bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Im sorry guys, I do plan on finishing it up. Ive been SUPER busy lately.

I recently started a new company that manufacturers high-end electric foamy model airplanes, and its taken all of my free time to get it up and running. You can check it out at www.revolutionaircraft.com


I will finish the thread...I promise.

Ill try to get started this weekend on taking more pics, and finishing up..


Oh yeah, and the 1/2" thing is with the throttle stick at 0 throttle, and the heli in normal mode. This is so that the blades are at 0 Pitch at 0 throttle. If the swashplate is not 1/2" down from the top of the main shaft, you will end up with un-equal travel in idle up mode, limiting either positive pitch or negative pitch depending on whether its high or low, and it can damage the servos, as it will bind when it hits top or bottom.

thecheatscalc

haha nice! so you started a manufacturing company? so i'm guessing you make these thing. sorry if i sound like a noob but how do you make these things, and what eqipment do you use? those do look awful tempting though....

leventor

Hello All,

I am a newbie. I assembled everything and the heli seems to be working except one thing. When I up the throttle it starts sliding to left-front. I adjust the trim to prevent the front pitch but left side movement doesn't seem to go away. Can anyone point me to what should i look for ?

Traveler

Hey leventor,

It's normal for a heli to want to slide to the left on takeoff, which is caused by the tail-rotor, blowing the whole heli to the side while compensating for the torque of the main rotor. Once you're in the air and in a stable hover, you'll notice that the heli will lean to the right slightly to compensate for this effect. From my experience with it, it's best to trim the heli out for a stable hover and compensate for the drift on takeoff and landing. Put a training-gear on and try increasing throttle gradually, while trying to compensate for the drift. At some point, the left side of the training-gear / skids will get off the ground first, followed by the right one, and it'll take off into an angled hover. It only took me a couple of takeoffs to learn to do this automatically. A big home-made training-gear (about 2x the width of the main rotor) helped a lot in giving me the confidence to try my first liftoff without beeing afraid of tipping it over. :-) I now use a much smaller stock training-gear, which is actually slightly shorter than the main rotor.

Note that I have a T-Rex 450X, which is appearantly one of the more stable heli's in it's class, due to it's size and weight. It usually lifts off quite effortlessly, with very little ground-effect.


Grtz,

Traveller

stl_ed

This is great stuff. I had my Blade so out of whack I'm surprised it still flew. The only thing Im not sure about is if the blades are set at 0 degrees after I level the swash plate. Is there a good way to do this without having to buy a specialty tool?

Traveler

Hey stl_ed,

I adjusted my T-Rex for 0 degrees pitch at mid-point by fixing it by the landing-gear, running the motor up to around 50% power and then adjusting the pitch until there was as little wind from above or below the main rotor as possible.


Grtz,

Traveller

hdbint

Bdavidson, thanks for sharing the info here as I know it has helped many as well as myself! There are not many people around who will take the time you have to help others out. Thanks again for sharing.

Now, please please, finish the thread.

goodbeer

bdavidson,

I too would like to thank you for providing in depth knowledge of the Blade assembly... I just finished rebuilding mine and had it flying in my living room, thanks in large part to your tutorial...

Thanks!

a.wells

Hey b davison,

Would you happen to be the same b davison in Tier-1 tech support?

Later

andrew

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Excellent tutorial!!!! I'm new to the Blade and this is a huge help.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

No, a-wells....I dont work for E-flite. Im just another blade pilot like yourself. I went through the same problems most of the pilots have here. There wasnt any detailed assembly info or build threads, so I started "figuring" it all out by working on my own helicopter. Then I posted what I knew up here....hopefully forever ending the "mysterious" helicopter questions.

Im glad it helped you guys. Trust me I know what its like not being able to find the info you need. I didnt have this thread, I had to figure it all out for myself. Trial and error style.

