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RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 12:59:07 AM   
nscradar



Posts: 45
Joined: 9/28/2007
From: Rigby, ID, USA
Status: offline 		Welcome to the world of whirlly birds potatoe_bird. And Kudos on your successful maiden flight.. I am envious

Good news, Bad news...

The bad first, includes crash damage. My wife works in a grade school so I have access to the gym sometimes. Well during Christmas break the gym floor was being washed and waxed so I had to fly in one of the other large common rooms in the school. After spooling up I went for a mild hover. After 3 months I still have yet to master the hover, however I have become one of the best micro heli mechanics, LOL. Anyway the heli jumped up into the air about 6 feet, getting close to the ceiling now and drifting way to close to the wall, so I gently lower the throttle and hope I can recover, then all of a sudden she slams into the floor. Less than 30 seconds into my first battery. Everything stock except flat bottom trainer blades.

Damage report...
1 blade grip minus ball
1 blade grip in 3 pieces on other side of room
"S" bend in tail boom
Broken tail rotor mount (surprised tail rotor blade did not break)
See saw minus 1 ball link
1 very bruised ego

All in all the damage was minimal compared to the extent of the crash.
I had an extra head already built and balanced, a knitting needle precut and fitted with tail assembly.after I got home the repairs took less than an hour.

The good news. After checking the heli from stem to stern for any other crash damage, I decided to make sure tracking and pitch was in good form. Now the new head was setup almost identical to the previous one. I noticed that at zero throttle normal mode and 50% throttle on idle up mode, I had (eyeballed) about 5 degrees of negative pitch. No wonder she slammed into the ground and I've struggled to hover. Pitch gauge ordered.

Back at the school today... I hovered and hopped and slide through 3 stock batteries and 2 lipos. Ego repaired and hover is getting better.

More good news. I picked up a GY240 on Ebay for a song(cant sing a note for real). Ordered a 7CHP same channel as heli. Also I was reading in another forum, a couple of people were building Bell Hiller heads for the Axe, so I ordered the parts for the mod. Then while mindlessly cruising TH website I came across a factory upgrade for the Bell Hiller head. WooHoo. I am stoked. The factory upgrade wont be available till February, so in the mean time I am going to make the homemade one work. One other mod, I bought the CNC fly bar system from Microheli. I am going to wait on the center hub till a CNC Bell Hiller hub is available.

(in reply to potatoe_bird)
       Post #: 1676

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 3:26:40 AM   
potatoe_bird



Posts: 699
Joined: 1/11/2004
From: Houston, TX, USA
Status: offline
quote:

Welcome to the world of whirlly birds potatoe_bird. And Kudos on your successful maiden flight.. I am envious


rofl, thanks
I need to get a friggin calm day and get the trim set up spot on. I was able to keep the tail where I wanted it most of the times, but sometimes it just did its own thing, probably pilot error lol. Also, I read that flying close to the ground can be difficult, but geez I had all kinds of issues keeping it steady a foot off the ground. It bobbed up and down and wondered a little.
My blades got some of the covering scraped off on the ground, would this be something to worry about as far as balance? I have spare blades I can put on. I noticed my blades seemed to wobble some but idk why. I will take it down to the LHS soon and have him look it over for me I guess.

This little bugger is going to be fun when I finally get stationed at a base! USAF

< Message edited by potatoe_bird -- 12/29/2007 3:30:40 AM >

(in reply to nscradar)
       Post #: 1677

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 4:09:21 AM   
nscradar



Posts: 45
Joined: 9/28/2007
From: Rigby, ID, USA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: potatoe_bird

My blades got some of the covering scraped off on the ground, would this be something to worry about as far as balance? I have spare blades I can put on. I noticed my blades seemed to wobble some but idk why. I will take it down to the LHS soon and have him look it over for me I guess.



A little CA glue on the blade covering will help to keep it from creating aero drag. As far as balancing the blades, even tho the manufacture says they are pre balanced, I still run mine through the procedure. Also you might want to check that the fly bar paddles are equidistant from the head ant that they are level / inline with the fly bar carrier. Sometimes a wobble can be created from one of the paddles being off center. Dayum, these little toys sure can be a PITA. and talk about finicky, Morris the cat aint got nothing on my axe LOL.

The LHS is a good idea. If the people are friendly they will check out your bird and help get you all trimmed up. Also a good source for spare parts

There's alot of good people and great info on this thread. I highly recommend reading from the beginning. I am a little over halfway reading through another Axe thread in a different forum.. over 7000 posts to catch up on... Waiting for another flight day



(in reply to potatoe_bird)
       Post #: 1678

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 4:54:06 AM   
potatoe_bird



Posts: 699
Joined: 1/11/2004
From: Houston, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Yeah, I will swap to my new blades and see if it continues.
I already have several blade grip spares, the spare blades and a spindle. I think I should pick up a spare rear blade, tailboom, flybar links, flybar paddles, tail rotor gear and mabey another stock lipo battery.
You think the LHS would have the little nuts that go on the blade grips to help secure the blades? I seem to have misplaced them... A screw set would probably be smart to get aswell.
I want to build up plenty of spares, if (well when haha) I crash I can just bring it inside and fix it right away.

