ex-demo cells that I could use to prove my theory and practice with. I tested the whole set up in my back garden late one December evening under flood lights. The model could now fly for over an hour consistently. I was almost ready, but what about the rules?……
The next issue was the rules. If the record was to be ratified I would have to follow some very strict rules set out by the FAI, and prove that I had done so by supplying a mountain of supporting documentation. The scales and stopwatches have to be calibrated and I had to supply the calibration certificates to prove it, also one of the rules states that the model can not take advantage of ‘Slope Lift’. To prevent this, the flying site must not have a fall of 1m in 200m within 1km of the site. Where on earth could I find a place like that, let alone prove it? A visit to Nigel’s one evening and a couple of hours looking through Ordinance Survey maps found an area on the south coast which was so flat there were no contour lines at all. A reccie the next day by Nigel confirmed this would be suitable and he even obtained permission from the farmer to use his land, an official attempt was near.
Getting Ready to Go
It was about this time I noticed that the British endurance record for piston engined helicopters was unclaimed, I suggested that Nigel should ‘have a go’ at this, as we would all be in the right place with all of the appropriate equipment and officials present. Well, he thought, why not, so we both started making our preparations in the hope of becoming ‘Record Breakers’.
Due to work commitments, most of my practicing time was done in my back garden under floodlights after dark. This helped in a few ways as the space was quite limited, and December/January can be quite cold, sometimes as low as -5C, so flying for an hour under these conditions hardened me up a little and helped me to focus better. (At this point I was only able to fly Lazy-8’s). There was a small moment of panic one night when someone accidentally tripped out the RCD turning my floodlight off in mid flight, the sudden change from bright light to almost complete darkness meant my heli was in the air and ‘invisible’, I managed to land it successfully without any damage at all, a combination of 20% skill and 80% luck! By now I was breaking the hour barrier regularly but was still just short of the record.
A few more calculations and measurements, and a brand new set of higher capacity cells kindly donated by PAG Ltd and I was ready to do it officially. However I knew my new cells would exhibit their best performance on their first cycle, so I made the risky decision to charge the battery on the way to the attempt, basing my chances of success on my calculations alone. This meant I had to set a ‘personal best’ on the day, with an untested set-up to claim the record!
Due to work commitments, most of my practicing time was done in my back garden under floodlights after dark. This helped in a few ways as the space was quite limited, and December/January can be quite cold, sometimes as low as -
A few more calculations and measurements, and a brand new set of higher capacity cells kindly donated by PAG Ltd and I was ready to do it officially. However I knew my new cells would exhibit their best performance on their first cycle, so I made the risky decision to charge the battery on the way to the attempt, basing my chances of success on my calculations alone. This meant I had to set a ‘personal best’ on the day, with an untested set-
The Flight
After two postponements due to bad weather, we were eventually ready, so on the 16th March, off we went to Rye in East Sussex, accompanied by several other club members, various friends from work and Peter Spurway (the BMFA records official for the day).
The weather was superb, the field bathed in sunshine and a light steady breeze coming from the sea. I went through my last minute preparations and set-up adjustments, weighing and measuring the model, and filling in various pieces of paperwork, all under the scrutiny of Peter Spurway.
With my preparations complete, I selected a point where the model would take off from which was marked on the ground with a white dot. I then placed the model on the spot and a few moments after 11:00 am took off into a steady hover a few feet from the ground. All seemed ok until about the 30 minute point, when my left eye started to swell up and run quite badly (I had caught conjunctivitis two days earlier but did not wish to postpone the attempt again), I kept blinking hoping the other eye would stay clear, and not force me to land and abandon the attempt. After about 5 minutes the eye cleared, and stayed that way for the rest of the flight. At around 50 minutes however, I noticed the model was needing a little more throttle than it should have required at this point, and realised the internal impedance of the cells was causing a voltage drop. I guessed this was probably down to heat so I turned the model almost side on to the wind to help cool the cell pack a little. (I believe this little wobble caused a bit of concern with some of the spectators at the time, but I was too focussed on the model to notice). Within a few minutes I was able to lower
The weather was superb, the field bathed in sunshine and a light steady breeze coming from the sea. I went through my last minute preparations and set-
With my preparations complete, I selected a point where the model would take off from which was marked on the ground with a white dot. I then placed the model on the spot and a few moments after 11:00 am took off into a steady hover a few feet from the ground. All seemed ok until about the 30 minute point, when my left eye started to swell up and run quite badly (I had caught conjunctivitis two days earlier but did not wish to postpone the attempt again), I kept blinking hoping the other eye would stay clear, and not force me to land and abandon the attempt. After about 5 minutes the eye cleared, and stayed that way for the rest of the flight. At around 50 minutes however, I noticed the model was needing a little more throttle than it should have required at this point, and realised the internal impedance of the cells was causing a voltage drop. I guessed this was probably down to heat so I turned the model almost side on to the wind to help cool the cell pack a little. (I believe this little wobble caused a bit of concern with some of the spectators at the time, but I was too focussed on the model to notice). Within a few minutes I was able to lower
