austintyler

Anyone out there willing to post a close up picture of the maingear and the main shaft collars? I cant get it back together correctly after I replaced the main shaft. It would be a big help.

Quickster, are you still doing a write up this process?

Whirley Bird

My Feedback: (1)

I did post a close up of the main gear and never heard from you again.
I also asked if you can post a picture so we can see what you have that may be installed wring.
If you post UR real E mail i'll send you all the pictures you want
Vegas/

quickster47

Yes I am. However, my computer with all the good stuff on it is still in Washington and I am in Orlando for the weekend visiting my wife.

No helis. No RC nothing. Just making some points to last another month. I mean, even after fourty years there are some things I still need to do.

Carl

bigeasy70075

Hello all,

Just jumped in this week, and received my falcon today. have been following the thread for a while, and think this is a great heli to get started with. Had a piccolo fp several years ago and could hover a battery pack with ease. but hurricane Katrina took my heli with her. I bought the heli from a classified here on RCU. will take it out tomorrow for maiden flight. haven't flown a heli in over 2 years, but have had a lot of time on realflight. going to jump right in and give her a hover (with training gear of coarse). wish me luck. have one question. How do you attach the included gear to the skids? my guess is zip ties. please let me know if this is incorrect.

Larry H. Smith

I want to replace the stock tail servo with a Futaba S3153, this is a digital servo. The question I raise is this, since the stock gyro is not selectable between analog and digital, that will happen when the digital servois connected to the analog gyro? Any input would be a help. What are you guys replacing the stock tail servo with?

Larry Smith

Flypaper 2

Been using the stock servo since I bought the chopper last year and have had no problems with it speed wise. It's quicker than I am.

quickster47

Larry,

I tried a digital at first but found it was not worth the time with the OEM gyro. If you move to a Logitech 2100 or a Futaba GY401 then a digital is worthwhile.

Right now I am back to using a Hitec HS65 which works just fine, readily available, is easy to replace, and inexpensive.

Carl

devmode

Since the Falcon gyro has no digital output it will treat the digital servo like an analog servo which means you really don't get any benefit from using a digital servo over an analog servo with that gyro. If it is a better servo than what you were using before then you will see better performance, it just won't be the best performance a digital servo is capable of.

sigmeda

Speaking of gyro's, having a problem with mine:

Problem: will not initialize, set light never comes on, no control of tail rotor servo

I've ruled out several things, I think. I've tried different channels on the receiver, and tried a different servo for the tail rotor. Recently if I try to get it to initialize with no servo at all, it doesn't even flash the set light anymore, which it normally would when no servo was found.

I've let it sit, undisturbed, for several minutes, i've made sure the li-po is fully charged, i've verified that the transmitter is transmitting as other servos work, and channel 4 works fine with just the servo connected, bypassing the gyro.

The only thing I get out of the gyro is every time I plug in the battery it slightly rotates the tail rotor server clockwise, until it hits the end of it's range of motion.

Oh, and I did open the gyro and confirm that the signal and power wires have continuity to the circuit board.

This heli has only two flights on it before winter, and it sat most of winter while I waited for it to warm up. On the last flight I did have to set it down hard, but nothing broke, just some scuffs on the main blades and the flybar bent a little.

Any thoughts? Is it just dead, and time to spend 52 bucks for a new one?

--sigmeda

Whirley Bird

My Feedback: (1)

I don't know what your problem can be but on both of my Falcons the red light never flashes.
It just makes the servos pulse several times then the red light stays on.
On rare occations on just the older Falcon I did hear beeping sounds.
Make sure the plug is in the correct way from GYRO to servo.
Vegas/

Flypaper 2

Mine crapped out about a week after I got it. replaced under warranty, no questions asked. Been flying fine ever since.

quickster47

sigmeda,

The beeping you hear is coming from the ESC and is normal.

Gyro LED should not flash but come on solid after about 3 seconds. If not, your gyro is toast and should be replaced with a new one of your choice or the OEM version.