Im hoping to have the last sections of the thread posted by Monday. There will be some really hot info in there.

hdbint

<------------- Patiently waiting for the finish

blw

My Feedback: (3)

That tendency to slide to the left from tail rotor push/pull is called translating tendency. This helicopter certainly has the power to notice it.

rmbler

Hi All.............................. just wanted to thank you page by page bdavison you are saving my bacon page by page. Awsme info

Regards

Phil

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

I will finish this thread...I will finish this thread.....

Ive got the remaining pictures taken, and hopefully will get everything up here soon.

The next section will be the performance section. Ive got some tips that will help you guys get max performance out of the Blade.

Including a easy modification for the tail rotor that adds a "prop saver" to keep you from breaking tail blades.
A more in-depth look at balancing blades, and making sure that the rotor head is balanced and trimmed PERFECTLY.
Getting the heli ready for inverted flight.
How to fix those skids so that they wont break. The skids are WAY to fragile, there is an easy modification you can do that will keep you from snapping them.
Im hoping also to get some video up of the blade taking it to the max including some inverted stuff.

Swazzi2000

My Feedback: (4)

Bdavison,
Out of all the threads posted here on RCU about the Blade CP I ensure you this here thread is the most informative on basic building, tips n' tricks, and all. I know everyone on here appreciates the time you spent to build and post information about the assembly of the craft on here.
I will be posting pics on this site and i would be honored to post them here on this thread. Mine did come RTF but i have a few modifications that i think will benefit for the modelers wishing to go a lil' further.


THANKS AGAIN
M. PHILLIPS

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Swazzi2000, Let me finish the last sections of the original thread, then feel free to post them up here. That way we can keep it all in somewhat of an order. I will get them up here this weekend.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Ok guys,

Here are the final 3 sections of this thread.

5. Adjusting the gyro.
6. Performance modifications
7. Extreme Modifications.

There is still a lot more info in the next three sections. Whoooooooo...sighing.

Adjusting the Gyro

Adjusting the gyro is one of the simplest tasks, but also requires a bit of trial and error. Most new heli pilots have a hard time with this, mainly because they dont know what they are looking for. Well.....thats where this thread comes in. We are going to go step-by-step on how to adjust your gyro, and get it nailed dead on.

First take a look at your gyro. There are two "pots" or adjustments on the side of the 4-in-1 box.
If you look closely, one is labled "Gain" and the other is "Proportional"

Gain is just a fancy word for sensitivity. This pot adjusts how sensitive the gyro is to the movement of the tail. You can set the gyro from NO sensitivity to EXTREMELY HIGH sensitivity.

At its lowest setting, the gyro will turn off, and offer NO corrective inputs to the tail motor. This is not recommended because you will have to manually fly the tail of the helicopter during flight.

At its highest setting the gyro will "overcorrect" because its super sensitive. This results in the tail rapidly wagging back and forth as it searches for center, but cant seem to lock on because its overcontrolling the tail.

Ideally we want the gyro set so that it "locks" onto center and does not allow the tail to move.

The second pot is the "proportional" pot. This pot adjusts the tail so that it is not overcorrecting in one direction or the other. And makes the tail rotor "proportional" to the torque of the main rotor.

For this section, it is required that the heli is powered up, so please be aware that the heli will be live, and you should be aware of safety precautions. Always stay out of the way of spinning rotor blades, as they can cause bodily injury or death.

Start off by plugging everything in as if you were preparing to fly the helicopter.

Center all trims on the transmitter, except the throttle trim which should be all the way up.
Increase throttle until the helicopter becomes light on the skids.

Now let go of the sticks.(you should NOT be airborne at this point)
Memorize which way the tail went. Now power it down.

Lets assume that the helicopter started yawing to the right. (nose right, tail left). This means that the helicopter requires left "proportional" pot adjustment.

Open your manual to page 14 - Tail Rotor Proportional Mix Trimmer Pot Description and Adjustment.

According to the manual you will need to turn the pot counterclockwise (towards the - minus symbol) to correct this.

Im going to give you a very simple thing I want you to memorize.
Turn towards minus = tail RPM slower
Turn towards plus = tail RPM faster.

So your asking what's this for?

