Smiling Blue Skies

Honey Bee King 3 - HBK3 - A Tribute...

2011-10-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

CRASH of my RC heli caught on tape.

2011-09-13T02:06:00.000-07:00

RC plane gliding over the fields of my hometown.

2011-08-18T03:05:00.000-07:00

SPY COPTER : onboard cam on a R/C helicopter

2011-08-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

RC glider with onboard cam. A short evening flight.

2011-08-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

FlyCamOne HD onboard r/c glider BMI Arrow

2011-07-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

Onboard cam on an R/C plane. FlyCamOne hd 720

2011-07-08T06:21:00.000-07:00

Flying this scale RC warbird over the fields. Practicing inverted flight. Just having great fun with this WW II fighter plane.

2011-07-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

Parkzone Mustang / Blade msr - propeller flies off - several flights

2011-05-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

Big Mustang P-51 warbird crashed !

2011-04-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

Mustang ultra-micro short flight outside

2011-04-12T01:20:00.000-07:00

Parkzone P-51 Mustang Gunfighter. Flying on a sunny spring day in April.

2011-04-11T05:18:00.000-07:00

Parkzone P-51 Mustang gunfighter flight. My brother made this short trailer of me flying this warbird. I love it !

2011-03-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

I'm flying the P-51 Ultra-Micro Mustang in the field

2010-11-23T04:45:00.000-08:00

The Dauphin landing.

2010-11-18T04:50:00.000-08:00

Crazy Russian helicopter pilot !

2010-04-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

The world's most expensive bottle openers

2010-04-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

Esky Honeybee FP - Replacement of the main motor.

2009-11-09T08:04:00.001-08:00

With the new tailmotor installed, the honeybee FP was perfectly controlable again. The only thing now was that it flew only for about 3 minutes with a fully charged 7.4V Lipo.

The mainmotor had lost power too from all those flying hours. So I've replaced the main motor too. This is an easy job done within 5 minutes. I took off the heat sink and cut the strip that held all the wires a bit together.

I first unscrewed the main motor. It is held in place by two screws at the bottom. By rotating the main gear the second screw becomes visible through one of the holes at the surface of the main gear.

The wires of the main motor are attached to the "4 in 1" receiver. You can easily plug them out.

The new main motor. It comes with two new screws.

The new motor screwed on and wires plugged in. Old screws next to the skids.

The bottom looked like this. Time to make a test hover. The helicopter made a strange noise and had almost no lifting power.

After a close examination I found out that the teeth of the motor made poor contact with the gear. I loosened the screws a little and pushed the motor more towards the gear. Very tight this time.

This also resulted in a strange noise while rotating and the heli had also almost no lifting power.

The third time the grip was not too tight nor too loose. The middle way. (sounds like Buddha ;-)

This time it worked perfectly and I had an outside flight of 8+ minutes.

Flies like new !

Esky Honeybee FP - replacement of the tail motor

2009-11-06T03:24:00.000-08:00

I love this helicopter because you can fly it, crash it and repair it relatively easy and fly it again. After some time, approx. 10 hours they say, the tail motor loses its power.

Then there's not enough power for the torque. The helicopter loses its yaw to one direction. Its nose and tail then turn only one direction and that makes the heli uncontrolable.

First I had to desolder the two wires.

That's easy.

I removed the screws that keep the motor in place.

The new tail motor. Screws inclusive.

I mounted the new tail motor and soldered the wires on. I connected the wires the same way as they cam off. BUT... the tailrotor spinned the wrong way.

Therefore I reversed the rudder on the transmitter.

A brief indoor check. Hey, my honeybee is back ! ! !

E-Sky Belt CP V2's Maiden Flight

2009-11-06T02:14:00.000-08:00

It was a little windy but I couldn't resist to go out and try the belt cp v2. I had the 2 batteries charged. We were ready ! ! !

It's maiden flight took about 2 SECONDS !!! ... and it even barely left the ground.

CRASH - Broken blades were the first obvious damage.

The main blade grip has bent. Ouch that hurts !

A beautiful bird with broken wings.

I need some specific tools to repair this kind of damage. So I ordered a helicopter toolbox from China and some spare parts from the Netherlands.

The spare parts already arrived but I'm waiting for the toolbox to start the repairs.

Back to the simulator for now.

And hey, I bought a large training gear set ;-)

My E-sky Belt-CP V2 (2.4G) - arrived !

