Trex 450l dominator upgrades!

[jgiannakas]

Originally Posted by Necroscope

Hi guys, I have just gone and brought myself a 3S Dominator, more than enough for my abilities. Got the Heli option turn buckle DFC and servo linkages, as well as a 500 skid coming. They would have to be the best upgrades I have brought to be honest. I had them on an older 450. Any way how are you guys making your carbon tail linkage? How are you securing the threaded ends? I have a couple of turnbuckle linkages I was thinking of using. This would make every linkage on the heli a turnbuckle. Nice for making those slight setup adjustments.

Don't forget to get a second torque tube bearing, its an absolute must. An alternative to the bigger skids is to use a smaller tail rotor blade - I'm using the trex 450 Carbon Tail Rotor Blade Set/3K and they work great (but I'm not into hard 3D so have not experienced any loss of tail authority)

[alyon187]

Speaking of tail authority, watch the videos on how to flip the grips and do it. That or dremel the shaft but either way works.

[jgiannakas]

Originally Posted by alyon187

Speaking of tail authority, watch the videos on how to flip the grips and do it. That or dremel the shaft but either way works.

To flip the grip from leading edge control to trailing edge?

[alyon187]

Yup

[alyon187]

Other wise you would have alot of throw one way and very little throw the other direction.

[BoostinSwifty38]

As for learning, what main and tail blades do you all recommend? I dont want to ruin the nice ones in the kit. Good sites for buying? Also, does the trex 450 pro canopies fit the dominator frame, with just redrilling the mounting holes?

[alyon187]

I like orange kbdd 61 tail blades, good quality, pretty stiff and their very easy to see in flight. Site wise... anythingheli.com, tmkrc.com, tarotrc.com, amain.com, helidirect.com off the top of my head.

[jgiannakas]

Originally Posted by BoostinSwifty38

As for learning, what main and tail blades do you all recommend? I dont want to ruin the nice ones in the kit. Good sites for buying? Also, does the trex 450 pro canopies fit the dominator frame, with just redrilling the mounting holes?

I'm using the stock align main blades, they work great and are not expensive - don't want to risk it to be honest.

For the tail blades I've "downgraded" to the smaller 62mm CF align tail fins as the 68mm stock ones are just too large for me and am scared of stripping a TT gear when landing on uneven grass. Not a 3D flier though so it works.

[jaybretzke]

any links to videos of the grip flip?

[alyon187]

http://video.helifreak.com/?subpath=...name=mymod.wmv

[BoostinSwifty38]

Any other pics of what you guys have done for your landing skids? Either more pics or a side Shot with the 500 gear, or how ya shimmed it?

Also, are there any light kits out? I'm wanting a red and white flashing led just to help depict top vs bottom when flying as sun sets, and I'm not too keen on over kill on led strips and massive lit up birds.

[Darren@Oz]

Originally Posted by BoostinSwifty38

Any other pics of what you guys have done for your landing skids? Either more pics or a side Shot with the 500 gear, or how ya shimmed it?

Also, are there any light kits out? I'm wanting a red and white flashing led just to help depict top vs bottom when flying as sun sets, and I'm not too keen on over kill on led strips and massive lit up birds.

I'm in the process of building my 450L now
I've used 500 skids and have a 500 tail fin for it as well.
I had to drill a hole in each skid leg to mount it to the frame. Otherwise straight fit. Should cut the skids length down as well as they are way too long, but as stupid as it might look, I'm thinking of leaving them long at the back while I'm learning so it isn't as likely to tip back on the tail on my rough landings. Not sure if it will have the desired effect, but I'll give it a go. Heli is still far from finished, but I can take a photo of the main frame mounted on the skids tomorrow if you want

[oliver1071]

Originally Posted by jgiannakas

To flip the grip from leading edge control to trailing edge?

You only had to flip the grips on the old style 450 Pro the 450L has a fantastic tail assembly. I did the grip flip on my 450Pro but later put on a Align 450L tail assembly and it was even better than the flipped mod.

[alyon187]

The tail assembley is the same between the pro and L. They share the same gears. The only thing really somewhat difference was the pitch control arm (on older 450 align models). The tail drive shaft that has the tail hub on it is the same distance as well. So if you set it up with even travel on both sides, the counter torque at center stick faces the wrong way. And if you set it up in rate mode, you end up with crazy amounts of throw one direction and barely any in the other. Flipping the grips gets you the right amount of counter torque in the right direction with the same amount of throw in both directions.

[oliver1071]

Originally Posted by alyon187

The tail assembley is the same between the pro and L. They share the same gears. The only thing really somewhat difference was the pitch control arm (on older 450 align models). The tail drive shaft that has the tail hub on it is the same distance as well. So if you set it up with even travel on both sides, the counter torque at center stick faces the wrong way. And if you set it up in rate mode, you end up with crazy amounts of throw one direction and barely any in the other. Flipping the grips gets you the right amount of counter torque in the right direction with the same amount of throw in both directions.

Hmm never noticed that on my Pro or L before I sold them. The L tail seemed center with the same travel.

[jgiannakas]

Originally Posted by oliver1071

You only had to flip the grips on the old style 450 Pro the 450L has a fantastic tail assembly. I did the grip flip on my 450Pro but later put on a Align 450L tail assembly and it was even better than the flipped mod.

I'd agree, flipped the tail since going to VBar as I wanted it to be perfect throw wise abd indeed the default setup is not great. Took less than 10 minutes and the throws are almost equal with tail holding in rate mode.

[Kap'n Krunch]

heres mine bone stock airframe and blades

AR7200bx
scorpion motor ,
kontronik esc ,
mks 93s
align 525 tail sero
gryphon Polaris bec @ 6v