Drumheller Dave

Yeehaaaa..hey all....Perhaps we have something going sgsin for all us new-bees....or oldies who havn't been as crazy as most are...weather here..not to bad tonight...flags at the airport almost down...took the mortgage payment out tonight and did two batteries....hovered...went forward and back...no crashes...wife came home from work, heard her pull into the yard.......after doing a battery change she said.....how can you stand the mosquitoes...I said....they are biting me like st......but if I squash or swat any..I'll smash up.......she went in the house....I had fun......kinda..........ouch!

Super Spider

Hey guys!

I had a great weekend! My girls had great softball games, I beat down a few weeds and I got to do a little RCing! (not at the same time!)

I found a cool website from a guy who claims to be an instructor for RC helis. Have been reading everything on his site and it seems to be very informative, he does sound a bit biased towards e-flite, but I think his reviews are quite honest. Anyway, here it is:

[link=http://www.rchelicopterfun.com]RCHelicopterFun[/link]

Hope you guys get something out of it! I am going to try out his "10 Day" course and see how I do, can't be worse than I am right now!

Hope you guys have a good week!

Solman

I've noticed with my 3D blades it seems to have a weird sound.  Sounds like it is vibrating too much.  It flies fine and haven't had any problems.   I had a set of blades that I liked, but wasted them on the last crash.   One thing I like about having more experience is that when you try new blades, you can figure out fairly quick whether you like the blades or not.

Super Spider

hm, I have only used the e-flight replacements, 1415a, when I noticed some weird sound it was due to a bent shaft, replaced the shaft and the noise went away. what other blades are you using? are they cheaper than the 1415a's? how did the ones you liked differ from the 1415a's? were they less "noisy" than the 1415a's, what did you like about them, etc... Just curious, I know nothing about them other than the concerns listed above.

Solman

go on Ebay, you can get CF blades a lot cheaper. These blades are ok, but I have used better. My favorites is the Radix blades. $46 a shot, but awesome blades. I've used different CF, wood, fiberglass blades.

Super Spider

I get my parts at cost, so they would have to be a lot cheaper for me to go to them (my wife works for HopMeUp RC "Largest RC eBay Store"). I don't even remember my cost on those blades now, I just have her get them and they deduct the amount from her check, they carry the CF blades by eflite and the align blades in both wood and CF - the eflite ones are cheaper - I figure those are good enough to learn on - especially how often I try mowing the grass with it! I will check it out and see what I can get and maybe try some out! Thanks!

Solman

If all you are doing is basic flight and crashing, you can get 2 sets of CF blades for $20 or 5 sets of FIberglass for $20. I don't really use my fiberglass blades, but I keep them as a back up.

Super Spider

yeah, def. have to check out the FG blades - I dont tear the blades up that much, i think out of 10 flights i may have to change the blades twice - maybe less, still just hopping around, I dont get much practice time, I'm lucky to get one or 2 packs every week or 2. do these cheap FG blades work equally to the eflite wood ones or are they that cheap for a reason?

Solman

I would say equal and much less in cost than the E-fllite blades. Make sure you buy a balancer first.

Super Spider

how does the balancer for heli blades work, I have not seen or heard about this. I am familiar (not to that I have used one) with air plane prop balancers. Do you have a link to one?

akz28

Greetings All!

I decided to jump back into an E-flite Blade 400 after a short hiatus from helis all together.

My background.....I've been flying R/C Airplanes for 2 years now. I saw a used Blade 400 about 1.5 years ago at the local hobby store so I bought it. Got comfortable with hovering and flying around a little but it was a bit too sensitive for me and didnt know enough about the settings to "dumb" it down a little. After crashing it a few times, I decided to go for something a little bigger and less squirrely. So I sold it and bought a Raptor 30. Continued flying with the Raptor 30, which it was a lot less sensitive in the air BUT its also a $1000 piece of hardware and crashes aren't cheap! I was so nervous about crashing it, I wasn't having any fun. And although I never did crash it, I wasn't learning any more either because I wasn't pushing myself. So I sold that and said I was done with helis........right!.......LOL

A few weeks ago I saw a package deal for a BNF Blade 400 on ebay.....good shape, LOTS of new parts, spare battery, etc.....so I jumped back in.
I figured what the heck. I did enjoy flying it when I last had one. I was learning. It usually costs less than $10 to fix it after most crashes.

So I am back.

I have enjoyed catching up on this forum and reading your stories and am looking forward to sharing some of mine also.

Thank you all for keeping this thread active and entertaining!

Solman

http://cgi.ebay.com/Blades-rotor-balancer-esky-align-trex-t-rex-450-500-600-/260615702679?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Radio_Control_Parts_A ccessories&hash=item3cade80897#ht_1913wt_933

Super Spider

thanks, the onlything that I could see that would make this one better would be for it to have a level bubble on it, I saved the seller, I will have to wait until next month to get one! I have the e-flite pitch guage, but there are some out there that I like better - looks like they may be easier to align with the fly bar.

