450 Align 3g FBL system!

[acwman]

A few pics of the unit and head installed into the sport




I have mounted the sensor onto the bottom shelf. The instructions indicated to fit it onto the shelf at the back, but found that it would not be possible, as it was too tight of a squeeze. The control box is mounted on the side for easy adjustment for the moment. Will get it test flown, and maybe decide to tidy/reposition everything later...maybe

Setup and configuring has been pretty straight forward. I myself am very interested to see how the 450 will perform in flybarless guise. Will also be interesting to feel the difference to how it compares to the vbar.

I'm hoping good things..

May get time to test fly before the end of the week.. weather permitting.

[rexxy]

Hmmm, gonna be difficult to package neatly on a 450pro. Wonder if it'd go on the belly between the skids.

[matt27]

would this fit onto a v2?

[Smoothound]

More interesting on a 250

[jamesb72]

Andy - thanks for pics and info - did you move servo balls in on arms, or is this how they always were ?

I have pre-ordered the 250 kit, so looking forward to trying this out - but on the 250 the balls are as close in on servo arms as they can be without fouling the top of the servo unless you move them outboard - I wonder if the 250 blade grips will have very long arms to compensate for this.

Look forward to reading what you think having flown it!

[acwman]

Hmmm, gonna be difficult to package neatly on a 450pro. Wonder if it'd go on the belly between the skids.

In the instructions, the control box is shown mounted on the side frame on the Pro, almost level to the boom and behind the main gear. The diagrams doesn't show it with the cables, so looks neat. In real life I think It's going to be a struggle to make it look really tidy with all the wires coming out of the control box.

Andy - thanks for pics and info - did you move servo balls in on arms, or is this how they always were ?

I have pre-ordered the 250 kit, so looking forward to trying this out - but on the 250 the balls are as close in on servo arms as they can be without fouling the top of the servo unless you move them outboard - I wonder if the 250 blade grips will have very long arms to compensate for this.

Look forward to reading what you think having flown it!

The balls on the horns for my sport were moved in one hole on the horns on my hitecs 5065. The manual shows 12.5mm from centre, which actually bring the control rods looking more parallel than it was before.

Weather is rubbish today.. and got to go back into work in a mo, so no flying today. Weather may look a bit better tomorrow, and hopefully get a test hover/fly.. and if all goes well let loose a bit on it.

[acwman]

would this fit onto a v2?

Can't see any problem why it will not..

..actually in fact the manual shows SE V2 aswell, so won't be a problem

[acwman]

Flight Update

FLIGHT UPDATE

Running through the setup, was pretty straight forward. Quite a few videos around on this so should help even the newest of beginners into FBL, so won't go into this.

Took a few packs to the field with me, but had a bit of a premature end after 4 1/2 packs... so really only going to be a short sum up of my findings

Into the hover, and it was pretty uneventful. Took off into the hover pretty much the same as when it was fly barred. Hover felt a bit more locked in. Testing the cyclic, it was pretty evident that the elevator bounce which most ppl seem to find was there. The gain was turned down bit by bit and now stands at the 10 oClock position. The aileron has been left on default setting of 12oClock. The bounce has got better but not gone completely, but fear turning it down anymore as the 'locked in feeling' has diminished as with the reduction in the gain.

The tail felt fine as did the heli, and it was within the first pack that it was in idle up, and being thrown around.

As ppl have reported, the bounce is evident on hard stops and quick changes in direction. Flying fast backwards into rolls also showed this up on the first roll, and getting slightly better as the rolls progressed. Tail down funnels you can also see a slight nodding.

Large moves, such as loops do seem to be more locked in and axial with less correction needed. Tail seemed locked in, and seemed to hold as well.. if not better than the previous align gyro that was in it(GP750)

Not sure if a change of blade will sort the bounce.. but I'm not sure that I really want to go in a direction of trying to find a suitable blade which may cure/help this, as I never got this with it when it was fly barred.

I think I can live with this bounce for the moment, until I get a more stick time, and more used to it to see if I can get it any better.

I do feel though with the talk of the software with link to take more control of the settings in the control unit, it should be released sooner rather than later. If it can cure the problems which ppl are finding, it can only be a positive for Align.

Overall.. suitably impressed. It does fly very much like the flybar heli but with a subtle more locked in feeling. The bug of it is this bounce.

Compared with the Vbar helis I have.. Hard to compare, as both my vbar helis are alot larger....all I can say is that my vbar helis have a greater locked in feeling, which I prefer in my eyes.

..Do I like the Align 3g on my 450?

