Rave 3D

[Tim Procter]

Finished building my Rave 3D and just had it out for its maiden flight.

Has to be said I have set this up quite nicely with all the usual requirements, swash is level, 12 degrees + & -, running 3s packs and the thing is all over the place, I mean really hard to fly..

I brought it in with a hell of a struggle and double checked everything, No binding from links etc.

Spartan working fine
Hitec HS-65HB Cyclic
JR 3500G tail
Stock motor (Scorpion)
Scorpion 65A esc all setup good
Radix 325's
Spektrum AR6200

Now I consider myself a reasonable pilot now and have never used expo but feel this just needs some to calm it down.

The wind is blowing hard here this morning but this isnt causing the heli to react the way it is doing.

I have dialled in 25% expo now and going to give it another try.

Anything else to consider before I try again.??

[steelie600]

how much cyclic pitch you running tim it may be an idea to turn it down to about 7 degrees while you get a grasp of it

[t-rex pedro]

Headspeed? Is it the -6 motor tim? If you have 100% flat line that could be the problem. Although I know you had a -6 in your old 450 so you should be familiar with it. Maybe back off the cyclic a bit and lower the HS and see what happens mate.

[Tim Procter]

Yep backed of the cyclic and tried in both normal (lowish headspeed) and idle 2 at 100% flat line and its close to crashing in this wind here today.

Maybe its me out of touch with 450 size helis but the T-Rex 450SE v2 was never this hard to fly.

Just trying to hold a stable hover is just not possible, Its floating around all over.

Back to more checks on the heli.

[t-rex pedro]

Tim, just a thought but is the ESC set up properly? I put one on my 450 and had similar floating issues. I went back, reset everything and made sure I set it up with a linear throttle and pitch curve in the radio. I also didnt use the GOV function. I think thats SS 1 on the programming card.

[Smoothound]

Quality

Get an Outrage G5 instead


Only kidding Tim

[Tim Procter]

Ok we have an improvement.

Any one of these could have made the difference.

Both main and tail blades too tight, Both sets now slackened off.

Put the heavier paddles on. You get two sets with this heli. 3D Light paddles and the sports paddles heavier by a few grams.

And this which I think was the problem, It was very loose around mid stick with the current settings meaning "more stick input" for little movement on the heli which in turn was drifting miles while I was fighting the heli around mid stick.

I have dialled in 30% negative expo instead of + expo meaning more positive around mid stick, I like it that way.

Just been out for further testing and its flying much better now.

Pity the weather is blowing a gale I could have had a more positive view on this heli today.

[raptorheli2]

i flew a mates rave last weekend and i thought it was just nice on the cyclic. i don't think he runs any expo but he did buy stubs and promptly put them back in their box as it was too twitchy.

all in all a cracking little heli and certainly a step up in quality over the 450se i had before. it flies pretty much exactly as my 450se used to from memory but with a slightly better tail.

cheers

[Dodger]

The first 2 we had flew like they were on rails, the third one was not nearly as accurate. We found that 2 of the servos were loosely mounted and were flexing alot. Tightened them up up and the model was transformed and flew like the others.

If not this, let me know and we'll try and help you out further. You can reach me on 0208 668 8335, we're here today.

[Tim Procter]

i flew a mates rave last weekend and i thought it was just nice on the cyclic. i don't think he runs any expo but he did buy stubs and promptly put them back in their box was was too twitchy.

all in all a cracking little heli and certainly a step up in quality over the 450se i had before. it flies pretty much exactly as my 450se used to from memory but with a slightly better tail.

cheers

It certainly has the makings of being a very big improvement on the T-Rex 450 Paul, Just a few teething problems setting up here but nearly there.

[Tim Procter]

The first 2 we had flew like they were on rails, the third one was not nearly as accurate. We found that 2 of the servos were loosely mounted and were flexing alot. Tightened them up up and the model was transformed and flew like the others.

If not this, let me know and we'll try and help you out further. You can reach me on 0208 668 8335, we're here today.

Thanks for that Roger, Just checked and the cyclic servos are really good.

The tail has the most stupid little brackets to fasten the servo on its un-real.

Just does twist when you try to move it but the little finger brackets are poor IMO.

Don't know why but forward flips are going extreme right coming out of them.

Far too windy here to nail anything at the moment though for this size heli.

[Dodger]

Sounds like we've got similar weather - probably way too windy to get much of a meaningful set up today.

Don't forget you can double up the tail servo brackets (which is what I did) - seems plenty rigid enough given the direction of the push rod and the alignment of the servo.

Mine is now set up with 350 blades (and 4S) and I love it. Ades is pretty balistic on the 325s but they are both very precise in the air. Let me know how you get on when the wind calms down.

[Tim Procter]

Cheese Bolts

Well after a lot of work today getting the heli flying somewhat near I did the usual checks that all the head bolts and ball links were tight and the bloody feathering shaft bolt has broken off inside the shaft with hardly any pressure applied at all.

Heli is now grounded until a new shaft arrives next week.

Don't tell me Align are the only ones supplying "Cheese Bolts"

[Smoothound]

Hey Tim, just remember it's a quality kit not low grade like Align stuff

Innovative as well I seem to remember but no one could tell me what exactly was "innovative" about it at all

Should've bought a G5