Newbie now with a Blade 450 3D

[owend]

Thanks for quick reply, Tom. Looking in the settings given, I don't see anything actually labelled negative on pitch curve settings - is 50% stick on the pitch curve zero, so <50% negative, >50% positive??! Also, am I right in reading "idle up" as "stunt" in the book? Homework looms for me!

We have family in Bristol, we've been down there when one of the balloon festivals was starting. The sky was full of them, very colourful!

Owen

[tomatwalden]

You got it in one. 50% should be zero pitch, so anything <50% is negative. Idle up is indeed stunt mode. It should mean, if you have the throttle curve set correctly that the throttle is constant regardless of the position of the left stick. ie. that becomes pitch control only. This allows you to do tricks such as inverted flight - or simply losing height quickly by applying negative pitch without the blades spinning down.

[owend]

This "hobby" is hard work, my brain hurts! Didn't get out today, family commitments and rain, so I'll try again tomorrow; I spent time this evening playing with the DX6i and mCX2, learning how to change the Tx values. I think a strong argument is building for me to get Phoenix and try all these variables without ££ warning signs flashing!

Owen

[highlightshadow]

Newbie now with a Blade 450 3D

It's mentally taxing yes.
I was out today and flew maybe 9 or 10 flights but pushing skills doing nose in and my brain was shot at the end and came away with a pack to spare. Couldn't face another flight as my fingers weren't obeying anymore and I didn't want to risk a dumb thumb crash.

[tomatwalden]

It's mentally taxing yes.
I was out today and flew maybe 9 or 10 flights but pushing skills doing nose in and my brain was shot at the end and came away with a pack to spare. Couldn't face another flight as my fingers weren't obeying anymore and I didn't want to risk a dumb thumb crash.

Easily one of the most difficult skills to learn - knowing when to call it a day! Sometimes you have to listen to that little inner voice that says "stop now, before you have an accident!"

T

[owend]

Good day, calm and bright. Deliberately kept to the garden to master hover/control - if I can manage it in this confined space the open air will be, so to speak, a breeze. Anyway, at the end of the first battery a (wooden) blade just touched a bit of garden furniture and exploded! My fault, I let it drift too far. Replaced blades with spares (Align CF seconds, work fine except they're a bit slim for the blade grips, added a plastic washer, simples!).

Then, another 5 batteries (or rather the same two, recharged three times), no further crashes! And by the end a 1.5 minute continuous hover without touching the ground!! At almost 50cm altitude!!! Seriously, I think I'm going to spend another few days getting confident with the hover in the confined garden, I was trying to go too far too fast before. I stayed tail-in today, and probably the next time out as well.

It may be my imagination, but the heli seemed more stable with the Align blades: they're fractionally heavier, a few mm shorter and they feel slightly more rigid - would these factors make for any significant difference in flight?

Owen

[highlightshadow]

You will find that helicopters have this really interesting force-field around them which acts to pull the flying beast into any and all garden/household furniture possible

The heli will fly different with stiffer blades although how a heli 'feels' from flight to flight can really be down to your own head ... perception of a problem can be an expensive mistress

[tomatwalden]

Hi Owen,

Putting shims in to make the blades fit is normal. In fact, shims come as a component part for the CF blades for the 450X. The thing you must do however is to use an even number of shims, both below and above the blade (normally, two). Otherwise, the blade will sit either vertically high or low in the blade grip and ultimately damage the blade grips. I may be wrong, but I don't think you want to run it too much with only a single shim in the grips.

The heli probably is slightly more precise due to the stiffer nature of the CF blades rather than more stable.

HTH. T

[owend]

highlightshadow, I've noticed the magnetic effect already, I think there's a Principle waiting to get out, like Newton's - do you think it's tied in with the butter-side-down effect and Sod's Law? I had modest goals today (simple, tail-in, low hover), so the stability I felt could be down to my mind, having achieved a stable hover at last!

Also, Tom: you may be right with precise rather than stable, thinking back, I think the stability might have come from the heli being a bit more responsive to small inputs. I didn't have any small washers in my toolbox, so I used the black plastic reinforcement from the old, broken, wooden Blade blade, which had the right size bolt-hole already. I cut them down to a round shape, it only needed one on each blade, which I put on the top of the blade for each. Do you think it should have a shim/washer on BOTH sides?

Owen

[tomatwalden]

highlightshadow, I've noticed the magnetic effect already, I think there's a Principle waiting to get out, like Newton's - do you think it's tied in with the butter-side-down effect and Sod's Law? I had modest goals today (simple, tail-in, low hover), so the stability I felt could be down to my mind, having achieved a stable hover at last!

Also, Tom: you may be right with precise rather than stable, thinking back, I think the stability might have come from the heli being a bit more responsive to small inputs. I didn't have any small washers in my toolbox, so I used the black plastic reinforcement from the old, broken, wooden Blade blade, which had the right size bolt-hole already. I cut them down to a round shape, it only needed one on each blade, which I put on the top of the blade for each. Do you think it should have a shim/washer on BOTH sides?

Owen

Owen - yes. Remember, weight is a function of centrifugal force - ie. those blades effectively increase their weight as they spin. That force must go directly through the feathering shaft - ie. the blades need to line up with the feathering shaft. If you put a shim on one side of each blade only, then you will introduce a shearing force on the blade. It would be like doing a spin with your arms held slightly up rather than directly out. Centrifugal force is trying to spin the blades out at 90deg exactly. That single shim will be disturbing that.

If it was me, I would replace with two proper shims. eg. BLH4304 Main Blade Shims 450X

T

[owend]

Yes, I see! I was just thinking of getting the blades firmly held, not of centring them on the shaft. I can't see shims for the 450 3D at our local model shop's site, I presume those for the 450X will be the right size?

Owen

[tomatwalden]

Yep. The 450X is just the flybarless version of the 450-3D ... They're 90% the same heli mechanically.

[owend]

OK, another trip to the model shop! The 450 was flying with no vibration, but only about half throttle, so I'll get properly shimmed before I try inverted, which won't be tomorrow!

Owen

[PsiFox]

An interesting post for this Noob. The 450 3D RTF is one of the models in my short-list for purchase. Thanks for the info.

[owend]

PsiFox: I'm pleased you find the thread useful, I've had a lot of help from the forum members so it's good to be able to return the favour!

I like the 450 3D (although I don't have anything to compare it to!), but I found it a big jump up from a co-axial "trainer", I think, as others have said, an intermediate step might be a good idea (mCPX or Nano seem good candidates). You don't say if you've got a heli yet, if not I would suggest cutting your teeth on something smaller/simpler than the 450 3D.

Owen