Blade 400 Setup

[jtaliaferro]

Ok, I was flying my Blade 400 last week in wind conditions that were too high for either the HELI or my flying skills. So after a spectacular crash I went to my LHS and picked up some replacement parts. Main Shaft, Main Gear Drive, Feather Shaft, Blade Grips and some new blades.

I also picked three HS65MG to replace the cyclic servos. Every thing installed pretty well after some modification.

I took the HELI out side for a test flight, which was not successful. I discovered my pitch was all screwed up. So after changing some setting I was able to get the bird off the ground and it hovered pretty well but felt like I was flying a wet rag

I have watched finless bobs CCPM set up videos so many times I could narrate the dang thing. And now I think I am more confused then when I started.

So my set up….

I will discuss normal idle settings.

THRO CUR 0 50 80 90 100
PITC CUR 40 45 50 75 100

SWASH MIX
AILE +75%
ELEV +75%
PITCH -85%

REVERSE
THRO = N
ELEV = R
GYRO = N
AILE = N
RUDD = N
PITCH = N

No for my mechanical pitch has been set up for -10 0 +10






PS no time to proof read wife is calling so I hope its understandable.lol :lol:

[topquark41396]

My radio settings are almost the same as yours, but I go with less swash mix (50%, 50%, -60%) and the only reversed servo I have is the PITC channel. I have two stock servos in the ALIE and PITC channels, and DSP75's in the ELEV and RUDD. The gyro is set to high rate, and reversed.

When I had two DSP75's in the cyclic (don't ask why they aren't there now - let's just say gravity helped), I had to reverse them both.

When I set up the head according to Finless' videos, I found the heli to be too responsive - in other words, when I had +10/-10 on the pitch gauge and +5/-5 on cyclic, I felt out of control and the bird too responsive for my tastes (newbie here). I dialed my swash mix down for pitch and it's much better now (was -100 to get +10/-10, is now -60% and haven't measured the pitch).

If I read your post right, this is opposite your problem - you feel the heli isn't responsive enough. Here's some thoughts:

Did you replace the shims on the feathering shaft? I took all but one off each side, as more shims make the heli "stiffer" in flight. In the box, there were three on each side.

Did you lube the thrust bearings and feathering shaft with lithium grease? Have you oiled the main shaft where the swash and washout block move?

Did you get the thrust bearings installed correctly, with the grooves on the washers towards the balls?

There are o-rings in the blade grips where the feathering shaft passes through (dampeners I think they're called in the manual) - are these torn or shredded?

All the above questions are ones I learned to ask via the school of hard knocks. I hope the questions and the info I gave help rather than hinder as you look for the cause of your wet rag syndrome!

[skigolfmike]

See my http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=60405 thread about the washers on the feathing shaft. I had an extra step washer between the blade grip and the O ring. Talk about a stiff head. Since I setup per the exploded drawing and the manual (2 .1mm spacers/side) it flys a lot better.

[BKF]

How do you have the HS65MG's mounted? Did you make sure to use the double ended servo horns? That hole pattern closely matches the original servo horn hole locations. Also, did you make sure and mount the ball links to the inside of the horns? That will prevent the links from being at too wild an angle compared to stock.

Lastly, did you unplug the motor and make sure the linkages all did what they were supposed to do?

It was quite the challenge getting everything working without too much wierd CCPM interaction in the extreme top/bottom travels of the swashplate with the new servos in place.

Ok, I was flying my Blade 400 last week in wind conditions that were too high for either the HELI or my flying skills. So after a spectacular crash I went to my LHS and picked up some replacement parts. Main Shaft, Main Gear Drive, Feather Shaft, Blade Grips and some new blades.

I also picked three HS65MG to replace the cyclic servos. Every thing installed pretty well after some modification.

I took the HELI out side for a test flight, which was not successful. I discovered my pitch was all screwed up. So after changing some setting I was able to get the bird off the ground and it hovered pretty well but felt like I was flying a wet rag

I have watched finless bobs CCPM set up videos so many times I could narrate the dang thing. And now I think I am more confused then when I started.

So my set up….

I will discuss normal idle settings.

THRO CUR 0 50 80 90 100
PITC CUR 40 45 50 75 100

SWASH MIX
AILE +75%
ELEV +75%
PITCH -85%

REVERSE
THRO = N
ELEV = R
GYRO = N
AILE = N
RUDD = N
PITCH = N

No for my mechanical pitch has been set up for -10 0 +10






PS no time to proof read wife is calling so I hope its understandable.lol :lol:

[jtaliaferro]

I guess I should have added I have installed a Futaba S9650 for the tail servo.

I did not add any lithium grease to the feathering spindle. I am pretty sure the head was put together correctly with all bearing in the proper orientation. After tinkering with the HELI a bit more I have noticed that the motor sounds like its strained or in a bind. But once in the air it sounds ok. Still very sluggish in the air, it’s like not enough RPMS or not enough pitch. other than that the bird is flying as as good as it did stock.


I used the 4 way servo horns. The balls are mounted on the out side. I think I am going to tear the head down and go through every thing, at that time I will move them to the inside of the servo arms.