1 flight ,2 flight ,3 flight , more flight Yes my vmax-7 is GREAT finnaly I can fuel and fly time after time and no tinkering. I sure can feel the tourge from the v-7 in the tail but it's correctable.. I am running 15% nitro 4 washers and 4 cycle rich. with 4 grips on both blades what fun.. Now I hope my con rod holds up Anyway I wish I had taken Darth's advice early on and gotten this v-7. I could have had alot more flights under my belt be now. My flying by the way is getting better, easy lift off and touch down with control all thrue flight, it does what I want it too LOL I hope other people are as happy as I am with my LMH... Alan

Congrats fiat, you are expressing my feelings about the vmax7 as well. I found that I was better at flying than I thought, just because of the v7's power. It was great to fly and not have to tune and re-tune. Anyway I've busted my lmh all to you know what. I was trying to do some mild stunts. It has taken me almost 2 weeks to repair the damage. Lots of aluminum reinforcements to fix the crutch, new main rotor shaft and hub....maiden flight was this evening and it was fair. Had to increase the gyro's gain to stop the intermittent tail spin...... Must have happened in the crash. There seemed to be little or no vibration. The only remaining problem is some tuning of the engine. It's behaving like it was before..... Either falling out of the sky or heading up like a rocket. I had it flying perfect before crash so with a little tlc I think it will be alright. I hope your con rod holds, it took me three engines to get a good one.
Mark

Mark, hope you get the fine tunning done for the weekend. I plan to fly as much as I can this weekend. I can only get a few flights in after work before dark. Any ways it is fun not to have to keep tweeking the needle LOL Alan

Con rod problems usually show up about the third or fourth tank of gas for some reason. i will assume if you make it to tank ten you have a better chance of being in the clear.
my Heli is down for the moment (not from a crash)Im rebuilding it. Im putting on a new darth crutch, mainshaft, mainrotor blades, tailboom, bushings, driveshaft, relubing swashplate, redoing linkages etc.... My Heli looked like its been flown hard and put away ragged. Im spifing it up. Its been through a lot of R&D, Punishing maneuvers and bumps and bangs.

I am planning on doing that with mine also but I want to wait till I am sure I will not bang it up It flys very well in it's present state. It does look a little rough but works well. Not long ago half my cowl broke off so 1 side looks nice Any way I am haveing a blast and have 5 tanks thrue it so far.. I am going to go to the hobby shop after work and pick up some spare parts just to have on hand because if the wind is down this weekend I will be flying non stop....... Alan

One more flight just before dark today.....it was great. My vmax7 problem was actually more of a radio problem. My throttle trim doesn't raise the throttle position enough so one more notch to the left with the servo arm fixed the problem. When you cut the throttle it was closing the throttle too much. The engine would then try to die until you throttled back up, then in true vmax7 tradition you were climbing back up fast. It looked like a yo-yo.......but today was good. I purchased a used 7 channel Futaba transmitter a few days ago and now I need a receiver. That should cure my radio woes....now if only lmh would release that new crutch........Mark

Mark,, guess what I have that I do not need ???? A 4 channel receiver want it ?? you can have it .. send me info on PM if you are interested.. Alan

Alan - I'm very pleased that your V-7 is working well for you, but I'm also very, very envious!!

I still cannot get my V-7 to spin-up and it's driving me potty. I've abandoned my 1/2A starter motor and am trying to get it to run using a normal aero starter motor, but it just won't have it. I've actually worn-out two of the rubber starter-motor cones, 'cause the engine locks-up every time it reaches TDC once the head's in place. To say I'm frustrated is an understatement!

Tony

Tony hmmmmm,, I am not sure of your climate there but are you useing 4 washers under the head ?? This will lessen the compresion and maybe help spin it up. Before I tried to start mine I spun it over for a while with the head off useing my starter this may have helped loosen it up. If my piston is at TDC my starter will not turn it,I have to take it to BDC before I try. Good luck Alan..

Hey guys, I always watch the rc hobby show on the diy network. Thursday night they had an "expert" on nitro engines and he gave tips on tuning and breaking in the engines. He gave some advice that was different than what I had always thought. He said any ABC or ABN engine is engineered to reach correct piston/sleeve clearances only when at the proper operating temperature. He went on to say that there were two ways to prematurely wear out an engine. #1: run it too lean (this I knew) because the engine will not get enough oil. #2: run it too rich because the engine will not reach proper operating temperature and the cylinder will not expand enough, allowing good old friction to wear the piston and cylinder out (this is the part I had not thought about). I have always run my engines (rc cars and heli) as rich as I possibly could to keep them as cool as I possibly could. Now I am re-thinking my habits. Anyway Tony, if the engine guy was right then it is in your best interest to start you engine as soon as possible so that it will be spinning with the proper clearances. Alan is right, add as may washers as it takes to allow your starter to turn the engine and crank that baby up. If you get it loose before it starts then you may have shortened its life somewhat.
For what it's worth,
Mark

