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View Full Version : GAUI 200 SD NOT Quirky ! !


goldslinger
05-24-2008, 11:09 AM
Hey, Gang !

Got the kit with all the spare parts Yesterday. Put the decals on the canopy while at work, got home and got busy on the rest of it.

I was really impressed by the head assy. and most of the tail for such a little heli.
I knew what to expect, but this IS really the same size of the CX.

Got the tail done, and dialed in good; installed the blue bird servos, ran the wiring, set up the swash and head to the best of My ability; taking extra time to get that right (in My mind). Carpeted the lower frame with Velcro hook, padded and carpet velcro'd a square on the gy401 and tucked it in (will have to do some serious wire cutting on that later)!

Okay, enough of this careful building; it's getting late. I gotta get it in the air ! !

I started to wind the excess wiring from the gyro around the left skid, zip tied what I thought would get to any moving part including the spinning motor can, slapped a SMC 22C 800MAh battery in, velcroed it, and off to the home theatre room !

I set up the pitch curves to give Me what I estimated -4 or -5, 0, +12 or so in the DX-7.
I put in some expo, and lowered the values in the swash mix except the pitch, of course.

Set it on the carpet in the home theatre, canopyless with its guts hanging out spilling around the skids, and spooled it up. It Soft started and I Immediately noticed how quiet this thing is ! I was expecting the piney, whiney sound of a CX with stock motors.

Got it light on the skids, checked the blade tracking; PERFECT DISC!
Tested the rudder, and it nodded okay.
Gave it some more collective and it very smoothly, and full scale realistically took off and it Hung in front of Me, chest level, like a Hummingbird waiting it's next command ! It hung there like it was bored !

Most of My nervousness gone by now, I carefully slid it back and forth, to and fro; expecting the unexpected, but it was obediant and totally predictable. Did some side hovering, throttle pumping; tail little loose, so landed, pumped up the throttle curve to 0,50,80,90,100 (same as TREX), took off, and that pretty much cured it; but clicked the Gain to 75%. Now it's PERFECT !

By the third battery pack, I managed a pirohuette (1) and didn't manage to crash it in a 5 foot square flying area that I had with the furniture and all.

Got a solid 6 minutes on the old CX-2 packs with 2,450 Tached headspeed.

After about 3 tail strikes on the carpet, the tail started to wag a bit and upon inspection of the tail noticed the tail shaft gear was slipping (I was warned of that), 10 minutes later and some red lock-tite, the tail is rock steady again.

I think I'm gonna replace the piano wire tail linkage with slightly thicker C.F. like I did on the TREX.

In short, I was half expecting a buzzing hornet that was hardly controllable; What I got was a T-REX 200 ! !


Was it worth all the Money?

ABSOLUTELY ! !

Gary

Buzzkill
05-24-2008, 11:18 AM
Awesome! Congrats. We all (well 99% of us) love our Gaui 200's. Just wait until you see it in FFF. These little buggers will haul.

goldslinger
05-24-2008, 11:45 AM
Thanks, buzz.

I need to look at some of You Guy's pics to get some hints on some good wiring routing, etc. I can't figure out how to mount the 6100 RX to the front of the inner frame. I need the pins to face inward to accomodate the real short wiring on the bluebird servos (for the elevator one that won't reach otherwise).

I turned and ran the motor wiring through the long slit on the bottom frame to go under the heli and run the ESC (which is velcro'd on the Right rear frame) wiring under the rear skid mount to meet it there. The skid frame keeps it up and tight, so I'm happy with that. I zip tied the ESC to battery wiring and the RX throttle wire together running up the right side to the front and I like that too.

THE C.G. as of right now is dang near perfect ! If it turns out not to be, I have that hefty 401 floating on a long carpet of velcro I can move fore or aft.

I know a pic is worth a thousand. . . I need to remember to bring home the digital from work tonight and I'll take pics when all through for critiquing.

Gary

J-Heli
05-24-2008, 12:46 PM
Glad you like your Gaui. I really like mine too, and I was just as surprised as you were when I got mine in the air. Here's (http://helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=61025&page=8) a link to some pics of my setup (post #76). I'm using the same equipment except for the gyro. Please ignore the bad main pinion gear mesh and alignment, I've sorted that, and I changed my tail servo to a Futaba 3154, but other than that everything in the picture is still on my bird. Keep us posted.

goldslinger
05-24-2008, 12:55 PM
Nice, heli Cuzz !

I need to check My mesh; I suppose a papers width backlash?

Also, I've been reading of 3,000 HS on this little thing; I'm running 2,400 right now; too low? It feels good for hovering, anyway, but if it does better at 3K, I'll try it. I'm only getting 6 minutes or so as is, so maybe mainshaft collars too tight or gearmesh or something.
I just wanted to get it in the air. It felt smooth and ran cool.

I'm gonna be more thorough tonight; kinda go through everything making sure lock-tite is on everything on the head, etc. I want to fly it with the canopy on.

Then, bundle or cut some wiring, route them pretty, etc. and FLY SOME MORE ! !

Any tips will be eagerly read, assimilated, and exploited ! :lol:

Gary

crabfu
05-24-2008, 02:07 PM
Ha! we told you so.... we told you so....... :)

Awesome, it really is just a baby trex :) Something to experiment with.... try no expo. Yeah I know, it sounds backwards, but it's an easy test, try it! I fly bigger helis with about 15-20 expo, but on the 200 I find it much easier with 0 expo. I also fly with no flybar weights.

And a word of caution... it is really ballistic when you get it out in some open space. It's a blast, but just be mentally prepared for it :) I also find that you have to be earlier on the collective when you do sport flying, so take it up high and feel it out. I don't do a lot of inverted stuff on the 200, I crash too often lol, I mainly just fly around the small yard practicing the basics.

And yeah your head speed sounds way too low. With 2s I was getting over 4k, and had to lower my thorttle curve because it way too fast for my taste. So yeah check your gear mesh and make sure things are running smooth, 2400 is pretty darn low for this little guy. Check out some 200 videos to hear the head speed, you shouldn't have to go 3s... most of us don't :)

-Crabfu

Buzzkill
05-24-2008, 08:13 PM
Definately get that HS up. You should be around 3600 in hover. The 200 will hover just fine at low head speed. Especialy when you just get it or are relatively new to helis. The bad part is low HS means bad tail holding. Maybe you won't notice the tail hovering but when you get hard on the collective the tail will kickout. I have my curve in normal at 0-80-90-INH-100 and the tail holds in a panic punchout.

Remember the 200 HS is around 4k with a 2S and 5k with a 3S. It's gonna have higher HS than most heli's.

Gr4yb3ard
05-24-2008, 10:11 PM
Ditto... Headspeed is where it's at..

Congrats! and great to hear of another successfull launch & happy pilot!!

Gr4yb3ard

bpd964
07-13-2008, 08:24 PM
:YeaBaby:

bpd964
07-13-2008, 08:24 PM
:Bang