Zooka's 550 Build

[Manzooka]

Originally Posted by Hoosiermo1

Also did you go with the shorter inner swash balls from the 600 or 700 to increase cyclic resolution, and obtain blue at 6 degrees on step j?

I did obtain blue at 6 degrees on step J, but I'm just using the stock swash and swash balls. Is that recommended mod? We should really have a 550 Bible sticky

[Manzooka]

Hmmm, not sure what I did differently but I'm in the blue now.

I tried lengthening the servo links a tad and that was a mess so I moved them back exactly where I thought they were to begin with, redid the setup, and now it seems to be working.

My guess is that I made a mistake with the pitch setup the first time around? I'm at +/-12 now and it looks like I have a little room to spare. Oh well. I'll go through the whole deal one more time just to be sure. And in case you needed yet another reason not to setup a heli under the influence of a bourbon barrel stout... I just discovered that my settings were off on both steps M and N. It's like I'm trying to crash this thing!

Edit: I'd also like to add comment on how awesome the BeastX setup is. The manual is very easy to understand and the steps are very easy to follow and troubleshoot. I was already a fan of the AR7200BX because I have it on my Blade 450X but I have yet to crash it so I haven't had to go through the setup. Now that I have I'm even more impressed with this little gadget.

[Manzooka]

I just had one of those funny moments...

I haven't flown my 450 since I started building the 550 as I just haven't had the time this week. A few minutes ago I pulled my 450 out of it's case to compare it to some settings on my 550 and wow, it's so.... small!

Isn't it strange how our perceptions can change with new experience? Two weeks ago I would have told you that my 450 was a "large" helicopter, it even seemed heavy when I picked it up. But after working with the 550 it's feeling more like my mCPx.

If the weather cooperates I should be able to maiden tomorrow morning. I'll film the maiden with my GoPro but unless I crash it won't be very exciting. As expensive as these batteries are I want to break them in properly so I'll take it super easy. I have two of the Turnigy nano-tech 5000mah 45-90C bats at the moment. I've been a big fan on Gens Ace on my 450's so I was thinking about getting some of the 5300's as well.

[Hoosiermo1]

I completely understand. I almost fell over the first time I pulled the canopy out if the 550 box. Now after building and hauling around the 700, the 550 seems very small and light. You will catch the big heli bug after flying your 550. I guarantee you will quickly start thinking 700 size soon. They are so nice to fly.
Good luck on the maiden. When you get to the field, double check your swash is tilting against the heli, in an attempt to stay level to the ground. I check this every time I fly. You never know with these electronics. It beats coming home and putting a parts list together, and or telling the mrs. It'll be another 300 before she flies. Ouch

[Manzooka]

Thanks for the advice Hoosiermo1, and so true about pulling the canopy out of the box.


I do believe I'm ready to hit the field! I'm just going to head over to a local high school and take it super easy for the first flights. Wish me luck!

[Manzooka]

Holy smokes! I had a near disaster out there and could use an hand identifying the issue based on the vid. Other than that, good times!

Just shortly after the one minute mark in the vid I faced the 550 to the the right and it seemed to drop power for a moment, and then when it regained power I couldn't stop the pirouettes. My crash instincts kicked in and I hit throttle hold perhaps prematurely. The 550 hit the ground pretty hard and I snapped a skid leg but I consider myself lucky as there doesn't appear to be any other damage, lol. Whew.

YouTube

YouTube

So what do you think? Signal drop? My first thought was that I throttled down too low because I was flying in normal mode (no idea why), but after watching the vid several times I don't know about that theory anymore.

I flew a second battery for 5 minutes in stunt mode and everything was just fine. I flew it further away, did some pirouettes (on purpose this time) and all went well. It flew beautifully in fact. So I'm at a loss.

[Hoosiermo1]

Wow. Very soft landing really, considering it fell about 10 feet.
I am also at a loss, it does clearly pick back up quickly which causes the piro until the tail speed can catch up.
Very strange indeed. It's obvious you lost power, but it's way to close to be caused by signal loss. I use the 7200bx on my 550 and fly so high and far away that you wander if signal will be an issue and it never is.
Cc bec pro so current to rx shouldn't be an issue (connectors, solder possibly) so maybe the esc had a fit.
You did disconnect the red wire from esc to rx didn't you?

[Manzooka]

Originally Posted by Hoosiermo1

Wow. Very soft landing really, considering it fell about 10 feet.

For sure. I was expecting more damage but the tail blades didn't even strike the ground. This crash landing definitely amounts to more luck than skill, and the landing sounded a lot worse in person than it did in the vid.

Originally Posted by Hoosiermo1

I am also at a loss... You did disconnect the red wire from esc to rx didn't you?

I did indeed, but I plugged both leads from the CC BEC Pro into the receiver, is that bad? lol, I'm the ask questions later kind of guy The solder looks good and I did manage a full 5 minute flight at a greater distance at all orientations immediately after this incident I'd post the vid but it's longer and boring as hell. Maybe it wasn't the smartest move to fly again with a busted skid but I didn't want to drive back home after 60 seconds and a mishap and have that hanging over me until my next flight.

[Hoosiermo1]

Yes both plugged in is correct. I use two servo leads as well, the connectors are only rated for about 5 amps.
Was the second flight the same pack? Or a different one?

[Manzooka]

Originally Posted by Hoosiermo1

Was the second flight the same pack? Or a different one?

It was a different pack. Both were Turnigy nano-tech 5000mah packs. Solder looks fine on both. Man, the pucker factor will be high on my next outing for sure. lol

[Manzooka]

The issue in the vid seems to be related to flying in normal mode with low throttle. I was probably overtaxing the ESC in my efforts to test the build so I won't be doing that again.

No worries, I've had 5 good flights since that vid and today I was able to get out to my club's field with enough room to really put the 550 through it's paces. It handled beautifully and felt just like my Blade 450X despite the difference in size. As a matter of fact the 550 felt more responsive, but this is probably due to more aggressive pitch settings.

I did pretty much all I'm capable of which isn't much. I some some rolls, flips, loops, inverted FFF, successive rainbows, and the fastest FFF and sharpest turns I could manage just to see how she handled. Love it!