HDX 450 Build Videos will be here

[BarnOwl]

Good to hear that you enjoy the heli, Broke-again.......
About your battery: I have no experience with the Dynam, but the 11.1v 2200Mha 15c rating is perfect for your setup. If you upgrade to a bigger motor/higher headspeed they will still be ok. I have a pair of Apex packs with the same rating, and I fly about 8 minutes FF and hover. 5-7 minutes doing harder stuff. With the new Flightpower packs (2150 mAh - 20C) I get a few minutes more, but they have WAY more power on the burst (45A!).

Anyway, the stock HDX motor is about 2900 KV, this will give you a headspeed of 2200 with 13T pinion. Fine for simple flight and hovering............
If you want more headspeed, better wind performance and 3D action, you'll need at least 2600 rpm so this motor will not be enough then.

[dutch_anykey]

Hello Guys,

@broke-agan, thanks for the tip about reducing the swash-travel in my tx. I guess i was caught up in making the perfect setup....wich isnt necceserry for my flying skills on this moment anyway :oops: haha.

Still no crash overhere, must be my personal record for this heli :D Well i dont do heavy 3d stuff.....still a bit scared with my new bird....the esky cp2 on the other hand has a hard time now lol....i abuse it to practise my stick control.

I heard you talking about the stock motor. I have a rather dumb question about it...Does anybody know what type of motor it is???? I got it with the kit..but i cant find the type or brand anywhere. Its a 450th...but when i look in the HD shop there is at least half a dozen of these bl motors.

And about the oneway bearring of the main gear... From the beginning on i found that it is rather noisy...just want to check if it is normal and the same with you guys.
If I move it by hand there is sort of a ticking noise. It was gettiting less after a few flights.

thanks
Maurice

b.t.w. @Jeroen, do you fly at a club? Would be nice for me to see this heli live with a pilot that can do 3d :D

[BarnOwl]

b.t.w. @Jeroen, do you fly at a club? Would be nice for me to see this heli live with a pilot that can do 3d :D

No Maurice, I don't fly at a club. I have my own company and unfortunately no time to join a club. That's one of the reasons I choose the T-Rex: I can fly it whenever it suits in my rather big back yard.

And as far as the 3D is concerned: I am only flying rc heli's since march this year and I am not a 3D pilot yet. Only doing Fast Forward, controlled slow and fast eights, stallturns etc. No real inverted yet and I am just trying to perfect my nose-in, which is still a pain in the a**se......... :wink:

Surely there is a club in your area where there are much better pilots than me.......

[Russ]

Hi Dutch, I have the ticking noise.

[TeamTEOR]

Hey Finless, I am almost done with my HDX450SE, I have to add on the gyro and the main blades. Thanks again for your videos. I opened the box and was stunned to see all of the parts and no paperwork. I would have gone nuts if it was not for you. :noteworthy

I am using the motor that came bundled with it, a Futaba 401 gyro, HS-56HB servos on the head, digital tail servo (it was suggested to me by the guy who I bought the kit from), AR6000 RX (Specktrum), and my JR6102DX radio. As for power, I was thinking of a 3s2100 prolite pack. I am torn up on what ESC to use, but I have a EFlite 40amp V1, and a Phoenix 60 sitting around. I am thinking the Phoenix 60 becuase the EFlite ESC has been wierd in the past on planes, I ended up having to use the down trim on the throttle channel to stop the motor from spinning! EFlite refuses to do anything about it, so I am convinced it is the best left off of a heli. There is also a 5v UBEC on the bottom that I have been using to power everything up for setup which will most likely stay on there unless I get something like on of those new Jeti SPIN escs (with dual BEC). Any suggestions?

[Finless]

Well I would go with the 40 as isnt the 60 kinda big for the heli? I dont know what a CC60 looks like but if it is small go with it!

