OK more data.

First:
Flight time on stock 800 mAh battery pack, well-aged (47 recharge cycles since new) with DD tail motor system: 10 minutes (8:48-8:58) of hovering and orientation practice in normal mode. So that's about 2 minutes less than I remember with the stock system, but I'll swap out and check again. Keep watching.

Second:
No lift-off on crash repair, requiring pitch adjustment: I've seen several people reporting this problem and I believe I have found a possible cause. I have carefully measured several main shafts and I found that the height from the top of the main gear shaft boss to the tiny hole for the head-retaining shear pin can vary, in my small sample, by as much as 0.040 inch (~1 mm). That may not sound like much but it is this distance that determines the collective pitch adjustment of the head, and it can translate to enough pitch change at the blades to be noticeable in performance--like preventing lift-off or requiring a lot more or less throttle to lift off.
The way to fix it, of course, now that I understand it, is simply to lengthen (or shorten) all three servo link rods evenly by one full turn. That should adjust the collective pitch evenly to compensate for differences in the height of the shaft hole.
Of course you should check all this with a pitch gauge if you have one.

Man, if Psikelly still roamed these threads, he would have gone nuts when he saw that mx400 (Pro?). Hmmm, I wonder what ever happened to Psikelly?[sm=72_72.gif]

Alex

Well, Im off to see the Raptor, the wonderful Raptor of heli........ because because because because, of the wonderful things it does...... Im off to see the Raptor,the wonderful Raptor of heelllllliiiiiiiiiii.

Im leaving in like 10 mins

I was out in my smallish backyard today zipping around in figure 8's with my pro. I was doing great, then I flew into myself. It flew another 15ft then hit the ground. I immediatley bursted out laughing. I was wearing a jacket because it's cold here, so the blades didn't hurt me at all. I wish I had that on video. I put in a new feathering spindle, some carbon blades, a new landing skid, and some ca for the carbon rod mount for the l.g.

Those of you with the v3 of the superskids landing gear, how do they mount? could you please post some details?

Jellyson,

When you say, "No lift-off on crash repair, requiring pitch adjustment." Does that mean if you crashed and had to replace the main shaft? It all makes alot of sense, seems like I adjust my pitch control linkage to often. But not necessarily after a shaft replacement.
I've only changed out about 3 shafts in the last year, but adjusted my linkage dozens of times. What's up with that? I haven't had the no lift-off syndrome, but can tell that the pitch is off by 1/2 turn or so on the control linkage. Hmmm.

Just a curious question,

Dave / Choppersrule

Ifixairplsnes,

Super-Skids. See pics of the V2 and V3 skids. V2 on the left, V3 on the right. Get the V3, the battery tray is much bigger. Get the unassembled skids, it'll save you some money. Easy to do, remove your canopy, remove the old skids. Assemble the V3, has pretty good instructions. The V2 and V3 come with rubber band links to hold the battery in. If you like the velcro, save the original battery tray and put that in instead of the V3 tray. It just screws in with 4 screws. Right in the holes where the original skids were. Perfect fit.
Very rugged skids, you'll probably never break 'em. Plus they are super cool. Very good product.

Here's the link to order one, or two or three: http://super-skids.com/

Dave / Choppersrule

Yup, Dave, I installed a new main shaft after this most recent indoor crash just to see if the hub was wobbling or if it was the shaft, and I had the same No-lift-off thing that I've seen talked about before, and it was obvious that the collective pitch was at least a degree lower than with the other shaft. So I adjusted the servo links to make sure that was the only problem (it was), then I ripped everything apart and dug out all the old shafts for comparison and started measuring. Looks to me like there might be two batches, some of the machining details are different btween the batches, and the hole height varies slightly. The distance from the hole to the _top_ of the shaft is very consistent but this one doesn't matter as far as the adjustment goes.
Not a problem really--just another reason to get a pitch gauge if you don't have one.
Now I'm talking about adjusting the servo links; properly speaking the pitch control links are the little ones from the flybar control frame to the Bell-Hiller mixers, right? These will normally need adjusting, I think, when you change or repair blades, or when you make fine-tuning adjustments to the pitch curve or need to adjust the pitch of an individual blade for some reason.
I think.
I'm trying to figure out if wear will make you need to adjust these links. You've had yours a lot longer than I've had mine. Let me leave a note for the gremlins, maybe they will come up with something overnight.
--John/Jellyson

AlexK, it's a Heli-Rex TMax 420...