2009-10-27T04:37:00.000-07:00

A package arrived. It's a rather big box. Let's have a look on what's inside :

I ordered a green/blue E-sky Belt CP (collective pitch) V2 with a 2.4G transmitter. A logical next step after the E-sky Honeybee FP (fixed pitch). (at least that's what I think, I can be wrong)

I also ordered an extra battery.

Included a nice little present : an E-sky cap.

The box unopened, the outside looks promising ...

First thing in the box are a manual and list with spare parts (renamed numbers from E-sky).

The manual counts an extensive 42 pages and is well illustrated.

WOW !!!

The complete content of the box. RTF (Ready To Fly)

Posing while new (and undamaged). I think this machine is going to bring me a lot of fun but probably it's going to bring some frustration too. That's what's learing to fly is all about : climbing up the learning curve and gradually getting better.

Belt CP - Honeybee FP - Dauphin Coaxial

Here I put my babies to rest. It's evening now, the battery is charging and tomorrow it will be the Belt CP's maiden flight. Fingers crossed

The Top 10 Best Attack Helicopter in the World

2009-10-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

E-Sky Honeybee FP - upgrades & modifications

2009-10-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

I've repaired my honeybee FP

It's got a different look. I took the whole machine apart, bit by bit and rebuilt it.
It has a new, red canopy.

The tail fin has moved forward so it doesn't block any air from the tailrotor.

New skids (Extreme-Parts). They can take bad landings better than the stock skids.

The flybar paddles are centered.

A heat-sink installed on the tailmotor. In order to replace the tail boom I had to solder the wires on the tailmotor.

A heat-sink on the main motor.

To mount the battery I use now two rubber bands.

The battery mounted. Right under the 4 in 1.

With the red canopy on.

An orange antenna pipe.

Checking the helicopter indoor. The honeybee flies just FINE ! ! !

WOW ! ! !

2009-09-18T02:01:00.000-07:00

I came across this video on Youtube. It's only 10 seconds. If you like helicopters, you're gonna like this !!!

My heli's stay on the ground.

2009-09-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Honeybee against the blue sky.

The Dauphin indoor flight.

Both helicopters need repairs at the moment. I need 2 new motors for the Dauphin but they are hard to get. Out of stock.

The Honeybee FP needs a new flybar and a new tail boom. Flybars are also out of stock and I've used up the bars of the training gear.

E-Sky Honeybee FP - Flybar repairs.

2009-08-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

I had some practice flying the Honeybee FP so I removed the training gear set with the 4 ping-pong balls. That soon resulted in a crash and a broken flybar.

I have no spare flybar but I thought I could use a stick from the training gear set.

I had to find out how to remove the broken flybar first. It's tightened with two screws pointing down.

I cut the stick from the training gear set to the correct length and assembled the flybar with the paddles

The flybar was centered and no adjustements had to be made. The Honeybee is good to fly again. ! (Hopefully)

That flies ok... till I made a piloting mistake.. and down the yellow Honeybee went.

That looks not too bad. Putting the battery back in its place.

The main blades go back in their place. Checking everything for a last time and then then...

Airborne again ! ! !

I've crashed many times already but I consider crashing part of the learning curve.

Flying the E-sky Honeybee FP is a lot more difficult than flying a coaxial helicopter but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Flying this helicopter is a certain feeling that you have to become used to. It's like learning to ride a bicycle. Once you get it, you cannot unlearn it. It takes practice to improve.

(pictures my bro and me)

The E-Sky Honeybee FP. (Fixed Pitch)

2009-07-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

A package came in. Yeah my new helicopter has arrived.

Let's see what's in this box. Some spare parts and a training set.

Nice picture on the box. Would the content of the box be as good ?

Flying manual + Simulator software + List of all parts used in the Honeybee FP.

That looks great !!!

It came with a lipo battery. I ordered an other type of battery at the same time but I can't charge that one. I've got no charger. It also came without an adapter for the lipo charger. I had one for the E-Sky Dauphin.

Posing while it's still undamaged ;-))

With the training set installed. Ready for its maiden flight.

That didn't end up well !

The Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T - Part 5 (final part) - Pros and Cons

2009-07-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

After having worn the watch for some time, I made a list with pros and cons :

PROs

Very clear readable (BIG) digits for the time and other main fuctions.
Versatile watch. I don't think there's another watch at this moment that is packed whith so many features.
Once you've done the initial settings, the watch is easy in its use.
Price versus quality = good
Easy to use (big) push buttons.
Atomic timekeeping
Tough Solar - Your battery won't die on a trip !
The atmospheric tendency graph is useful to "more or less" forecast the weather.
It's a very lightweight watch.

CONs

The sound of the alarm and countdown timer is too faint.
The plastic case degrades the watch - certainly in combination with the titanium bracelet.
When on your wrist (and that's where it is supposed to be), the watches' temperature reading is influenced by your body warmth and therefore useless.
Since the altimeter uses barometric pressure to calculate altitude, its reading is incorrect when there's a sudden change in atmospheric pressure not due to your ascent or descent. So you're never sure if the altitude reading is correct.
You can't see the transmitter from witch the watch picks up the time calibration signal. (some G-shock do show the transmitter) (There are parts of the world where you can't receive any transmitter.)

If you're planning to buy the Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T, I hope this review has helped you somehow in making a decision.

I certainly love wearing this unique timepiece !

The Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T - Part 4 - Altimeter-Barometer-Compass

2009-07-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

1. Compass.

When you push the compass button, this is the kind of reading you get :

In this example the 12 'oclock position points almost south (175 degrees) . The small black rectangles point to the main directions.

North is indicated by 3 rectangles.

The compass points to the magnetic north. At some places on earth you might need to correct the reading in order to be accurate. You can perform a magnetic declination corretction with the watch.

The compass updates its compass reading every second but after 20 seconds it stops. You will have to press the compass button again for another reading.

2. Barometer + Thermometer.

The barometer reads atmospheric pressure.

(hPa = Hecto Pascal)

There's also a tendency graph. It shows previous measurements for up to 20 hours.

The thermometer reads in Celcius or Farenheit. When you wear the watch, the temperature reading is influenced by your body heat.

The black rectangle in the picture above shows the difference between the actual barometric pressure reading and the last stored reading. Here it's +1 hPa since last stored reading.

3. Altimeter.

The altimeter gives an indication of your altitude. It uses air pressure and goes up or down with an inclination of 5 metres. You will need to calibrate it first or you can set the altitude to zero.

Then you can hold track of your ascent and descent.

It has a graph.

I will do one more post on the Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T .

After having the watch for some time now, I will make a list of its pros and cons.

Small technical update - Esky Dauphin

2009-07-10T01:56:00.000-07:00

Spare parts came in. A new inner shaft + new fly bar (stabilizer) + new gear for the upper blades.

The disassembled Dauphin.

The new wheel fits perfectly.

The assembled Dauphin. It didn't come of the ground :-((

I reversed the blades. A-blades should be the upper blades. B-blades the lower blades.

It flies much better and smoother. I have right yaw again. Though the nose still tends to go left and the trim is in its extreme right position.

This must be due to a difference in power between both motors but I can control the helicopter perfectly.

Oh, Yes, I ordered my second electric RC helicopter yesterday. A small step up the ladder in rc helicopter flying...

I'm sure I'm gonna post pictures !

The Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T - Part 3 - Going trough the different modes

2009-07-08T02:47:00.000-07:00

You rotate trough the following modes by pushing the mode button :

(notice that some of the crystals in the pictures turn blue. In reality they're all black. I believe it has to do with some kind of polarization in the photo lens)

1. TIDE & MOON DATA Mode.

When you enter the tide/moon data mode, you always get the tide at 6:00 of the current day.

You can now check hour by hour the evolution of the tides.
You can also check the tide on a different day. (future or past)

The tides are set in the factory and may be different from your local situation.
It's important to determine your "Home City" when you first get the watch .

I looked up the tides on the Internet for the river that runs trough Antwerp : "The Schelde".
After you have determined when high tide occurs on a certain day, you store that data in the watch . Then the tide graph will always show the correct tides. I check it whenever possible and I must say it runs smoothly.

Here's how to read the tide graph :

This is the moon phase indicator. It takes 29,53 days for the moon to complete a full cycle. It's full moon in the picture below.

Depending on where you are on the earth the bright and dark part of the moon may be inverted. You can easily invert this on the watch too.

