My Trex 550 E crashed fitted with Flymentor

[kittiwat1]

I was just doing circuit flying with FM turned on and the heli started gaining speed then headed for the earth. It happened about 10 meters up in the air and so fast I could not do anyting but watched it dropped helplessly. I thought FM would not let this happen as the heli should have at least stayed leveled. If it had done that I would have enough time to save it and bring it down properly. Could I have a faulty unit or perhaps there is a problem with other electronic components?

[kittiwat1]

Well, let me recount how it exactly happened. The timer buzzed off and I was flying a bit far away so I quickly try to get her to return to where I was for landing. I may have been less gentle on the stick and the heli was swinging more than usual, kind of like out of control. But it should have stayed level. It did not and finally headed down to the ground. If it had at least stayed level, I would have regained control after few seconds and bring her back safely. It was an open space by the way.

[jolyboy]

Sorry to hear about your crash mate

There are so many possible causes for this the mind boggles. I can think of the following possible causes straight away:

1. Incorrect mechanical setup. Needs to be done exactly by the book
2. Vibration
3. Failure or brown-out of other electronic components. Servos, BEC, RX
4. Loose or bad wiring
5. Wrong settings on your TX. Sub-trim is a no-no
6. Wrong setting on flymentor. Gain too high/too low etc, inverted correction.
7. Flymentor gyro secured too tightly/too loosely. Vibration is more effective
8. Loose linkages in the rotor head/servos
9. + more

There could be so many possible causes its ridiculous Sorry man..

If the heli was flying well prior to the crash, all of the above causes are still valid

[kittiwat1]

Sorry to hear about your crash mate

There are so many possible causes for this the mind boggles. I can think of the following possible causes straight away:

1. Incorrect mechanical setup. Needs to be done exactly by the book
2. Vibration
3. Failure or brown-out of other electronic components. Servos, BEC, RX
4. Loose or bad wiring
5. Wrong settings on your TX. Sub-trim is a no-no
6. Wrong setting on flymentor. Gain too high/too low etc, inverted correction.
7. Flymentor gyro secured too tightly/too loosely. Vibration is more effective
8. Loose linkages in the rotor head/servos
9. + more

There could be so many possible causes its ridiculous Sorry man..

If the heli was flying well prior to the crash, all of the above causes are still valid

Thanks. I guesss I was a little confused when I started the topic. Looking back, yes, it could be the fault of any electronic/mechanical parts and not the flymentor itself. Many things could have gone wrong. I would imagine that had every thing worked normally, FM would have kept the heli leveled and I would have avoided the crash. In future, I will be flying more slowly and at lower altitude to minimize damage in case something could go wrong again.
By the way, it's not vibration because I have been flying this set up for awhile and did not have any issue until the crash. I bought the heli used so I would not rule out component or mechanical failure.

[jolyboy]

Ah I see. Well maybe also check for wires that are resting on the frame. They tend to rub through the insulation and short out after a while.

A bearing or something may have failed leading to a sudden increase in vibration

Joly

[kittiwat1]

So many things could have gone wrong, it makes me feel like going back to flying a 450 heli again for cheaper spare parts. The bigger birds are for display only 555

[jolyboy]

True, I always feared getting a bigger heli. So many times I've had a full shopping cart and suddenly closed the window just in time lol