Hi,

I have a raptor 30 v2 and a JR x2610 radio

everything works perfect and tail stays in place, hover is fine. however to get the heli to hover the stick has to be a bit above center....like a few clicks above it on the radio. the throttle curve is over 60% at half throttle and the pitch is matching what thundertiger say at half throttle. however at half stick it refuses to hover.

Is the engine dead? i did have a problem with the engine dying in hover...resetting the fuel needles sorted it.

Any idea why it is needing so much power to get lift off?


Thanks

RIchard Sands

do you live at altitude? If your not at sealevel you might have to give a bit more pitch than recomended.....

no. only about 50 or 60feet max i would assume. But its the amount of throttle needed is a concern? Is that level normal?


Thanks

Richard Sands

What pitch are you running at half stick? Do yo uhave the engine leaned out properly or running rich on the top or bottom?

You should check both your rpm and pitch at half stick.
There's not much tampering needed to get a little off. Once you have your rpm where you want it at half stick, adjust the pitch as needed for lift off. You would probably then also have to readjust your throttle curve to maintain desired rpm, as the load on the engine icreases when you increase the pitch.
If this is successful and your engine still acts normally during flight it should be okay.

Ahhh .... physics?

Ever heard the saying ... objects at rest tend to stay at rest ...

Typically in order to get the heli "moving" (even vertical), it requires a little more energy/power to get it moving than it does to keep it moving. Likewise, to go from the ground to hover height requires the heli to move, which in turn requires a little more power than it does to hover the heli.

When you say it refuses to hover ... do you mean it's on the ground and it is still on the ground at mid-stick or are you saying while flying, when you go to mid-stick/hover, the heli settles to the ground?

And 60% on the throttle curve??? What does that equate to on the throttle lever? Just because the throttle curve is at 60% in the TX doesn't mean the throttle lever on the carb is at 60%. My throttle is at 46.5% to hover so you are not all that far off.

Verify where your throttle lever is at mid-stick (or 60% throttle curve) and reverify your pitch at hover position. By the (TT) book, it should be 6°.

Thanks for the replies. Bit more information:


with the throttle curve at 60% (on half stick) on the tx the actually heli throttle lever is a bit over half. at mid stick the pitch is 6 degrees on the heli. with these settings and having at half stick on tx the heli doesn't move off the ground.....i would say 3 or 4 clicks easily to get the heli moving.

to keep the heli at this hover it would have to be again above half stick. at half stick it returns back down to the ground.


Thanks

Richard Sands

also...the mixture needles had caused issues so they were reset back to factory default....2 high needle...3low needle.


Thanks

Richard Sands

Check your thottle geometry. Like Tippy said 60% on the Tx may not be 60% throttle. What engine are you using. A 32 might hover at 60% while a 37 might hover at 45%. How are you determining blade pitch? If you are using the gauge on the Raptor frame, it is not the most accurate thing. Your pitch measurement might just be a little bit off. I have my helis set at 5 degrees pitch in normal mode and they hover just above mid stick like you describe. What temp does your engine run at? Factory settings are usually a bit on the rich side. You may need to lean it out just a bit.

Thanks for the replies

Im running the TT39 engine. It was running hot...as in untouchable but i sorted that straight away by going back to factory defaults. Now it is touchable after a flight.

The throttle lever and carb is slightly more than 60%. i am using the frame as a guide. Should i get a blade pitch?


Thanks

Richard Sands

Just because it is touchable does not mean it's right. It sounds like you need to find someone local to look at the set up and adjust the motor. And yes you need a pitch gage, even if it a simple paper one. Print this and paste it on cardboard and use it...

Until you adjust the pitch and have the motor set up right you're wasting time with other things. The throttle curve should be Idle at 0, half open at 50%(hover) and full open at 100%. Once you have the engine adjusted right, adjust the blade pitch to get hover at half stick, should be right at 6 degrees. With a hot motor it might be 5.5 degrees at the lowest and no more than 6.

Thanks. Its not that i cant set the heli up...but getting so many different answers wasn't sure which one to follow. I'll check the pitch later on tonight. wont get to fly it until saturday as back to work now.


Thanks

Richard Sands

I would still say to seek out help, not only to help with setup but to help adjust it and then to do a trim flight. Helo's are not the easiest think to self teach, help is nice to have.

http://www.raptortechnique.com has a TON of Raptor setup info.

Always use a pitch gage. The only thing the frame tick marks tell you is how the servo is affecting the collective lever. It doesn't tell you the actual blade pitch angle. Until you "prove" the tick marks correct, the pointer could be somewhat inaccurate. The only way to "prove" the tick marks correct is to measure the blades (with a pitch gage) and then see if the pointer is saying the same thing. And by then, you'll have your actually blade pitch anyway.

I have a video that shows how to build an R30 and due to the collective geometry, it suggests putting 0° blade pitch about 1mm above the 0° tick on the frame.