Telecomm1 and Broggyr, I have the GWS head mod on one of my Falcons and it works great. I haven't broken a core sense I did this mod, but of course my flying skills are also better. Anyway the post that gives all the details about the mod is on page 45 post 1101.

I know you need to wait 20 minutes after you use your Li-Po battery before charging again, but what about after your done charging? Do you still have to wait 20 minutes after it has charged to cool down before using?

That's exactly what I was referring to, thanks. I would have ordered one of those before I got the OEM parts, but they (and everyone I saw that carried them) are/were out of stock).

Chuck, I don't wait to use my batteries after a charge. I do make sure they are dead cold before I charge them though.

Is anyone aware of a USB cable for the transmitter? I'd much rather use USB as opposed to the 9-pin serial connector. If not, does anyone know if a USB-to-serial adapter would work?

Broggyr, check Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy or Circuit City. I was looking for a cable for my son's computer and they had tons of adapters and cables. Not sure if they had one with the TX cable end to a USB or not but they had a very good selection.

I'll look into it, thanks! [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

Hello Everyone! My internet has been down for a day and it feels like a year. I received my blades yesterday from Hobby Supply and I'm up and flying again. Thanks Michael for such fast service!!! It took 30 min. of reading to catch up with everyones post, you guys have been busy. Hoover time is increasing to around 30 to 40 seconds!!


Keep em flying!!!!!

Break Blades. .. I'm thinking of this same thing myself. On the stock battery holder, did you just clip the Holder "cradle pieces" off the chopper, then just use rubber bands only?? Or just used rubber bands and left the holder in place??? Thanks, Chuck

broggyr: Go to US Hobby Supply. I think Michael has exactly what you want. Serial on one end and USB on the other right???? when I placed my last order the other night I KNEW I should have gotten one, cause i went to Radio shack, Circuit city, Best Buy and Wal Mart and could not find one. And if you do find one at those places you may pay 20-40 bucks (I kid you not on that price). I think his are $9.95...Heck, I'm going there to order Me one RIGHT NOW, Chuck

I have a question about the keyword pledge program..Where you pledge so much money for each time somebody types in the keyword you choose..ok, first, does is mean if that keyword is used ANYWHERE on RC Universe?? Or just on the Falcon 40 list??? Secondly, does anybody know what most ppl pledge?? I mean a penny, nickel, dime, quarter,dollar??? I am on a very fixed income and cannot afford a lot, but this site has been GREAT to Me..But my wife would KILL Me if I pledged an amount and my bill at the end of the month (or however it's done) comes up $2-300 LOL... Thanks for any info or tips on this, Chuck

Hi group! New to the hobby and just received my new Falcon 40. I have done a ton of reading readng through the posts and must say you all have been a ton of help. Radds flight school is going to be huge!

I do have one question. First time for me out of the box. I'm slowly spooling up the throttle and the tail is going absolutely wild. The tail rotor is barely spinning even if I pick the chopper up and spool the throttle all the way??? What gives? Am I doing something wrong. Is there an adjustment on the Falcon itself?

Thanks for your Help!
- Brandon

bgalles, first make sure the tail rotor and gear are pushed all the way on the shaft and the rubber grommet is pushed tight against the tail rotor. Then make sure the gear of the tail motor and the gear of the tail rotor a meshed together correctly. There are two screws that mount the tail motor, Loosen the two screws and put a peice of notebook paper between the two gear, slide the tail motor gear agianst the tail rotor gear and tighten the mount screws. Rotate the tail rotor until the paper is ejected from between the gears. This will give you the proper gear clearence.

For those of you that might be interested in the "fuse mod" I thought I'd post some pics of my recent installation. In the event that your main or tail rotors stop (as in a crash) with the throttle still advanced, your motors can pull enough amps to damage the 4in1 and the fuses will blow to prevent that from happening. I was going to solder the fuses in as is typically suggested. However, when I was in the auto parts store picking up the mini bus fuses, I also happened to find some small audio connectors that looked like they were just the right size to slip onto the blades of the fuses. The connectors were a little tight but slipping the thin blade of a small screwdriver into them loosened them just right.

