The 'What did you do in your workshop tonight?' thread

[BalsaDust]

In Illinois, a buy back from the insurance company does not get a salvage title. The title never leaves your possession.

You could ask for what they call a contracted price to repair it. Basically you say I'll fix it for a set price so there is no supplements. They are more likely not to total if that happens.

Thanks. I will try that. Talked with my insurance and the at fault drivers insurance today so the ball is rolling at least. I think it’s kind of a joke. He has Allstate and they told me to download the app and submit pictures and they will appraise it that way. How exactly to you accurately appraise damage to a vehicle from pictures??

 

[Jetpainter]

Thanks. I will try that. Talked with my insurance and the at fault drivers insurance today so the ball is rolling at least. I think it’s kind of a joke. He has Allstate and they told me to download the app and submit pictures and they will appraise it that way. How exactly to you accurately appraise damage to a vehicle from pictures??

To give you an idea how well that works, the last Allstate picture estimate I had was a little over $500. Final repair costs were over $2000.

 

[dhal22]

To give you an idea how well that works, the last Allstate picture estimate I had was a little over $500. Final repair costs were over $2000.

I had a very similar incident with them.

 

[stangflyer]

Not much. My experience with Pilot brands has not been pleasant, craftsmanship was nothing like Extreme Flight or AJ Aircrafts.

I also have had really good success with all the Pilot airframes I have had. I keep telling myself every time EF has a new release on an airframe, i.e. the new 126" Extra and such, I keep saying I am going to get one. But I just really have a hard time venturing too far off the beaten path. The Pilot airframes I have had have been tough as nails, assemble quite nicely and fly really well. I can imagine there have been some not so good airframes come out of Tony's factory. But then, so did Aeroworks and others. PAU on the other hand, (because I laid down $4,000.00 for two brand new airframes a couple of years ago and both had multiple serious issues) I wouldn't give a plugged nickel for. Another thing that keeps me from straying from Pilot is Tony and his complete crew of team players.

 

[stangflyer]

On another note tonight: I began setting up the new MZ 32 on the Behemoth 330sc. I royally screwed up the programming last night. Some of the channels worked, some did nothing. (Can't complain too loudly, after all it is a new radio and the learning curve is massive. LOL) So, next best thing was to delete the model all together and start over. And that is what I did. Imagine that? Everything works this time. All that is left now is to place the antennas and set the throws and expo. Dang, those Hitec servos are wicked fast and ultra smooth now. With the Aurora A9x, I doubled up my aileron servos for each wing into one port of the Smart Fly board. Then tuned each servo from there. Same with the dual 7980 rudder servos. I had two ports on the SF board open and available. With the 12/24 channel receiver that comes with the MZ 32, I was able to split every servo and dedicate a channel for each one. Fine tuning through the radio is so cool. I think I will probably get (4) more of the 12/24 receivers for my other planes. But for the new DS 112" Mustang and for the Behemoth Yak, I will more than likely get the new 16/32 channel receiver for those planes. For obvious reasons on the Stang, it will come in handy for programming all the bells and whistles. For the Behemoth Yak, I will need a total of 14 channels to split all the servos and ignitions. The 16/32 is a redundant battery receiver and can have up to (4) "like" batteries plugged into it. At which time I can eliminate the SF board from the Big Yak.

I've never purchased a thousand dollar radio system before and was a bit leary in doing so. I just hope it proves to be a good investment. Hate the thought of spending all that money to not have it be worth while.

 

[BalsaDust]

To give you an idea how well that works, the last Allstate picture estimate I had was a little over $500. Final repair costs were over $2000.

Gotcha. Yeah I expect at a body shop for this incident to run around the $1500 mark. Have already looked it up and two new bumpers is gonna be around 5-600 bucks. So long as they don’t total it I would prefer to take a check and fix it myself as I can prolly get lucky enough to find a couple wrecked rangers at the junk yard with decent bumpers on them for way less than new price.

 

[AKNick]

The 16/32 is a redundant battery receiver and can have up to (4) "like" batteries plugged into it. At which time I can eliminate the SF board from the Big Yak.

I've never purchased a thousand dollar radio system before and was a bit leary in doing so. I just hope it proves to be a good investment. Hate the thought of spending all that money to not have it be worth while.

I am trying to research this 16/32 Rx you are mentioning and cannot seem to find the redundant battery receiver. Do you mean just plug similar batteries into the receiver or is there a iso circuit? Do you have a part number?

Speaking of buying a $1k radio, I remember going down this road recently. At one point I screwed my programing up too just like what you mentioned earlier. Its all part of the learning curve. Don't get TOO frustrated. Although I really wish the logic in these computer radios was more fluent. It's one thing to have to scroll around to find what you're looking for, it's another thing to try and figure out how to get the radio to do what you want. Just keep tapping away!

 

[stangflyer]

I am trying to research this 16/32 Rx you are mentioning and cannot seem to find the redundant battery receiver. Do you mean just plug similar batteries into the receiver or is there a iso circuit? Do you have a part number?

Speaking of buying a $1k radio, I remember going down this road recently. At one point I screwed my programing up too just like what you mentioned earlier. Its all part of the learning curve. Don't get TOO frustrated. Although I really wish the logic in these computer radios was more fluent. It's one thing to have to scroll around to find what you're looking for, it's another thing to try and figure out how to get the radio to do what you want. Just keep tapping away!

Oh I am/have been tapping till my fingertips are raw. Lol. Actually the Graupner is fairly easy to navigate. I just failed to give the big okie dokey for each of the function settings. Being an old guy it's really difficult for me to have to read an actual manual or instructions. I'm so used to looking at pictures ya know? Lol

I will have to double check my info on the 16/32 reciever. I called and talked to Graupner tech support last week and I was informed that the receiver has four battery ports. Perhaps I assumed?? it is redundant?

 

[AKNick]

Oh I am/have been tapping till my fingertips are raw. Lol. Actually the Graupner is fairly easy to navigate. I just failed to give the big okie dokey for each of the function settings. Being an old guy it's really difficult for me to have to read an actual manual or instructions. I'm so used to looking at pictures ya know? Lol

I will have to double check my info on the 16/32 reciever. I called and talked to Graupner tech support last week and I was informed that the receiver has four battery ports. Perhaps I assumed?? it is redundant?

From what I read it sounds like the battery ports are basically a suggested port to help distribute power evenly. Power can be added to any port. Just like Futaba. There is no failsafe set in place that I could find. So if one of your batteries shorts out it will effect the whole system unless I'm mistaken. Pretty rare for that to happen, but it's not an isolation circuit from what I can find.

 

[stangflyer]

No plane workshop for the last few days. I have spent the last five days repair/rebuilding a room for my daughter at her house. I am very proud of my little girl. Three college carriers and a home purchased before she was 24. But I got to say, next time I take a vacation, I am turning my phone off and you all can find me in Thailand. LOL. Back to the builds on the table soon.... "I HOPE"!