Well.. it's still early days, and looks promising. Got to get more flights from it.

Going to see if I can get it fixed now for a few more flights later! Looks like just a bent skid, and replace a blade

[sacko]

Cheers for the write up, first one I have seen for the 45.

Doesnt really sound worth the money tbh Andy?

[acwman]

Cheers for the write up, first one I have seen for the 45.

Doesnt really sound worth the money tbh Andy?

I think it will really depend on the individual. I really purchased it...maybe a bit prematurely as there seems to be alot coming out this year.. with mikado bringing out it's own pnp vbar, the Beast X, and the total G etc. So Maybe a wrong move!?

Just decided I wanted to see for myself how good the 3G was. So many differences in opinions, some seemed to prefer it over the Vbar(And I do love the vbar on my heli).. and also wanted to find out about the concerns over the 'bounce' it has. This was put down to too much mechanical gain on the larger trex models as the cyclics run through a bellcrank before going to the swash plate. The 450 is direct, so I thought there would not be a problem.. but there still seems to be.

Have just replaced the blades, main shaft, and a bend skid tube. I will probably give it another go later.

If I can't get any improvement, 'may' put on a set of radix blades I got.

The heli does seem to bog less, but it is not a night and day thing. TBH, I was very happy how my 450 sport flew with a flybar, and adding the 3G has not really transformed it dramatically for me to say WOW.

I really do think that if the software for the 3g is completed, and can sort this bounce out, they should release it now.. IMHO I think it may need it.

If I can reduce this bounce any better with future flights, will report back here.

Was it worth it for me?.....at the moment not totally sure.

[jamesb72]

Thanks Andy - this is a great review, and makes me feel a lot better about my 250 pre-order.

I expect Align will release the software/cable and give a lot more adjustments in next few months which will allow people to sort out the bounce - I think they have deliberately released this plug and play to make it simple, and appeal to mass market - the Vbar puts people off as the impression is you need F1 style telemetry experience to set it up !

I hope the elevator bounce is more of an issue with hard 3D, I only fly sport and very light 3D - flips and inverted hovering, so I think this won't be a problem for me, and probably won't be for a lot of other people too.

What I want from the flybarless is:
- neatness of a flybarless head
- heli which flies with less power so is easier on my cheapo packs
- locked in feeling in fast flight which everyone talks about

So sounds like I will be very happy with it !!

[rexxy]

Do you feel it will make the 450 easier to fly for a relative beginner? Is it less susceptible to wind for example?

[ChrisB]

I used a Mini V bar on a Beam and a 450 sport for a while and IMHO its of little benefit on a small model.

For learning i feel the weight and inertia of a flybar helps stability,i found the model was more susceptible to wind when FBL.

Be interested to hear andys continued information.

[acwman]

The Vbar puts people off as the impression is you need F1 style telemetry experience to set it up !

I hope the elevator bounce is more of an issue with hard 3D, I only fly sport and very light 3D - flips and inverted hovering, so I think this won't be a problem for me, and probably won't be for a lot of other people too.

What I want from the flybarless is:
- neatness of a flybarless head
- heli which flies with less power so is easier on my cheapo packs
- locked in feeling in fast flight which everyone talks about

So sounds like I will be very happy with it !!

The Vbar setup and laptop.. tbh, more of a myth imho. First glances it seems a handfull, but on the vbar site, you can follow the setup videos, it is very straight forward to set it up. There are downloadable presets aswell. Only ever took the laptop to the field once, to do trim and optimization flight. Haven't needed it since then.

The bounce although a little annoying, I hope I can get this sorted out later in my flights.

Do you feel it will make the 450 easier to fly for a relative beginner? Is it less susceptible to wind for example?

As a beginner.... the heli still will be effected by the wind. Think it is more a size thing in this case. The bigger the heli the more stable it will be. No matter what, the 450 is a tiny mass, and wind will effect it more than its larger counterparts. I don't think a beginner will really notice any 'real' benefits in hovering and flight.

As a beginner.. would suggest to just put flybar weights on, if you are after a more stable heli.

[acwman]

Had another handful of flights with the unit this afternoon.

I have adjusted the Elevator pot a fraction, and it has improved matters slightly. Would say even the slightest of adjustments makes a difference.

Although the bounce is still there, it is not as evident as before. Some hard changes in direction though can still induce it, enough to see it quite visibly.

Can live with it at the moment, and will carry on using it.

No real change in duration. Have kept my throttle curves the same, and mah taken out after my flights is pretty much the same as with the flybar.