Maiden flight...

[ModemMisuser]

Well, I got a Blade 400 from the initial shipment to my LHS on Dec 19th, but due to weather, nervousness, and other factors, I haven't maidened it...until today.

Not bad About what I expected. A bunch of short, sloppy hovers. And a hard landing and subsequent tip on grass, which bent my flybar. Flybars are cheap, no big deal. :D

I wish there were Finless vids for the B400 though. I've watched the Trex vids, and they are AWESOME, but there seems to be significant differences between the two birds, and it's not really "clicking" for me.

I'm running it as it came out of the box which is probably not the best idea... But I'm just not sure how to reset it up. :/

[LockMD]

Sorry to hear of your crash!

Stay tuned, Sokal does and will have more vids SOON.

check them out in the sticky thread

[scolex]

Good buy man! Like Lock said Good vids to come. In the mean time Try http://blade400repair.com/# I think this is more up your alley!

[ModemMisuser]

Try http://blade400repair.com/# I think this is more up your alley!

I appreciate the guy's efforts, but his vids are just not up to Finless standards. :D Small videos, etc.

Sokal's vids are much better, but he hasn't gotten to the "good stuff' yet. :D

[LockMD]

Sokal's vids are much better, but he hasn't gotten to the "good stuff' yet. :D



Keep your eyes open very, VERY soon.......(I hope ;))

[ModemMisuser]

I hope so too. I'd love to see essentially a B400 version of Finless's CCPM setup and such...

[ModemMisuser]

The B400 is very different from a Trex it seems. Especially with that one servo so far forward from the head/swash. Confusing linkage there.

[LockMD]

Is there anything we could help you with before the video comes out?

[ModemMisuser]

Any tips on setting up CCPM/swash leveling/that stuff, basically everything covered by Bob's CCPM 1&2. There's just a ton of differences between the 2 machines. :/

[LockMD]

GreenBarOn did a nice post here:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=65756&page=3

Does that help?

[skigolfmike]

Biggest difference is the swash moves down for positive pitch. Finding the right swash location for 0* pitch at mid-stick is the key. That's where the washout arms, the seesaw and the mixing arms are all level. Getting a Trex-450 swash leveling tool will help since it works on a B400 too. Getting the head setup right makes a big difference in how it flies.

[ModemMisuser]

GreenBarOn did a nice post here:

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=65756&page=3

Does that help?


It does quite a bit, yeah. :)

[ModemMisuser]

I'm still curious how to "level" the arm/s on that far forward servo. That whole linkage is very odd. Heh. It's not a 90* affair; what do you level ... with? If you know what I mean.

[LockMD]

its 90 to the servo itself so yes it looks angled but the servo is at an angle.

[ModemMisuser]

its 90 to the servo itself so yes it looks angled but the servo is at an angle.

Yeah, just hard to eyeball things when they're at an angle... Plays tricks on the eyes. I wonder why the designers went with this odd design.

[skigolfmike]

Fair question. it's the arm on the bell-crank in the middle of the frame. That arm needs to be level. The arm on the end of the bell-crank and the servo need to be parallel. It doesn't matter if the servo arm is not 90* to the servo case because the arm on the end of the bell-crank and the servo arm move in parallel; otherwise, there will be binding. Trust me on this one, the bell-crank arm that goes to the swash will move correctly if you do this.

Also, those parallel link from the servo arm to the end of the bell-crank must be the same length. If you replace the servo (i.e. an upgrade servo) and use a new servo arm, make sure the holes in the servo arm the links go in are the same distance from center at the original servo arm.

Yes, it's a PITA, but it's worth it because you can get rid of a lot of unwanted mixing as the swash moves through it pitch range.

[LockMD]

what he said