Is there a good park in Concord/Walnut Creek area to fly??

[Perfect.Disaster]

I don't recommend Heather Farms, they kicked the RC boaters a while back because it was disturbing the birds. I'm not sure how they would react to planes. Maybe on the soccer field area where they set up for movie night.
Come out to Albalrado Park if you like, there is lots of room. It's also a nice area of town, without much more than jogging soccer moms running around. I'll be there on Frid AM to try out my micro Mosquito.
Thomas

I would, but I have work in the early AM tomorrow. I might go fly Sat or Sun depending on the weather.

Yeah dont fly at heather farms. too many random people. You need a semi controlled environment to fly safely..

Thanks for the tip. I guess I'll fly at Albalrado Park.

[TBONE]

Maybe I'll pop out on sat and see if you're there.
T

[moto0013]

Keep in mind that parks usually have soccer or baseball on sat / sun. I was going to go tomorrow morning but something came up. Might go on sat if there are no people..

[TBONE]

They do have soccer games , usually on weekends. In the rainy season they often close the field. There is a smaller field shaped like a bowl (directly in front of the tennis courts) to the west that is a good backup field, and is usually empty in the mornings. Best time to fly is alway on the weekdays.
The Diablo Shadows park nearby is my backup when I find albarado park closed for whatever reason, would be good for small helis.
T

[moto0013]

Perfect
Since you are a new pilot and plan on flying in a public park. I suggest joining the ama so you have insurance.

What are you flying?

[Perfect.Disaster]

Perfect
Since you are a new pilot and plan on flying in a public park. I suggest joining the ama so you have insurance.

What are you flying?

Right now I'm flying a Blade 120 SR. I was looking into the AMA and will be joining. The first time I've heard about the AMA was when I saw the FAA petition thread, which I filled out and got canned replies back for Boxer and Miller. Will not be flying tomorrow or Sunday - my boss has me doing mandatory product counseling, but that means I will have two days off during the week, so I will fly then.

Would you guys recommend having a second battery pack on hand to extend flying time?

[moto0013]

I only fly gliders so im not an expert. But yes I would have 2 batteries and bring a charger to the field. With my glider I get an hour or so of flight time. By the time that is up I am ready for a break while it recharges..

[Perfect.Disaster]

Well it was sunny today and I did not have to work, so I took my 120SR flying. I have to say flying RC heli’s is a lot more challenging then driving my RC trucks and buggy’s. I badly need more practice at this.

I choose to fly at a park near me. It has an open space about the size of a baseball field - which I thought was big enough. The open space was lined by trees that are about 20ft - 25ft tall. The park was also empty - just me and the ground squirrels. I started off by trimming the heli and practicing hovering, going forward, backward, left and right. Then about hour into flying I decided to take it higher and farther away from me. That's when I got disoriented and it ended up in one of the trees. It was stuck at the very top.

I tried everything to get it down. I tried to throw a rope around the branch to shake it down, tried a extension ladder with an extension pole - which I was still short by a good 8ft - 10ft. Then the Virginian side of me thought of duck taping two garden rakes to the end of of the extension pole, but I opted to mess with the trim and move the two sticks on the transmitter which freed it from the tree.

So it was a hit and miss day for my first time flying an outdoors heli. For the rest of the day I just drove one of my trucks around.