Jellyson,

You've answered alot of questions in just one post. It's all coming together for me, for the adjustments between the servo linkage and the pitch control links. Now I understand. But wow, never thought that 0.040 inches could make that much different, obviously it does. Hmm, learning everyday.

Thanks for all your great advise, I certainly appreciate it. Think I'll start a new post, with my Cloaking Device, just to see the reponse. You won't find any strings wires etc on the cloak. It a magic trick. I'll PM you how I did it.

Thanks again,

Dave / Choppersrule
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I just installed a complete different head, from the swash up, on my CP that wouldn't take off. The blades would not go into positive pitch.
The new head.. removed from another crashed plane.. the thing wants to go up!
Links from the servo to the swash were the same.
The only visible difference is the lifting head shows more thread in the pitch links than the non-lifting head... both were set up the same pitch wise.
Beats me what's going on.
The small thread gap indicates too much negative pitch.. but it wasn't detectable with my pitch checking setup.

Weird, Tall Paul.
Are you sure the Bell-Hiller mixers haven't flipped over, they can do this if you have the bell mixer arm pushrods unhooked from the swashplate, and it is possible to re-snap them back in with the mixers upside down, and it will look right (mirror-image) but the thing won't fly for beans like that. If you've unhooked the one that doesn't fly from the swashplate, you can't even compare to tell if that was the problem because the links will be loose now.
I'd try putting the non-flyer back on, making sure the Bell-Hiller mixers get flipped the right way, and try it again. If it still doesn't work, we'll have to check something else.

Ahh, Palmdale, Plant 42, the wind, the sun, the wonderful airplanes, the wind, the winnnddd...

Has any one tried using the spectrum 6 channel with the BCPP? I had some major interference today and my heli almost flipped. I managed to save it with no broken parts.
Thanks,
Justin

Justin,

I've got the Spectrum DX6 with my T-Rex and love it to death. No glitches whatsoever in 2 months or so. The DX7 wasn't available when I got my T-Rex. The DX7 has a ton of more menu options. I know it's compatible, I've read it on the forum, somewhere, can't remeber, I'm old. You'd have to get the receiver too.

Yup, I am using the Spektrum DX6 (AR6000 rx) in my BCPP which is eCCPM of course, and in my Heli-Rex TMax 420 which is mechanical ccpm, and I am really happy with the Spektrum system. As soon as they issue a TX-only version of the DX7, I'm buying.
No more worries about flying into your transmitter antenna!

Some people have different ideas about fun:
This video is from a Taiwanese TRex fly-in meet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T03ZMBC-414

that was an interesting video. The parts tent must have been very busy that day.

Thanks for the help, I ordered superskids v3 for my heli last night. Today is going to be a nice day to take out both my blades. I am eager to get flight time on the brushless bird, my stock pro just had some carbon mains put on, so I am eager to try that one out too.

It's funny, they get jealous of each other, so they take turns at getting upgrades. Wait till brushless see's pro with the super skids! I'll never hear the end of it.

.
It's just a CP head, not the B-H.
And for the wind, today is our "Toys for Tots" thing..
The weather so far.. gonna be a coooooold day of flying.. Drat!

Well, so much for that theory. I'm stumped, let me think about it for a while.

Gusts to 20 mph at 4 am, Heck, that's just a mild breeze for those parts. Direction westerly I'll bet--the sailplane pilots must be filling oxygen and charging their sock batteries...

Jellyson,

Yes, interesting video, what a splendid way to crash dozens of T-Rexs in one afternoon. You're right too, different ideas about fun.
My intentions are not t crash.

Dave / Choppersrule

I think that would be fun, just turn the response way down and youve got it. Those guys were probably pretty nevous though.

