FastStang

im starting to think that heli's and i will have to go our separate ways. i have a corona and have some problems. when i try to hover for more than 5 seconds it swings the tail to the right (nose left). its just for a split second until the gyro compenstes and then hovers and repeats. i have many layers of servo tape where the gyro is mounted to dampen vibrations. what am i missing?

also, when it comes to tracking the rotors, if you look at it from one angle, they seem tracked, but sometimes in the air they look like they are out of track. it seems that when its on the ground and i look at it from the side, they look tracked when they pass over the nose but when the pass the tail they arent. is this normal? i cant seem to get both sides to even out. im not sure if im being clear or not, but to put it another way, if you look from the side and above the nose, they look even but at the same time whe you look above the tail they dont. despite all this i have never crashed it which surprises me. thisismy first heli and it can be a handfull.

has anyone tried the fma direct "co-pilot". im thinking of buying one to see if it can give me hands off control. otherwise, this may be more work than fun for me.

Wright Flyer

Got the Co-Pilot on my Corona - best piece of model electronics I ever bought!

Your twitchy tail problem could be down to binding in the linkages to the tail from the servo or maybe slipping of the tail - if you hold the main blades still you should not be able to get ANY play if you try to rotate the tail blades - if you do then something along the line isn't tight enough. You did file the flat on the tail drive wire where the front pinion set screw holds didn't you? Also the set screws up the mild of the TR blades need to be ASTRONOMICALLY tight so that it really grips with no movement. Another possibility is that there may be a broken gear in your TR servo. I presume you are using an HS81MG ? The servo needs to be quite a fast one to respond quickly to the movements from the gyro.

Cliff

FastStang

the srvo is fine. i use hitec hs-81 servos.my tr set screws are more than astronomically tight. this is an issue because i cant brak them loose now. something is going to strip. BUT, i do have alot of play when holding the main rotors. one place is where the mr gear meshes with the tr gear. im always afraid to bind gears. but thats not the only place that has slop. if i hold the tr gear and move the tr, i can give it almost a 1/8th turn. but without taking this apart, i cant tell where to pinpoint the slop. and im not sure if im going to be able to take it apart now. i would hate to get a whole new tail assemply because of a couple screws that are practically welded in.

about the co-pilot, does it give hands free operation? (aside from throttle, i assume)

Wright Flyer

I'd never attempt totally "hands free" with a helicopter. They're dynamically unstable whatever electric gizmos you have attached. However the Cp does make it more stable than you can imagine so you have plenty of "thinking time". If it starts to tilt to a funny angle then just let go the cyclic and it'll enter the hover again. However if there's a breeze (or the horizon calibration is not 100%) it may well drift slowly in one direction (but with the blades pointing up and the skids pointing down which is kind of what you want!)

Cliff