ATVAlliance

Krash

Looks like you are full in on the addiction!  Congrats!  lol

Just a couple things I want to share with you.

1.  The 8000, while perfectly capable to be used in this heli, is really overkill for a 450 (my opinion of course).  I use the AR6000 in my 450 and 250 helis, as well as many others and it does just fine.  I wouldnt use one in anything larger than a 450 though.  I only say this because the 450 and smaller helis are, well...small.  And I never fly mine too far out to where I would lose control by not having a full range reciever connected to it.  And really...if you did get it wayyyyyyyyyyy out there and still have control of it, what will that matter if you cant tell orientation to be able to "save it"?  I only say this because Im sure you will move up to a larger heli sometime in the future, and rather than buy another full range...my advice would be to use that 8000 on your next big heli and just get a 6000 for the 450 and save some coin.

2.  Still concerning the reciever here.  While I think your placement of the remote RX is just ok...I would feel more safe with it being outside of the canopy.  Granted, the canopy is only fiberglass and you should be "ok" with it...If it were me Id still want it out in the open "just in case".  Also, in case you didnt know...it is definitely NOT best practice to install your RX in a way that will end up with your antenae wires being inside of a carbon fiber frame.  Carbon fiber frames can block your signal...so the way you have your 8000 installed, it appears that your antanae are INISIDE.  To solve this simply turn the RX 180 degrees so that the wires arent hidden inside the CF frame.  If they are close to the frame edges (antanae wires) I sometimes will hot glue some fuel tubing over the wires to keep them from rubbing/vibrating.

Otherwise...looks like you have done a pretty good job on putting it together.  I know it has got to be killing you to just look at it and not be able to take it out and fly it just yet.  Im the same way right now with a 550 build Im doing.  I want to fly it so bad...but still have a list of parts I need to get in to finish it.  Look for a thread sometime in the near future with pics of it.  lol  Cause you know the next best thing about flying RC helis...is coming on the net and talking about them!  lol

goodluck and good job!

KRASHKOPTER

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks ATV..appreciate it. The info on the recievers is great...that's why I ask questions...lol

Goggles

My Feedback: (4)

It usually a good idea to have the antenna's running on 2 different plains, ie: have your receiver antenna pointing horizontal and your satellite vertical.

KRASHKOPTER

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks Goggles....will add that to my growing list...lol
Btw, if we don't meet before then.....

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
And that goes to all you peeps out there too!!


KRASH

ATVAlliance

If you had just a plastic frame or metal frame...the antanae wires inside the frame wouldnt be as big a deal, but with CF frames...its just something that I learned early on in my reading and dont really know why it blocks the signal.

I cant really comment on your "fly mentor" deal as Ive never used/seen one. I guess you can mount a gyro anywhere as long as you have the orientation right. Some gyros need to be installed in a vertical plane, while most others need to be installed on the horizontal plane. Whether you mount them right side up or upside down doesnt matter as you can counter that by reversing the servo either on the gyro or on the radio...but the orientation (horizontal or vertical plane) is what is important.

I dont really think it matters where you install your gyro...long as its orientation and servo direction is right. For some reason I always see people mount them at the rear near the boom. But maybe that is because that is the place that has the amount of room needed. Go figure.

You have a lot of stuff packed in that 450 with a large 8000 RX...your gyro, your FlyMentor and I guess its own gyro looking thing. I dont know how you will tell what is what.

Im not going to say this to you as an attack on what you bought...but I really cant see any use for the flymentor device once you are able to fly your mCPX heli in a circuit. Ive never needed any aids other than a good trainer heli (cough mcpx cough) and about 25-30% expo on cyclic...and I am 100% self taught heli flyer.

So...if you are having a hard time fitting all of that inside the 450...maybe try it without installing that flymentor thing and save it for your larger heli that you are planning down the road...or maybe sell it and use the money to help fund the 500 or 550 or whatever you have your mind set on.

Again, not knockign the flymentor at all because Im definitely not qualified to do so, not ever using one. Just stating that I never felt the need for any stability aid devices...once I got my confidence in my skills from flying on the mCPX and SIM.

PS...I hear a lot of good things about the KDS helis. Before I bought the 550 kit, I was looking at one of the KDS 700 kits...but they were sold out everywhere at the time. So, a 700 heli has gone on the backburner for now.

