After last week when the tree in my front yard attacked my HBKII my parts should be here today. I am still new to setting everything back up. I have read in the instruction book that came with my HBKII. On leveling the swashplate is it just eyeballing it level? I am having to replace my feathering shaft and main blades. Also on the paddles on the flybar can I eyeball thel level to. I know that you are going to say go out and get a pitch gauge. I know that I need one and will be the next thing I will buy, but the wife is already fussing about how much cash I am sinking in to it(which I say I am investing money into it. LOL). Just need some help at other things that I will need to check before I get her in the air again. It din't fall about 3-4 feet when the twig fell into my main blades. I had the training gear on so that helped with a softer landing.

Thanks,
Mark

well when you go to get that pitch gauge buy a swashplate leveler too. the one for the trex 450 will work as the main shaft diameters are the same. other then that you're going to have to eyeball it. you can try to use some system of bubble levels but it's too difficult I think. the other thing you can try is using a small T-square if you have one, line it up against the shaft.

I'm not a big fan of eyeballing anything, these are precision engineered and anything that is "off" will affect the flight with vibrations and poor handling.

Hello Mark71;
Just some FYI for you. On the swash leveling the only reason you level it is to get the trim close for the first flight. When you hover the heli for the first time and trim the heli to hover like you want it. All the time you spend leveling the swash is gone. Once you trim the heli the swash plate may not be level when you are finished. Eye ball it get it close, hover the heli and trim it to fly straight and you are good to go. Also, I am not saying Druss is wrong either and some people prefer to use a level but, it is not needed due to the fact that as soon as you move the trim tab the swash plate moves and will no longer be level. It is a preference thing. You definitly need the pitch gauge though.

Make sure all 3 push rods from the servo to the plate are the same length and the cyclic trims are centered and level the plate with the servo rods then track the blades with the upper rods on the head. [sm=thumbs_up.gif] Hope this helps. Gittle

with a well built and balanced machine the swashplate should be PERFECTLY level. this means that you've corrected the cog issue with it being tail heavy and anything else. if you're flying your heli stable with a non level swash go back and find out what is wrong. don't use trims to correct for a bad mechanical set up.

if the swashplate is not level then you're losing some ablility, for instance, if you have the swashplate leaning forward to correct for the tail heaviness then you've lost some of that throw, this means you have more ability to pull the nose up than to push it down.

don't take short cuts, do it right.

Thanks Druss. I guess I will wait unitl I can get a swashplate leveler.

You don't have to wait until you get the leveler. Druss is correct that ideally you shouldn't be using the swash plate to correct other problems and the closer you get it to perfect the better it will fly (though nothing is ever absolutely perfect and a little trim isn't going to hurt). But if you have a good eye, eyeballing it is good enough to get you in the air. You can always adjust it again later with the leveler if you really want. I've been able to get it very close by eyeballing, with little to no trim adjustment needed at all when the heli is balanced.

Heck, you don't even need the swash plate leveler. It's a convenient tool, but anything that you can fit in there that has a right angle (like a small t-square as Druss said or anything rigid and square) will work.

yep, i'm not saying that you can't get it flying well without a leveler, just that the tool makes it much easier.

For some reason I knew Druss would take it wrong what I said. I was just offering information so Mark71 could make a decision. And by all means I never said to correct an out of balance heli with trims. Every aircraft needs to be balanced before flight. I was not trying to dis anybody and I believe I made that clear. Gittle

I don't see how I took what you said wrong? Can you make the heli fly by correcting the flight with trims? sure you can.

all I'm saying is that it's far better to mechanically set up the heli as well as possible before using the trims. trims are meant to correct any problems during flight, not to correct poor mechanical set up.

but, if you've used all the trim on one side in order to fix the flight you have nothing left on that side to help in the future. I've used trim on my heli's before but they only need one or two notches to either side and you can't see any tilt visually in the swashplate.

You can also check for a level swash with only a pitch meter. Just measure the pitch of one blade as you rotate the head. If the pitch of the blade does not change as it rotates, then the swash MUST be level.

I can get one absolutely perfect by simply eye-balling it, then double-checking with the blade pitch. Actually, I do both those things, AND also check with a swash leveler. All of my helis fly flat and steady with NO trim