Bob

[TeamTEOR]

Phoenix 60:
Size: 1.05 in x 2.35 in x 0.45 in
Weight (w/wires): 2 oz (58g)

I don't remember if the Elite40 is close in size from the Ver. 1 to Ver. 2
Here is the info from the Ver.2
Size: 50mm 2 in x 1 in x 0.4 in
Weight: 20 g (.7 oz)

[dutch_anykey]

Hi guys,

My first crash with the hdx450 is a fact. :oops: (i already wondered why it was taking so long :lol: ) I was used to crash my cp2, nothing new. but crashing this bigger chopper in front of my feet is another story man what a smack!! I was doing figure 8's and coming out of a left turn from my left site i lost control over the tail. It was strange it was not spinning like crazy..but slowly continuing to go left. no correction could be made. flying to low in combination with my nervous breakdown it was coming at me nose in. :mrgreen: i tried to land it, not killing the throthle at once, but shut it as soon as it hit the ground.....aaauch. the tailboom folded like it was made off alluminum foil. Flybar twisted (Thanks Bob for the tip, its good to mount the 401 underneeth the boom), tail servo cut in half. spindle shaft bend badly and offcourse my (way too long) sonix tailshaft is bent.....the mistery part...the align main blades dont even show a scratch...
And i have to say that the main frame is also solid as a rock...not even a scratch.

So what did we learn....buy parts and try again :D
I have to review my wiring...could be the same problem as broke-again. since i had no tail control...

[dutch_anykey]

O.k.

Maybe it wasnt the pilots fault afterall....After our local CSI investigated this incident.
I found out that the "cut in half" hitec hs50 tail servo might be the cause and not the result of this crash. The servo house wasnt shattered, but the top-half just came off..al four pins on the corners are still intact i guess the glue just let loose. Lost the gears that were under the "hood"..so no control....

O.k. for you experts, i would like to have your opinion. What do you think. Bad production and bad luck with the hitec hs50. Or Is the hs50 to small to function as a tail servo for the HDX?
Better to buy a digital servo to go with the 401?
I assumed that a digital servo would be overdone for my flying skills, and that its only good when you are doing heavy 3d stuff. Or isnt this true?

thanks Maurice

[broke-again]

Thats too bad about your crash maurice. If your pretty certain that the servo casing seprated in the air before ground impact and from what you describe it sounds as though it did, youve been very unlucky. The actual cause could have been anything including production error. However, for glue to give way it would take heat/vibration which would lead me to think that the HS50 was being overworked. Of all your servo's, the tail is the one that is always working during flight so you want something that can handle the workload.

I choose to use a digital servo (S9650) and it seems to cope easily with the constant commands from the Gy401.

If i were you i would invest some money in a larger servo. If you do decide to go digital, make sure that you set your GY401 switch correctly.

Either way keep your chin up, crashes are part of the hobby.

Good luck

Bill

[2Dog]

I finially got the heli in the air today. :D I want to thank Finless Bob for the videos "priceless". I have to admit the tips and videos were great. Thanks :D

I have about 4 flights thru on the bird now and I have to say that the heli feels very solid. :D I got into some foward flight and nose in and need to work on the interaction of collective, pitch and roll somthing feels off. Other than the minor setup problem I'm very happy with the heli. :)

I do have one question. I'm running the Align 35A spped controller with the Algin motor and they get rather hot with the canopy on. Is this normal? :roll: I'm running about 5 mins. and the units are very hot to the touch so I stopped at that point. I did do the mod on the heat sink to the ESC. Gear mesh is normal not to tight. If I pull the canopy off the temps drop alot. I was just wondering if everyone else is seeing the temps up on the batt, speed controller, and motor using the Algin hardware?

My electric aircarft never seem to get this hot.

TIA,
Steve

[dutch_anykey]

Hi Steve,

I'm not an expert, but i had the same problems. I'm also having the same setup aligh 35A + bl motor that came with the kit. So here are my findings for what's it worth...
What throttle curve do you have? In the beginning i was a bit nervous about it. Didn't know what to expect from the power.I was taking it easy on the throtlle curve. For normal mode i had something like 30,50,55,60.65..(don't laugh you pro's :D ).And the motor+esc+battery where feeling "hot" not to bad but warmer then i wanted anyway. After a few flights i was getting more comfortable with the heli and i increased the throttle curve. Strangly enough the temperature dropped...So i guess had to much pits going for the relatively low headspeed. I dont use govorner mode...i heard that can be a problem as well.