2. COUNT DOWN TIMER Mode.

Personally I find this a practical feature. The last 10 seconds of the countdown the watch beeps every second. Letting you know the preset time is coming to an end.
When I put a pizza in the oven for 13 minutes. I set the count down timer of the watch on 13 minutes and then I go mostly in the garden. I will now know when the pizza is ready without constantly having to look at the watch.

3. STOPWATCH Mode 24 hour stopwatch with capability of 1 split time.

4. WORLD TIME Mode

Displays the current time in 33 cities (29 time zones) around the world.

London time in the picture above and the time in Sydney at the same moment below.

5. ALARM Mode.
If you want the watch to give a short beep on top of every hour, you can put the hourly signal on and a small chime symbol appears. (it is part of the alarm mode)

You can set 5 alarms a day. (this is alarm 1 - it is off)

Alarm 5 is also off.

When one or more alarms are set, the symbol you see underneath the chime appears. Those 2 symbols are also visible in time keeping mode.

6. DATA RECALL Mode.

It shows the altitude record. (the maximum value or the highest altitude reading) It gives date and time of the maximum reading. You can easily reset it. To me this feature is a bit misleading because the altitude readings are based on barometric pressure. So it is possible that even if you don't move the watch you get a new highest altitude because of dropping barometric pressure.

More on that in the next post when I cover the barometer feature.

7. RECEIVE Mode.

Radio-controlled Atomic Timekeeping is something great. Most digital watches have a 15-20 secs deviation a month. This watch keeps the correct time when it is able to receive the time calibration signal.

My watch is set to automatically receive the signal.

The display shows the time and the date of the last successful time calibration.
It doesn't show from witch transmitter it received the signal. (some G-Shocks do). I know that for Belgium it is the German transmitter in Mainflingen.

This concludes a quick run trough the different modes.

My next post will cover the ALTImeter - BAROmeter - COMPass.

The Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T - Part 2 - The main display (time keeping mode)

2009-07-07T01:10:00.000-07:00

This is the main display. Let's have a look on what it shows.

it's Monday the 6Th of July - 14 h. 12 min. 30 sec.
it's full moon

In this display you can toggle between the day of the week and a barometric pressure graph (tendency graph).

Simply by pushing the adjust button 1 time. I check the graph regularly. It gives an indication of the upcoming weather conditions.

Some other information you can retrieve from this display :

The power level of the battery is H(igh) - there are 3 indications for the power level of the battery : H(igh) - M(medium) - L(ow). The battery is charged by solar energy.
P(ower) S(aving) is on. This watch has a clever way of using power and it turns off certain functions when there falls no light on the watch.

Currently we are in D(aylight) S(aving) T(ime) = Summer Time (in British English)
Change between summer and winter time can be performed automatically by the watch. (Auto DST)

The small black rectangle moves along the ring like the second hand of an analog watch.

The tide is rising towards high tide. The difference in water levels between high and low tide is big.

When this arrow is displayed, it means that the watch has calibrated successfully.

You can set the watch to automatically receive the calibration signal. You can also manually receive the signal.

The hourly time signal is on.

Some features that are turned off in this example :

Auto illumination is off
No alarm has been set

This concludes a short overview of display in Timekeeping Mode. In the next post we will be going through the other modes of the watch.

The Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T - Part 1 - Overall look

2009-07-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do a more extensive review of the Casio Paw-1500 T with a lot of pictures.
This review will be broken up in several parts. Today part 1 - The look of the watch.

This is a closer look at the mode button. The whole design of the watch reminds me of the space ships we see in the movies and tv series. More specific : Star Wars.

This is an artist's interpretation of a star ship. You can see how the Pathfinder's design resembles this ship's forms. (this is of course my personal interpretation, you may disagree.)

Let's take this even a little further. Have a look at the picture above and then look at the space ship below.

A picture says more than words. This is a picture of the Lego version of the Star Wars space ship "Millenium Falcon". Notice the circular structures on top of this ship.

These are the push buttons for the : ALTImeter - BAROmeter - COMPass.

They remind me of the eyes of a fly. Personally I find this less attractive. It also reminds me of a three-eyed spider. The SF kind of design is what I appreciate more.

These is a picture of actual eyes of a fly...

The sensor(s) are behind this.

Some plastic at the back of the titanium bracelet. I have no idea why that is.

Radio controled. Multiband 5.

Don't worry when the watch gets wet.

Solar powered. This is the engraving in the bracelet.

The back of the watch. (with screws)

On my wrist. It's a BIG watch. You certainly make a statement when you wear the PAW-1500 T.