Good substitutes are Futaba GY240, GY401 or the Logictech 2100t.

Carl

RaceCraftRC

hi everybody its been a while since i have posted here its been about 2 months since i first got my falcon and after many crashes and a new gyro i think i have the basic stuff down but i just want to know what to expect when i hit the 3D switch any suggestions?? thanks

quickster47

You should get an increase in your head speed. Usually something like 100-85-100. And you will now have some serious negative pitch. If your Falcon is set up as to what could be called normal, you will probably have -9' at the lowest throttle position, ~0' at throttle center and +9' at full stick. (' = degrees)

So, when you bring it up to hover and flip the 3D switch your head speed should increase. Push the stick up and it will lift off. Pull it down and it will descend, and in 3D mode when you pull the stick down you will give be giving it negative pitch and believe it or not, the Falcon will climb down quite rapidly so be careful.

Carl

RaceCraftRC

i am still lost how do i loop it it??

CASHMAN

Gary,
I was hovering today for a couple minutes and guess what? The motor stopped. Smoke was coming out the top and it was hot to touch. So, from reading other post, it looks like the cool red is the next option. Does HL offer a good 10T pinion for this motor? Looks like other people get it elsewhere. I would like to get them both together for ease of shipping. Also, how do I know if I now have an ESC problem? Is there an easy test for this?
Mark

nathan9493

ALLRIGHT!!

Where are you guys finding easton 2213's on for a by the arrow basis? I'm going cross-eyed looking at web site after web site. All I can find is by the dozen. Please help, I don't want a dozen @ $60+. That'll give my wife a sure fire reason to scalp me ( shes part Cherokee ya know). All I want is 1 or 2.

tsteege

Just wanted to know if anyone has had to replace the cap on the top of the blade head? Mine is broke and I can't find it on HL or KA as parts. It doesn't come with the ATS6014 Rotor Head Set like you would think it should.

Thanks,

Terry

Taz_man

Do you have an Academy sporting goods store nearby? I just bought 1 there for $5.43 + tax.

Simages

Hi tsteege,

I AGREE I was on the same quest and definitely should be included..... Same goes for the Fin holders which are not available separately and do not ship with the horizontal/vertical Fin Set. Many of the CNC aluminum upgrades do not come with all the hardware and they don't exactly match the stock OEM to work together. This might not be a big problem for an experienced builder who might have other parts from their Trex, Shogun V1, HelMax and/or sources. It is very discouraging.
But, IMO if someone owns a stock Bird and wants to invest in "UPGRADING" it; the process should be user friendly - with instructions - NO matter want level the user is - i.e. Beginner to Experienced.

Sorry, this would help you, but I haven't found a replacement either.....yet.

sgomes

Nathan,

Some of the guys are finding them on ebay for a good price. I had a local archery shop order me a dozen, and I paid $48 for them. Had no problem cutting them in half and selling off the excess here and over at RCU. Luckily, my wife had a bunch of gift wrapping paper rolls that worked perfectly for shipping.

Get the Platinum Plus - great dark platinum color.

Hope this helps.

Steve

Whirley Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Simages
It's a real bummer.
I have all the upgrades for the Falcon but I can't make heads or tails out of the parts.
I have parts that look nothing like the stock head.
The same goes for the CNC parts for the Honey Bee King.
I tore the head apart and when I went to put the rotor grips on the hollow shaft threaded inside was to long.
After looking at both the Falcon it seems like the HBK was made for the Falcon.
I called several places and was told the HBK cnc parts were purple and the ones for the Falcon were red.
I showed them to my G/.F and she said the parts for the HBK were more like a dark pink.
It is really sad we spend all this money for the parts and go by color.
That SUCKS big time.
I called HL and was told to try it and see what happens and if the grips didn't work call back.
HL should at least supply or put up a pdf. file on the site that shows how the parts go on.
As it is now both my Falcons and HBK are is such precise trim I don't want to tear them down again.
Maybe some other owner who has it all built up can post some pictures.
Vegas/