Well, anytime the tail rotor spins faster, it turns the heli to the right. If it spins slower, it turns to the left. Now you know which way to adjust the pot in a instant....without referring to the manual.

Here's the tricky part.

You remembered which way the tail moved right? Did you remember how fast it moved.
If it moved very fast, it will require more adjustment than if it just moved slowly.

The pots on the gyro are very sensitive. A little tiny adjustment will do alot. So dont overdo it.

Now turn the gyro proportional pot a little in the direction you need.

Now power it back up and get it light on the skids.

Release all the sticks...

Did it stay centered, or did it still move right....or did it change directions.

If it stayed centered....CONGRADULATIONS. Your done with proportional adjustments.
If it still moved right....turn the proportional counterclockwise a tad more until it stays centered.
If it moved left, you turned the pot too much. Back it off a little.

Once you think youve got it all adjusted...Pop the heli up into a hover.
If the heli still exhibits a STRONG turn...adjust the proportional pot a little more.
If the heli just very slowly turns....this can be corrected by the trims on the transmitter.

The more time you spend and the more precise you get this, the better the heli will fly.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

The GAIN pot


Well, the gain can be your best friend or your worst enemy.
For new pilots or beginners that are working on hovering. I STRONGLY recommend you set the gain as high as possible without making the tail wag back and forth.

Here's the low down on how to adjust it.
You should already have the proportional pot adjusted.

Turn the gain all the way up.....thats right...all the way up. Towards the + plus sign.
Be VERY careful not to overturn the pot. You will feel it stop. Dont force it past that or you will damage the gyro.

Our friends over at E-flite thought ahead and realized that you should not have to turn the heli off to adjust the gain. OHHHHHH GOODY GOODY!!!!

So pop it up into a hover. If the tail wags back and forth, bring your beloved heli back to earth, stop the blades, and turn it down a little. Pop it back up into a hover.....does it still wag back and forth, or does it feel "loose" and unstable.

If its still wagging back and forth, turn it down a little more.

If it feels "loose", you turned it down too much...turn it up a tad.

Keep doing this until the tail stays stable, and requires very little correction on the stick.



By now Im sure youve noticed a BIG increase in how well the helicopter flys. GO ahead.....burn a battery pack. Dont get too excited though....Ive got more for ya.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Performance Modifications.

This section is going to be very in-depth as there is alot to go over. This section is designed for those of you wanting to know how to tweak the existing helicopter to get the best performance out of it.

The Extreme Modification section that comes after will contain info on how to max out the Blade. It will involve modifications that may void the warrenty, and involve actually cutting, trimming or redesigning the Blade helicopter.

Stay tuned, as we are going to start this section tonight starting with information on how to trim, track, and balance the head to absolute perfection. Then it will go into adding options such as other parts available from E-flite. Since E-flite does not yet have the Bell/Hiller system out, we will have to wait until later to post on it. But Ill add it to the thread as soon as I can get my hands on it.

crcasey

Bdavison,

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Blade. I have read your posts over time in the forums and though I do not allways agree with you I do enjoy reading what you have to say. But enough stroking it...

Can you make a list of what measurment tools you use to locate 'level' in the various parts? I am sure you have come up with some unique systems to attack these problems. If you would be willing to share them I am all ears.

Thank you for the great articles.
-Cecil

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Mostly I just use a set of dial calipers

and a pitch gauge, the best one being the Align one from allerc.com

1LO64

Is anybody using any break-in methods for new motors?? Glass of water method??

cruzmissile

I used that method. (water method) I read it on an R/C Car site that shows the huge advantage of using this method. It works well with the enclosed can motors. It shows the stats for the before and after graph. The results are very amazing. The motor had more power and rpm's than just running them straight out the package. I'll look for the site and share with you all.

AV8TOR

My Feedback: (2)

You say it’s sort of like shocks on the landing struts, are you saying that you cut the gear rod and the silicone bridges between the two to act as a shock?

Are the struts glued in?

While I have you Mr. Davison thanks so much for all you are doing and have help with posts on the Blade. I/we really appreciate it.