Raptor 50 Crash

[cyber649]

Well today was a beautiful day in the great arctic Canada, so i figured this would be the best day to attempt to try and fly my raptor 50 titan. Keep in mind that I am a newb in every way and this being my firs ever heli.

My friend made me a nice steel training stand to get the hang of the heli without demolishing it. It was attached to the steel stand with bungees, I already had a bad feeling about the bungees sliding off the day before when I test fit it on the stand.

So without any more negative thoughts in my mind I start her up and made sure everything was working the way it should be and it was working better than I thought. I get it to the point it lifted off smoothly, and before I knew it, it reached the end of the pole that slides in and out to hold the heli on the stand. So I got a bit scared and tried to land my heli without anything bad happening. I touched down a tad hard but nothing that would cause it to damage anything, just as I landed it, the damn damn bungees slipped on the SMOOTH steel and my heli flung under neath the stand and began to thrash itself to death. Just my luck..

I killed the engine via the remote and surveyed the damage and being without a job I started to get a headache just thinking about it. I took all the trashed parts down stairs and started making a list of parts to get. I think about 24 parts in total for a grand total of $180.00. I was surprised, expecting it to cost more than the kit itself was worth.

Some of the things that were trashed included:

- Entire tail boom and assembly for the tail blades was trashed including the belt
- Main carbon fiber blades trashed as well as everything up to the swashplate including the flybar assembly trashed. The swash plate came out unharmed and worked perfectly, some good luck finally!

Not a lot of things were wrecked, just the vast amount of parts needed to rebuild what was trashed. My Dad was nice enough to pick up the bill for the repairs. I'm sure there are some parts I am missing, but the vast majority of parts I got should get her completed or near completed

I thought about packing it in and finish building my trainer airplane. But I don't give up that easy and hate being defeated. What did I learn? Have someone experienced show you how to fly your bird. That means waiting until spring, which I am fine with. It may take me till then to finish rebuilding her.

I spent countless hours on Real Flight 4.5 and flew the heli really nice. But I was shocked of the difference between the sim and the real world application. I found the real heli was more responsive then what was on the sim. That may be chalked up to just not having any experience.

But things could of been a lot worse is they way I look at things. I will have the heli ready to go in no time and I look forward to the rebuild.

I know this is long and for those who read it all, thanks for your patience. I just needed to vent a little and share what happened. I will post up pics of the damaged heli tomorrow for those interested to see them.

Happy holidays and best wishes to all!

[fuelfan]

That's too bad man, I think you have to follow radds school of rotary flight. A little at a time. What we need are those shrinking machines so we can crawl in and fly them ourselves. Kind of like my crock pot cookbooks fix it and forget it. The pain, not the lesson.

[nyc863]

Wow, sorry..

A "training stand"? It sounds like a problem and appears it was!

I reckon for your first ever hover you just need three things
a) little if any wind
b) open space
c) flat ground

And that is it.

Start with some down pitch just try some small hops.

[Nef003]

I'm also a flyer of g5 simulator.. and i do ok and crash sometimes when fooling around..

I don't want to crash my real heli when i get one. *soon*

Been shopping around. and i put parts together which will endup costing me 236 shipped from Hobbyking and Xheli. I already have Spektrum ex6i and 6200 rx

[JasonJ]

Anything that affixes your helicopter to something else is a bad idea on many levels. Not only is it bad for mechanical reasons, it has no value for training reasons. The helicopter must fly in it's natural untethered state in order for you to learn on it. RADDs is one way to do it, along with training gear. The sim is the better way to do it, along with careful free flight. The sim, if set up right, and with a model similar to yours is closer than you think.

[Slyster]

Use your sim... and training gear... and RADDs flight school

[GunnyGlow]

I wouldn't use carbon fiber blades, either. Get some woodies to learn on.

[cyber649]

As promised, here are the pictures of the aftermath of the crash. It doesn't look as bad as before since I took off all the broken parts. I also thought that I should make sure all my servos are still working especially my gyro, and everything was working perfect woohoo!







I am going to have to look into this RADD flight school. It is my first time hearing about that so hopefully it will help me in the future.

I was wondering what I would do for the rest of the winter, I guess I found out haha.

Also here is my complete part list needed to repair things.

