New build Trex 500e, serious amount of heli for the money

[ianmat]

Well it arrived yesterday, the incredibly priced Trex 500e super combo (£336). I was dubious about what I'd get for that sort of money, but pleasently suprised when I opened the box... It makes me wish I'd gone down this route first, rather than spending almost the same amount on a Trex 450...
Does anyone have any tips, or suggestions for the first flight, anything I should be aware of compared with the Trex 450? I had no issues with the build, I loctited everthing and disassembled and reassembled all the factory made parts.

Thanks,

Ian

[muscleflex]

no photos???

[ianmat]

I'll post some photos when I get home this afternoon. I spend 6 hours building it last night, and was too tired when I'd finished. I'm amazed at the Align quality, at that price, makes me regret ploughing a similar amount of money into a cheap clone 500 which was totally unflyable.
Do I need to change the boxed gyro and ESC settings, or will they work out of the box? I seem to remember the Trex 450 ESC default settings were fine????

[kroozing]

Where did you get it from @ £336? seems a good price.

[muscleflex]

what gyro did it come with? align's 750 and 780 are decent gyros (altho most people prefer the older 750 gyro).
they should work out of the box.
if you really want to get a new gyro, spartan's quark seems to be the best option.

[ianmat]

Bought it from RCHeliGURU, with a 5% discount. I've bought from him before and he's the best prices around by miles, fantastic customer service as well.
I've got the G780 gyro on my Trex 450, had no problems with it, just can't remember whether I had to go through the set up routine.

[ianmat]

Sorry, no pics yet... got home and after the spending time with the offspring and boss only had very limited time with my new favourite heli. I will post some before the weekend...
One good thing was actually getting the beast airborne(ish) only to be hit by the wagging tail that seems to be a design feature of all 500's. I turned the gyro gain down bit by bit until I was at about 55% (DX6I tranny) the wagging was still slightly present, but she was flyable, however the tail blows out ofter climb out or fall. (I was under the impression that 50% was as low as you can go???)
I've read quite a lot about this and tried a few of the tips. I use the same gyro in my 450 and have no issues. I'm thinking vibration, so I will try to isolate the gyro tonight. I have also increased the BEC voltage to 6v, I assume this should give the tail servo more speed and power. I also tried flipping the tail blade holders so the the linkage is on the leading edge... didn't make the slightest difference.
I love this heli but am a little disappointed that it didn't fly perfectly out of the box, like it's little brother did... any tips/suggestions are welcomed.

[dani_r]

You will likely always get a very very 'slight' wag from the 500 due to the horrendous amounts of slop in the blade grips. That's just something we live with. Dial your gain up until you get a fast wag, then dial it down slightly so it just disappears. What gyro are you using?

[ianmat]

I'm using the stock gyro (780) same as I use in my 450. I do have a cheapo gyro I used in a clone 500, with no problems, I might try that tonight.
TBH once I had dialled down the gain last night, it was perfectly flyable. I might try swapping out the plastic tail and main blade grips with the metal ones I have that came with the clone 500.

[tomatwalden]

Take a look at these vids ... They might help diagnose the issue ..

Cheers. T

[ianmat]

Tom,

Thanks for that. I will double check the tail linkages when I get home... but I'm pretty sure they're free.

[tomatwalden]

Tom,

Thanks for that. I will double check the tail linkages when I get home... but I'm pretty sure they're free.

No probs. From watching them, are you getting "tail wag" or "chasing the tail"? From your description, sounds to me more like chasing the tail, which would mean that your gain is too low! (55% on a DX6i is 10% heading hold, which does seem low ...)

But then again, I could be completely wrong, but if I am, don't tell my wife - I've managed to convince her that I'm always right!

[ianmat]

It was definately tail wag, to start with, however I lowered the gyro gain bit by bit until it the wag was just about gone... (about 55% gain) then it started chasing the tail... can't win

[djm]

Try turning your head speed up on your throttle curve I've found 500s like a high head speed....

[coolice]

Hey.

The problem with the GP 780 is that the internal heading lock gain value is I bit high I think, unfortunately unlike the FBL controllers where it can be adjusted, on the GP 780 it cannot, so you have to get around it.
This setting causes a wag which cannot be removed by lowering the overall gyro gain, in fact the wag only slows down or speeds up if increasing the gain.

What delay setting are you running? Many have found that small helicopter delay (red led) suits the smaller models over large helicopterguru delay. Also did you then add any delay amount? This is achieved by holding the rudder stick over to the side which gives you the led colour you want according to model size. The more rudder command you hold in adds more delay, I always aim for around the 30% mark as this works well for all the models I've setup.

Also what length servo arm are you using? With this gyro there is a compromise between servo arm length, gain value used and mounting pad options to help remove the wag.

This models belt drive tail yes? Is the belt adjusted properly, in this case not too tight or too loose either, as this can be a source of problem.
.