PineApple2

Hi,
I just upgraded my Lama. But it cannot fly. Blades are rotating but helicopter is not moving up.

Could somebody help? I appreciate it.
Thanks,

pineapple.<o></o>

erdnuckel2

Something kind of like this??

http://cgi.ebay.com/EsKy-LAMA-V3-V4-...d=p3286.c0.m14

Hate to break it to you, but those sets are a piece of work.

First recommendation: toss the blade grips - better go back to plastic right away and get some (sorry for this word) "real" aluminum blade grips (microheli, skytec or Xtreme) later on, even if it is going to set you back between 40 and 60$ (in case you INSISTon alu blade grips) that is really something you can do later, and your bird will fly just fine with plastic.

Second recommendation: if you can do something like this:

http://www.rcline.tv/photo/1337/-quo...teinmal-anders

you will need to resand the brass balls on the swash plate, so that all the links move really smoothly.

Third recommendation:
Upper rotor head may have some sharp edges inside - those will damage the flybar hub ... so make sure everything in there is smooth, too. Also check if the rotor head moves on the shaft (up down or left right) those grub screws are sometimes not the tightest fit. And make sure that the grub screw REALLY sits on the flat part of the inner shaft, if it doesn't, head will start moving sooner or later.

Fourth recommendation:
Also check the lower rotor head very thoroughly - they often have a lot of slop on the inner shaft - many times the little screws don't really hit the holes they are supposed to hit - your lower head will be moving.

Make sure all screws are tight and use loctite 243 on them - the stuff has a tendency to disintegrate in mid-air if you don't

Hope that helps a little ...

... and one more thing at the end (and I really don't want to be a smarty pants): If all of this fails, use only the upper rotor head and the swash plate and keep the rest stock - that will still do for quite a while (and if you really want to majorly bling your bird out, PM me in october or early november ...

Regards,
Sven

edit:
could you also pm me if you have a LHSthere ... or maybe you know the ones in the NY Metro area ..... I would really appreciate that. Thanks!

PineApple2

Hi Sven,
Thank you for your help. I have cheap aluminium upgrade for $8. I go back to plastic.

What is LHS?

pineapple

erdnuckel2

LHSis your L ocal H obby S hop!

I get so used to seeing other people use that acronym that I really start using it myself without even thinking, sorry. As far as those 8$ ebay sets are concerned, ... i got one for ten dollar about 2 month ago, it looked like they used all the pieces they totally messed up in production and put them in this set.
There will always be people who say it isn't worth putting 50 or 80 or more dollars in aluminum bling, but this is only half the truth ... depends really on what you want ... the expensive stuff is not only going to look good, contrary to the cheap sets those parts actually work.
Means bling is not something you put on in one step ... it is something to do over quite some time ... this way it also doesn't hurt your wallet as much when you spend the big bucks ... and you can actually verify how good (or not) a part is, because you can really compare the before and the after ....

Recommendation five:
Start with an aluminum upper head and an aluminum bearing housing ... or even better, just get the bearing housing first as it is one of the "cheaper expensive" parts ... but it will be a lot better than the plastic bearing housing .... combine that with good blades and longer servo arms ... and you will already see a substantial improvement in flight characteristics. with that, you might also change the swash to metal .... you will spend between 20 and 30$ and you are on the way to a copter that is blinged out with "really good" parts ....

... then, a while later change something else ....

Regards,
Sven

pgroom_68

Hey again Pineapple,

You say the blades are rotating, is this fast? Both sets of blades must rotate in opposite directions - and about the same speed. The blades must spin fast enough to provide enough lift so the helicopter can take off also. Sven has offered some good advice, but if you want to leave some of the metal upgrade parts on maybe we can get your bird into the air.

The first thing you should check that you have done up correctly is the lower (gear A) screws. Grasp the top of the head firmly and with your other hand try to rotate the lower gear. Does it move?

The second thing is the inner hub (which has four screws into the outer shaft. Are they done up tightly and locating into the hole in the outer shaft.

The third is the swashplate. Is it level and rotating freely?

Do you have a digital or video camera? It would be great if you could upload a short video of your bird from when blades are still->trying to lift off a couple of times - then insert a link on this thread. (even a close-up of the areas listed above)

Peter[sm=shades_smile.gif]

PineApple2

Hi Peter,

pgroom_68