T-Rex 100S after the 1st 24 hours

[DocLat]

Like the title says, I've had my 100 for 24 hours. I should have taken pics throughout the process, however, once I have my mind on something I tend to stay on task. I'll try to do better in the future.

To begin, here is my background. I've been flying RC helos since I retired from the Navy in '07. I needed something to occupy myself, because you can only drink so much.......

Well, my first mistake was a Blade CP, that experiment failed miserably. I moved on to a CX2, then to a mCX, mSR and mCPx. Along the way, I picked up a T-Rex 450, with a DX7. I haven't flown the 450 yet.

I had some $$ to spare and wanted to try the 100, despite what I read online.
Un-boxing was un-eventful, got it together, charged the lipos and read the instructions a couple of times.

First flight: Flop over on to right side, due to slow start. (back to interwebs for hints)
Second flight: Take off, constant CCW rotation despite trim. Fought it til lipo was done.
Third flight: Take off, CCW rotation, crash. Canopy shredded, flybar broke and imbedded in remains of canopy. IMHO it wasn't that bad of a crash, however,.......

Back to interwebs. LHS closed on Sunday, lots of spare parts in the extras box. Let's see if I can get the thing back in the air.

The mSR flybar is hollow on the bottom, why not use it to repair/reinforce the 100 flybar?
I cut off 1 arm of the mSR flybar, and cut 2, 5mm pieces. Cut those roughly in half and sandwich the 100 flybar with the pieces, secured with CA. Did this to both sides and remarkably, it balances almost perfectly. Also acts as flybar weights.

The canopy that I thought was FUBAR, was repaired with some blue masking tape in the inside. It looks good at a distance, but up-close you can see the damage.

I got some hints and tips from another board. I replaced the tail rotor blades with a set from my mSR. I also read that following the printed instructions to the letter could cause problems. So, when I was re-assembling the head, I didn't press the head down as far as I possible. I looked at the washout control arms, and made sure they were parallel to the deck. I also tightened the "Jesus" screw enough to keep the head in place.

Got the lipos charged and ready, loaded the first one, binded the radio, ( not sure if everyone knows this, the process is basackwards on this bird. Insert the lipo, set her down until the light starts slowly flashing, then turn on the radio).

Took off, and I had much more control, this flight was much "more better".
Same same with the second lipo. Let's hope this continues.

Thanks for reading, hopefully, some of my wall of text has some info that's helpful for someone.

[forward]

HI I HAVE MADE A MASSIVE MISTAKE OF BUYING A TREX 100
AN
D FOUND OUT THE TRUE COST OF THE HELI
£100 FOR THE RTF UNIT
£30 FOR A 5IN1 BOARD
£20 FOR TAIL BLADES THAT BEND OUT OF SHAPE AND GIVE TAIL DRIFT
£20 FOR 2 CANOPIES THAT ARE MADE FROM PLASTIC THATS MENT TO CRACK JUST
BY LOOKING AT IT
£18 FOR BENDY FLY BARS
15)FOR LANDING SKIDS THAT ARE AS TOUGH AS MY CATS WHISKERS

NEEDLESS TO SAY I WILL NEVER NEVER EVER BUY AN ALIGN HELI AGAIN.
IT SEEMS THAT ALIGN HAVE MADE A HELI WITH BUILT IN FAULTS SO THE CHUMP
(CUSTOMER) SPENDS A FORTUNE IN PARTS IM GOING TO STICK WITH BLADE HELIS
TOUGH GOOD UNITS.
MY ADVICE TO ANY ONE STAY WELL AWAY FROM ALIGN
NB IM 58 YEARS OLD NOT AN INEXPERIENCED KID

[DocLat]

Well, the flybar repair lasted about 3 days before I managed to break it again and have the broken end fly across the room. I went to the LHS and bought a new flybar, installed it, made sure that the mixing bars on the flybar were not sloppy loose. I also replaced the mCPx tail rotor with the stock Align rotor.

I fired her up and she flew much better. I had more control, and it was actually fun to fly.

To sum it up:
1. * I made sure the mixing bars were tight, but not too tight.*

2. *I made sure that the rotor was not pushed down too far on the main shaft like the manual suggested.

3. *I made sure the screw that secured the rotor head to the shaft was not too tight, or too loose.*

4. *I made sure the swashplate was in the anti-rotation collar and not off to either side, that can cause a catastrophic failure.*

5. *I reinforced the canopy with blue masking tape on the inside, to repair the damage I inflicted and along the edges to prevent further damage. It doesn't look that bad in flight.