I've got the watch for over a month now and it's been on my wrist almost every day.

I had to wait a long time for it. It was delayed at the Belgian customs. I bought it in the USA for around 200 euro and that's a real good price but I had to pay an additional 75 euro taxes and fees to get it in the country.

In part 2 I'll go over the functions of the Casio Pathfinder PAW-1500 T.

E-Sky Dauphin - a small technical intermezzo

2009-07-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

Since some time this helicopter has no right yaw anymore. This means that I can't turn its nose to the right (tail to the left) anymore. I've posted this problem on a few forums about electric helicopters. Some nice heli enthusiasts gave me tips on where to look in order to find the problem. After close examination this is what I found :

The little copper wheel is attached to the motor. When it turns (motor on) it makes the large plastic wheel turn. There are actually 2 large wheels on top of each other. One to make the upper blades spin, the other for the lower blades.

This picture shows the black plastic wheel that drives the upper blades. The little copper wheel you see in this pictures drives actually the plastic one underneath the one you see.

The wheel for the upper blades looses contact at some point with the small wheel of the motor. At some other point it pushes against it.

This picture is seen from above.

I might be needing another plastic wheel or maybe a new inner shaft or probably both.

Some people suggested that one of the motors could be going bad.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Pictures of the E-Sky Dauphin flying.

2009-07-01T02:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of an airborne E-sky Dauphin. This is the result of a short photo shoot. These pictures are taken by my brother who has done a great job !

The wheels leave the lawn. The helicopter is in the air.

Turning and gaining height.

Hovering in front of the camera lens.

Taking off to higher places.

I must mind the wind here. It's evening, the setting sun shines on the Dauphin.

All is under control and the sky is blue...

... and there's one happy pilot smiling :-)

Battery power is lowering ... time to descent.

Slowly coming down ...

Guiding the machine in ...

On its way to the Landing Zone. This was a fun flight ! ! !

! Many thanks Bro for the pictures !

Replacing the fuselage of the E-Sky Dauphin. (step by step)

2009-06-30T03:38:00.000-07:00

The new fuselage in front of the old one.

First I took off the stabilizer.

I took off all the blades. (notice the damaged tips) You only need to remove 4 screws and the blades come off.

All blades are taken off. This heli won't fly far.

I removed the 1st pin that holds the fuselage to the inner frame.

This is the second pin.

Two pins taken off.

This is the inner body of the helicopter.

The swash plate.

This picture reminds me of two famous Hollywood robots :

The led on the old fuselage is still connected.

I took out the little plug that connects the led light on top of the tail.

The one connected to the new fuselage went in.

I connected a battery to check if the led worked... It didn't :-((

I had connected the plug upside down. In this picture it is done correctly.

The led flashes.

I taped the wire back to the frame.

I put the pins back in place and the blades back on. Job done ! ! !

A few pictures of the Dauphin in its new clothes.

I think the helicopter looks great !

I've made an appointment with my dear brother who's a photographer. We're gonna do a little photo shoot of the Dauphin in action.

I can't hardly wait to fly this beauty !

One more flight with the Dauphin before repairs.

2009-06-30T02:12:00.000-07:00

Before replacing a broken blade, you can repair it with common household tape.

Cut the tip in more or less the same shape as an undamaged blade.

It will fly a little less stable than with a new blade but the helicopter will fly !

Until the next time it hits the ground...

This is a heavily repaired nose...

and this is a damaged tail...

It's time for some extensive repairs. Follow it step by step in my next post.

The Seiko Orange Monster - SKX781

2009-06-29T01:27:00.001-07:00

Some time ago now, I purchased this Seiko SKX781 on eBay. It shipped from Italy.
This watch is also known as "The Orange Monster" .
(From the blue sky into the deep blue ocean.)

I'll talk a little about the watch. I'm not writing a complete review here, but let me just point out what strikes me most.
I actually wear the Orange Monster often and that shows in the more detailed pictures.

First of all it's a heavy watch. A little under 200 grams. Compared to a G-shock that weighs around 50 to 70 grams, the Seiko SKX781 puts a lot of weight on your wrist. It has a very solid feel to it and it is very readable. It's a mechanical, automatic watch.

There is a unidirectional rotating bezel that rotates really smooth. The markings on the bezel are BIG and black.

