To Raptor or not to Raptor

[Delta7]

Been down the field today with my Raptor 50 Titan with OS 50 SX Max, had several successful basic flights, but then noticed a couple of glitches going on, there was a bit of a side wind gusting, and I was just hovering tilting slightly into the wind to keep it in one spot, and I got quite a few glitches in the tail. I tried a new glow, but same results on the next flight, after talking with a fellow club member, he pointed out that I only had a basic RX, a Futaba R168DF and that could suspecitcal to glitches? I have a T7CP Tx and have not had any issue until now. (Our field is in the middle of nowhere so no interference liekly) though I understand the heli itself can cause glitches.

The tail setup he confirmed was great with a GY401 Gyro and a S9254 servo, any ideas please? Should I get another 2,4ghx RX to go with my 6EX TX that I use with my 450?

Also he told me that I had crappy servo's on the head, in the Futaba 148's, and that I was probably near the limits with those already doing untidy figure of 8's and stall turns?

Another question to go with this thread title, is should I call it a day with the Raptor and go for less hassle in an EP Trex 500? I 've heard they can be just a stable as a Raptor 50 ! Thanks in advacne all for any comments!

[Andy from Sandy]

When setup correctly there is nothing inherently wrong with the Raptor. By having the mechanical mixing as opposed to eCCPM it doesn't suffer from any interactions between collective and cyclic controls. I doubt the t-rex 500 is as stable as the Raptor 50. The Raptor is a fair bit heavier and bigger.

To progress your flying you might want to consider changing the cyclic servos to Futaba S3152s and the collective servo to a S9252 or S9255.

What exactly do you mean by glitches in the tail?

If the helicopter has had no maintenance for sometime then a bearing going bad can cause interference problems. If only the tail is suffering however I doubt you have radio problems. Interference would be seen in all controls.

Check the tail rotor mechanics very carefully for any binding. Check the tail servo carefully for any dead spots. See if someone can check the gyro's gain setting if you are not at the stage where you can do "power moves".

[Andy from Sandy]

If you do not have a governor then you can get away with 6 channels but as you progress you might want to fit one and then you will need 7 channels if you want to have a settable headspeed with the ability to turn the governor off from the tx. Most governors can have one speed set when not linked to the tx though.

[steelie600]

the glitching could be caused by an incorrectly tuned engine. does it sound like its misfiring???

[Delta7]

To Raptor or not to Raptor

Thanks Andy for your tips, yeah the tail was just glitching a bit kicking back and forth, I thought it was the wind at the time gusting and the gyro doing it's job, but thinking about it, I also noticed when spooling down the engine would cough a bit and same when spooling back up, I guess this could be happening mid flight too, but with the engine noise at near full or enough to lift off, it was hard to tell. The same guy advise me to change the tubing in the fuel tank too.
I also had a near crash too earlier today, the tail belt came too loose and it kicked to the right just as I was landing. I tighten it up, by moving the boom back a little, but it's not as tight as it was before these probs, I guess it could be related! but the guy there, said it should not be too tight like it was?
I guess I'll stick with it, I've had about 15 flights so far, all succesful, though it is 2nd hand.
I guess the 6EX will do for now even as you say even with the goveners own setting, I need to understand more really of what they do!
The question I had as in the title, was really to continue to invest in the Raptor (servo's etc) or move to less hassle of a bigger electric? By less hassle, I mean no fuel, filling, draining etc and engine issues?

[Delta7]

I also did have the standard TT muffler come loose too, I retighten it, and I'll have to read up on correctly tuning the OS Max SX too then.

[Andy from Sandy]

Let's for a moment assume the engine just needs tuning and if there is someone where you fly can help get it tuned the cost will be fuel only. To replace the 3 servos will cost about £85.00.

To put a 500 together is going to cost shed loads in comparison and is not without its own unique problems.

It is worth persevering a little longer imo unless you can really see it is not working out for you.

[moyesboy]

The raptor will do you fine.
Regarding the servos - they are probably not up to 3D. But flying about and doing stall turns will not load the servos any more than hovering really. Only if you do rapid pitch changes and rapid cyclic movements will the servos struggle.
These analogue servos though will not be as accurate as digitals, so the controls will not be as precise.

first servo to upgrade is the collective pitch, which sees more load than the cyclics on the raptor. My rappy had a big mother of a servo on the collective and £30 servos on the cyclic, however I recommend getting 3 the same so you can transfer them to a eccpm heli like a trex or knight in the future.

My rappy had an 50SXH in it and that motor is still going in my Knight but transformed into hyper (by buying a blown motor off ebay and swapping the head and carb).

[Made2Fade]

Gotta say mind my 500 is as stable as my Raptor Titan any day of the week
Id stick with the raptor though mate... there brilliant helicopters and i still fly mine the most out of all my helis. Will cost you a small fortune to get a 500 up and going. The advice the guys have given you so far is definately good and id go with it.
Cheers
Lee

[mark Taylor]

had the same problem with my raptor 30 a few months ago
it was a hot day and the nitro engine can sometimes be a pig to tune
it def sounds like your engine is out of tune
your best bet is to try it again on a different type of day,i bet it will be ok
also try spraying some mr sheen or wd40 on the tail belt
cheers

mark

[SGsailing]

I have a raptor 30 V2 I fly on 2.4 with T6EX which is fine for a smaller heli. now I have gyro, govenor etc I need another channel for the govenor. The 6eX uses normal curve for auto's. The 6EX will solve glitching if it turns out to be that but will soon be limiting your options in a nitro heli. Go for the 7c/9c if you can. Just a heads up on thiis radio as I think the mechanical options above will solve most of the tail faults..

Steve

[Delta7]

Thanks all for your advice and experience, I will try and get someone to help with the engine tuning down at the field as you all seem to think it could be engine related, so I might as well stick with the 7 channel T7CP TX on 35mhz for now. I wanna get a fixed wing to, so I still buy another 2.4 receiver to go with the 6EX. Thanks again all ! Great forum!

[mattydred]

get the 3152 servo's for the cyclic and pitch. will cost you about £45 for 3.
get your engine tuned properly and it will probably be fine. is your rx ppm or pcm.

for my rappy i use a futaba ff7 35mhz tx/8ch pcm dual con rx, 3152's on cyclic and pitch, 401/9254, standard tt50 engine and exhaust, 15% cool power. dont think ive never had 1 glitch.

matty

[Delta7]

I have a

Futaba R168DF 8ch Rx Dual/Conv FM35 not sure if it's PCM and a T7CP Tx, will these digital servos 3152's work with this RX? Also am I correct in saying I have mechanical mixing with my Raptor, and therefore not CCPM like on my 450?

Getting confused with all these details - but learning fast lol !

[Delta7]

Good news all ! Been down the field all afternoon as excellent weather! Couple of experts watch my first flight and also notice the twitcing tail on my circuits, they got me to land, reduced the Gyro gain from 60 down to 56 and it was much better! It seems it was all down to the new carbon tail rotor blades I had fitted earlier, which are larger than the stock ones, and for which I forgot to mention in my posts! So even after my slight crash yesterday which left a gash in the turf, from my main blades, all is still well, and my figure eights were much better, even the chairman of our club, commented that my flying skills were a lot better than he first saw! 3 more flights later, I came home very happy! Thanks all and happy flying Next better servo's !.