1 x Main rotor hub (PV0354) (PV0354) = US$4.75
1 x Sus Linkage Rod R50T PV0505 (See also RCT0157) (PV0505) = US$8.05
1 x Tail drive belt (PV0520 - OEM) 50 Titan (PV0520-OEM) = US$10.59
1 x Tail Push Rod R50T RCT0146 - PV0519-OEM (RCT0146) = US$3.43
1 x Tail Pitch Slider R50T PV0504 (PV0504) = US$8.69
1 x Washout Set R50T PV0503 (PV0503) = US$8.05
1 x Tail boom supports - 50 size (RCT0129-T) - PV0329T-OEM (RCT0129-T) = US$6.01
1 x Tail rod guide - 3 pcs - PV0279-OEM (RCT0159-BL) (RCT0159-BL) = US$1.39
1 x Tail rotor hub (PV0151) (PV0151) = US$4.40
1 x Linkage balls - 12 pcs (PV0058-OEM) (PV0058-OEM) = US$2.41
1 x Tail slider bearings - 2 pcs (PV0052) (PV0052) = US$3.07
1 x Ball links PV0041-OEM - RCT0148 (RCT0148) = US$2.64
1 x Double links (PV0040) (PV0040) = US$1.31
1 x Tail rotor blades (PV0037) (PV0037) = US$2.77
1 x Tail pulley set; PV0029-OEM (RCT0200) (RCT0200) = US$2.16
1 x Flybar contol loops (PV0005-OEM) (PV0005-OEM) = US$1.15
1 x Mixing lever (PV0004) (PV0004) = US$5.29
1 x Tail idel pulley assembly AV0052-OEM (RCT0183) (RCT0183) = US$1.75
1 x Carbon Fiber Main Rotor Blades - 600 mm (KL0056) (KL0056) = US$45.98
1 x TT GFC Stabilizer Fin Set; R30/50 (RCT0238) (RCT0238) = US$14.02
1 x SUS Flybar Rod (PV0450-OEM) (PV0450-OEM) = US$2.92

Helikraft has wicked pricing and I saved a ton of money getting stuff from there instead of my local hobby shop. If anyone see's any parts I missed, please let me know. Keep i mind these parts are ordered so I won't be changing any parts for better ones, just getting additional ones.

[cyber649]

I got carbon fibers because at the club I am joining you can't fly woodies because of the danger factor of them. I know if they are setup right they aren't dangerous at all. But it is club policy.

[JasonJ]

You might want to go with a metal head block. The plastic ones can distort over time.

[cyber649]

Can someone tell me a a good set of training gear to get for my raptor 50 (if you could provide a link to the training gear, that would be great)? I had a set from century and they are just not designed for the raptor at all.

[4Runner]

I built a couple of sets using 1/4 inch wood doweling and ping pong balls, CA glue and 4 straps to attach them. They served the purpose, I broke two sets in near crashes, but for $3 per set I was ahead of the game. Mind you, this was on a Trex 450, so you would want bigger wood, maybe 3/8ths or 1/2 inch, and tennis ball sized ends, perhaps.

[griffsred]

When I learned how to fly I used the Sim and the Rotopod training gear. I was flying my Rappy 50 just like you. You cant go wrong with that setup, a little pricey for both, but I never crased either.

[meatbob]

I ended up learning on a Rotopod as well. I don't think they make them anymore, but they really do the trick.

[cyber649]

I decided to go with the Heli Max HMXE2025 training gear. I heard some great things about the gear on how rugged it is and a safe experience it can make for beginners.

Oh btw, I missed 6 more parts for my tail section. I knew it would happen as there seems to be about a million pieces for that part of the heli.

1 x Tail rotor grip (RCT0078) - (PV0148 equiv) (RCT0078) = C$3.99
1 x Ball Bearing d5*D10*W4 PV0526 (Replaced PV0200) (PV0526) = C$13.35
1 x Tail pitch control lever/PV0016 (KL0062) (KL0062) = C$2.76
1 x Tail case (RCT0076) - (PV0027 oem) (RCT0076) = C$3.99
1 x Tail rotor shaft (PV0030) (PV0030) = C$3.57
1 x Tail shaft bearings - 2 pcs (PV0059) (PV0059) = C$3.22

[ddracer]

Originally Posted by cyber649

Can someone tell me a a good set of training gear to get for my raptor 50 (if you could provide a link to the training gear, that would be great)? I had a set from century and they are just not designed for the raptor at all.

Get a kids hula hoop and pull tie (Zip ties I think you call them) two lenghts of dowel across them parallel then pull tie the dowels to the skids. IMO it is better than the cross type training gear as it is less prown to resonate and does not catch on the corners if you know what I mean.

[cyber649]

I'm gonna be honest here. The thing I am having a hard time in getting my heli off the ground is the fact that once it starts to take off about a few feet in the air, I get scared and I throttle back all the way. What is it about this that makes a person do this, and more importantly how can one get over the OMG ITS TAKING OFF WHAT DO I DO phase? Then the heli starts moving and I seem to have the need to crank the cyclic stick way more than it needs to be. It's like I get retarded and forget how to fly the heli.

It seems to be rather psychological, no?

[frogbmth]

Thats normal, dont sweat it. One of the most important things to learn is not to over react with a heli and not to panic. It's harder than it sounds and not uncommon at all.

In time you will become more comfortable with the heli, the way it buzzes away in the air, the way it is intimidating. Keep a healthy respect, but get comfortable with it. That just takes stick time.

Andy

[cyber649]

One of the things I try to do it is I want to give it enough throttle to get it airborne. Then see how it reacts before even touching the sticks, is this a safe and sound approach?

[GimpyGolden]

These are a great set
http://cgi.ebay.com/TREX-600-RAPTOR-...item3ca89e7c65
I used them on my Raptor E550 (.30 size)
They'll absorb a drop from 6' without any damage to the heli.
If you do get them run with the pivot bolt loose to avoid any vibration.