The glass is made out of "hardlex", a Seiko invention. The light giving marks - as well as the dials and the mark on the bezel have "lumibrite" paint. It lights up VERY bright in the dark after first having been exposed to light.

At first I didn't see what the engraving on the back depicted. It is a Tsunami. (Monster wave)

I think the design is derived from an ancient Japanese print.

This picture is what probably inspired the Seiko designers for the back of the Seiko orange monster.

The engraving on the back of the watch. This photo is a little enhanced in Photoshop.

The bracelet has a hidden divers extension to wear the watch over a wetsuit/diver's suit. I think it is well designed.

With the diver's extension opened.

A screw down crown at the 4 o'clock position. The watch has a non hacking system which means that the second hand keeps running when you set the time. Not a watch for fanatics who want the right time up to the second.

The mark on the bezel has also a "lumibrite" spot on it.

Who's here the BIG Buddha from the East ?

The two push buttons on the side open the clasp.

A really nice timepiece for around 200 euro.

Here you see how thick the rotating bezel is.

You can choose the language for the day of the week. English or Spanish.

Once chosen the watch continues in the same language.

There are different colors for the weekend.

Saturday in blue.

Sabado

Sunday in red

Domingo

Monday in black

Lunes

Reinforcing the nose of the E-Sky Dauphin

2009-06-26T01:36:00.000-07:00

The nose of the E-Sky Dauphin is it's weak part. While landing the helicopter, the front wheel pushes the nose of the fuselage inwards. It can't withstand harsh shocks and the nose cracks easily.
With some paper towel it's easy to reinforce the nose. Here's how to make a good shock absorber :

Make the paper towel wet and push it a little together.

While wet, push it in the nose of the fuselage. Make sure it fits perfectly.

You don't see the paper towel from the outside.

Take out the paper towel while still wet and leave it to dry. When it's completely dry it weighs almost next to nothing. Now glue the perfectly shaped form in the nose.

It works great as a shock absorber !

Charging batteries, replacing blades and FLIGHT !

2009-06-25T02:30:00.000-07:00

Charging the lipo battery for the helicopter and 8 batteries for the transmitter.

This is a 2 cell battery and it is connected to the E-sky "balancer charger" so that both cells are being charged equally.

Two lipo's should buy me flying time a little less than 20 minutes.

Charged batteries in the 2.4G transmitter.

Fully charged. All lights burn.

Replacing damaged blades.

First flight. It's a tricky business to make photos and fly at the same time.

There's no wind and I'm giving it a shot in the garden.

The camera is on timer. (10 sec) - The helicopter must be at the right place when the shutter goes off.

Oops, the battery falls down. (I should tape it so that it stays in)

I certainly had fun flying the E-sky Dauphin ! !

Real coaxial helicopters do exist !

2009-06-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

Coaxial means two groups of counter rotating blades above each other.
This is the a Russian Kamov attack helicopter. Ka-50. (Also known as Werewolf or Black Shark)

Because it has no tail rotor, the machine is less vulnerable and its manoeuvrability is better.

Ascent and descent is controlled by the speed of the blades. So in order to take off the blades start rotating faster and faster.

With a traditional helicopter the speed of the blades is fixed. By turning the blades to a different angle, they get more "bite" in the air and the helicopter lifts off.

Another Russian helicopter with 2 times 3 blades.

The real Dauphin however, has traditional main rotor blades and therefore needs a tail rotor.

E-Sky Dauphin - Radio controlled helicopter 2,4G

2009-06-24T02:11:00.000-07:00

Driving home, slow traffic as usual.

A package arrived today. A big box from Holland...

The content is breakable. The box weighs surprisingly light.

A lot of foam cubes inside.

This is the content of the box.

A new fuselage and main rotor blades for my E-sky radio controlled Dauphin helicopter.

The old box.

This is the little bugger. The helicopter needs repairing after several crashes.

Notice the front wheel has broken off. It's a coaxial helicopter : it has two pair of main rotor blades on top. They rotate in opposite direction.

The red plug underneath is the connector plug for the battery.

Some damage on the nose. Already repaired. First aid. This kind of damage doesn't affect the helicopter's functionality.

Cracks in the blades and chipped blades make the helicopter highly unstable.

Not quite airborne again but it looks pretty against a smiling blue sky.

The E-Sky Dauphin is in fact an indoor helicopter. The faintest wind makes it uncontrollable.