Whirley Bird

My Feedback: (1)

quickster47
What I do is bring my speed up then turn the knobs on the TX and keep them in the learing mode and if I turn the knob morw CW then I get more pitch and the Falcon will lift up a bit shaky until i'm about 3 feet off the floor.
I can turn the knob back and it will settle down but I give more throttle and it will go back up with a higher rotor speed and less pitch.
AM I FLYING THIS THE WRONG WAY?[sm=confused.gif]
Vegas/

quickster47

To be very honest about this, I only flew my Falcon with the OEM transmitter twice. I then switched out the receiver and went to using my Futaba 7CHP transmitter where I had mucho more control over the throttle curve settings and pitch curve settings.

I do know there has been much swirl regarding the PIT and PLT knobs and I never took the time to figure out exactly how they adjust the Falcon and then whether it is in normal mode or 3D mode. And the manual on this is really quite pathetic. Art-Tech should be ashamed for putting out such a piece of trash and calling it a manual. Especially since this helicopter is supposed to be for beginners.

Anyway, I am pretty sure the PIT knob actually adjusted the end points of the pitch so you could limit, from the transmitter, the amount of pitch your heli would have. But I also think this only worked on the positive (pitch) side. And again, I'm not sure if it was in both flying modes.

I did find this information which came from Jim Young's review.

"Two things that you will need to adjust are the PIT (pitch) and PLT (Pitch end point) knobs. The manual gives you some starting points, and I ended up making a few minor adjustments. In normal mode (with the 3D/N switch toward the back of the radio), the PIT knob adjusts the pitch of the blades. This is basically going to determine the head speed where the Falcon is going to lift off and fly. By decreasing the pitch, you will have a higher head speed (good thing). I ended up decreasing the pitch slightly from the recommended position to get a bit more head speed. I recommend marking the final positions of these knobs in case they ever get bumped.

Again, if you are a beginner, these are settings that an experienced pilot should help you determine. "More" is not always "Better" when it comes to model helicopters!

The PLT knob affects the pitch end points while in 3D model (with the 3D/N switch toward the front of the radio). With the throttle/collective stick at 60% to 70%, I flipped the 3D/N switch back and forth and adjusted the PLT knob until the pitch of the blades was the same in both modes. This will keep the Falcon from jumping when switching modes in flight.

them. The two things that you will need to adjust are the PIT (pitch) and PLT (Pitch end point) knobs. The manual gives you some starting points, and I ended up making a few minor adjustments. In normal mode (with the 3D/N switch toward the back of the radio), the PIT knob adjusts the pitch of the blades. This is basically going to determine the head speed where the Falcon is going to lift off and fly. By decreasing the pitch, you will have a higher head speed (good thing). I ended up decreasing the pitch slightly from the recommended position to get a bit more head speed. I recommend marking the final positions of these knobs in case they ever get bumped.

Again, if you are a beginner, these are settings that an experienced pilot should help you determine. "More" is not always "Better" when it comes to model helicopters!

The PLT knob affects the pitch end points while in 3D model (with the 3D/N switch toward the front of the radio). With the throttle/collective stick at 60% to 70%, I flipped the 3D/N switch back and forth and adjusted the PLT knob until the pitch of the blades was the same in both modes. This will keep the Falcon from jumping when switching modes in flight.

Finally, with the help of an experienced pilot, I trimmed out the model. I ended up increasing the gain on the gyro a bit to get a solid heading hold. One thing I noticed is that changing the gain on the gyro appeared to affect the rudder trim, so just be aware of this if you are adjusting the gyro. I did take time to re-center the rudder servo and make adjustments to the linkage, once we had it trimmed out."

There has been some concern about the last paragraph above because many have verified that you have no control over the gain when using the OEM transmitter if you leave it configured like it came from the factory. It has also been verified by many that both knobs do nothing in 3D mode.

Carl

devmode

I posted picts a while back and you can look at my gallery in my profile for others.