Beam E4 build Vids

[HowNot2fly]

SWEET :thumbup:,i want one so bad :bawl:drool::drool::drool:

[Thrashaero]

I'm having troubles getting the Beam to act like it has good power and response.
I have the following:
Align 430L 3550kv motor, 13t pinion
align 35G esc
hextronic ubec
ar6100 rx
hs65hb for cyclic
s9257 for tail
gy401
align pro 325 wood blades

It flies OK, and the piro rate and tail hold is outstanding I think. But to get it to flip or roll, requires a great deal of altitude because it just doesn't respond fast enough.

I am also having trouble with what I think may be referred to as 'digging in'..when coming from a fast forward descent and levelling off...pulling slightly back on the cyclic to level off gets exaggerated somehow so that the heli almost is nose up vertical and the headspeed really bogs down a bit, it's like it automatically flares itself every time and i have to push the stick forward to fight it or otherwise be extremely gentle on the cyclic when pulling back.

I don't have that problem on the blade 400, which by the way seems to fly a little better (minus the tail holding quality) of the Beam, and it's entirely stock except for using the same align blades.

I also have trouble when ascending from inverted, a nasty oscillating wobble occurs..

I figure maybe my headspeed is too low, but being at 3550 kv, it shouldn't be a problem? The manual doesn't explain pinions in the little table of recommended pinions per kv rating beyond that...
My flight times aren't exceptional either, maybe 7 minutes on a 2200 pack or so and I'm not pulling hard 3D, mostly zooming around, stall turns and slow flips/rolls...because that's all I can get it to do at this point.
Is the 430L/35G esc a pretty low end combination? I know in a previous post I said I want flight time traded for super fast performance...and I don't know why I said it seemed to have plenty of power..maybe from the illusion of it being so quiet made me think that. But it really doesn't have great power and I figured I'd be able to pull off at least some tic tocs or something...but nothing too nuts. I've seen guys flying these doing hard 3D the entire flight and it lasting almost 5 minutes.

On a side note, my tail belt gets frayed very easily. The first time I didn't use any lube on it and bought another, put some Tri-flow teflon grease on it and it does the same thing with the fraying on the teeth.

[vinljp]

I am experence this strange phenomenum...

I could hover my heli without any stick inputs for a couple of seconds, but then when i transfer to FF, it seems to want to go forwards all the time and it pitches down and I constantly got to pull it up during flight. It doesn't seems to be able to glide like my ex-Rex.

My heli is very slightly on the tail heavy when I tested out its CG by balancing it on its fly paddle bar on the pitch axis.

Can anyone help explain this strange happenings despite the fact I though I got the CG right for the heli already.

[Eduardo]

Mine was kind of like that in the very beginning. For me, the reason was that the control links were too tight. Once the ball links worked a little bit and settled down properly, I can tell you that my BEAM is incredibly more obedient than my T-REX.

Eduardo

[brian94066]

gosh this heli is so sexy:arggg:

[Locktite]

Here are some pics of my E4...Great little heli..

http://lh4.ggpht.com/critterracing/SM07VzczlWI/AAAAAAAAAnU/lYCB6h_prog/DSC_0450.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/critterracing/SM071e9DNbI/AAAAAAAAAq4/9_cjKt9REqg/s640/DSC_0555.JPG

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0554.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0553.sized.jpg


http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0551.sized.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0550.sized.jpg


http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0525.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0524.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0522.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0527.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0500.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0543.sized.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0530.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0503.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0506.jpg

http://www.crispycrittershobbyshop.com/Gallery/albums/album20/DSC_0507.jpg

[vinljp]

I am facing an issue here with the elevator servo interfering with the Align MD500E Fuselage.
I have tried to place the elevator servo inside the Beam frame, but unfortunately it it interfering with the belt as you can see from the picture in the link attached.

I am out of my wits
I am also not too sure how much I can pry the fuselage to fit the elevator servo when mounted at its original outside location.

Hope to get some good ideas from you guys...

Why I do not have the attach file option?
ANyway, here is the link..
http://www.daddyhobby.com/forum/show...=29267&page=12

[Jyri]

I was looking for second Trex 450, but I got a good deal of used Beam that was never used, and I have now been building it couple of days and does it look like nice heli? It does indeed, I'm already thinking of selling my Trex and buying second Beam even tough I have not yet even flown it!

At the moment I'm installing the electronics, and wating for my Scorpion 2221-10 + 6S ESC to arrive to finish it.

[pootman]

I crashed my Beam a couple of months ago and I finally got it back together. I am having a couple of problems though and I'm looking for some advise on possible fixes.

#1. I've reset all my links to be symmetrical and adjust for three new servos (HS-65MGs). But when the blades are at the 6 and 9 O'clock position (viewed from the rear of heli) they are dead on 0 degree pitch at mid stick. But then when they're are the 12 and 3 O'clock position they read +2 degrees. The swash looks perfectly level and the feathering shaft seems to be straight (I rolled it on a flat table). What should I try next to try to resolve this issue?

#2 I had a chance to test hover this heli and when it's on the ground spooled up at mid stick everything looks good. But as soon as I lift off the ground the tail (and I believe the entire heli, but shows up most at the tail) has high freq vibration. The blades are balanced, the main shaft is brand new, and the tail rotor shaft is new. Not sure where the vibration is coming from. What should I check to possible causes of this vibration?

Thanks for any advise out there!!!

[rightflyer]

I am far from an expert on helis, but did you check your spindles? They are easily bent.

[pootman]

I am far from an expert on helis, but did you check your spindles? They are easily bent.

