RE: axe cp thread
 

Did you try heating the grip up with a heat gun?

RE: axe cp thread
 

You may need to HEAT the aluminum blade-grips in the oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes, to get them to expand enough so the steel-bearings can be PRESSED-OUT. When you go to re-install the steel-bearings, put them in a zip-lock baggie & into your freezer for a couple hours, warm the aluminum blade-grips up in some boiling water. Pull the BG's out, dry-em off, you only have a short amount of time to get the bearings & spacer into the BG before thermal expansion & contraction take place.
BE SURE YOU PRESS THE BEARINGS IN STRAIGHT, a spare feathering shaft makes an exellent guide-jig for reinstalling the bearings. This is the same procedure I use at work for removing/installing precision high-speed spindle bearings in aluminum housings.

Shadow

RE: axe cp thread
 

I"ve been working with my axe cp now for about 3 weeks have replaced several parts from crashes main blades x3,mainblade grips x1 mainbladegrip shaftx1, flybar x1 flybar holder x2 slidex1 center hub x1. The stock 10.8 nimh battery is crap, and I see they now have the axe cp with the lipo batt instead of the nimh, which kinda sucks since for those of us that bought one with the nimh battery have had to put out alot of money to chnage over to a lipo compared to the 20 dollar differance in the cp and cpl by the time you get the tail from spinning wildly theres not enough power left in the nimh battery to get it light let alone off the ground, I had wrote heli max support in regards the problems of side tilt when trying to get off the ground and fear of trying my mx400 pro since I have had so much diffaculty with the axe cp, they addressed the issues I was having with the axe cp and also stated that the mx400 would of been a better choice to start with instead of the axe since 1 more stable 2 main blade pitch control, 3 larger heli, 4 belt drive tail instead of motor driven tail.
but my electronics for the mx400 don't get here till next week, and I"ll still have to get aq battery for it since the 910 I have for the cp is under the recommended maMPfor the mx400, only thing I don't like on the mx400 is the main blades that come with it they are bals stick build with monokote instead of solid balsa, meaing even a minor blade strike means new blades lolas for cp I"m thinkin of going to all CNC parts , they cost more but they got to hold up better than the plastic stuff that comes on the axe cp, and for the mx upgrading to CF main blades

RE: axe cp thread
 

I bought my AXE CP-L kit today for $169.99 on sale at my LHS, they also seem to stock pretty much every part for the Heli so that was a big plus when I was considering which Heli to buy.

This is my first Heli, short of flying real airplanes I have no practical experience with flying anything on a RC scale. I figure I will follow RADDs techniques, take my time, and go as slow as possible so that I can learn as much as I can.

Does anyone know the battery life on the LiPO that comes with the "L" version?

How tight is tight enough when you attach the main rotors? I thought they needed to stay rigid instead of moving before I read the manual :D

Thanks

RE: axe cp thread
 

Hey JC,

I feel your pain. I have learned a couple of things regarding the axe cp...it helps you learn how to wrench the helis you get good with this one you will be good with any. As hobbyist we generally have as much fun building and tweaking as we do using...or maybe its just me...With the AXE CP the name of the game is tweaking...following are a few things i have learned tweaking and playing with mine before it became more useable:

