What did you do to your Blade 450 today?

[Copternewbi]

Wow, so I scared myself and accidentally flew the 450 3D today in a low hover. After realizing how much more stable it is than my Mcpx I threw another battery in it and flew it up and down the street for the 8 minutes and still can't wipe the smile off my face!! What a great heli. Granted, just flying non 3D and haven't done anything risky with it, but absolutist love the sound of it and its power. Remember, I'm just coming from learning on an Mcpx only a year ago.

Anyway, I ordered a bunch of the above mentioned replacement parts in advance and was just curious if there is any maintenance I should be doing (lubing, greasing, checkkng tail belt tension, etc) or just have fun and fly till it has a problem? It was theoretically only flown 10 times by previous owner and looks in great condition.

Ps, getting tired of using the battery in our Honda Pilot to charger up these heli batts (charger that came with it has alligator clips). Any recommendations on a charger, and will one kind charger all batteries (including my Mcpx ones)?

Thanks again in advance.


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[Copternewbi]

Well, I have Bought a nice charger in heaven client like crazy. Everything was going great with keeping it in the backyard keeping it below 10 feet and flying nice box patterns.

So today I decided to take it to A big park and really fly it around with some room. The grass is kind of high so when I started it up the tail rotor was hitting the grass. So I launched it into the air quickly to avoid the blades hitting too much grass. For some reason it immediately started banking left and turning nose left. Not sure if the trims got messed up or not letting the gyro stabilize on level ground (the grass was high so not level when I plugged in the battery)! I tried to save it by taking it way up but once it was over my head I lost orientation. It crashed hard. Really hard. So sad, so disappointed!


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[Copternewbi]

Well, it took a month to fix it and $100 in parts, but it flew beautifully for about 40 flights till today when it starting coming backwards at me while descending (tail down) from about 40' and even with full throttle I could barely arrest the Sinn rate and it crashed tail first into the ground! It seemed lately, last 10 flights or so, that I'd been putting on forward trim more and more a little at a time to get it to hover in 1 spot. But it had been 2 weeks since last flown and I didn't think it would occur that I would all of a sudden loose that amount of pitch authority.

Could it be a gyro problem? A bad pitch servo? It has all its original electronics.

Maybe I should just fix it and sell it and buy something that is fly barless so I don't have to worry about trim?

For now I'll go back to working on and flying my Mcpx and simulator. It's a shame b/c I finally felt like I could do circuits and simple maneuvers pretty well and now I'm assuming due to mechanical failure I crashed it.

It's going to need some new blade grips and blades, tail boom and rotors, and and sounds like some of the servos are making stripping sounds now.

At what point do I just call it quits and buy something new? I know I can practice more on my sim and Mcpx and then when mastered come back to this, but I really like the stability of this 450 and the parts size to work on. If I buy some new parts I may still have the bad electronics and crash again. Maybe just master the Mcpx and start bounding slowly a new 450 size heli, something with less parts to break (gaui x3)?

Just looking for some advice and suggestions. Thanks



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[BrokeDad]

If you want something cheap and close to that size there is a 400 for sale at $100. It's flybar like your 450 so probably not many people are looking at it.
You could then decide what to do with your 450... fix it... convert it .. sell it .. etc.
I picked up a BNF custom 450X just a week or so ago for $130. Go shopping on HF.

[Waxxingibbous]

Originally Posted by Copternewbi

Just looking for some advice and suggestions. Thanks



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Depends on budget.
Test and allocate working electronics
If you have motor esc and need new servos if I were you I'd hop on eBay and get slightly used servos and you shouldn't have a problem keeping that heli as a beater. When looking for better quality I'll always advocate building or buying a freshly built one from someone you trust.

I'm in the same boat and I've pretty much decided to spend the 40 or so to keep my 450x and 400fblx in the air as trainers and building a rumored to be reliable logo 600sx or the new logo 700

Quality kits from what I see and hear
Oxy3
Gaui x3
Goblin 380
Protos 380

Thing is the 450x doesn't give you anything worthwhile taking to a performance build. These parts flex warp and self destruct. You'll need high end servos, metal servo arms,high end esc to take the punishment and that's just the beginning.