I'm a novice also. Spindles? Are these blade grips or are you referring to the feathering shaft? I did take a look at the Blade grips when they were off the heli and they look straight when compared to each other. I just eyeballed them since I have no idea how to measure them precisely???

[rightflyer]

Yep, your terminology is probably more accurate. If tthey look good you are probably good, but the only way to be sure is probably to reomoved tem and roll them on a flat surface like you did the main shaft.

[pootman]

Yeah, I think that's the feather shaft. I've rolled it and it looked good. I may replace it anyway just to be sure and I have a bag of them laying around.

[rightflyer]

Keep us updated on how it works out. Good luck!

[fkbart]

Anyone had the same problem?

I just put together my Beam using following setup:

Scorpion 2221-8 (12t pinion)
Servos - HG 202MG
Gyro - HG 5000 with servo HSG5083MG (this big and fast one)
and Beam of course,
ESC phoenix 45A
Castle Creations Phoenix-45 Brushless ESC
---

I have a really strange problem that I never saw on my previous T-rex
450helis before.

When I take off and give it little bit of gas (throttle), the tail swings to
the right side (20 - 30 cm / 8 inch ) and then return back to the position I
started. It's not really waging like it did on my t-rex and then played with
GYRO gain to adjust it. When I hover with limited throttle changes, the tail
"relatively" (its still instable but..) does not move until I move the throtle stick.

Does anybody have any pointers I can consider? - could it be that :

1) this servo does not react fast enough to the throttle changes
2) or the tail belt I have there is not tight enough and when I
increase the rotation of the main gear (move the throtle stick up), then the belt jumps over the main
gear teeth so the tail speed rotation does not change
3) or somehow my ESC does not send enough voltage into gyro so the
gyro does not sends the signal to the tail servo?

I have tried testing almost everything, and nothing. Any hints you guys can
give would be most welcome.

Thanks,

Frank

p.s.; here are some of the pics I took. I am not sure with the belt setup how tight but I will probably look at this again. Also you can see some dirt from the belt on the Tail Gear.

[johankson]

Hello Frank
Check your bearings in the tail pitch slider. I had to replace mine after only three flights because it was to much play in them, causing the tail too wag when i decreased the headspeed.

Also one point that i think everyone should check is the two small bearings in the "Belt Guide Pulley Set".
Mine came out bad from the box and i had to replace because they were producing glitches when the belt rubbed against the aluminium. Make a little mark with a pen and rotate the head to make sure that they rotate.

Best Regards
Johan
Sweden

[andyferriby]

Hiya. I am from the UK and i am trying to find a painted canopy same as the beam e4 in red and black but i am having no luck!

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Andy

[Heli_freak]

Well folks, add me to the Beam E4 club. I just picked one up from www.innov8tivedesigns.com along with a Scorpion -8 motor and the Scorpion 60 amp speed controller. I'm going to round out the package with the AR6100, HS-65's, GY401 and the INO-LAB coreless digital tail servo. I can't wait to see how this heli flies.

[Mexxan]

I'm in too. Mine should be here later today - can't wait to start the build ;)

Andy, evorc.com have them in stock - need to pick one up but prefer the red/orange one.

[JAMESAK51]

Hello all!!
You guys will love your Beams.I've had mine now for a couple of months and it's one of my favorite helis to fly.I have a question just out of curiosity though.I noticed that the main blades are angled slightly downward and am curious as to what effect this has on its flight characteristics?I've checked both of my Trex V2's and the mains are perfectly straight or (level) across the top.The Beam and my V2's all fly fairly similar so I was wondering what the downward angle of the blades actually does?This would probably be a good question for Bob.I just found the design very interesting and would like to understand what effect this has on the Beam's flight characteristics.
All thoughts and comments are welcome!!
Happy building and flying to all!!
Jim

[Finless]

It's an illusion the frame gives as it is angled. On the ground yes the disk is tilted forward. In the air it is not of course. The boom is still 90 degrees to the main shaft thus other than the lean forward while on the ground it doesn't effect flying at all. Again boom is still 90 to the main shaft.

Bob

[usaf_aggie]

Hey guys I have been putting my beam together today and I noticed something peculiar when putting the sawsh together. Well first of all mine was already put together minuns the balls and CCMP ring. The odd thing is that when rotating the swash (not the ball. I mean rotating it like it would with the head) it is ratchety. It doesn't really feel grainy, but like there are detents and it popps from one to the other when being rotated. Is this normal or do I need to take it apart to check for foreign debris? Also, how the heck do you get this thing apart? They must have used JB Weld on the threads on mine!

[JAMESAK51]

Hi Bob!!
I realize what you're looking at,but that's not what I'm talking about.If you put a straight edge across the top of the blades(from tip to tip) and the head button,the tips of the blades are dropped down further than the blade roots at the grips.I think the term for it is called coning,but this would be reverse coning.Another way to describe it would be simply that the tips of the blades sag down or droop just like the blades on a full size heli when it's sitting on the ground and they're not spinning.I'm assuming that the tips will come up when they're spinning just like the full size helis.Hopefully I've described this a little better than my first post.
Jim

[usaf_aggie]

Ok so do all the beam kits come partially assembled now? My entire head was built except the balls and links. They even used loctite.

[JAMESAK51]

Ok so do all the beam kits come partially assembled now? My entire head was built except the balls and links. They even used loctite.
Hi usaf aggie!!
The head on mine was not assembled.Your swashplate should turn smooth with no notchy feel to it what so ever.I would take it apart and see what's going on.
Jim