Have you ever experienced this???

[Rob43]

Yesterday, I went to the field with my two nitros...T-Rex 600NLE, and a Fury 55. I was most concerned about testing repairs I made to the Fury after an elevator servo failed and taco'd it in. Everything went pretty well. No vibes, no tendencies...nice hover. Rex57 was running fine. Engine started running weird and stalled on the ground. Bad plug. Replaced the plug...then I noticed low compression!! Not good, right?

So, I got out my trusty T-Rex...and it felt somehow, out of sorts. It just didn't hold aileron, when flipping with elevator. I could fly it, but I thought...man, is it me? Is it just not my day? I went home.

Later in the evening, my son coaxed me into taking him to our flying field to shoot his rockets. I thought I'd get back in the saddle with my T-Rex. When I got it out of the car, I saw some weird looking misalignment in the links to the head- especially the washout levers. A second look, and I saw the problem...the washout base had come off the pins. It was resting against them...but not on the pins! Whoa!!! I ran the swash to the bottom by hand, and sure enough, it cleared the pins and could then raise up aligned properly with them! No doubt the cause of the earlier problem. As you can imagine, it flew great again.

I won't soon forget that from my pre-flight checks!

By the way, my Rex57 was toasted. liner is scorched, and compression was lost. Top of cylinder looks like it deformed.

[LegndarySaiyan]

I had to adjust swash mix for that reason when I set mine up. I can lower the swash enough by hand when powered off to clear the pins. When on, the servos won't travel that far but I keep an eye on it for that reason. Good to emphasize preflight checks once again. I caught a mixing arm that almost fell off yesterday before flying. That wouldve ruined my day but thanks to the check I caught it.

And sorry to hear about the novarossi that's a painful loss.

[ShankBones]

If I'm understanding correctly.

I had the same issue with my NSP. Someone here on HF gave me a great idea to fix the problem.

I used one of the rubber skid grommets, I cut and trimmed it to about half and slide it over the main shaft in between the swashplate and collar just enough so the pins do not fall out when the heli is NOT powered up.

Never had a problem since.

[Bob O]

Rob,

Mine does the same thing. One time when I powered up the receiver not knowing that the swash plate had bottomed out and the washout block had come off the pins and rotated slighly, when the receiver initialized and the swash plate tried to go to it's normal position, all three cyclic servos started screaming as the washout block was jamming up against the phasing pins.

I unplugged really quick to check why my swash plate wasn't coming up, and that was when I saw what was going on. Every time since then, prior to powering up the receiver, I always physically verify that the pins are engaged in the washout block.

Good catch and I'm glad yours didn't result in a crash. Sorry to hear about the .57 though.

[SycoCell121]

+1 to mine as well. When I power off, I can lower the swash below the pins. But so long as you have your mixes correct, you don't have to worry about it.

[Rob43]

Originally Posted by ShankBones

If I'm understanding correctly.

I had the same issue with my NSP. Someone here on HF gave me a great idea to fix the problem.

I used one of the rubber skid grommets, I cut and trimmed it to about half and slide it over the main shaft in between the swashplate and collar just enough so the pins do not fall out when the heli is NOT powered up.

Never had a problem since.

Cool idea 'Bones! I was beginning to try and come up with something like that, but I will probably not have it again since I'm sensitized!! e.g., "Watched pot never boils".

[ShankBones]

Hey guys, here are some close-ups of the skid rubber grommet I installed on the main shaft between the collar and swashplate. Also shows how far the washout base will drop from the pins.

I can't explain why it only happens with the 600 Super Pro metal head assembly. I know some of the links are different in length from the regular Nitro Pro. Come to think of it, that may explain why.

[Bob O]

Nice pics and excellent mod! I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I've read that the LE pins are even shorter than the early NSP pins.

[stualoo]

I have DS620 servos on my cyclic and they are very free and regularly sag down under the weight of the swashplate and drop off the pins when not powered up. They've always done it so I always try to remember to check the pins before flying. Recently however I forgot and was suffering the same very odd flying characteristics as you had. The heli was really pitchy and didn't feel at all right when I banked it round after taking off. Luckily I guessed what was up and brought it back round and landed it straight away before I attempted anything else!

[Sonic_BOOMER_SOONER]

I have a 600 Nitro Pro that has become a Super Pro over time except for the canopy and tail blade grips. I guess I'll consider myself lucky that I don't have to deal with this issue. I'm running the DS620's also.

[theflyingman2]

It is normal for the washout to fall below the phasing pins on the stock head.