What tail servo to use with the swift

[The Steve-O]

I got a swift from a fellow pilot at the field, it has an unknown motor, spectrum digital servos on cyclic and tail (not a proper tail servo), futaba gy401, I think it is the original version of the swift, as the box has no markings otherwise, i don't know anything about swift helicopters (i fly 2 T-Rex 450's, and some indoor eflite helis) and i've haven't dealt with the larger helis. i would like to make it into a nice scale bird sometime, but first i know the tail servo needs updating. what is a good servo for this copter?

[MotorRotor]

Originally Posted by The Steve-O

I got a swift from a fellow pilot at the field, it has an unknown motor, spectrum digital servos on cyclic and tail (not a proper tail servo), futaba gy401, I think it is the original version of the swift, as the box has no markings otherwise, i don't know anything about swift helicopters (i fly 2 T-Rex 450's, and some indoor eflite helis) and i've haven't dealt with the larger helis. i would like to make it into a nice scale bird sometime, but first i know the tail servo needs updating. what is a good servo for this copter?

Do you have the instructions for the Swift?

I would put the Futaba S9254 servo that is specifically designed by Futaba for the GY-401.

But you can also use any good digital servo of similar spec.

[The Steve-O]

I'll look for the manual after work, otherwise i'll go with your suggestion, i've used futaba tail servos before and they work great

[MotorRotor]

Without seeing them up closer I cannot be 100% certain. But it looks like the motor is the Century 600+ (1110KV) and the ESC is their 80/100A unit. The manuals for them are available in the Customer Support area of the Century web site.

What pinion is on the motor? 9T or 10T?

[The Steve-O]

the motor has an 11 tooth pinion, it seemed to be happy with a 14.4V lipo when i was flying it. i have some closer shots of the motor and esc as well.

[The Steve-O]

i have a S9254 coming for the helicopter now, thanks for the suggestion

[MotorRotor]

Originally Posted by The Steve-O

the motor has an 11 tooth pinion, it seemed to be happy with a 14.4V lipo when i was flying it. i have some closer shots of the motor and esc as well.

The 11T pinion with a 4S (14.8V) pack, on that motor, is for training and sport flying as it will get you rotor speeds from about 1350 to 1700, with ESC settings from 80% to 100%. These would also be relatively friendly to your 4S packs.

Of course, with the 11T pinion, you can still go with 5S packs for some higher head speeds of 1700 to 2100.

If you ever want to go up to the 6S packs, then you should go down to a 9T pinion which would get you longer flights then the 5S packs at the same (1700 to 2100 rotor speeds). Using the 11T inion with a 6S pack would reuly in head speeds that would be to high (as high...as 2600!!)

[MotorRotor]

Originally Posted by The Steve-O

i have a S9254 coming for the helicopter now, thanks for the suggestion

That should serve you very well.

[The Steve-O]

I have a 450 heli setup for all my 3d stunt flying so i'm happy with the swift doing sport flying with the 4S/11T combo, i would love to give it a nice scale look sometime as well, thank you for the help

[MotorRotor]

Here is a video of a friends Swift 16 that is installed in a scale fuselage and flown on a 4S pack.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApNmwOoiA0w[/ame]

My camera work leaves a lot to be desired there, but it will give you an idea of what it is capable of as a scaler with that power system.

This fellow has since mounted Swift mechanics into a number of different scale fuselages.

[The Steve-O]

i recently stumbled upon this scale swift as well
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...121316&page=11

[MotorRotor]

Originally Posted by The Steve-O

i recently stumbled upon this scale swift as well
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...121316&page=11

Very interesting.

[The Steve-O]

I replaced the tail servo, setup the gyro for it, and now have a problem with the tail wagging, i think its the belt being too loose and the tail not being mounted as solid, but messing with the gain and delay didn't effect it

[MotorRotor]

Originally Posted by The Steve-O

I replaced the tail servo, setup the gyro for it, and now have a problem with the tail wagging, i think its the belt being too loose and the tail not being mounted as solid, but messing with the gain and delay didn't effect it

What radio are you using?

Sounds like the Gyro is not recognizing any of your gain settings. Are you sure the channel that you have the gain settings set into is not inhibited?

Also are you sure it is a genuine Futaba GY-401? There were some clones being sold over the net awhile ago. They were crap! A friend fought all one summer to try to get one to wrok. When i checked it out I found it was one of these clones.

[The Steve-O]

I'm pretty sure its a genuine Futaba Gy401 and my radio is a Spectrum DX7se also i'll have to double check my radio setup, i hadn't thought that it could be the gain setting not reaching the gyro as the problem

[The Steve-O]

i found the source of the tail wag, the esc in the helicopter wasn't holding a constant throttle. this was found by swapping the esc out for a cc hv100 (only large esc i had to test with), which had no issues with the tail. guess i should be replacing the esc and using a castle esc on it.

[Furious Predator]

I had a tail hold issue on my Swift as well. Problem was the governor mode of the esc was messing things up. Once i switched over to throttle curves only, problems went away.

using a futaba 9254 with great results run by a Mini-G