1) The e-board needs to be as vertical as possible. I had bought a second AXE CP from a frustrated owner. When I received it I saw that the e-board and the receiver were laying down instead of being vertical...the gyro in these things are not like the piezo gyros that sense on three axes, it only sense on two axes. There is, as I understand it, an accelerometer that sense the yaw to the left and then one accelerometer for sensing yaw to the right. If it is laying down it would compensate incorrectly because it will be reacting to the up and down...I hope this makes sense.
2) Check the pitch of the main blades. If you don't have a pitch guage or are unsure how to do it, go to your LHS for help. I found this to be one of my initial problems...at one point I set the positive pitch too much. But the Axe should be able to get off the ground, in normal mode(not idle up) at around or just before half way. My nihm, even though I have some esky lipo's now, last me about 6 min of constant flight, and about 10 to 12 with start-hover a little-practice landing softly-and not letting it get too far away.
3) Because it is not a heading hold gyro, and the yaw rate control is not great, you are always going to have to fly the tail a little.
4) Check for good tracking on the main blades. If adjustment is required alternate the blade you are adjusting. If necessary take off both linkages and measure them to the same length to get to a balanced point between each side.
5) The main blades should be snug, not tight. What is important is that both blades feel to have equal resistance in the gripps. too lose will cause the heli to wobble severly when first spooling up or when comming to a stop.
6) All heli's tilt. The lighter ones like the Axe are just more sensitive to it, just give it a little "english" before take off. If you haven't already take a few minutes to review the "flying lessons" info on the following link: http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html
7) Ignore the fact that these things are pre-flown at the factory...it does not mean they set them up great. it took me a couple of batteries of tweaking and retweaking the gyro rate and trim, and tracking, and ptich, before I felt like I was no longer fighting the heli but rather fighting my skills, or lack their of.
8)I know that all electronics are not going to be identical, but I set my gyro gain to almost all the way, about 90 to 95%, and my trim to around the 50% of its travel to start. What freaked me out at first about the tail motor is that it did not immediatly spin up like I was expecting, like on a belt or shaft driven tail heli. I later learned that it is normal behavior. The other observation I have is that you will hear the pulsate and you will always have some wag. This is normal behavior for these things. Don't try to get it perfect, you can't that is what heading hold gyros are for. I gauge my trim for the tail by watching if the tail starts spin or react when the the throttle is just before I feel the heli getting light. Another thing that I do is that I disconnect the main motor leades, hold the heli in my hand, increase the throttle 1/4 throw and then I add right rudder to see how long it takes for the the tail to sound like it hits full speed. If it happens almost immediately I give more trim to the left. I repeat this step at 50% throttle and then at 100% throttle. Do this with the tail rotor blades on...but be careful!!! What I thought was cool was that while I was holding the heli with the throttle up, with the tail rotor away from me of course, I would twitch my finger to see how the gyro would react. You will feel and hear it in the tail motor....I get a kick out of it anyway.

Well I hope you and everybody else had the patience to muddle through my post.

Cheers and happy flying...because of the time, practice and patience required to learn helis, you have to want to fly them to get you through the frustration of the extended learning curve.

RE: axe cp thread
 

well I haven't given up yet I placed my order for replacement parts, took the drive system apart last night and lubed all bushing /bearing contact surfaces with a dry graphite lube, put it all back together , by this time the new lipo that was finally able to be charged ( forgot to buy balancer when I got the battery and charger )turned on the radio plugged in the lipo and did some no main blades installed testing and reseting of e board, between lube and liupo motor speed sounds alot better, tail motor isn't coming on unless the copter is moved to one sideand as movement to opposing side becomes approx where copter started movement from tail motor stops
I figured out the "idle up" switch and what it does , which heli max should of included in thier instruction since this is supposed to be a beginer copter, for anyone that doesn't know what the "idle up " does it puts the heli motor to max, and changed throttle stick to main blade pitch control, 50% throttle = 0 degree pitch, 100%+ throttle(up) = 100% +pitch ie heli should climb rapidly, -100% Throttle (down /idle setting) = -100% pitch ie an upright heli will drop fast , an inverted one will climb., or in the case of theaxe cp it should do these things at the given motor speed and blade pitch, als o motor speed will not drop off till idle up switch is turned off.kinda funny they tell you how to go inverted in the manual but left out the part that the idle up had to be on to make it possible lol

RE: axe cp thread
 

LOL that was funny your story about the Idle-Up switch...Heli-Max made too much of an assumption, like you say, it being marketed as a beginner heli. Some other brands had more wisdom to call it 3D mode.

RE: axe cp thread
 

I took some photos of my Axe, nothing fancy since the weather is either raining or too breezy. Even if the weather was perfect, my flying skills aren't [sm=red_smile.gif]

http://batou.org/PSXBatou/AxeCP/

I've just been getting used to the throttle on it around the entry way, don't have a whole hell of a lot of room. But at least for the first part of the RADDs training it will do.

RE: axe cp thread
 

Question? I recently purchased my axe cp. I broke my blade grips and replaced them and reattached the blades. Now i cant get any lift... In full throttle, it sticks to the ground like something is holding it down and will not hover. Is there an adjustment that i missed??

RE: axe cp thread
 

You should have no problems changing the blade grips and it not flying after the switch. Make sure you didn't hook the linkage wrong - the horn on the blade grip goes to the trailing (REAR) of the blade, and the leading edge of the blade is on the clockwise side looking down on it. The linkage should come almost straight up to the flybar carrier.

RE: axe cp thread
 

all of that looks ok. what is the easiest way to check the pitch? at rest the blades are level. the linkage looks equal on both sides of the see saw...

