State of the T-Rex.

Now she's looking more like a helicopter. There's work to do, though. The linkages that control the pitch of the rotors have to be connected (just snap them on), and some electronics need to be installed. When that's all done there's a calibration procedure that will take a couple of hours.

I just ordered parts that weren't included in the kit: a battery, a battery charger, a receiver (receives signals from the radio), a pitch gauge (to calibrate the pitch of the rotors), and a replacement for a part I broke during assembly ($1.25). The total was $390, which is almost as much as the heli cost. I probably should have picked a cheaper hobby, like worm farming, or something.

The dark side of all this is something Twila said she was going to blog, but she didn't want to jinx me. The T-Rex took many hours to build, and it was expensive, and there is about a 90% chance that I will crash it in the first 10 minutes of flying. I'm going to get a flight simulation program so I can practice on the computer, but outside there is wind and excitement and tension, and been there, done that. OOPS, crash! And $$$$$$ flying away. Just breaking a rotor blade is $50, and they break easily.

The bright side of this is that... is that... well, it's a neat looking helicopter!