I keep wacking my tail off!

[gdzero]

I have a Rap 50, using wooden blades, and am still on training wheels ( hula hoop ).
My problem is I keep wacking the tail off this thing. I'm pretty sure blades are tight, although this might account for the first incident. I try to keep the tail level and not bounce to hard when landing. One suggestion I had was my blade speed might be slow.
Last autopsy revealed the tail gear retaining pin had worked out and was rubbing the tail case. This might have caused a drop in blade speed.
Any other suggestions?
This thing is killin me but I can't stop. I am hoplessly addicted. I have resorted to hiding chopper parts all over the house so my wife doesn't find out.

[Hitch-Hiker]

alot of time its the blades being too loose or low rotor speed. learning autos usually results in this same thing.

I dont see that the pin in the tail did anything.. It if would can come out further or all the way.. you would have known it with the total loss of the tail.

another possible reason.... learn to set the machine down softer... (land softer) this will come wiht time!

Hope this prevents you from wacking your tail off too much more :mrgreen:

[flyinfool]

The most likely causes of whacking you tail are

3. To loose blades
2. To low head speed
1. landing too hard (otherwise called a crash).

possible remedies

1. Stop crashing. Set your pitch curv to -2° with the stick all the way down. It does not take full bottom stick to get on the ground. You just need to move the stick a little bit below where it was hovering.

2. for training you want a head speed around 1600 to 1700 rpm. Find someone with a tach to help you set it.

3. tighten the blades. If you hold the heli with the nose pointed straight up and the blades horizontal, you want the blades just tight enough that they will not fold with a gentle shake of the heli.

[gdzero]

I attended my first flyin. It was great, anyway I had some experts look at my machine and it's setup.
The blade tightness is right on, The blade speed is very good.
The Bergen rep told me that the soft dampers allow the blades to contact the tale. He didn't suggest that I go to a harder damper though.
What would happen if I put a higher durometer damper in my machine? What effect does this have on the handling? Would this make the machine to hot for me? I'm still on the training wheels. :dontknow
Thanks in advance Glenn

[WayneBrown]

harder dampers will make the machine LESS forgiving, and more important, less stable! stay with the stock dampers until you lose the gear!!

[gdzero]

Thanks, that's what I needed to hear.