Trex 450 pro: the turd that never stops stinking

[newbheliusr]

One time I decided to pull these little spacers out of the tail grips. The tail wagged so bad back and forth I put them back in and it stopped.

[Atomic Skull]

Originally Posted by newbheliusr

One time I decided to pull these little spacers out of the tail grips. The tail wagged so bad back and forth I put them back in and it stopped.

You mean the shims between the thrust bearings and radial bearings? Of course it did, the blade grips will bind up under load if you remove them.

Another thing to watch out for is using the right kind of shim for the bearing arrangement.

Thrust bearing on end : Shim must match outside diameter of bearings and not touch the spindle shaft.

Thrust bearings in center: shim must match inside diameter of bearings and nut touch the outer housing of the grip.

Getting this wrong will cause the grips to lock up under load. This is because of how load is passed through the bearings to the bolt on the end of the hub.

[Kap'n Krunch]

Originally Posted by Thestructured

Welp, another failed attempt to fly my 450 pro today. It appears that the torque tube gears can't handle taking off in the low, well cut grass of a flying field. Am I supposed to bring a cardboard box with me to use as a landing pad?

This also happened in my backyard when I first tested the thing. So, off to replace the front torque tube gears for the second time, without ever even getting the thing in the air for more than a few seconds.

Let's not even get started on the tail vibes that don't seem to have an origin. I just want it to fly!!

Really I fly and crash my 450 like an mcpx rebuild and it keeps flying like the day I bought it new and for sure it has over 200 crashes on it if i was to guess nothing stinking about mine

[LinusLarsson]

If you strip those gears that easily you must be doing something wrong. My 450Pro never stripped any gears, one crash and some tip overs from auto-rotations. The friend I sold it to probably have 200 flights on it, he has never stripped the gears and he's somewhat a beginner at RC helis.

I don't know what you are doing wrong but it surely doesn't have to be this way. A little bit of grass is not the problem. My tail blades looked like lawnmower blades at times.

The helicopter was a 450 PRO V2 - 6S straight out of the box. No upgrades.

I have however seen a pilot at a funfly strip gears every single flight (This heli was a GAUI though), I didn't stand by him to see what he was doing wrong though. But surely it wasn't a design problem of the helicopter.

Personally I had more problems with the 450 belts snapping back in the day. Happened on one or two occasions, but I wasn't the pilot or builder then that I am now. Probably my fault.

[Thestructured]

[deleted]

[jp0160]

Throw a 1/4" spacer (i made one out of wood) between the frame and the rear skid mount. Secure it with zipties so it can pop off in a crash. This will jack up your tail at least an inch off the ground and get rid of 90% of tail strikes.

Or, switch to belt drive and don't drag your tail

[Staticxd00d]

Originally Posted by jp0160

Throw a 1/4" spacer (i made one out of wood) between the frame and the rear skid mount. Secure it with zipties so it can pop off in a crash. This will jack up your tail at least an inch off the ground and get rid of 90% of tail strikes.

Or, switch to belt drive and don't drag your tail

Hmmmmmm..... This sounds vaguely familiar.......

How many people are going to suggest this mod until you do it?

[CRASHLEY77]

Originally Posted by newbheliusr

One time I decided to pull these little spacers out of the tail grips. The tail wagged so bad back and forth I put them back in and it stopped.

One time at band camp........

I have read enough of you post to know this was a joke!!

[CRASHLEY77]

Originally Posted by Thestructured

I'm glad yours is working great. Bringing plywood around with me is not an option, but maybe I'll live with lugging a cardboard box with me to the field.

The whole reason I got another 450 was just to warm up before flying the bigger helis, yet so far it's been the biggest PITA.

-_-

Will test it tomorrow to see if I've got it working. I replaced some of the TT gears.

I feel your PAIN!! I have a really thick yard that is like trying to land on a sponge. I like a TT tail but it is not conducive to where I fly either.

I put a set of 500 skids on both of my 450s and switched them to a belt drive. Heck, I can trim the hedge now with the tail and it does not care!

I used the TAROT PRO belt assembly and it works great. My tail holds and I have not had to bench it for a tail issue since.

I did crash it at the beach a couple of weeks ago

[oliver1071]

Even though a belt will save you in a thick grass situation I don't know if I'd want my belt repeatedly skipping teeth because I don't feel like putting down a landing pad.

The pad doesn't have to be large. Your tail doesn't tip backwards with a lipo in the front so it could be a 12"x12" ceramic tile or something or even the 24"x24" tiles. Shouldn't be to much to transport.
Or a small piece of plywood or if your driving to the field your car mat may work if it's heavy enough.

[Staticxd00d]

We actually have heli pads at the field... they're just on the other runway, which we don't normally fly at in the afternoon due to the position of the sun.

[skunkworx]

I wadded up my pro not too long ago taking off of a piece of cardboard. It did great until I moved its position and the wind or rotor wash scooped it up and gobbled the heli.

I still take off in some pretty tall grass even with the 180 and 250s so the pro just really needs the grass stamped down in most cases.

[Bladecpnitro]

Originally Posted by oliver1071

Even though a belt will save you in a thick grass situation I don't know if I'd want my belt repeatedly skipping teeth because I don't feel like putting down a landing pad.

The pad doesn't have to be large. Your tail doesn't tip backwards with a lipo in the front so it could be a 12"x12" ceramic tile or something or even the 24"x24" tiles. Shouldn't be to much to transport.
Or a small piece of plywood or if your driving to the field your car mat may work if it's heavy enough.

A car matt works fine its just more tedious getting back down on it but no biggy for a Pro. Thats the only place I shine is getting my heli back on that tiny car matt.

Once I got grass wrapped around my tail shaft even with my 4x4' plywood matt unknowingly before take off and everything was fine until I hit IU and did a half piro flip. Once I turned the rudder it wouldn't return to center. I hit throttle hold almost instantly and did a soft inverted auto. I'm sure not trying it without a matt.

Of all times I had a crowd of Teen's eagerly watching and I turned out to be a dud. I had just rebuilt the thing 3 times and got it ready to go again after being plagued with belt slipping issues. I finally found the front drive gear was worn slap out that time.