akreiff

Hello, all you Blade 400 owners:

I am a brand new newbie to helicopters. I just purchased a brand new B400 last week and am already have some qustions. The manual reads that when you push the rudder control to the right the tail slide should move to the left, which mine does. However, it further informs me that to test the gyro you should note which direction the servo arm moves when you command right rudder (should be forward). Now, it states that when you manually yaw the tail to the left the gyro should also move the servo arm forward to counteract the left yaw. Mine B400 gyro moves the tail slide to the right presumably giving a left tail command which will only make the left yaw worse. I moved the gyro direction switch to "reverse" which corrects the problem but the manual clearly reads that the gyro switch should be on the Normal setting, not reverse.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Alan

rotarydoc

Hey akreiff,

I just looked at my brand new backup B400, and the switch is in the normal position, and it flies great. I think you are getting confused, if you re-read the manual, it states that the servo arm should move the same as the right rudder input when the NOSE of the heli is yawed to the left....not the tail...the tail would then be yawing to the right...

Hope this helps...just curious, have you flown it yet, or just being cautious, doing pre flight checks?

Let us know how you make out!

Glenn

Wolfpackin

It was OK before you changed the gyro switch.
I think you are confusing operations.

Left rudder stick input=servo arm aft/slider right/nose left/tail right
Right rudder stick input=servo arm fore/slider left/nose right/tail left

So, when you yaw the tail left, that's nose right, the gyro should counter by giving left input (nose left/slider right) which is what it did before you changed it.

Right?(correct?)

akreiff

Thanks, guys.

I am brand new to helicopters and am learning as I go. You are both absolutely correct. I was reading the manual incorrectly. With the gyro switch set to "Normal", when you yaw the nose of the craft to the left then the gyro commands right rudder. For some reason I was yawing the tail of the helicopter to the left which is nose of the helicopter heading to the right. Then the gyro was performing correctly and commanding left rudder.

Got it. I will definitely get some experienced flyer to check it out and fly it before I even attempt it. I can fly the heck out of one on my G4 simulator but am not confident how well that translates into real world.

Thanks again.

rotarydoc

Hey Alan,

You are very welcome! Glad it was something simple, rather than a headache right off the bat. I think you will find this forum quite a bit of help, I know I have. Lots of friendly people on here to give you a hand, advice, suggestions, etc.

Good luck with your new heli, and feel free to post any questions you may have here!

Glenn

rotarydoc

Hey Alan,

The biggest difference between the G4 and the real thing is there is no red button on the transmitter on the real one!! I couldn't resist!!

Seriously, if you are doing well on the sim, it will make it easier in real life. But, it's still not the same. No replacement for stick time on the real thing.

LOL, I have heard the red reset button called the "rebuild button" !!

Take care, and have fun!

Glenn

sirfixalot

My Feedback: (3)

Hello, My name is David and I am new to Heli's myself....well I have crashed the hell out of my Axe Cp quite a few times but none the less in need of some help with my Blade 400. Currently I have the following upgrades on my Blade and I was hoping for some suggestions with setting up my Tx.
As far as upgrades thus far: GY401 installed......for this any recommendations of Rates? I did find a vague answer of (0) should be below 50%, while (1) should be above 50%?????? Any specifics out there would be greatly appreciated. Also upgrades was my 3 servos from the Ds75's.....to......(3) Hitec HS 65HB's. Any suggestions on Travel Adjustments?? Please all the while keeping in mind a new pilot is at the helm. One last note to mention. When I changed my gyro to the GY401, finances would not allow the purchase of a digital servo. (especially the most common combos I see, ie Futaba rudder servo) Well I did ask a guy at my LHS and he recommended a Futaba, the S3114 b/c the gyro does require a spped of .10sec or below and this servo provides the speed w/o being digital.
Any help with my Tx set up would be appreciated. thanks

sirfixalot

My Feedback: (3)

Hello, My name is David and I am new to Heli's myself....well I have crashed the hell out of my Axe Cp quite a few times but none the less in need of some help with my Blade 400. Currently I have the following upgrades on my Blade and I was hoping for some suggestions with setting up my Tx.
As far as upgrades thus far: GY401 installed......for this any recommendations of Rates? I did find a vague answer of (0) should be below 50%, while (1) should be above 50%?????? Any specifics out there would be greatly appreciated. Also upgrades was my 3 servos from the Ds75's.....to......(3) Hitec HS 65HB's. Any suggestions on Travel Adjustments?? Please all the while keeping in mind a new pilot is at the helm. One last note to mention. When I changed my gyro to the GY401, finances would not allow the purchase of a digital servo. (especially the most common combos I see, ie Futaba rudder servo) Well I did ask a guy at my LHS and he recommended a Futaba, the S3114 b/c the gyro does require a spped of .10sec or below and this servo provides the speed w/o being digital.
Any help with my Tx set up would be appreciated. thanks

sirfixalot

My Feedback: (3)

Sorry....New to the forums too I didn't mean to post as a reply to you Rotarydoc. My apologies.

rotarydoc

Hey sirfixalot,

No Problem! We were all new to the forums at one time or another!

You can always start a new topic with your questions, and I'm sure you'll get some replies!

Glenn

evdreamer

David,

On the DX7 I need 73% gain to put the GY401 into heading hold mode. Then anything above that makes it hold better, but that setting works for me. I don't know if the DX6i has two settings for the gain, but I had the other one in normal mode. With the Spektrum receivers the 401 sometimes has a hard time initializing. So I flip my switch I chose for the gain three times in three seconds and that fixed the problem. Then just make sure you always have the switch in heading hold mode after that when you plug the battery in or it won't arm right. Travel adjustments are for making the swashplate level at full throttle and no throttle in idle up mode. It will be different for every person. You don't need a digital servo for the tail, but it is prefered. There is a switch on the 401 for digital(DS ON) and analog(DS OFF) servos. You can use tail servos for the tail that are slower than .1, but it is prefered to use the LHS guy's suggestion. The faster the servo is the better the gyro can make changes to keep the nose pointing in one spot. Since you said you are new to the hobby this link has videos of a guy that makes the setup of helicopters very easy to understand. It will take a better part of the day to watch them all. Even though the videos aren't based on your helicopter the basics work on every helicopter. You will need to register to helifreak to watch them. http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41692

Nick