Alex

More on pitch adjustments: (applies to the BCPP Bell-Hiller head and probably in principle to the plain CP head too)
I figured out that the physical pitch adjustment stops or limits are detemined by the sliding of the part in the rotor head called the "rotor head" up and down on the "main hub." Collective pitch changes move this rotor head thingie up and down, it carries the rotor head frame and the flybar control frame along with it. The pitch control links attach to the arms of the rotor head frame and go down to the Bell-Hiller mixers on the blade grips.
So, to start with, the pitch control links should be adjusted so that the rotor head thingie is at the center of its up-and-down travel on the center hub, when the blades are at zero pitch and the Bell-Hiller mixing levers are horizontal. I unhook the servo links from the bottom of the swashplate assembly and let the swash hang from the paddle frame control pushrods and the Bell mixer arm pushrods while making this adjustment. With the pitch gauge that should give -12 or a bit more when the rotor head is all the way at the top and +12 or a bit more when it is all the way at the bottom of its possible travel, and with the swash disconnected from the servos I can easily move the rotor head up and down to check the travel.
Now that the pitch links are set roughly, I try to set the center of the collective pitch travel with the servo arms, at the same time leveling the swash for the cyclic pitch. So here's where I unplug the motors, center the servos by selecting idle-up mode, center trims, center both sticks so the transmitter is calling for zero collective pitch. Then I set the servo arms to as close to horizontal as possible on the splines, adjust the servo link rods so that the blades have zero pitch and the swash is level. Since the servo link rods can only be adjusted by full turns I might have to go back to the pitch links at this step to fine-tune.
Now I can check the pitch in normal mode: should be about 1 degree negative at zero throttle and +12 at full throttle with the stock TX, and in idle-up it should go from -12 at low throttle to zero at half throttle to +12 at full throttle, hopefully without binding at the stops.
Here's where those of us who have added a fancy radio system have the advantage: we can set servo travel limits. The factory TX is set at the factory and I don't know how to adjust it or even if it is adjustable, so you might have to put up with a little binding at extreme travel limits.
Then I put everything back together, track the blades in the usual way by adjusting one or both of the pitch links, and "Bob's your Uncle" as they say here in the frozen north.

Now, this is the factory setup, but if I find that I need a bit more positive pitch then I increase the whole collective pitch by cranking all of the servo link rods in a full turn and re-checking the travel limits.

Now, again, if any of the parts mentioned have been replaced in a crash repair, or if the pitch links are bent even a tiny bit, the adjustments can go off a surprising amount due to variations in manufacturing, bendage, and prangery. This might be another part of the answer as to why we need to keep adjusting all these bits.

Then there are these thilly ethh theventy-five thervoth-I'm asking Santa for three HiTec HS55s.

Sorry about the long post--too much coffee, not enough batteries...

(pix are the Blade CMax Pro--new swash, CF blades, DD tail, QED fin, Spektrum RX, 2 GWS ESCs instead of the 3-in-1, a little body work on the canopy...when is a BCPP no longer a BCPP?)

Pulling the servo link arms off the swash plate lets you do 1/2 turn adjustments, instead of pulling the servo arm off to make the adjustments.

OOhh, not on mine, those holes in the links for the balls are one-way--if I put mine on backwards they are too tight and bind, if I can force them on at all. The holes are actually bigger on one side than the other. On mine.
Yours may be different.

Jellyson,

Nice write up on the pitch adjust in correlation with the swash thingy. I now know exactly what you mean, when you mention the traveling up and down in the rotor head plutorium.
I think Tall Paul was thinking of the CP or CP Pro, you can make 1/2 twist on them thar puppies.

Great and dligent work,
Dave / Choppersrule

.
While waiting for the USPS to deliver my latest bucket of parts for the Blade, I looked really closely at the ball links and the balls they attach to, and couldn't see any difference in the openings in the links on either side, and they took about the same amount of force to push them on the balls, from either side.

Well, I'm just flabbergasted.
I just installed a brand new blue EFlite swashplate on my BCPP, the balls were rather large I thought, and my links definitely only would go on one way, and just barely that way. Now what about the flybar hoops, surely those are one-way on yours?
Of course the larger Align and HeliMax links are definitely one-way, they are even marked, I hope I am at least not wrong about that!

But that's good, Tall Paul, that means if your links are not one-way you have more adjustablility (or something...)
I'm just glad I switched the radio to something that has adjustable sub-trims. It made setting mine up a lot easier for sure.