The streak is over !! 500-600 flights and Capicopter is down :(

[DominicD]

Well after over 500 flights, about a year of flying on the 550 with ZERO i mean ZERO maintaince on this bird i finally had a mechanical failure today :( The flybar broke in flight during a piro flip, heli started to shake pretty bad so i knew something was wrong, i brought it in and did a small auto with it. Sure enough half the flybar and paddle is missing in action. I haven't had a chance to take it apart yet but hopefully all it costs me is a $2 flybar.

I found another reason to use KBDD paddles, the paddle was easy to find in the field :)

[Slyster]

Should have gone FBL capi.. would of saved you those two hard earned dollars!

[lotus7]

Where did it break ? Methinks it will be at the point where the grub screw grabs the flybar where it exits the flybar cage
That little bugger put pressure on the flybar , maybe the tiniest nick , so a stress riser point on the bar , resulting in metal fatigue ?

[DominicD]

No, it broke about an inch out from the flybar cage.

[barzaun]

I believe that flybar has lived its life and what a useful life it had. More than 500 flights, impressive. I wish Capicopter many more happy flights and, of course, the same number of happy landings!

[Slyster]

Must have been flawed from the start.. no way is a flybar going to weaken all on it's own just by spinning around ?

[DominicD]

There is alot of force acting on the flybar, over enough time it will weaken and fail.

[Dogpatch]

To prevent this type of issue, a strict schedule of routine crashing should be implimented. If "Time Between Failure" can be estimated-- I'd recommend a good crash about every 250 flights--at the very least. This prevents fatique and moths from forming in your wallet.

[DominicD]

LMAO that's my usual methodology, but i've got my 550 setup so quick i can get myself out of trouble very quickly. I am more likely to dump a slow underpowered heli, neither of which describes my 550.

[Andyzboy]

I had that happen a few months ago, came out of a flip and saw a little black speck fly off to the right. Didn't notice any vibes surprisingly, but the blades sounded extra farty so I landed. Broke right where it came out of the cage, not at the set screw. I don't know how many flights it had, bought the heli used.

[DominicD]

Well i got it back in the air today, only the flybar broke.

[Foxden]

Well i got it back in the air today, only the flybar broke.


Good news :thumbup:

[Dogpatch]

So two of you guys have had the same critical component in-flight failure and it cost a total of six bucks?
I bet if a high speed camera could see that flybar in it's working environment, it would be terrifying.

[DominicD]

Actually its a $3 part :) If you can get enough flights and fly hard enough every flybar will eventually break.

[Mecos]

I assume they were not stock paddles on the Flybar.

Deviating from the manual may have been the cause of these strange happenings. :o Are the stock paddles lighter?


I take it the Capicopter is ready for tomorrow? I have a video to shoot.

:D :noteworthy

[Andyzboy]

When mine broke I was running the stock paddles

[DominicD]

Yeah I will be out flying the 550 tomorrow. I am having some gov/engine problems so the 50 isn't really flying tomorrow.

[kazager]

I think the 550 "rejected" the flybar, it wants to be FBL, it's practically begging you!

[Dogpatch]

3 dollar part. 2 failures. 6 dollars total. Should this be a recall issue? If I fly this 500 times five minutes and ANYTHING breaks-- I don't want my money back. I want a trophy. And then a new bird cause you just can't trust it anymore. Unintended deceleration.

[Laposelemer]

Hello!

Look what's happened with me today.

As I remember after a piro-flip I heared a bad canopy resonance.
Above the ground, I saw the tail fin and the landing skid shook much. I landed without any problem. I could control the bird fully.

That's why I won't buy a $30 or $60 paddle. It's impossible to find. :YeaBaby:

I used stock paddles and HK-500 flybar rod.

Attila