This new hobby seems waaaaaay to complicated for a simpleton like me.....

[fingers_crossed]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum and new to the world of RC Helicopters so thought i'd have a search for a forum and came across this one.

I have been in to Radio Control activities for quite some time and have had various "vehicles" like cars, trucks, boats and planes so have a rough idea of whats involved in the maintenance etc, how twitchy they can be and how these things aren't toys etc etc.

A while ago someone bought me a very simple coax heli and as fun as it was i didn't feel it was challenging enough and decided I needed something of the single rotor variety, a year or so later the need for a heli grew so much that I finally folded... A second hand Align T-Rex flybarless 450 arrived yesterday along with a DX6i transmitter. As i opened the box it suddenly dawned on me that this is a serious, potentially dangerous, piece of kit which got me thinking.I know this is going to be a steep learning curve and i plan on doing ground exercises etc before i even think about getting into the air.

Before even going outside i want to make sure this thing is set up as best it can be to lower my chances of turning this thing into a carbon fibre paper weight within 30 seconds and will be going through the radio to calm down the rates etc and i will also be using my newly aquired pitch gauge and swashplate leveler to ensure its all pucker i also have trainer gear on its way.

So after all that blabbing on, here are my questions:

• Do i need to set up a new model on the DX6i and have all the trims set to zero and then centre the servos before i do anything?
• How do i know if the motor is wired up correctly before turning it on, ie if its reversed and i turn on the transmitter will it go straight to max throttle?
• Whats the best way to set up the transmitter initially? Is there a section on here where people share their setups?
• Should you turn on the transmitter with it in throttle hold mode or just make sure youre at 0 position etc?
• From a quick look last night i can see that the front tail drive gear is stripped, i removed this and counted the teeth and got 26 mod 0.6, It sounds like on various forums 26 teeth arent available on Align 450s but are used on clones, align do sell 26 tooth gears which are hard wearing, the main frame also has two slots at the front which are actually part of the sheet CF where the Canopy slots into, no Align 450s that i have seen come with an incorporated slot, they have a bracket attached. Has anyone heard of either of these issues and do you think i may have purchased a clone with a DFC head?

I think really I just need to take it steady, dont rush ahead of myself and learn to crawl before i can fly, my main worry is turning this thing on and it shooting off because i have something set incorrectly and what positions all the switches should be in before turning on the transmitter and then the heli.

Thanks in advanced and sorry for all the waffling on, im just excited to get this bird going haha.

Dan

[tomatwalden]

This new hobby seems waaaaaay to complicated for a simpleton like me.....

:

• Do i need to set up a new model on the DX6i and have all the trims set to zero and then centre the servos before i do anything?
• How do i know if the motor is wired up correctly before turning it on, ie if its reversed and i turn on the transmitter will it go straight to max throttle?
• Whats the best way to set up the transmitter initially? Is there a section on here where people share their setups?
• Should you turn on the transmitter with it in throttle hold mode or just make sure youre at 0 position etc?
• From a quick look last night i can see that the front tail drive gear is stripped, i removed this and counted the teeth and got 26 mod 0.6, It sounds like on various forums 26 teeth arent available on Align 450s but are used on clones, align do sell 26 tooth gears which are hard wearing, the main frame also has two slots at the front which are actually part of the sheet CF where the Canopy slots into, no Align 450s that i have seen come with an incorporated slot, they have a bracket attached. Has anyone heard of either of these issues and do you think i may have purchased a clone with a DFC head?

Hi Dan. Welcome to the forum. I'll try to answer some of your questions. Hopefully others will chip in where I leave blanks!

1. Yes, new model, no trims at all for a flybarless helicpter Hopefully the servos are 90'ed (centred) already,
2. The wiring of the motor determines direction of spin, not max or min throttle. Besides which, almost all esc's (speed controllers) won't arm until they received a zero throttle value from the tx. So there is very little chance of it spinning up unexpectedly.
3. Transmitter setups are very dependent on heli configuration. Your best bet is to try to find someone local to you that can help.
4. You need your tx setup properly. See answer 3 above!
5. Sorry can't help on align I'm afraid, not my thing!

Best advice, try to find someone or a club near you that can help! If you havent flown a heli before, seriously consider a simulator (eg. Phoenix sim or rrealflight 7) or a ready to fly (rtf) micro heli like an msrx or mcpx

Cheers ! Tom.

Ps. Lots of good info for beginners at http:// www.rchelicopterfun.com !

[waveydavey]

Welcome to the forum Dan, nice opening post.

[tomatwalden]

To expand a little on my answer last night - which I typed on an ipad - hence any typing errors! These days, with flybarless helicopters, there is increasingly less configuration around the helicopter itself. Certainly at a beginner level - for the most part - all flybarless helicopters are just airframes that work largely in the same way.

The big difference - in particular for setup - is which FlyBarLess (FBL) controller is installed. These are interchangeable and represent the biggest hurdle for a newbie in getting a helicopter setup to operate correctly. Most Align helicopters ship with a unit called the "3GX". However, it's not very popular and many opt to change it out for a BeastX, vBar, iKon, Vortex, etc. etc. The list goes on!

So the fact your heli is an Align (clone?) is to some degree less important. The important thing is what receiver/FBL is installed!

[fingers_crossed]

Thanks for the replies. So i had a play around with the transmitter last night and it actually seems ok, I like the fact you can set Dual Rates for position 0 and 1 and even link all 3 Dual Rate switches to 1.