The first photo is of the complete installation. The 3 amp tail motor fuse is the vertical one in front of the main motor. The 7.5 amp main motor fuse is the horizobntal one in front of the 4in1. I decided to install both fuses on the 4in1 side of the connectors to make it easier when I have to change the motors at some point. The second photo is a closer look at the tail fuse and the third photo is the package of audio connectors.

Although soldering wouldn't be difficult, this has the advantage of making the fuses "field replaceable". Just carry some spares in your pocket and plug in a new one if it blows. Total weight of both fuses and the 4 connectors is only 4 gm.

Bill

Update 1/21/2008 - After finding that the 7.5 amp fuses blow rather frequently on the main motor I've switched to 10 amp fuses for the main. I have had one blow during a crash but the 4-in-1 still works fine so I think the 10 amp fuses provide adequate protection. Use at you own discretion.

I forgot to mention in my previous post on the fuse mod that the first photo also shows how a LiPo battery is mounted when using the SuperSkids. The heavy rubber bands come as part of the SuperSkids and there is plenty of fore and aft adjustment available for balancing the CofG.

With the cold winter weather I've been spending too much time modifying my Falcon. I really ought to learn how to fly this darn thing!!!

Bill

Bill: Great upgrade. I think my Eagle 50 is on the shelf because the blades took off in the living room, it crashed, grabbed both rotors (front and rear) and now, neither motor will turn and I'm afraid if burned out the 4 in 1(or is it called a 6 in 1 on a six channel??). Or both motors burned up. Either way, it's an expensive thing to learn to read the Manuall FIRST, cause turn on the TX first THEN plug in the battery..I did the opposite and besides these parts, almost had to make a trip to the ER, Chuck

Can somebody tell me the best way to run my antenna wire??? Is it supposed to dangle?? Or can I glue a small straw to one of the skids and wrap it to that?? Or leave it "wrapped" between two of the skid "legs"..Thanks. If the weather is right, I plan to try my first battery tomorrow..Chuck

That's a tight little "flying field" ya got there!

Chuck i run the antenna out to the tail support tape it with a small amount of electrical tape then run it back to the skids and tape it off there.
For stock skids and lipo i just rubberbanded them onto the stock battery holder only further forward.

Here's a good way to do it:
http://www.rc-airplane-world.com/wal...r.html#antenna

Hey broggyr,

I wanted to go with usb too until I found PPjoy. Once I had that installed, getting my serial port to respond was a breeze and now I can use my transmitter with any flight simulator program out there. I can help if you need it, but google PPjoy and follow one of the many, very good, tutorials and you should be up and running in no time.

It's called a 4 in 1 because it combines a:
(1) receiver (to receive the transmitter signals)
(2) speed controller (to control the speed of the main and tail rotor)
(3) gyro (to sense the heli rotation and adjust the tail)
(4) mixer (to mix the signals on the cyclic...???)

all in 1 little box. Depending on the heli the receiver can receive 4-6 (or more) channels.

I see. Thanks a lot, Chuck

Does anybody here have the "Clearview" Flight Simulator??? If so, is it a ton better than FMS??? in overall graphics, the way the choppers react to the transmitter?? Just overall in general??? Or, if the Clearview is not that great compared to the FMS, is there another in the price range of the Clearview that is better??? I was looking at the G3 and G4 I think it was, but after buying all these choppers and parts, my funds are depleted LOL..Thanks a lot.Chuck

Billmay, nice work on the fuse mod. I noticed in your pics that you still have the sticker on your main motor. I did some motor testing awhile back and one of the things I discovered was, if you remove the sticker from the motor it will drop motor temps about 10 degrees which will help extend the life of the motor. The sticker seems to act like a blanket. Also when you install the motor heat sink, get some heat sink compound from Radio Shack and smear some between the heat sink and motor. It fills all the little small gaps between the two making the heat sink more effficent. Hey every degree you reduce the temp of the motor the longer it will last and operate more efficiently.