Solman

I just eye ball it. I don't need no stinking bubble. lol I did the same thing for my pitch gauge, bought it for $3 shipped. and works the same as any other.

Super Spider

bubbles are for sissies? - well, try to make something better and critics, critics, critics!



in my opinion, and I may be wrong, I'm just a newb, but if I'm going to take the time to make sure my blades are balanced, the pitch is the same and set specifically, I want it as close as I can get it - I have actually thought of building a pitch guage that i can set the heli into and dial everything in from a solid base, no guessing, but that is just the wanna-b Engineer in me! I actually started planning how to build one of the blade balancers with some type of level bubble on it. talk about overdoing it!

Drumheller Dave

Hey all I need big help.........bashed the sh-t out of the 400 lasy year..rebuilt her...........needed new servos..........the ones that did the right stick left and right......they seemed fine after a rebuild on the dininjgroom floor.....put her down for the winter......bought a SR and a phoenix flight sim.....used the dx6si on the flight sim...this last weekend took the 400m out.......turned on the dx6si to Model 2 and nothing happened.....played with swiches..throttle hold off and the blades began to turn............whole heli started leaning to the right......Do I have to rebind..or what.....Did I do something wrong?

Solman

Is the swash plate level? After your rebuild, did you do a test flight? Anytime you have a crash and you do maintenance, you need to take it out front and do a test hover. Sounds like you need to adjust your servo arms. At mid throttle, your servo arms should be at 90 degrees.

akz28

Drumheller Dave

Problem sounds strange. But I would definately re-bind.

Sounds like you may want to disconnect your motor, re-bind, and test the sticks first. If everything is level with hands off then moving like it should with input from the sticks, then reconnect the motor an give it a try.

If strange things are happening while playing with the switches, I am wondering if your receiver got damaged in that last crash.

Drumheller Dave

K..guys..thanks for the brain kick......yes..may damn swashplate is not level.....leans way to the right........no wonder my right stick doesn't go down any more..How the "f"did I miss that......this weekend will try again and let you all know.....Solman...........won't worry about the left stick yet, only had to replace the two rear ones...thanks guys...will get back to you...Dave

Solman

I bought some CF 60mm tail rotor blades for my 400. The stock are 57mm and I like the 60mm so much better. It gives it so much authority even at normal power hover. I kept thinking it needed more authority and found it. Well worth the upgrade. Can't beat the price either.

http://cgi.ebay.com/4x-REAL-CARBON-T...#ht_1907wt_923

patryn

My Feedback: (1)

Figured I'd post in here rather than make a new thread. First, I'd like to say that after flying my CPP2 for a couple months and now flying the 400 for not even a month, the 400 is soooooooooo much easier to fly. No more bouncing nose. No more blowing all over the place in a slight wind gust. I can land this thing on a 2' stepping stone. I wish I'd bought the 400 a while back.

Anywho, my question. I've always plugged up the heli with the transmitter on throttle hold. As soon as I'd take off throttle hold, the motor would spool up a little at 0 stick. Never thought anything of it as it was never a violent start up or caused any other issues. Yesterday I plugged it up and forgot to put the controller on throttle hold. I didn't realize it until I had the radio in hand to start flying. I could spool it up, take off, land, and go to 0 stick to completely kill the motor. So my question is why does the heli have a low rpm if plugged up on throttle hold (and then TH turned off) and no rpm if plugged up without throttle hold engaged?

Solman

Sounds like your throttle curve is not at 0. If your stick is all the way down and you are normal mode and not in 3D mode, the throttle is suppose to be off. BTW, I did the same thing, CPP2 and then the 400. I thought the same thing.

patryn

My Feedback: (1)

Throttle curve is set to 0 at low. And it onlyspinswhen the esc is booted up with TH on. That's what I'm baffled about. What would the TH switch have to do with it acting at 0 or not?

Solman

Are you talking about the 3D mode switch? If so, that will make all the difference in the world. BTW, if you want to make a difference on your rudder authority, get yourself a set of these. 60mm CF blades for $6.30 shipped, can't beat em and work great. I already ordered another set.


http://cgi.ebay.com/4x-REAL-CARBON-T...#ht_1907wt_923

patryn

My Feedback: (1)

Nope. I'm well aware of the 3d mode switch. I sent my mSR launching when I accidentally booted it up with the awitch on. Lesson learned cheaply, luckily. The difference only happens when the ESC is booted with the TH switch engaged or not engaged. Had I not accidentally forgotten to turn it on like normal, I never would have even questioned this.