I hope this can help someone, I was almost to the point of boxing her back up and returning her to the LHS, but I let my Google-fu do it's thing, got some hints and tips, tore her down, built her back up and now she's GTG. I find her to be a little more flyable in the house with the ceiling fan on, unlike my mSR which gets blown around if the fan is on, AC kicks in, or I break wind, then I fly into the ground. Rather than breaking ground and flying into the wind.*

[Sambonator]

Originally Posted by DocLat

Well, the flybar repair lasted about 3 days before I managed to break it again and have the broken end fly across the room. I went to the LHS and bought a new flybar, installed it, made sure that the mixing bars on the flybar were not sloppy loose. I also replaced the mCPx tail rotor with the stock Align rotor.

I fired her up and she flew much better. I had more control, and it was actually fun to fly.

To sum it up:
1. * I made sure the mixing bars were tight, but not too tight.*

2. *I made sure that the rotor was not pushed down on the main shaft like the manual suggested.

3. *I made sure the screw that secured the rotor head to the shaft was not too tight, or too loose.*

4. *I made sure the swashplate was in the anti-rotation collar and not off to either side, that can cause a catastrophic failure.*

5. *I reinforced the canopy with blue masking tape on the inside, to repair the damage I inflicted and along the edges to prevent further damage. It doesn't look that bad in flight.

I hope this can help someone, I was almost to the point of boxing her back up and returning her to the LHS, but I let my Google-fu do it's thing, got some hints and tips, tore her down, built her back up and now she's GTG. I find her to be a little more flyable in the house with the ceiling fan on, unlike my mSR which gets blown around if the fan is on, AC kicks in, or I break wind, then I fly into the ground. Rather than breaking ground and flying into the wind.*

Those are great suggestions.
I decided to reinforce my new canopy by applying clear packing tape on the inside, BEFORE I cracked it.

I don't understand #2 though... do you know what the idea is behind not pushing the rotor assembly all the way down into the main shaft?

I found that every time I tear down then reassemble the T100, it flies better.

I also adjusted the lengths of the control rods to the servos so that it to goes into a stable hover with no radio input or trim adjustment...just throttle.

I also CA'ed the tail rotor assemly to the tail to stiffen it up.

The only thing left that would make this fly better is a stiffer chassis. The chassis flexes just enough to make the tail go into a resonant shake at times. This resonance is much more apparent without the canopy, as the canopy helps to stiffens the chassis a tad.

I really love my Align T-rex 100s. But it requires someone who's willing to tinker with it and make fine adjustments to it in order for it to fly well.

Sam

[DocLat]

On #2 I added some clarification. On initial assembly, I mashed down on the head to seat it as suggested. On a subsequent disassembly, I found that the set screw had left a mark where I had secured it, above the "divot" on the main shaft. When pushed down too far, this can affect the geometry of the washout control arms and the flybar.

[rc helipilot norway]

Originally Posted by forward

HI I HAVE MADE A MASSIVE MISTAKE OF BUYING A TREX 100
AN
D FOUND OUT THE TRUE COST OF THE HELI
£100 FOR THE RTF UNIT
£30 FOR A 5IN1 BOARD
£20 FOR TAIL BLADES THAT BEND OUT OF SHAPE AND GIVE TAIL DRIFT
£20 FOR 2 CANOPIES THAT ARE MADE FROM PLASTIC THATS MENT TO CRACK JUST
BY LOOKING AT IT
£18 FOR BENDY FLY BARS
15)FOR LANDING SKIDS THAT ARE AS TOUGH AS MY CATS WHISKERS

NEEDLESS TO SAY I WILL NEVER NEVER EVER BUY AN ALIGN HELI AGAIN.
IT SEEMS THAT ALIGN HAVE MADE A HELI WITH BUILT IN FAULTS SO THE CHUMP
(CUSTOMER) SPENDS A FORTUNE IN PARTS IM GOING TO STICK WITH BLADE HELIS
TOUGH GOOD UNITS.
MY ADVICE TO ANY ONE STAY WELL AWAY FROM ALIGN
NB IM 58 YEARS OLD NOT AN INEXPERIENCED KID

instead of parts, you should just buy two helis two rtf super combos would cost about $150 and then you would have spare parts. i have two myself, and have crashed many many times, nothing is broken except a crack in the canopy. i really like the heli to train indoor. the only thing i dont like,is the tail drift.