Tony, here's another wild idea. If you have a small "toaster style" oven with a thermostat set it at 150 degrees F. I know this sound crazy but put your vmax7 in the oven and let it warm up for a few minutes. The heat should expand the cylinder and presto.....your starter should turn it over. Just be sure to lube the engine first.
Mark

Hey Mark this I did not know if the engine does not get hot enough. Now I will also rethink my "running it rich to save it" idea.. Alan

The running it rich question and running it lean question. There is sorta a little difference in what you read into running the engines a little lean or rich. Theres a difference between the larger engines and the 1/2 a engines. The 1/2 engines do need a good nitro content with a castor content. The castor content helps keep the engine better because they do run hotter. Normally we would not run the Vmax7 to rich and we would not run it to lean. There is a happy medium in there somewhere. Ta in consideration what the outside temperature and humidity is, your going to have to make some adjustments somewhere. With the Vmax7 we dont have to have the engine running full throttle to get our Heli to fly such as in most (alot) cases with the V6. When tuning my vmax7 I do lean it out first and then back off the needle valve about 1/8-3/16 of a turn. i make sure I have a good sounding engine through the throttle range. with four washers under the head and 15% nitro, it could be considered more on the rich side than lean. Ive got Three gallons of fuel through my V7 (this year alone) And i still have excellent compression.

On getting your engine to turn over( T.W.) remove the head and hit it with your electric starter for a little while. You will feel the engine warming up from the friction. You may have to do this for a while. Put your heat sink on with washers(no plug) and do the same. Dont forget to put some of that thick litelube oil in the cylinder first before starting these steps. keep doing this until the engine gets really warm. ( you may go through a charge of a 12v starter battery before its all done.) Next add your glow plug do not tighten it down but leave it loose enough to allow the compression to escape. Slowly tighten down head until is tight and engine is turning over with the starter. Now fuel up your Heli and try to turn it over with the starter. I think you said you are using 10% nitro. if this is true, you may have to heat your plug up just a little more. Youre probably going to have to open up your needle valve a little more mabey a turn and a half extra until you get it started. Once you are started you can adjust in as needed. I had an engine that had a TDC and I took my time in breaking it in. i know I spent over an hour.

I don't fancy the idea of "cooking" my new motor - interesting idea though! I have 5 washers fitted right now. I'd fit another, but I don't have any more as the washers are a different size to the dozens I have for the V-6

I've had in excess of 50 glow and diesel engines over the years, but I never had one I couldn't start - 'til now!

The only "good thing" about my failure to get the motor running is the weather . . . . it's cold and raining so I wouldn't be able to fly even if it burst into life

Tony

The last vmax7 engine I received (now with over 3 gallons thru it) started without any special treatment. I went thru 3 before I got one that didn't break a con rod. The first one was very tight. My starter would not turn it over. I guess they're not all the same. I still say you're better off not to wear in the engine too much before starting (I realize the starter has to be able to turn if over) and that higher temperatures will produce more clearance because of cylinder expansion allowing the engine to start easier. This expansion rate is figured by the designing engineers. They know what they are after as far as running tolerances at a pre-determined temperature. The Norvel folks may not be as accurate as some. Tony I know the oven idea sounded strange but consider this....the engine will operate at 150-200 degrees F. anyway. To continue to turn a very tight engine over is straining your con rod to say the least. Just my 2 cents worth......I hope all goes well for you. The vmax7 is a great little beast.
Mark

hey guys on your glow plugs, I have 10 tanks of fuel thru mine now and my glow plug is shot " I do have a spare" have you ever had this problem ??? I know I have been running rich even 4 cycle sound and I broke it in as per manuel. My v6 glow plug did this also. I am useing the same amps and volts with my power panel. Alan

I've been thru 2 glow plugs in 3.5 gallons of fuel. The first one did not fail "open"(burn out).....the element was simply fouled. You may have too much voltage coming from your glo panel if they are burning out. I did replace the glow plug a third time just recently only to find out that it wasn't my problem. I followed Darth's advise on tuning my engine and all was well until the big crash....
Mark

Glow plugs: When It all boils down. Not every glow plug is the same. Some last longer than others and sometimes its not your fault. Exceeding the voltage of 1.5 is not always advisable, but, sometimes you have to to get it started especially as the glow plug gets older and the heat element gets coated. Ive actually had a glow plug that could take over 2 volts to get it started. It lasted me quite a while. The bad thing about it, it wouldnt idle the engine on the low end mainly because it wouldnt stay hot enough. Ive had glow plugs burn out using 1.2 volts after one engine run. Sometimes it seems to go that way. Thats why i like to keep a couple on hand. As far as the vmax7 and Vmax6 engines, Last i heard they were all hand fitted thats why we get variable TDC's. But for the most part when you got a good V7, its going to last you a while.

what was that advice again please I am off to the hobby shop again as I just landed and the 2nd glow plug won't light. I wonder if I am running rich ?? Sounds like not.. these plugs are not fouled but the element is broken.. Alan I will check again in 1 hour hope some one is on here to answer