and then a full charge, and then bring the
pack down to the storage voltage. The idea
is to keep the batteries in good working
order so they will be ready to fly when you
are. I have a lot of other reasons to have
mishaps (also known as “crashes”), so I
don’t need a bad battery to be one of them.
Battery maintenance
It’s time to take care of my batteries again,
and I hope you are doing the same. I keep
a file on my computer with each helicopter
and battery combination I have, including
when each pack was charged and placed
in storage. I have talked to several battery
Exercise your thumbs
Before you get into the swing of summer
flying again it is a good idea to get a little
thumb time on a simulator. Experience is a
great teacher, and practicing with a simulator at home, day or night, in any weather
condition, is a great way to get stick time
and to perfect your next maneuver. And,
it’s also a lot easier to hit that reset button
than to repair your helicopter. However,
simulators do exactly what their name
implies. They simulate. This means they
are not true to life, but very close. At least
The Vibe 50 NEX is a top-of-the-line
helicopter in both quality and performance, but
still needs proper maintenance and lubrication
to perform at its best.
it’s a good idea to cycle the battery every
few months, with a complete discharge and
then a full charge, and then bring the pack
down to the storage voltage.