KRASHKOPTER

My Feedback: (1)

Ok..new day...at the advice of the lhs staff, and you guys, I picked up an ar6115e. Nice and small with no remote to worry about. My question(s) now, is the esc now too close to the reciever? Should I move the esc forwrd some more or find a different spot? Also, should I use the double sided foam pads or can I use sticky velcro pads? And yet another....in relation to the servo horns...I am at the last hole on all of them except the tail (round horn)...is there something I am missing on where to put the ball link on the horn? Does it have to do with the control arms being 90 degrees? Thanks for the help and answers so far.
Btw, the unit I am saving for is the KDS Innova 550 or 600. Again, I am in no rush to get the big one but I have the flymentor for that reason. It's not that I don't think I can't hover it but just in case I make a noobish mistake when trying moves, I know I can let the sticks go and I may be able to avert a crash. We'll see what happens when I get there...lol
Also, don't worry bout hurtin my feelings or *attacking* me cause I don't go that route. I just really appreciate all the assistance sites (and people) like this can offer.

Thanking you,

KRASH

ATVAlliance

Since your ESC is a 40, I would move it from where you currently have it...to the front of the bottom frame (under where your battery mounts). This is where I have mine and it is fine in that location (which would be the furthest point you can get it away from the RX). When I first built my 450 I had a 30amp ESC in the same location and it would get kind of hot when just hovering as there isnt much airflow under the canopy in a hover. But I swapped it out for a 40amp and it barely gets warm, even if I hover a whole pack out. Plus, like I said...that location will give you the absolute furtherst mounting location from the reciever.

As far as mounting any electronics...I forgoe the velco and use double stick tape. If I fear that it may fail (the tape), I will use a zip tie or two for extra security measures. Helis have a lot of vibration and I just wouldnt rely on tape alone if I didnt think it was "sticky" enough. Velcro? I guess that would be a personal preference. For me, I dont plan on removing my electronics in my helis...soI dont use velcro, at all. Well...I do on the battery attachment area...but for the rest, no.

On your servo linkages. All 3 cyclics you hould try to make them as vertical as possible. They should not lean in or out...or left or right. I have mine at the last or next to last hole on the horn, but your milage may vary because all servo horns are different. So, where I am on my HiTech servos, may be a notch or two different on your servos that came with your KDS. The important factor is making sure that they are level. So....center your servos....then place the horns at 90° and find which hole on the horn will give you a right angle if looking at it from the side. Then place your ball either on the front or rear of the horn to make sure your link isnt leaning too far in toward the frame. I dont think this is an issue on the 450 so your ball will most likely be on the outside of the horn. On my 500 and 550, the ball has to be on the inside...between the back of the horn and the frame, else I get extreme lean on the link.

You rudder servo can use the round disc horn or a regular one..its up to you. The main thing you want to do is be sure that the distance from the servo screw (center) to the ball link is within specs of whatever your gyro says it should be for the size heli. They are all different and I cant tell you what that is...but i would say about 8-9mm from center of servo to ball link is a good starting point. Again, method of attachment is up to you. I have used both the round disc and regular horns.

I wont talk much about the flymentor simply because I have never flown one to know what its like. But, I can tell you this much. Once you get to flying a larger heli...like the 500 or 550, everything will "feel" like its in slow motion. The larger helis give you more time to react to position and correct a lot easier becase you can see them much better. Not saying that "you" dont need one, just that I dont think that "I"ever would. Even though you may never actually need the flymentor, maybe it will give you that much more piece of mind while flying, which will let you push your limits, more quickly and result in becoming a better pilot at a faster pace. I dont know for sure...so use it and see if you like it, or not. AllI am trying to say is that if you dont need it on the 450 (which hasnt been decided yet), Idoubt you will need it on the larger heli because they react slower than the 450. I liken my 450 to a hummingbird on crack! lol My 500 flies like a big old lazy dog up there! lol

PS...I dont plan on doing a build thread on my 550, just because Im a horrible person to document things. Im kind of unorganized, in an organized fashion if that makes any sense. But I will post some photos of it when Im done. Also, if you need any pics taken of how I have setup my 450...just ask. I'll post um up for ya.

