NOOB needing help!

[runnin2live]

Okay, my first problem I need some help with. I have the Blade 400 with a complete stock setup; servos, gyro, head and all. I got a great deal on it from a guy at my LHS. I also got a good deal on here for a DX6i.
Some back ground, this is my first CP heli, so I took my time getting it properly setup and ready for my first flight. I have learned to not rush things.
So, I did my best to level the swash at center stick, checked my pitch at full positive and negative, 11 on both, then put got ready and took off to the field. I did have training gear on for this just in case. One other thing I did was watched the Horizon video for there SOFTER settings to dumb it down some.

At the field I got everything ready, turned on the tx, plugged in the battery in the heli, turned on TH, putp on canopy and backed up some. As soon as I took of TH the rotor started spinning so I gave it some negative trim to stop it( I have never read of anyone having to do this???) Oh well I think, on to flying it! As I give it throttle all is well, it starts to get lighter, ready for lift and instantly it is starting to scoot to the left and the nose is starting to swing to the left(tail going around to the right, pretty hard) so I sit it down. I try it a few more times, easing into it and the same thing. I finally was going to try to not be nervous and get it off the ground and give a slight faster throttle, and it swings around really fast and dives left. Rotor to the ground, bent feathering and main shaft and broken Jesus bolt(which I have to buy today). Everything else I had.
So, as I left the field, I call the guy I bought it from and tell him all about this, he tells me that he off course never had this problem, but he did lower the gain on the gyro a good amount some time ago because it was really squirley????? Could this be my problem?

As I am going back together I am double checking everything again and will see how it does. One other thing I did notice while at the field is the rotor level just before lift. The blades seem to be leaning to the left(the direction it headed on lift off). One other bit of info, my prep work before I tried to fly it is as follows; balanced blades, made sure they were tracking properly(they were), checked pitch+-, leveled swash and I think thats it.

Hopefully this isnt too long winded, I just wanted to give as much info as possible. Thanks for any help. And I did read tons and havent found anything like this in my readings

[Andrew73]

Sorry to hear about your mishap, stick with it!

You adjust the gyro gain on the TX, I don't think the adjustment pot on stock gyro does anything in normal flight. I had loads of problems with mine, looking back I don't think it ever worked properly, eventually I just upgraded it. I test the heli on a lazy susan after any setup work on the tail to check the gyro is functioning ok, I made mine from a TV stand turntable.

My B400 also needed a couple of clicks down trim on the throttle, otherwise the blades spool up at minimum throttle, but none of my other models do this. Make sure you trim the throttle and re-bind to set the fail-safe, so the motor stops if it loses contact with the TX.

Good luck!

[Andrew73]

p.s. The belt might be twisted the wrong way, have you checked the tail blades are rotating in the correct direction? They should come up at the front (into the down-wash from the main blades) and go down at the rear; i.e. they rotate anti-clockwise when looking from the starboard side.

[butterfingers]

It sounds like you have two things going on.

Tail could be caused by the gain being to low. You adjust that in the gyro / gain menu on the dx6i. There are two settings Heading hold, and rate. I believe anything above 50 is heading hold, and everything below is rate. You want head hold. Try increasing the gain until you get wag, and then back it off.

Did you do any setup on the tail before you tried to fly it? When you spin the main blades by hand, do you hear any clicking? Your belt may also be twisted, or you may have worn out bearings.

The other thing is the helifreak leaning to the left when you take off. There is a natural tendancy for the bird to go to the left because the tail is pushing to counteract the rotational force of the main blade. However the helifreak shouldn't be leaning to the left. Do you have a swash leveler? If not, you should get one, and watch the setup videos.

If you already know this stuff, sorry for wasting time..

Stick with the B! It can be very rewarding and parts a cheap!

[butterfingers]

Helifreak = heli

LOL stupid autocorrect

[agagescu]

You've just set this up with a new radio so the first thing you want to check is that your tail and gyro are going the right direction. Then you can worry about the gain.

[runnin2live]

Thank all of you for the replies. I have checked the rotation of the tail rotor and it is in fact going counter clock wise. The belt seems tight. I am really thinking it is a gain issue. I set it up with stock settings. I guess I was thinking that would do it. I believe the setting right now is at 67.5. I guess my first step will be to increase it a decent amount????? I have just read so many peoples settings and dont remember anyones gain set up that high.

[MiataJohn]

You need to set up the tail in rate mode first. Put heli in rate and on a smooth, level surface. Spool up slowly until heli starts to get light. The tail should not move either left or right. If it does move, turn on TH and adjust the tail slider via the tail pushrod to stop the rotation. Keep spooling up and adjusting until the tail does not move or moves very, very slowly. Then you are ready for heading hold. Gain on the tx should be 60+ %. Believe it or not their was a time before gyro's and the only thing available was rate mode. Hope this helps.

[Bee_random]

Sorry to hear of your loss, do keep at it though. It WILL come to you eventually.

As to your story... all too familiar and completely normal . This is what it's like to fly CP. Constantly correcting everything! My first flights were just the same.

It may help to use the Blade400 bible for hints and tips on how to make the heli more docile. There is a heap you can do to the setup while learning.

Good luck. B

[dbennettya]

Another good reference for the stock setup is the online Plug & Play B400 manual. It has way more setup info. compared to the standard manual.

Good Luck, Don

[runnin2live]

Well, all the advice really helped out. I re centered the tail servo, adjusted the rear rotor and re set the gain a little higher. A few lift offs and a few more gain adjustments and she was hovering nicely. At that time you couldn't have drove a nail in my butt. So again, thanks to all that replied. Until my next problem

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

[MiataJohn]

Congratulations. It's sooo much nicer when it works. The Freaks are good bunch of people.