Al's TDR Project

[CyprusFlyer]

For those interested in the log analysis in general, found it easy to tie in the Jlog and Vbar to see what exactly went on with the electronics. I worked back from the crash which shows sensors out of range and used the boot-up timing which of course will be the same.

Maiden flight was very calm, hardly any Vbar groans at all, Jlog shows that I switched into Flt Mode 2 head spead twice.

Second flight was a bit more lively with raised vibration levels, did a few consecutive flips then 2 half rolls, pausing inverted which shows as 2 peaks on Jlog before the big peak where we hit the deck. Jlog shows a few seconds delay before hitting TH which is not a good thing, also reason why I had a shredded main shaft gear, motor running fine though.

Vbar shows voltage problems at the end after a few reboots, they were due to anxious avionics checks and stressing the servos under load to check for bad gears, that was done with a small battery pack. Vbar also shows complete lack of signal after the crash, I was at least 500m away so line of site problem there when on the ground. Recieve path checked out good, will obviously do a full range check when I put it back together.

[CyprusFlyer]

Great service by Jan, parts on the way, forgot that the Fore/Aft Servo link was slightly longer and asked for one with the order, Jan put one in with the invoice becouse it was packed already, early this morning!

Canopy repaired this morning, minor fibre glass patch inside, just filling, rubbing down and a minor paint job before new decals and its as good as new.

[CyprusFlyer]

Shouldnt be too long now, not holding my breath for this weekend, if parts dont arrive tomorrow, prefer they do so early next week, no temptation to rush it!
Although wont take long to fit the new parts, want a complete check over everything again.

Replacing the main shaft bearings, have an idea for those, use my pillar drill as a press, centering the bearings with the old mainshaft in the chuck and CA old bearing to shaft flush with the bottom of the chuck, the old bearing will apply even pressure downwards. Will heat up the bearing mounts first, a little machine oil on the new bearing case and sqeeze em in.

Canopy looking good as new, 2 small fibreglass patches inside, some filler then an hour or so of wet&dry ending up with 600 grade, finally sprayed with auto black gloss, you cannot see the difference, blended in under where the new decals will go. These canopies are really easy to repair, saved 80 Euros.

[CyprusFlyer]

Still waiting so looks like another week out of action but then I will have more time next week to re-assemble and check the mechanical alignment.

A thought came to mind after inspecting the boom, slight bend and definately over enthusiastic when tightening the boom clamps, old boom has a definate indent where it was clamped.
So, calibrated the clamps! Cut a section of the old boom off, now you cannot rotate a complete boom because of the 2 screws holding on the front gear assembly. Now, had both clamps free, tightened the front clamp until it would not rotate by moderate force, then another quarter turn, could not now rotate with a lot of force. Loosened by 2 turns exactly, then repeat for the rear clamp.
When I mount the complete boom, its 2 turns of the nut exactly and content in the knowledge its enough to hold it firmly.

Well as a project I felt this went very smoothly, easy to build as long as instructions are followed. The swash alignment blocks are great, you can actually get the setup very close if you use them during the build, ie make up the links, mount the swash and rotor etc, checking with the swash spacers as you go. The maiden was textbook and into an almost handsfree hover on lift off and a bit of FF showed no surprises. Shame about the bloody prang second go and annoying at the time, first crash since I strarted this again last Jan/Feb but hopefully paid my dues for a while!

I hope this thread may be helpful, not too much original, maybe the CF bracket and simple servo/power bus that worked out well, but great fun all the same. Probably a fair conclusion to this thread now, be back in the air by next weekend so hopefully no more dramas.

[Mercuriell]

Been a great thread

Good point about the boom clamps, overtightening can make TT bearing blocks run rough and also increase vibe transmission from the TT to the frame, dont need nearly as much clamping as with a belt drive.

No need for any sort of press with alloy bearing blocks, just heat to 130C and they just fall out and the new ones slip in

[CyprusFlyer]

Thanks John not much doing here, DHL employing slugs on valium, a bit dissapointed with the mail may have to pay extra next time, but hopefully not too soon. Only discovered that I had a damaged servo horn the other day, those BLS 451 horns are great, all the splines got taken out on one instead of servo gears, however, checked the gears anyway, impressed how "agricultural" they are. Got a few spare horns from a friend so cut and fitted, hopefully get mail early next week.

[CyprusFlyer]

This must be the thread conclusion!

Yahoo, got the parts today and carefully fitted and checked the setup, no problem. Reset the Helijive again to make sure.

Spooled up, hmm sounds fast, JLog and Phone shows 1850 on a 50% pack, WTF. Further analysis shows throttle 100% input on the log.
Put a servo on throttle O/P, all is well, pulled up Mels video and 5 mins in dawned on me
I hode reset and calibrated mode 4 with my Normal start up curve Doh 0-30-30-30-30.
The Jive saw 30% as 100%. So put linear curve in TX 0-100%, Mode 1, Mode 4, TH, all is once again wonderful!

Thought I would mention that, easy to forget and get into trouble I suggest

Other points:

Main bearings easy to change, heat up the blocks, I did use a pillar drill to push them in dead square with a main shaft, old bearing and screw through the shaft hole, not much force needed at all.

Black plastic rotor link guides, also easy, expected more resistance but a slight interference fit only for the 2mm pins, pulled back about 5mm and put Locktite on the pin with a needle where the hub has a split, worked some in a few times, now stuck fast.

All good for the weekend.

[CyprusFlyer]

Thread conclusion except to say what a fantastic weekend, TDR now flying like a dream, a bit intimidating when all the other Heli flyers stop and pull up a seat to watch. However taking it really easy, enjoying almost ghosting around at 1400 RPM but with big sky manouvres, fantastish!

Also maidened my Logo 500SE, another great machine, flew perfect from the word go!
Align 550 now taking a back seat, see what you mean, yuck! Loved it but seen the light now with 2 great machines, still warm up with the 550 but it has become my "beater" and will try new stuff on that first lol.