(in reply to nscradar)
       Post #: 1679

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 5:12:38 AM   
Shadow99


 

Posts: 385
Joined: 8/23/2007
From: Southwick, MA, USA
Status: offline 		The NUTS that fit the blades are M2, Du-Bro makes packages of METRIC hardware available at most LHS, check the R/C CAR areas. As far as your blades, I would recommend PLASTIC blades, they are almost NUKE-PROOF. I use the ones from Helidirect, HDX plastic trainer blades (flat bottomed #VTS-109W), symetrical blades also available for about 12 bucks!
Don't buy the stock tail boom! Go to WALMART & buy 8mm by 14" knitting needles (they have the same purple color), 2 needles for 4 bucks, smoke'en deal! Cut the tapered tip off, cut the head off, deburr ends, drill or ream one end to 7mm (.2755" , cross drill hole for tail-motor mount & your done, other than installing the wires to the tailmotor & mounting it.
The knitting needles are twice as tough as the OEM ones, blade strikes leave scratches, and it doesn't affect the balance!

Shadow



_____________________________

"Growing older is MANDATORY... Growing up is OPTIONAL!"

(in reply to potatoe_bird)
       Post #: 1680

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 5:17:18 AM   
nscradar



Posts: 45
Joined: 9/28/2007
From: Rigby, ID, USA
Status: offline 		2mm nuts for the blade grips. I think mine came without. I have since acquired a supply of them. Along with an assortment of other parts. LOL its not a matter of if but a matter of when. A good pre-flight check can minimize the expense. I had to learn the hard way as witness by my most recent impact with the ground. Pilot error? I blame the ground crew. HAHAHA

(in reply to potatoe_bird)
       Post #: 1681

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 5:31:14 AM   
potatoe_bird



Posts: 699
Joined: 1/11/2004
From: Houston, TX, USA
Status: offline 		These are them?
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXE052&P=7

I may have to try the needle tailboom thing, the stock one is stupid weak

(in reply to nscradar)
       Post #: 1682

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 2:17:02 PM   
nscradar



Posts: 45
Joined: 9/28/2007
From: Rigby, ID, USA
Status: offline 		Good information Shadow99. I am a firm believer in the knitting needle tail boom, but not that awful purple color. Thankfully there are more color choices.
potatoe_bird
There are some that prefer the carbon fiber tail boom. If you have a local archery shop you may be able to pick up some scrap cut or broken arrows. Just be sure they are 8mm.

The plastic blades are a real good investment also. I prefer the flat bottom, as I have no aspirations of doing any 3D yet. Still working on 1D.

Stock tail rotor blade sucks also, very brittle and breaks if you look at it wrong. Go with BladeCP tail rotor blade. It fits and the blade root is thicker. Also the BladeCP fly bar paddles work and have a bolt to hold them in place.

(in reply to Shadow99)
       Post #: 1683

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 3:06:33 PM   
Shadow99


 

Posts: 385
Joined: 8/23/2007
From: Southwick, MA, USA
Status: offline 		Remember to apply LOCK-TITE to the bolts that hold the blades on, blade-grips to the feathering spindle, etc.
I use Tamiya Liquid Thread Lock, cause it doesn't attack the plastics & it holds bolts within the plastic itself. There's NOTHING worse than spending a couple hours repairing your AXE, only to have it FLY APART, due to loose screws.

Shadow


_____________________________

"Growing older is MANDATORY... Growing up is OPTIONAL!"

(in reply to nscradar)
       Post #: 1684

RE: axe cp thread - 12/29/2007 4:57:30 PM   
get_highfly


 

Posts: 1
Joined: 12/29/2007
From: riverside, CA, USA
Status: offline 		Salutations to all,

New to this Forum, new to this site, and new to the addiction. I bought one of those Havoc micro 2-ch helis a couple of weeks ago and had such a blast with it I had to get a larger one (bitten by the bug here). Well I started to do some research and found a couple contra rotating blade copters that looked like fun(and in retro spec easier to fly), but than one day while surfing I found the Axe CP and I was sold(though tempted by the HoneyBee King2). Well I bought one two days ago assembled it watched the DVD then took it out side, I did not even get it off the ground. The next day I met up with a coworker who had been flying for ten years and he gave me the confidence to get it off the ground (****). Last night I decided to go for a buzz and was doing fine (tail in) when it bounced about seven feet, I thought I would be fine until it started to drift into a neighbors car, in a panic I slammed the throttle and came down hard on the left side. Right now I a waiting for a new swash plate, center hub, and fly bar link.

(in reply to Shadow99)
       Post #: 1685

RE: axe cp thread - 1/4/2008 6:02:16 PM   
potatoe_bird



Posts: 699
Joined: 1/11/2004
From: Houston, TX, USA
Status: offline 		well, had my first bad crash
Took out the swashplate, spindle, both blade grips, the plastic piece the flybar goes through, blades, rear blade and somehow the tail motor.
damn, thats alot of crap! haha
Already got most of the replacements, the LHS will get the rest in tommorrow. Probably would have been a little cheaper at towerhobbies but o well, Im all for supporting the LHS

(in reply to get_highfly)
       Post #: 1686

RE: axe cp thread - 1/4/2008 6:06:44 PM   
MMatheny


 

Posts: 805
Joined: 1/23/2003
From: Dickinson, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Yeah, but you have to pay shipping from Tower!

_____________________________

Mike
"Never use your shins as a blade tracking device" - Mike

(in reply to potatoe_bird)
       Post #: 1687

RE: axe cp thread - 1/4/2008 10:33:37 PM