In the wind the upper and lower blades collide and the helicopter crashes. It took me awhile to find that out because it happens really quick.

A 2.4GHz receiver. The helicopter has a 4 channel radio controlled mechanism.

The real Dauphin helicopters are mostly used as rescue heli's.

It comes ready to fly out of the box and with a free flight simulator.

The inside, seen from the bottom.

The swash plate controls all the movements of the 4 main rotor blades.

Screws to fasten the blades.

The upper blades are connected to the stabilizer.

The little ring in the middle connects the fuselage to the inner frame.

Serial number. Made in China.

A led light on top of the tail. The tail rotor in not functional. Coaxial helicopters work without tail rotor.

I'm told to not touch these screws. They are set in the factory.

The led blinks when the battery is connected. (there's a crack in the tail)

The two back wheels are connected to the frame inside, which is a good thing.

The front wheel is glued to the outer body and breaks off easily.

Waiting for repairs and ... F L I G H T ! ! !

Traser H3 T5002 Super Sport

2009-06-23T05:16:00.001-07:00

Lately I bought this TRASER watch. This series is discontinued. The shop was selling out the stock. Normally this watch sells for around 350 euro. I paid around 175 (shipping included).
It's a 200 meter diver. Unidirectional rotating bezel.

Most special about the watch is it's permanent light technology. It uses H3 tritium in very small tubes. The tubes provide visible light for about 10 year - according to the manufacturer.

A silver/grey dial - Stainless steel bracelet - Quartz movement.

Notice the tritium filled tubes on the dials.

Even the second hand has a luminating tube.

Screw down crown.

The mark on the bezel contains a tritium tube too.

The second hand is half red-half black.

An overall nice looking watch.

The back says : Swiss made - Water resistant 200m - Permanent light technology - 3H Traser

Safety clasp.

A divers extention. It makes the bracelet a little longer in order to wear the watch over a diver's suit.

With divers extention open.

The day of the month

On my wrist.

Amazingly flat.

A smiling blue picture.-)

The Casio G-Shock AWG-100-1AER

2009-06-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

A heavy duty watch.

The solar cells are charging the battery.

This analog/digital watch is not too big for a medium sized wrist.

This year I forgot the change to summertime. At that time this was the only watch that showed the correct time. I had to set all clocks and watches in the house to the correct time manually.

Tough Solar & Atomic

Strolling around in Antwerp...

2009-06-22T04:45:00.000-07:00

Still a little early. In a few hours it will be very crowded here !

There's a great variety of food available at "The Sinksenfoor".

A safe place for the kids to play.

Back to the office. Some pedestrian waiting to cross the street.

A hook to help drowning people out of the water.

One of the more expensive appartment blocks in the city. Shaped like the bow of a ship.

This rope certainly will hold.

Nicely decorated !

I wouldn't go in here !

This little boat pushes the platform in front.

One of the few places where you can park your car for free near the inner city.

The cathedral at the horizon. Don't leave your car here during springtide !

When the gates are closed, there's no way out ! (or in)

Boats are not allowed here without permission.

Some containerdock. This is not really the heart of the port.

Windmills at the horizon.

A view at the left bank of the river.

A little after low water, the waterlevel starts to rise again. The difference low en high water is big, the Casio Paw-1500T shows.

These gates close during springtide. The waterlevel can rise that high. (when the moon is closest to the earth)

At springtide you are not allowed to come near the water.

Three friends walking towards the water.

They used to dock ships here. Now these hangars are used for all kind of events. They are in decline.

Walking towards "The Schelde". The big river in Antwerp. Antwerp has a huge port.

Little Buddha, some fancy club.

Back in the street. There are a lot of terrasses where you can eat and drink.

A lonely little boy, crying. He wanted to be left alone (in sorrow).

It' s a little early. Everything is still closed. No visitors... yet.

A quick walk during lunchtime. "De Sinksenfoor" (an annual fancy fair with a lot of things to do and see)

Casio Pathfinder : PAW-1500T

2009-06-22T03:02:00.000-07:00

Recently I got this Casio Pathfinder watch (paw-1500T). I'm always on the lookout for great watches with some special features.

This one got a compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer.

It shows the moonphases and the tides.

(No, it has no built-in navigation system nor a cell phone nor an mp3 player)

It is solar powered and is synchronizes daily with an atomic clock.