Raptor 30 V2 - Is this a "Woof"

[motorman]

Hi everyone, I'm new to heli's and to the forum, been learning to hover for about 2 weeks. I'm not even sure what a woof is! When hovering my heli (Raptor 30 V2) as I have gained confidence I have slowly raised my head speed to 1600 rpm for more stability. Occasionally as I increased the rpm to hover speed one of the blades would go out of track bad. It would make such a noise and look so bad I would instinctively cut the throttle. Without making any changes the next time I brought throttle up it may not do it.

I replaced the main rotor hub and thought it was fixed until yesterday. I was descending from hovering at about 10 feet when I made a sudden move (as in avoiding a crash), I don't know if I made a large cyclic input or if it was collective, anyway it made a big whooshing sound and looked as if the blades went out of track 6 inches. I set it down immediately and checked it out but could find nothing wrong. Is this a "woof".

Should the dampers be lubed? I did not lube these when I replaced the hub. I am using century wood blades, balance is good. Should I try the washer deal? If so does the washer actually mount next to the damper? I read the post by OC BOB but I'm not sure what the reference to the barrel means.

Thanks,

Julian

[bighands3d]

Check your head axle first If you had a hard landing and the blades flexed down wards one good time you bent it probably without knowing it. If you have any other blades you can put on it just to check the blades some CF blades even get out of track on the 30's I had to ajust my blade tracking almost every day of flight even with the Blue dampners in the head. About lubing the dampners, no I never did it. it will eat the rubber, some have tried it not sure what they used that will not eat'em up. hope this helps out some.

[motorman]

Thanks for the reply bighands, I'll check it out.

Julian

[AlanMcSwain]

MotorMan...

If bighands is having to adjust his tracking everyday, then there is something wrong. Your tracking should hold after setup until you damage the heli in a hard landing or possibly when you change blade types.

You *do* want to lube your feathering shaft and the ID surfaces of the dampers. I have used the Radio Shack Gel lubricant linked below with great success in the head, on the mainshaft and inside tail gear boxes.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&product%5Fid=64-2326

You did not mention in your post if your V2 was an ARF or a kit. If it was a kit, I strongly urge you to review the assembly diagrams for the head and make sure you have everything stacked in the right order in the blade grip assembly.

I'm not a big fan of wood blades to begin but if I were you, I'd be using the Thunder Tiger woodies.

[Spitfire_mk5]

Lube the dampeners -- just not with anything petroleum based. I use Li greese and it seems to work great -- dont know where you can get it though, or what its actually for.

[angelob]

I use dielectric tune-up grease for lubing the dampeners. This is available at any auto parts store.

Angelo

[motorman]

Thanks for the response, I did check my feathering shaft and it was not bent. I bought my heli used from an experience flyer. He flew a demonstration flight for me where he hovered inverted, did loops and rolls and other things. Of course this was with CF rotors and tail blades. I changed over to the woodies for less expensive repairs while I am learning. I have examined the head system and it all appears to be correct. I will lube the dampers and see if that helps.

Thanks again,

Julian

[dunbare]

Lube the dampners. I have never seen or heard anyone else say not to lube the dampners. You just don't want to use petroleum based grease.

When I had my raptor 30 I never had to adjust the tracking either once it was setup.

I have seen where not lubing the dampners can cause them to go out of track because the friction cause them to catch in the head.

A good person to ask is Alan Szabo if he is on this list, since he is the top Thunder Tiger Rep.

[Obsessive]

Try a set of NHP blades, or any other blade with a forward CG.

I have gotten my V2 to woof with modelsport blades, they are an example of a blade with an aft cg.

[alexander]

It may be the covering is lifting off the blades at higher rpm. Try some goldberg ultracote iron on covering. It takes a little time to remove the shrink rap, paint root and tips then cover with an iron using identical lengths of covering. That's my guess to a fix.

stephen

[Matthew]

I used my wifes hair dryer to shrink it back onto the blades. All the covering was loose on the factory blades I've ever used.

[motorman]

Yes, I noticed the coverings were loose and reshrunk mine before I used them. They appear to be OK now.

[squid]

Can somebody described the woofs to me, what is it and what causes it?

[Andrew_s]

Also check all of the little ball link screws.. They can bend just from a hard landing....The dampeners definitely need to be greased. To check the screws just back each one out a couple of turns and if it is bent, u will see it wobble on the way out.....

[Obsessive]

Lose the wooden blades. Even if they do balance out correctly, there is enough natural variation in the elastic properties of wood that they may not be matched for stiffness.

Use a blade like NHP razors. I've never gotten them to woof, and I run 1,800 RPM headspeed. Stay away from Modelsport blades, and similar. You want a blade with a neutral to forward CG. Modelsport blades have an aft-cg, which exacerbates woofing.

[Peter]

Check your blade bolts .. They may be too loose allowing a blade to retreat a few degrees ...

[franklinc]

Motor Man.....I am strictly a Raptor man and have seen the same problems not only in my 30 but others too. 9 out of 10 times the problem was the feather spindle or the wood blades. It is amazing how wood blades can go out of track. If putting on new wood blades do not fix them get the Mavrikk glass or CF blades. At least these want break the bank too bad. Tracking should not be an issue everytime you fly and even after a crash I have not had to redo tracking. One other item I have found to cause a problem is the thrust bearings (PV0365 for v2) inside the blade holders. This can cause intermittent problems. I took mine apart and the little ball bearings had gotten out of place and destroyed the surrounding parts. After replacing them I had no problems with tracking. Because these are inside you never think about taking them appart to look.....just remember there is a certain way they go in and I have to take a caliper to measure the ID to be sure. The only other thing I can tell you that can happen is the blade holder ends that connect the rod to the swash plate. The only way to know if this is the problem is to buy new blade grips and give that a shot. Some times problems can only be trial and error...replacing parts till its fixed. Hope some of these items help you in the process.