It had to happen.

[Asfalloth]

3 weeks after buying my Blade 400 I've gone and ditched it.

All tail in hovering practice so far.
1st battery very happy with my hovering taking it left of the virtual box, forward, right and back.

2nd battery same as battery one but rising to 2m then back to 1m and repeating the box circuit.

3rd battery did 5 perfect piroets, not realising until now that the whole time im doing these piroets im actually completely out of control (even though they looked perfect)

The 6th piroet showed me that the previous 5 were just lucky.

Damage that i know for sure:

Main blades (already balanced and fitted new ones)
Main shaft
One servo stripped.

Ordered one of everything and 3 servos from fastlads just in case i've missed anything.

Lesson learned, no more piroets, instead I will do 90 rudder turns away from tail in and then progress from here to 180 degree turns then 360 turns after that is perfected.

My next fun task is changing the main shaft, wish me luck.

Asfalloth.

[funfreex]

Bummer sorry to hear that.

Its a sure bet that the feathering shaft is bent too. you may want to check it.

Jamie

[Mike W]

one question tho ... Did u enjoy it ??? ... if the answer is yes then its had the desired effect this hobby has hehe ... Sorry to hear ya dumped it tho dude .. No time and ya be back at it

[Boggy]

you have the right frame of mind mate! crashes are inevitable!

as you say dont try piro's just yet start tail in and turn it 90 degrees slowly under control. if you can master side on you will have no probs nose in when the time comes. be patient it takes time and practice!

[Asfalloth]

Thanks for the advise all.

I did enjoy it weirdly, It was like, ok, now I'm really an RC heli hobby guy, like joining a club.
Weirdly for the life of me it was like slow motion, all I remember as it was tipping beyond my control was ok youve dumped the throttle but what have I forgotten, you've guessed it, it was throttle hold. I hope I only go mind numb that once, I'm sure if I don't get caught up in the moment next time it might save some parts costs if I remember to hit the hold.

funfreex, I've already got flybars and 2 sets of feathering shafts, bought as many parts as my LHS had when I bought the Blade.
I presume I cant just slide the whole head off the main shaft after releasing from the botom bolt? ie I will need to take the whole mech apart anyway, thus allowing me to check the feathering shaft?

Thanks again guys.

Asfalloth.

[163phil]

I presume I cant just slide the whole head off the main shaft after releasing from the botom bolt?

You should be able to slide the whole head off - just disconnect the control arms to the swashplate and undo the top Jesus bolt and hey presto!

Do change the feathering shaft though - it will certainly be bent if the mainshaft is!

[funfreex]

I dont know the b -400 so cant say wether head will slide of after releasing one bolt. but it will all have to come out one way or another anyhoo to change the shaft. blade grips off also to check spindle.

Jamie

[JaseTT]

Never mind Asfalloth - the first crash is the worst. They get much easier after that .
I think you might be making the same mistake as me - trying to run before you can walk - I can fly perfect circuits and stall turns etc on phoenix, but on Sunday when my Mini Titan went side on to me in a bit of a breeze and started slipping to one side I just didn't react quick enough and in a blink of an eye it had smacked into the deck. I'm going back to square one with my 50 Titan and not attempting anything other than tail in hovering for at least the first hour or two flying, however confident I feel - one small step at a time.... can't afford to crash that one every other flight!
If its any conselation - repairing your heli will let you get to know it intimatley!!
Good luck on your future flights .

[Asfalloth]

Update

Thought I would pop by and post an update.

First off shes back up and flying better than ever.
I replaced Main Shaft, Feathering Spindle, Flybar, One washout control arm link & One Servo(which I am going to repair with a new gear set)

When doiing these repairs I noticed the build from the factory to be rather shoddy and something others should look out for.

The end bolts on the feathering shafts where locticted to the first washer and thrust bearing.

The flybar armature had only the upper gromets to secure the flybar installed, the ones underneath were completely missing.

Either way all done in an out 2hrs and shes is great to fly again, now to start those 90degree tail turns instead of 360's

Asfalloth.

[Boggy]

they always do fly better after a rebuild. rtf dosent always mean exactly that!! we always recomend a good check over.
but as you say you've rebuilt it now so you know all is right, but give it a good check over once its had a shake down