KRASHKOPTER

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the info ATV....got all my servos and linkages nice and straight now...90 degrees also.
I am going to move the esc and do some more fine tuning and then will get my bro-in-law, Goggles, to take a look at her.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas...I know I had quite a nice suprise this year. Totally unexpected would be a better choice of words...lol
Goggles had drawn my name this year for the family gifts and dang if I don't have another kit to build....I am now the proud owner of an HK 500gt kit!!! Holy cow Batman, my fleet is growing faster than I can keep up.
Thanks again muchly Kelvin and Gail....we're gonna need a bigger workshop hahaha.
Now, if you could send me a list of what electronics I need, I will start to shop around...servos, esc, etc, and whatever else you think I should replace if needed...for example I read about rcscrewz.com for better hardware (I guess I would get the Align 500 set?) Stuff like that would be greatly appreciated too. Wow....where to begin :-)
I will post some pics when I get to that point.

Later peeps and have a Happy New Year!!

(I'm gonna go poke at the 500 parts again...lmao)


KRASH

Goggles

My Feedback: (4)

SN hobbies in New West might have some stuff for you that are reasonable priced. I have a 80A esc on mine and the motor is a cheap HK 500 motor and cheap cyclic servo's as you know, but the one thing I would not cheap out on is the gyro and tail servo. I have a GY 520 on mine and you can pick them up used for about $50-75 and a Hyperion HP-DS20X-GCD tail servo. Take the 500 all apart and locktite every screw that goes into metal including the swash. The ball links have bolts in the middle so don't forget those, but make sure you don't over tighten the bolts (cheap china metal). I like using the locktite paste that come in a tube like chapstick, seems to work well and easy to work with.

I had forgot about the swash once and was hovering in the back yard when the swash link let loose.......I had to order more parts. When you go to replacing parts, just order align stuff.

KRASHKOPTER

My Feedback: (1)

Well, looks like 2013 is well on it's way....can't wait till spring n summer. I started working on my other project today and it now sits ready for electronics...saving for that. My fleet is still frickin growing though, and I couldn't be happier with the models I currently own. The 500 will be the last one to get worked on cause I want to finish the 450 first. Oh, yeah, I also picked up an albatros *Flyzone* parkflyer because I wanted to show the lhs owner my appreciation for his 2 1/2 hour, free work on replacing a part for my 450C. It was only $39 and I always wanted to at least try an rc plane.
Man...what a blast this lil 3ch bird is....all over the park wihout any problems whatsoever (thanks Phoenix..lol) This newfound winged pleasure could be costly on top of the heli stuff..lmao
Anyways, here's a couple of pics of the expanded (again) fleet and the newest addition, the HK 500GT (thanks again Goggles)

K

ATVAlliance

Krash...congrats on the 500. Wish I had a BIL like that! lol

Let me give you some advice on the 500 electronics. Go ahead and save a few extra pennies to buy quality servos all around. At least get Align 510's for cyclic and a 520 for the tail.

I have crashed my 500 two times now from using cheap servos. First time one of the aileron servos let go and caused me a crash. Second time the elevator cyclic servo let go injust a hover,causing a very scarey take off in front of me into inverted...and crash! Lucky for me it failed in a way that the heli went away from me rather than straight back into me!!!!

The damage cost of those 2 crashes would have paid for BRAND NEWAlign servos and a good quality gyro too...plus left me a couple bucks for a pack of ciggs! lol

Also, a few other things you may want to replace right out of the gate on your new 500 clone.

1. Get gorilla skids and align landing skids. My last crash I had these on my 500 and they didnt break. Well worth the 20 or so dollars for the entire setup.

2. tail slider linkage. Go ahead and replace this part with the align metal one. The clones are plastic and very cheaply made. My HK550GT came broken right out of the box!

3. Reinforce your tail servo linkage with carbon fiber tube. Ive done this on my 250, 450, 500 and Raptor 50thus far. The way Ive done it is to buy carbon fiber tube and use the original music wire linkage inside of it with gorilla glue. The gorilla glue expands and holds the music wire tightly inside the cf tube. Then you dont need any guides on the boom. Im much more smooth this way.

When it comes to batteries. I fly mine with 4000Mah 5s 30c packs. I run a 13T pinion on my motor and I cant recall the KV rating as of right now. But, if you look up the Copter X value electronics package @ ehirobo(sp?), its the motor that come in that kit. Its the only thing I am still using from that kit...so dont waste your money on it, just in case you have any ideas. Learn from my mistake (but the motor is still going strong).

Anyway...I just wanted to state that with a 13T pinion and a 5s pack with a KV rated motor similar to what came in that kit...you can fly it just fine. No need to spend extra on a 6s setup at this point since you are new.

Im sure you will post up other questions when it comes closer for you to actually build it. Until then...