You could try to rebuild the 450x and address weaknesses
50a esc 10a bec new servos tail stretch but now you're talking about heavier operating weight and you'll see the benefit vs cost isn't here and you might as well build the kit and customize everything to fit your flying style

[Copternewbi]

Thank you both for your ideas. Think I'm going to buy the minimum parts to keep my Mcpx and 450 3D going while looking into a new model to build by scratch. I bought these 2 current helis (my only ones) used. I've certainly learned a lot by rebuilding them. But would love to start with some new parts and slowly piece together (wife watches budget) something like a gaui x3 or goblin 380 (I think they are both at least 450 size). So now I just have to research which of these is best for reliability and repair costs.

Thanks again.


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[Waxxingibbous]

yeah were in the same boat. as long as my parts for upgrades and repairs are cheap, and they have been, then ill keep these flying until they die. im testing my skills, working on 3 generations of practically the same heli haha i need something different on my next build.

right now looks like colorado is going to have an early winter so i need to grab a frame to work on soon....still boggled by the high end electronics, but im pretty sure im going with brain 2 for my fbl

looking at logo 550sx, 600sx,700xx

this next build is dangerous...1500 budget for the winter.
waiting to see what deals pop up for black friday

[Copternewbi]

Wow, sounds cool. I don't know anything about logo products, I'll have to see if anybody the local shops Cary them around here. But I'm still afraid to go to that larger size (559/600 etc) assuming they will be more expensive to build and crash. Finally bought a phoenix simulator, seems cool, if only family life allowed time to use it. Best of luck. Meantime I bought a beater Mcpx v2 online with a bunch of parts and will continue to practice on that.


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[kuzican]

just started flying my helis again. I got a nano cps to practice inverted on. Finally worked up the courage to fly the 450 again which I've only ever crashed once. At my house I was flying over a corn field, and I was on my way back to land and it started going down. I forgot that I used the battery a few times to test/check the heli so it hit LVC. just made it into the clearing and had a nice soft auto-rotation landing with no damage. haven't flown it since.

[qcman]

Originally Posted by kuzican

just started flying my helis again. I got a nano cps to practice inverted on. Finally worked up the courage to fly the 450 again which I've only ever crashed once. At my house I was flying over a corn field, and I was on my way back to land and it started going down. I forgot that I used the battery a few times to test/check the heli so it hit LVC. just made it into the clearing and had a nice soft auto-rotation landing with no damage. haven't flown it since.

Thats probably a good indication that you should go and buy a lottery ticket lol.

[kuzican]

Originally Posted by qcman

Thats probably a good indication that you should go and buy a lottery ticket lol.

haha true that. never going to win if ya don't play.

anyway. Still trying to fly the 130 a little more before I fly the 450 again.

practicing doing figure 8s, and just overall sport flying. with both that and the nano I'm trying to be able to do a stable inverted hover.

[Waxxingibbous]

just rebuilt my 450x. going to test maiden now. waiting on parts for my lynx 450xl...

[Waxxingibbous]

no issues on hover maiden besides the back drift i programmed in there. ill go in and eliminate the drift and my blades look tracked by eye and links symmetrical

[cptozzy]

I just finished the build of the T-Rex 450 Flybarless I bought and started building in Early 2012

My first build. Been flying simulators and Crashing Blades on and off since 2012

Taking bets on whether I'll master the Funnel with it before the first colonists land on Mars

[cptozzy]

A while back I bought a couple Used Flybar T-rex 450's, and I'm now just getting around to making them air-worthy. Not sure of the specific Models - both are a couple years old at least (sittin on my shelf for two years + whenever previous owners bought them). A couple of Questions:

1) Any clue on the Models / how to determine the models.

2) On both of them I see that above the swash-plate the linkages are fixed length - Not adjustable. How would I ensure Zero pitch at mid-stick with these fixed Linkages? Just adjust the throw in the Transmitter? (I have DX8).

3) One of them has Align DS 410M Servo's and one of the servo's has badly exposed & worn wiring (although it still works) . I've looked online but looks like that Servo has Been Discontinued - any suggestions for a compatible servo (weight/size /torque / response)


Thanks

[Copternewbi]

Tried to take off after only flying it a few days ago. Hear the motor and main gear spinning like crazy and the rotor blades slowly spooling up as if a real heli and a clutch. Still tried to take off, because it seemed cool, but it wouldn't, luckily.

Brought it back inside, result is the main bolt that goes thru the top of the main shaft to hold on the rotor head had sheared off!

Owe yeah, forgot that I had replaced that screw about 6 months ago when I had stripped it with a cheap 1.5mm Allen key. Replaced it with a temporary random screw that fit....... Note to self, don't do that again!


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