Ummm.. I figure I have a 50/50 chance it is setup right...

[theLane]

First, I have to say "sorry" to my buddy for telling (I won't tell who you are) :) But, this point probably couldn't be stressed enough.

This weekend, I went over to a buddies house. He had finished building his Raptor 50 Titan a week or two ago. I asked why he had not fired it up yet and he said he was waiting for warmer weather. Anyway, by the time we were done talking about the new bird, he said "lets do it, lets fire it up" I, of course went along with this so we took it out to the garage, no blades on yet. We were just going to fire it up and idle it a bit.

Now, you will know exactly where this is going when I tell you this next part.... he said "my only concern is if I got the throttle server in the right position, not sure if I should reverse it or not"... I did say when we started, "nah, you should just wait until you're sure", but he insisted that we try it anyway. We put a plank thru the skids, he got out the starter, filled'er up with fuel and proceeded to start the Raptor.

It was having problems starting at first and I suspect it was because IT WAS AT FULL THROTTLE!! So, when it did fire up... holly sh!t... wrapped the starter cord around the head about 6 times and busted linkages, etc, etc. $45 damage. He was lucky. When it happened and he yelled out, I flipped the throttle to max (which was actually no throttle) and it shut down.

The lesson here is DON'T SKIP ANY STEPS IN THE BOOK!!!

Was fun anyway...

[flyinfool]

Rule one is always have a death grip on the head while starting.
Sooner or later you will brain fart and have a hot start.
You can hold the head with one hand while you yank the fuel line with the other and then order your new clutch.
Had there been blades on there it would not have been fun.

[theLane]

Ya, that's what I said.

I have no experience with gas helis and frankly they scare the crap outta me. When all was done, I told him "that's exactly what scares the crap outta me" I really want to go from a Logo 10 to a Raptor, but I think I'll wait till I'm old...er :)

Can you really "hold the head" while you yank the fuel line? He held on tight and the starter was still in the hole, his arm still there while the cord for the starter wrapped around his arm and the head 6 times. I don't think you could hold the head while it's starting and put the starter down, reach over pull the fuel line out, etc... just didn't look possible to me, but then, like I said, I have no experience.

[EdgeCrusher]

Even though i know i have made no changes to my radio or Throttle linkage setup i always run my starter with no glow plug in to make sure i can hear the difference from low throttle to high throttle, Peace of mind for me.

[flyinfool]

Yes you can hold the head against the engine at full throttle, even on a 90 or even a gasser, but that is assuming that you have a solid grip on the head before the engine starts.
I have seen many hot starts held back with one hand while the other hand lowered the throttle, turned off idle up, pulled fuel line or did what ever was necessary to make it stop screaming.

It will usually destroy the clutch and clutch liner but that should be the extent of the damage.

If the cord was wrapped around his arm and the head six times, he couldn't have been holding it if he were holding it nothing would have moved.

[MarkWebber]

Hot started my gasser once. While it was 'fun' :roll: trying to hold the head, it did work and I had the radio right there to get to throttle hold quick enough that it didn't cook the clutch.

Always hold on...you're stronger than the clutch.

[theLane]

Well, this is all good info. I'll pass it on AND it makes me feel a little better about moving to the Raptor. You're right, the motor is only 2 Hp and the clutch can't be that strong, so it probably wouldn't be a big deal to hold it back.

Thanks,
Lane

[Rodan]

One thing I do (among the other start up rituals) is have the rotor near the starter shaft, so if you lose your grip on the rotor, the starter shaft will keep the head from rotating if the motor hot starts. Have it close, so it can't build any inertia before contacting the shaft.

[theLane]

Good tip!

He didn't have the rotor blades on, just the flybar and paddles. The flybar bent into an U shape while wrapping the cord around about 5-6 times and finally breaking right off the top of the head. Anyway, ya, I am sure there was some inertia.

[MarkWebber]

The flybar bent into an U shape while wrapping the cord around about 5-6 times and finally breaking right off the top of the head. Anyway, ya, I am sure there was some inertia.

Good reason to get rid of flybars...too fragile :wink:

[BarracudaHockey]

In your case it probably saved you some further damage but you really dont want to be starting helicopters with no blades one, if there is no load on the head and it does that you had an equal chance of cooking the engine.

[Yuchan]

The nitros clutch conforts me greatly.. ELECTRICS are the one that scare me like crazy. Its in the nature of an electric moter to have a ridiculous amount of torque.. that blade will start spinning immediately!

I always manage to take a couple redundant peeks at the tx out of subconscious fear.

[flyinfool]

Not to mention that it takes 2 hands to plug in the power leaving no hands left to hang onto the rotor. But then on the other hand I think that all modern ESC have a built in feature that will not allow the motor to start at power-up regardless of the TX settings.

[theLane]

Ya, mine will not power up unless my throttle is off.

[Rodan]

With the electric, I just plug in the battery with the throttle hold switch on.

[Skiddz]

The nitros clutch conforts me greatly.. ELECTRICS are the one that scare me like crazy. Its in the nature of an electric moter to have a ridiculous amount of torque.. that blade will start spinning immediately!

I always manage to take a couple redundant peeks at the tx out of subconscious fear.

Take a look at the "My Trex bit me" thread in the Trex 450 forum... Ouch!