I removed the head ready for my swashplate leveller and whilst i was there i noticed that 1 of the 3 servo linkages is different, hopefully i will be able to get everything level and then get my pitch set up. I also noticed that one of the servos needed reversing.

I think I've convinced myself that it is not a clone, I think its an old flybar pro with a DFC head innstalled.
The system in mine is just 3G and an AR6200 reciever (with no satellite so i'll be looking on ebay for one of these soon, the reciever wire also looks a bit iffy where it enters the casing so i think i'll be rewiring it) which I guess is ancient? Maybe once I've mastered the art of digging huge holes in the ground with spinning blades and move onto my next trick of "flight" I will look into a new flybarless controller.

The courier is delivering my new tail gear, skids, pitch gauge, swashplate leveller and training gear today. Next job, find a club!

Dan

[Shauny]

Hi Dan

Welcome along.

There's a few guys on here from Southampton that fly at South Hants Helis, a couple have Trex 450's too. Feel free to pop in and say hello, sure between us we'd be able to help you out. Most weekends there's a group of us flying there.

Shaun

[jimmyhorns]

Hi Dan

It sounds like you could probably do with a few face to face pointers.

Its probably worth you popping down to us at South Hants Helis and spending a morning with us as a guest. If you want to fly you will need either BMFA or RCHA membership (which means you are insured, and you really should be getting this anyways).

I (and lots of other people like Shauny for example) will gladly take you through the setup and make sure that your heli is ready to fly, along with some basic safety members.

This year our club has 2 places set aside for beginners, one of these is taken, but the other is still free if you end up liking the look of the club and want to sign up.

Your first visit would be as a guest and would of course be free (including any setup we do or advice ).

Welcome. This gets expensive quick, but boy is a good hobby

James (founder of South Hants Helis)

[fingers_crossed]

Thanks for the replies! James and Shaun I will definitely take you up on that offer that sounds excellent thank you. I think even just watching people will help and give me an idea of sensitivity etc. Where do you fly?

Got my new tail gear installed today, new skids, training gear, awash plate is level(ish) next job is set up the 3G.

[jimma]

Have a read around regarding the training gear, I'm sure it cause more problems then good on a fbl heli. Something to do with vibrations and the fbl unit.

[jimmyhorns]

Thanks for the replies! James and Shaun I will definitely take you up on that offer that sounds excellent thank you. I think even just watching people will help and give me an idea of sensitivity etc. Where do you fly?

Got my new tail gear installed today, new skids, training gear, awash plate is level(ish) next job is set up the 3G.

I will drop you a line as to how to get in touch.

James

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[fingers_crossed]

Heli update! I got the swash level and set all my endpoints, gyro limits, threadlocking, swash mix etc I basically went through this thing like I was performing brain surgery. Took it outside with my ipad for instruction with the intentions of starting slow and sliding around on the grass. But... Just the noise of the blades spooling up got me excited and before I knew it the heli was up in the air. 2 batteries later and it needs blades, a servo, new training gear, main slant gear and a tail gear. Luckily it came with spares, but definitely worth it, the excitement of having this baby"flying" (notice the " ") is absolutely amazing. Luckily its relatively cheap compared to running a carbon fibre 1/10 touring car. Is it nearly saturday yet?????? Justt have one question, if you spend ages setting up electronic gyro systems and telling it where center is and how much travel the servos have why doesn't the heli stay level with less input? Gyros that I am aware of could keep a blue a***d fly in one position with enough set up why don't these? Do you think they're designed to allow a certain amount of user input?

[Shauny]

Hi Dan

A number of things will have an affect on how the gyro performs.

The gyro if set up right will only hold the tail steady so it doesn't pirouette without any input from the transmitter. If your gyro wasn't holding it may need the gains adjusting. Also if you were hovering low to the ground then the downward wash from the main blades can cause the heli to drift. Once in a hover you will have to constantly make adjustments to keep the heli in one place, they will naturally drift off, it all requires practice and patience.

Get it fixed up and practice, practice, practice on the sim. It gets easier.

[tomatwalden]

Technically, the gyros could. You can buy flybarless units that have "panic mode" - the Bavarian Demon 3SX is the most popular in this space and the Skookum 720 also has a panic mode I believe.

For normal flight however, stability and agility are opposing forces. Most flybarless units therefore provide "neutral stabilty" - that is, they correct against external forces - ie. the wind mostly - BUT - they otherwise do what the pilot tells them too. Naturally, a helicopter, once given an "command" will continue that command until given an opposing command. ie. if you tip the nose down to move forward - the continue to move forward until you provide an opposing command (pulling it back). Just releasing the sticks back to centre will have little effect - you need to actively move the stick backwards to stop the forward movement.

In short, yes, gyros and computers could make it all very easy. But then, where's the challenge - where's the fun!?

[fingers_crossed]

I wouldn't exactly say that I was hovering, more chasing it around the garden. Now the initial excitment has subsided I will stick to my game plan of training. I am also thinking that the gf would enjoy it as she's a mechanical engineer too (we're both aeronautical mechanical engineers) its definitely a very mechanical involved "toy".

[tomatwalden]

Shaun makes a good point. Being a newbie, you were probably floating around in your own downwash/turbulence. A 450 needs to get about 1.5metres high before it's totally clear of its own downdraft.