Hope this helps you a bit.

cheers,
Maurice

[2Dog]

Thanks for the info. Maurice.
My curve looks like 0,25,50,75,100 this is at normal mode (mid stick Hover). I have yet to touch it. I thinking of bumping the mid from 25 and 50 to 40 and 65 and see if that helps. I'm guessing that I'm putting to much load on the motor.
What pitch are you running for hover? I have mine set at 7 deg.

Thanks again,
Steve

[dutch_anykey]

Hi Steve,

i have a -11 to +11 pitch in mode 1. In normal mode my pitch curve is 45,45,50,75,100.
Currently i dont have a pitch curve at all..lol. waiting for spareparts.

cheers
Maurice

[broke-again]

Hi Guys, My pitch & throttle curves are set to 50-69-83-93-100 / 0-30-65-85-100

I find these settings pretty good and the heli hovers nicely. An added plus is the fact you wont slam into the ground like a brick if you ever panic and drop the throttle in a panic.

[2Dog]

Hi Broke-again,
I'm in the same ballpark now. Pitch is -3 to +10 with mid stick hover at about +5, and throttle looks like 0,38 65,87,100. The heli is much smoother at these settings. THe heat problem is not as bad either, it's just getting warm now after 7 minutes of flight. I still like the ESC to be cooler but the battery pack will not burn me now. :)

I did start to get radio glitches and found the tail assembly loose from the tail boom on a post flight check. I'm not really crazy about the hardware on this bird. My Allen wrenches don't fight good and I can't seem to get the clamp for the tail tight enough. I'm not trying to over tighten it but I find the tail will loosen after a few flights.

Has anyone on this post tried loops and rolls and inverted hover with this bird? I done these on a 30 size but heli I'm not so sure with this smaller version how the heli will handle. I do have plenty of power with the setup I have. :D
I'm getting ready to set up the Idle up 1 mode and give it a try. Just wanted to get an idea if anyone had problems.

Thanks for the feedback,
Steve

[broke-again]

I havent attempted anything beyond my capabilities, basic flying..no 3d yet. That will come later as my confidence grows. Theres a big difference between 3d on a computer sim & using your own heli in real life..i dont have the "u know what's" yet. As for the allen screws, they are a bit on the soft side, iv'e spent good money on good tools, but found i ended up using pliers to tighten some up, especially those on the tail clamp. I reckon this is ok as long as you dont over do it as i reckon the heads would shear.

At the moment i am trying to figure out something that just started happening tonight. Just after lifting off and in a hover, my tail started bobbing up & down about an inch or so. Cant figure out why :arggg:

Anyone have any thoughts? be gratefull for any input.

[Finless]

A hali usually does that when the head speed is too low.

Bob

[TeamTEOR]

I have a nice set of stainless steel hex drivers and found no issues with the screws. If I see that there is a problem with a few of them I will just pick up some new stainless steel screws and re-locktite them into place. Everything seems to be good and strong. I almost blew it as I did forget to locktite the motor screws. I was lucky enough to find out testing my motor and esc with the HDX on the table (with no blades installed on the head). The motor slipped away and nearly stripped the plastic gears. I got lucky, and promptly did a locktite job to it while correctly spacing the gears. It is amazing how strong the tail reacts with a good gyro. (Something I wish my training Lama V3 had). I took it to the field today to see if any of the local Heli gurus were around, but they were all busy today and not at the field.

Which screws and nuts should be used to hold the main blades in place. Maybe I can go pick them up if I don't locate them in the bags and bring the completed heli to the field for the gurus to maiden and trim out for me (trying to ensure the greatest ammount of success).

