Total novice

[Mort]

Hi i am totally new to RC heli flight i do have my Bronze for RC IC planes so wanted to make the jump to helis with electric first
As it says i am totally new so know nothing and no one at my club flys Helis there is a place not to far but every time i go to ask some one about this the people that fly helis are never there

OK i have some issues with the set up of my heli
http://www.alshobbies.com/shop/looku...?pc=5707&Desc=
This is the one i got
with the futaba 6EX

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/117/snv30004yt0.jpg

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/8995/snv30005kj6.jpg

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/9932/snv30006ms7.jpg

Some pics i took to help explain the issues

I am trying to set the heli up and have followed the book that came with it for servo placement ect
and the gyro
but i am not sure if i have the set up right or not
as when i switch on the TX to test the collective movements dont match what i think they should be doing ???
I have read the Futaba manual and as they state most helis are S1 " what ever that means "
the TX has 3 Heli settings S1 S3 S5
i have switched the gyro on and connected it up with out the main motor connected but i dont have rudder control ? but if i by pass the gyro i have full rudder control
as i understood the main throttle was mixed with the blade pich so the heli starts at 50% stick and pitches up with full throttle at100% and down with full throttle at 0% stick
but all i can get it to do is reverse the stick control and it controls one blade and the throttle this cant be right

ok ii could rant about this all day but the main Question si need answered is what settings in the Futaba TX and what channels do i need to have each servo connected to if i could get this info i could fine tune the blade position to be able to get started

absolutely any info help and advice is welcome

[Made2Fade]

channel:- servo:-
1 aileron/cyclic
2 elevator
3 throttle
4 rudder
5 Gyro (remote lead... heading hold gyros only)
6 Pitch

These are for a Futaba Receiver... i think the one you got will be the same but dont quote me on it. Easy to find out though, its just trial and error with one servo at a time if ya dont know. That should get ya started... check these then come back. Put the Transmitter on S1.
Lee

[bandicoot]

are all your servos in the neutral position? if they are your servo arms are all well out, they should be 90 degrees when the servo is in its neutral position.

[Mort]

OK first thanks for info but could you please tell me what servo is what on the collective
as i said im totaly new to heli and
I have no idea as to what servo is what ?
The Gyro i have is "Gy191 head lock gyro"
and it has 3 pins one side and lead on other dont know what thats for

[bandicoot]

on the gyro the lead will go to channel 4 "rudder" and the rudder servo will connect to the gyro itself, making it "inline".

As for what servo is what the manual should tell you what eash servo operates..cant find an online manual

[Mort]

Trouble is the manual is very basic and has no servo names listed just a pic of there location
I have 3 servos conected to the Swashplate one left one right and one in the front
as you look nose down i take it that the front servo is for the elevator
That leaves me left and right hand ones for pitch and aileron/cyclic
unless im wrong and the front servo is not for the elevator

[robgt]

You have it right on the cyclic servos.

Cheers,
Rob

[Mort]

Ok with all the geart advice im getting here im working on getting things up and running the controls seem to be working the way they are suposed to but the throtle servo is allso in control of the left hand servo "Pitch"?
is this right ?
reason i ask is i was told that the heli would have to be started 50% throttle and idle would be set there so as to be Throtle 100% increas speed and pitch as well as throtle 0% increase speed and negative pitch ?
if i have this right it must be a setting i am missing in the TX but i dont see anything in the Futaba book on this

[robgt]

the throtle servo is allso in control of the left hand servo "Pitch"?
is this right

Yes, thats right.
You have Pitch and Throttle curves which allow you to specify how much (percentage) either item should be moved based on the stick position, with low stick being a minimum of 0% to a the high stick maximum of 100%.

This page might help with understanding throttle and pitch curve initial settings. You will no doubt need to tweak them from this point, but it should give you a start.

You won't get an electic helicopter to "arm" if you can't hit zero throttle, as the ESC needs to see zero throttle before it will activate and power the motor.

If you were told the information as you have written it down, you have been told incorrectly. That info does seem to match up with how to set it up for 3D (inverted) flight however, but it's still not exactly right...

Cheers,
Rob

[Mort]

If the throtle is at 0% what should the swash plate be at as i have set the swash to be horizontal when throtle is at 50% ?


I have seen videos of electric helis doing inverts so how can that be or have i been sold a lemon on this issue
Im not botherd if i have as i see it inverted flight for me will be years off

You won't get an electic helicopter to "arm" if you can't hit zero throttle, as the ESC needs to see zero throttle before it will activate and power the motor.

If you were told the information as you have written it down, you have been told incorrectly. That info does seem to match up with how to set it up for 3D (inverted) flight however, but it's still not exactly right...

Cheers,
Rob

PS ok what is "arm" ?

[chugga-bug]

I'm not familiar with your TX but have you got a flight mode switch?
Normally 3 position switch on top left of TX.

You will need to set a throttle curve starting at zero in normal mode to be able to arm your ESC. If it doesn't arm it won't work. This is a failsafe feature so you don't accidently switch on at full throttle and cut yourself to ribbons!
I wouldn't worry to much about flying inverted yet as you're probably gonna have far too much trouble fling the right way up for quite a while.

Get all your servo arms at 90 deg in neutral position. All trims/subtrims centred. then move on to the links to the swash. Set servo rods so that all these bellcranks are centred. Set all rods from beelcranks to swash so that swash is level in both planes. Get washout arms level, flybar arms level, and zero pitch on main blades. This will enable equal pitch range + & -.
In the TX set normal mode pitch curve to something like 40,50,100 (you may have five points to set in which case 40,45,50,75,100 should suffice)
This should give you aprox -4/+10deg depending on the pitch range of the heli.
Then set normal mode throttle curve to something like 0,30,75,85,90.

If you want to do inverted then you'll need to set your IDLE curve(s) up like so. Pitch curve, 0,25,50,75,100. This should give you equal + & - pitch. If it doesn't then your links aren't all 90degs. Then set your IDLE throttle curve to 90,85,75,85,90. This'll give you power on both + & - pitch.

You must switch on in NORMAL mode with throttle closed, spool up then switch to IDLE 1(or 2).

Have a look at the 'Finless Bob' videos on helifreak.com. He describes how to set up a T-Rex 450SE. Having him talk you through it will help you understand a bit more. I know it's a different heli but the principles are the same for all of them.

Good luck!