Belt CP damage (newbie)

[nemesis66]

Hi everyone,

First post and already have a problem!

I bought a Belt CP with simulator cable and training gear, the parcel arrived and inside was a note saying "charge and check" the lipo battery on the day of receipt incase of problems.

I read the manual then charged the battery and to give it a quick check I set the TX as instructed and loosly connected the battery to the heli. The heli completed its check and beeped several times, I then slightly raised the throttle, the blades started to spin with a slight swishing noise.

I returned the throttle to the rest position and started to disconnect the battery this proved to be very dificault ,so I moved the TX out of the way to get better access, as I pick up the TX I knocked the long switch against the floor (it's labelled Idel/inverted flight) the blades jumped into life as the motor seemed to go to full power, the whole heli spun round and hit the box then jumped in the air throwing the battery 3 meters accross the room then hit me and the floor making a loud clicking noise.

One I had determined that my arm was still attached to my body and the pain had subsided I retrived the battery and checked the heli for damage, I could not see anything obvious. I strapped the battery in and moved the switch back to its correct position. I connected the battery then raised the throttle a bit, the blades spun as before but the heli shakes now, I increased the throttle to see if it settels but it just gets worse. I removed the battery and rechecked the heli, on closser inspection I can see the main gear has slightly chewed teeth in four places equally spred out.

Is this likely to be the cause of the shakes would the main shaft be bent. also what is a feathering spindle?

[xygax]

That would be your first crash then.... Dont panic the second one will arrive soon enough....

In the meantime a bit of explanation... The 'Idel' switch is for setting the engine speed to full or there abouts. This is so that the blade pitch can be changed without changing the speed of the blades (it disconects the engine speed from the stick) and enables the blades to be set at negitive pitch (you need this to fly upside down)

Pain. Dont worry about this one its self repairing at little cost. Look for spurting red stuff this would indicate a serious fault that needs assistance (sticky tape and stiches)

Shakes and wobbles...
There are three bits of metal that bend with nearly every crash. You need to check they are all stright and replace them if not.
1. Main shaft. The one that goes from the gears (with missing teeth) to the head
2. Feathering spindle. The one between the blade grips
3. Flybar The one between the paddles (small short blades)

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=511399

Check out the PDF in this link its a great discription of how to check the shafts are OK and the head id balanced. This should get rid of the shakes and wobbles...

Steve

[163phil]

Welcome to the club!

Hi Nemesis66

This is just what I did with my cp2! (only I managed to get out of the way) - You're not the first and you definitely won't be the last

I also have a belt CP awaiting bits - main shaft, blades and feathering shafts. These are essential spares to keep a stock of. If the helicopter vibrates visibly it will be because one of these three items is bent. I would recommend replacing before further flight, as you don't know what other damage is being done by flying in this condition. I did bend the feathering and main shafts back straight(ish) on my cp2 and am still flying it and it's still holding together, but there is so much more energy in a belt CP I wouldn't want to do that with it. (Quite apart from the fact that you'll never get it set up properly if things are misshapen, and it's a hell of alot easier to learn if you're not always fighting a machine with a mind of its own!)

The feathering shaft is the shaft that the blades are attached to - if you look along the blades and they are not in line then the feathering shaft is bent. If you're not sure if it's bent or not (and I find it tends to cop it in nearly all prangs!) dismantle it (you'll need two 5.5mm box spanners) and roll the shaft along a peice of glass. If it doesn't roll perfectly smoothly and comes to a stop when the glass is not level it needs replacing

I have successfully recovered damaged blades with solarfilm, but it's fiddly work and may put them out of balance, and again it's worth keeping a stock of spares.

Have fun and welcome to the forum

Phil

[nemesis66]

Thanks guys, this makes me feel a bit better, I have been looking at other peoples problems and starting to get a feel for all the parts. My intention was not to fly it until spending some time on the simulator, but thats how it goes I guess.

Regards John