[broke-again]

This is a little off topic, but thought i would share an experience i had tonight when out flying the Heli. I went to my usual flying grounds, a former rye distillery which was closed & mostly demolished years ago. Its ideal for flying as it has a nice open field where buildings once stood, with tarmac patches etc. The area is surrounded by woodlands and there are patches of bush / trees & longer grass dotted all over the place. Anyway, there i am flying the heli when i notice something move out the corner of my eye. I wasnt overly distaracted as i was too focused on the heli, but initially thought it was some kid coming up through the grass for a closer look at the heli. There are houses in the area and it would'nt be the first time some kids have turned up exploring the old buildings that still stand. Boy was i mistaken. By now the battery was showing signs of slowing so i brought the heli down on the tarmac patch and as i did, i got a good look at what had caught my eye earlier and i almost filled my pants on the spot :badair: . It was a freaking black bear, not 30 feet from me and looking right at me, tongue hanging out! The brains saying run, the legs are arguing over which one should go first!....

I was almost tempted to leave the heli & get to the car which was only the same distance as the bear - but behind me and all the time the hairs on the back of my neck are upright....Needess to say i grabbed the heli ( yeah i'd fight a bear for it) and half walked, half scampered to the car trying not to let the thing know i was nervous. I sat in the car totally mezmorised on the bear and was ready to leave it in my dust if it decided to come up closer. Thank god it lost interest after i got into the car and about turned and slowly swaggered off into the trees...

Iv'e lived in Canada for four years after moving from Scotland and had never seen a bear in that area before and i hope i dont see another.

Yep, im looking for another flying area..oh and some underwear!

[rdlohr]

Thats a great story. I met up with a bear in the woods in a dense thicket one time. We were about 15 feet apart when we saw each other. I took off one direction and he took off the other. Scared the absolute bejesus out of me. Those guys are quite big close up! My brother laughed until he was blue in the face!

[dutch_anykey]

Wooow broke-again.

Thanks for the story, and what a story !! lol. Trust me ....I would have left the heli in the woods....and probably my pants also afterwards :lol:
But it is amazing...when flying a heli you dont really know what is happening in your surrounding. I had someones dog barking at me when flying...The guy was shouting at the dog and right after that he started talking to me...till today it is still a mistery to me... who was it, and what he was saying to me lol.

cheers,
Maurice

[2Dog]

Broke-again,
Your a very lucky dude. I know I would have had to clean my pants out after that one! Not running from the Bear was problally the best thing you could have done. I would be will to guess he may have wanted to chase you if he was that close. :shock:

Steve

[TeamTEOR]

Well, I am out of luck for another week atleast. It seems that my motor has something wrong with it. It started smoking up on me while doing a simple test spin up today at the field. I had one of the local heli gurus checking all of my throws and when we throttled up the first time (no blades on) the motor seemed fine, we hit a few adjustments on the radio and spun up again, and the motor started to pulse something nasty, and I kinda smelled something. When I got home I peaked up my pack as I have been working for hours on electrics to get it right. I thought maybe some poor bug got into the motor at the field and got electrified since the motor spins fine by hand. So when I connected it back up at home I got visited by the magic white cloud genie! Man did that motor Puff out smoke. I hopefully didn't blow out my 40amp E-Flite ESC at the same time. I will connect it to a spare motor laying around to make sure it is fine.

There is also another issue, towards the top of the head there is a brass bushing and there is some slope in it. I wonder how hard it is to get a new bushing installed on there. I can take some pics or video if needed.
Tom

[backman8571]

Got my HDX out on the field

Running it with the (suppose to be 3800KV align look alike from XMSELLER)
And i am using the OTTER 35A.

It hovers great but the head speed never goes over 15/1600rpm and i am running a 13 or 15 gear on the motor.

So i should be well over 2200rpm on the head.

If i run the otter in govern mode after half throttle it goes to full speed and the same there +1500rpm not even close to +2200rpm

Any idea's

I'm using the E-Pro 2200mA 15C battery's and also tried a PolyTronics 2200mA 15C same result, the PT is even worse, might be a bad cell in that.

So anyone have any idea???

Owner of 2 HDX450 SE V2 (one with the AirWolf Fuse). one HDX450 FSE, one HDX400 V2 and 2 HDX300 heli's

Tried changing the pitch no real difference, i'm getting +- 10 % pitch
So at half throttle i have about +1 to +2 pitch


Cheers

Per