Tree 450L: Tail tilted against main shaft

[jgiannakas]

Hi all

Just wanted to check if this is normal. It appears that my tail is a little tilted compared to the vertical main shaft plane. Is this how it's supposed to be? I can't rotate the tail any further to bring it inline due to the boom stops on the front and rear gearbox

[CrashNburn420]

You should be able to get it better than that. So if you loosen up the two screws that hold the tail (the ones in the vertical fin) it won't rotate any further?

[jgiannakas]

Originally Posted by CrashNburn420

You should be able to get it better than that. So if you loosen up the two screws that hold the tail (the ones in the vertical fin) it won't rotate any further?

Hm just tried again and it can't do it...

[Steve Joblin]

Something isn't right then... there should be enough rotational play in the front where the boom attaches to the body of the heli and in the back where the tail unit attaches to the boom. Booms are cheap enough that you should have a spare... try another boom... perhaps the cut-out and hole were not misaligned.

[cajkat1073]

The front of the boom is probably not all the way in. Sometimes it's tricky to get it all the way in. Just play with it.

[Smoggie]

+1 on above advice. If you slacken off the clamp bolts at the boom mount and at the tail you should be able to rotate the tail to bring it into perfect alignment. If you can't then something strange is going on.

[jgiannakas]

Thanks guys, have been trying to sort it out for a while but gave up - the tail is twisted as much as I could towards the right. Might try a new boom, the torque tube is getting a bit worn out so thats a good excuse!

The thing is that it does not affect flying in any way that I've noticed, it piros on a dime both left and right and does not drift in any way (upright) - maybe VBar is working overtime to compensate for it. Heli has over 80-90 flights on it, no crashes and it was like that since the get go.

Cant hover inverted yet so can't tell if it has any issues there but upright FFF, piros, backflips and hovering it handles them to perfection.

How do your 450's look like? Anyone with a 450L to check?

[alyon187]

Loosen the boom block and the boom supports. The boom will rotate a lil bit. Then you can loosen the tail gear box enough to line it all up.

[Jimini]

Originally Posted by alyon187

Loosen the boom block and the boom supports. The boom will rotate a lil bit. Then you can loosen the tail gear box enough to line it all up.

He is right, this is the way to go, if It still doesn't go well try another boom as some people said here.

[jgiannakas]

Originally Posted by Jimini

He is right, this is the way to go, if It still doesn't go well try another boom as some people said here.

Thank you everyone, I've ordered a new boom to try it out, along with some MIP screwdrivers as I've managed to strip all of the boom block screws! :S

[alyon187]

Lol, whoops!

[CrashNburn420]

Get a Dremel if you don't have one. The MIP are really good and worth the money.

[cajkat1073]

Sometimes once you loosen the block it still won't slide in. After you loosen the block pull the boom out. Put needle nose pliers in the block and open it a little bit. The boom will slide in easier at that point and lock in. We have all had the same problem I'm sure. Mine felt like it was in and flew ok but my tail just didn't seem locked in during backwards fast flight,

[Ph@cops]

If it flies fine I wouldn't worry about it. Next time you crash and bend the boom just replace it with the new one you ordered and see if it aligns better then.

[jgiannakas]

So parts arrived and managed to find some time for its bi-monthly maintenance

- Re-greased head & tail & replaced dampeners
- Replaced tail boom and torque tube, as it was a bit worn out,
- Removed the stripped screws (MIP is a life saver!)

It looks perfectly straight! Looking forward to testing it out hopefully over the weekend!

[cajkat1073]

Originally Posted by Ph@cops

If it flies fine I wouldn't worry about it. Next time you crash and bend the boom just replace it with the new one you ordered and see if it aligns better then.

I would say this is probably what I would do however I have lots of parts. If the torque tube is not seated completely in the gear you run the chance after hard rudder of slipping or stripping the inside of the gear which on the 450 spinning out of control sucks. With that said I would just fly it if the tail holds in fast reverse and piro flips.

[jgiannakas]

Originally Posted by cajkat1073

I would say this is probably what I would do however I have lots of parts. If the torque tube is not seated completely in the gear you run the chance after hard rudder of slipping or stripping the inside of the gear which on the 450 spinning out of control sucks. With that said I would just fly it if the tail holds in fast reverse and piro flips.

Yeah thats what I thought as well - I was planning to strip down the heli for maintenance either way as it had about 100-130 flights and wanted to check the drive train for signs of wear and replace anything that might have had signs of stress on it, and while at it, it was a good opportunity to sort the boom alignment out too

[cajkat1073]

I am about to post quite a few parts for the 450L. I just sold mine and have lots of booms, torque tubes, main gears, shafts, toque gears front and back, landing gear white and yellow, fins same colors as landing gear, and some other parts. Let me know if you need anything.