tail speed up gear upgrade....does it make much difference

[dogbiscuit]

not so long ago a kind chap on here sent me a tail speed up gear for the blade 400 for free with a charger. as it appears a bit of a hastle to fit i wondered how much diference it makes to the heli. (i have hitecs/fast tail servo and gp750)
i still like my blade and fly it often.....is it worth fitting the upgrade gear?

[dogbiscuit]

someone must have tried this? please anyone

[cjcj1949]

Generally speaking the larger the prop the better it produces thrust. A faster prop will work at a smaller angle and be more sensitive to slop. I wouldn't upgrade a Blade400 with anything that couldn't be moved onto another heli. I think there are enough good reasons for spending money on helis without unneccessary upgrades.

[bolders]

I used to run one on my blade when I first started out. However, I changed the gear at the same time as the gyro and tail servo so its a bit difficult to say how much difference it really made. The tail was pretty good overall though tbh. One thing to be aware of is that the speedup gear is often known to make clicking noises (noticeable on spool-down). Mine was one of the ones that did but it didn't seem to affect the performance at all. I would just fit it one day when you feel inclined to do so and judge for yourself the difference it makes. It certainly should not make things any worse.

[cjcj1949]

A good gyro and tail servo may be a good idea or perhaps better to go for the £50 flybarless. Was it Tarot zxy? I'm not sure if it can be used just as a tail gyro. I'd like to try it as that.

A speedup may be a good idea for some reason that noones mentioned or perhaps it works and noone knows why. I'd have thought the designers would have picked the best speed. Try it out if you want to.

[dogbiscuit]

I used to run one on my blade when I first started out. However, I changed the gear at the same time as the gyro and tail servo so its a bit difficult to say how much difference it really made. The tail was pretty good overall though tbh. One thing to be aware of is that the speedup gear is often known to make clicking noises (noticeable on spool-down). Mine was one of the ones that did but it didn't seem to affect the performance at all. I would just fit it one day when you feel inclined to do so and judge for yourself the difference it makes. It certainly should not make things any worse.

an old post revisited, but explains a new problem....

i have had the gear on for a few months, and have to say that i cannot really tell the diference at my level of flying, but, i have been experiencing a ticking noise for a couple of weeks, and have stripped the heli down and rebuilt it only to find the ticking noise returns almost imediately....... i have been at a loss as to determining where the noise was coming from. even some of the guys at the sothwest heli flyin where unsure of its origin........well, looks like bolders has resolved that one......the speed up gear causes the ticking. (another one for ron to add to his head full of blade 400 knowledge)

[Boggy]

hi Harvey.sorry i missed this thread first time around, I have the speed up gear on mine and it is ok,maybe its a machining issue?Like bolders I have switched gyro and servo,but im pretty sure when i first fitted the speed up gear,it held the tail better but never cured/stopped the kick out on pitch pumps

[dogbiscuit]

thanks ron, i had allready put hitecs on the cyclic and a gp750/hitec 5084 on the tail as well, so the heli was loads better anyway.....time will tell for sure if it is the tail speed up gear thats causing it. when i can be bothered i will put the old one in and see if it stops ticking.

the bigger question is should I fbl it (with beast x) for a bit of fun, and will it really be anywhere near as good and powerful as a 450x when its done?

[horneteer]

A ticking noise can be a sign of a bad mesh between the belt and the spline on the tail shaft or drive gear.

I recently converted my Blade 400 to fbl with the Align 450DFC head. Since I did that a couple of months ago I am flying this heli more than my 600 and 700 combined! IMO the DFC head gives a better setup than the 450x. Particularly with the new 450 motor from E-flite.