RE: axe cp thread
 

Disconnect the motor, and make sure you have it held down (the tail rotor will kick on!) and raise the throttle - at abut 5/8 throttle, the blades should start going into positive pitch - just thought of something - you're not running in idle up are you??

RE: axe cp thread
 

well parts arivbed yesterday , installed all of em cept CF blades went with the plastic symetrical blades instead, tried a different approach to take off , by bringing the throttle to 50%, turn idle up on, then use positive pitch to lift off, lift off was alot smoother, part I forgot though was to turn the idle up back off lol when I got too close to a fence and not coming away from it fast ebough, I cut the throttle, but forgot the idle up was still on, there fore I need some parts again oopps, all in all damage not too bad just main blade grips and tail stab.
some parts for the mx400 arrived got em installed still waiting on the rest of the electronics (servos and radio). hope they get here soooon lol other than my mistake on the axe cp flyin it yesterday had a nice hover going for about 4 or 5 minutes. at approx 4 feet off the ground

RE: axe cp thread
 

Well, my opinion of this little bird is quite high right now. For one, the only part I've had to replace on it, aside from the battery, is the gyro/mixer/ESC, and that was because of an embarrasing little detail that I'll leave out for now;) Well, I mailed the fried one off to Hobby Support and, exactly one week later (today), I received a brand-spankin'-new one, totally free! It's like $90 for a new one and they'll just mail one off for free! If you don't mind waiting for a while and don't want to spend money and you still have the receipt, just mail off the dead part to the address in the manual.

Just a little tip for the patient and/or tightwad pilots out there;)

RE: axe cp thread
 

hello all, i have been eying up this thing for a while and think i will get one, my question is: i have a 11.1, 15c, 2100 mah lipo i use for my electric plane, i have 2 batteries actually, can i use that one or is it too big or too heavy for this heli? i want to know before placing the order in case i need to get another smaller bat for it, be nice to use these since i have them, also, being new to helis, (good with planes and have flown my friends blade from horizon,) are the flat blades worth getting to start with? is there a whole lot of difference with them? are they "tamer" to get used to it? thanks for any info and cant wait to get it, may call the local places and see if anybody has one i stock before ordering from tower, thanks again

RE: axe cp thread
 

Well, the good part about a flat bottom blade is it will gain lift at a slower speed and angle of attack - the symmetrical blades need more speed and or more angle of attack. Now, with that said, anytime you get your head speed up, you will have better gyroscopic stability. If I was going to do it again, I think I would go with the symmetrical plastic blades.

RE: axe cp thread
 

thanks, how about the batteries i have??

RE: axe cp thread
 

Batteries are too heavy. 1320's work great. Helimax recommends 910 size as they are lighter yet.

RE: axe cp thread
 

was kinda thinking that but wanted to make sure, didnt want to order something i may not need

RE: axe cp thread
 

could anyone tell me how to get the main rotor gear off the main shaft. I,m down to the sawish plate and have taken the nut and bolt off also lossened the set screw on the collor and the shaft moves up and down but short of driving it out with a screwdriver and hammer I'm at a loss . I don't want to brake something while trying to get it out. I'm new at this, its trial and error. THANK YOU Jim

RE: axe cp thread
 

I'm also new to posting thelast post was not in reply to diamondave. Thanks Jim

RE: axe cp thread
 

Chaseman81 wrote;

This was written in post #499 of this thread... HTH

RE: axe cp thread
 

you can use some of slightly smaller diameter to push up on the shaft and at the same time kinda wigle the gear pushing one side up one down back and forth till it comes out it will come pout but slowly, or if you have smooth jaw pliers you can grasp the top of the shaft and aplly back and forth movement while pulling up and wiggling the main gear

RE: axe cp thread
 

THANK yOU

RE: axe cp thread
 

Some one HELP PLEASE!! I have had mine CP for about 2 weeks now, and of course have had to replace some parts. But here is my issue, i had a bad crash in which the main rotor broke and came off. I replaced all the parts and tried to fly and it would not lift off at full power. So i then check everything out, really didnt do much but checked it again and it flew fine. So i recharged the batt and went to fly again and it would not lift off again. I then made adjustments to the servo links, and tried to fly again. I flew better than ever. After that flight i took and recharged the batt again, and went to fly and the same thing happened again no lift power. I dont know what to do. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!