Tail supports!!!!

[stumpe]

HI guys, i need a bit of advice

I seem to break more tail supports that anything else at the moment, i have been flying for about 5 weeks and can hover quite good but still very much a newbie (not brave enough for anything else yet)

I still have the odd crash, but i always seem to get my main blades striking the boom which then breaks the tail supports and the horizontal tail blade (6 tail supports and 4 tail blades so far and counting, i wont go into what other spares i have used, there is not enough room).

Do i need to have the tail supports on at all?, and can anyone advise why i am getting so many blade strikes?

Thanks

Lee

[kianhon]

You've got to tell us more for the tail strike. If you get dlade strike while hovering then that is realy really weird.
Is your swash level? Are you using Programmable TX? What kind of main blade are you using?

[Ian 777]

Maybe your head dampers (little O rings that support the feathering shaft in the head) are worn allowing too much play. The Belt head is more prone to tail strikes than Trex type ones as the blades are under the flybar and a little closer to the heli.

If you run 325mm blades they are more likely to hit the boom in a heavy landing than 315mm blades

All the best with learning to fly it

Ian

[stumpe]

Guys, sorry should have posted a bit more i suppose, its mainly due to hard landings with the training gear on, panic and then drop throttle.

I am using stock Esky wooden blades, DX6i, swash all level, Esky CNC head.

Thanks Lee

[Heli Yea!]

I break my horizontal tail fin all the time too, got tired of buyin' em', paintin' em, then breakin' em so I just took it off and it flys fine but I'm just hoverin' around tail in. When you're ready for foward flight put it back on. As for as the supports don't know but, they probably help in a heavy landing.

[mnwizard]

Originally Posted by stumpe

Guys, sorry should have posted a bit more i suppose, its mainly due to hard landings with the training gear on, panic and then drop throttle.

I am using stock Esky wooden blades, DX6i, swash all level, Esky CNC head.

Thanks Lee

The blade strikes happen pretty frequently when hitting hard enough to really flex the blades or when the Belt tips and hits the ground. A hard upright landing will cause it when the headspeed is low as the slower the blades are turning, the easier they bend down.

While you're learning you can fly without the tail supports. They really don't come into play until you're really "yankin' and bankin'.

If the boom isn't dented too bad you can slowly bend it back until it's straight and use it again. Just gotta be sure that the belt doesn't rub anywhere. I use a 3/8 " wooden dowel pushed down inside to boom to check that it's straight. Even if it's a degree or 2 off perfect, you can still hover with no problem.

While you're still in the "frequent" crash stage it keeps the cost down if you reuse the boom and save the brand new parts for when someone's gonna be watching. (Can't have the Belt looking shabby when someone's watching!)

[copterboy]

Stumpe, I am just out of the fequent crash stage, and have started to crack the forwad flight now. I'm only 3 months into heli's but they fun!!!!!!!!!!

The one (or two) thing's that helped me stop crashing most were : -

1. Don't panic give it more throttle for a second or two to get it back in the air - it will feel strange at first because it goes against your instinct. But you'll stop the hard landings and keep it up in the air longer.

2. Not to fly in an enclosed space (like back garden with outdoor furniture/obstacles).

My tally is 5 crashes in backyard, 1 down the field (and that was a servo dyin!)

Best of luck, you'll soon be

[stumpe]

Cheers guys for all your comments, i am flying in the back garden during the week and at my club at the weekends, thanks for your advice mnwizard i will now be able to save some money and bend back the boom into shape, will also leave off the boom fin and the supports for now (save me about £10 per crash, £30-£40 per week, just dont tell the boss).

copterboy i have been told by someone at my club to try and throttle out of trouble, but i just cant i just crap myslef and cut the throttle if its all going wrong, i can hover, fly fowards fly backwards, left / right turns only slowly in 5 weeks but always when the heli goes nose in i panic, so far about 15-20 crashes in the garden (oopps), but only 3 over the club mostly due to strong gust of wind, and then pilot error.

I just love this sport, its so much fun trying to learn some thing so hard to learn, in 5 weeks i am now able to build new head, trim any issues, replace all parts except motor (not broken that yet, still loads more time i suppose), i did not think i would learn as much about repairing as i now do, but i suppose its all part of the joy of heli's

Cheers for all your help

Lee

[kent83]

Lee,

I am starting to get past the same phase -- I went through several horizontal fins, at least five tail supports, and several booms. The same pattern -- hard landings causing the blades to smack the boom and supporting rods. Seems like a natural cause and effect to me! I found Copterboy's advice very good -- giving yourself more air and fighting the impulse to head for the ground when things get shaky can help you avoid the hard landings and broken supports. Easier to say than do, though.

Two things that helped me -- one was buying several booms, horizontal fins, and tail supports at a time. Saves on shipping, and I know when I crash, these are the first to go, so having them on hand helps. What drives me crazy is the bracket that holds the horizontal fin on -- I've broken that twice while leaving the fin intact, but I haven't found a place that sells just the bracket without the fin.

Second, moving to the Align 315 blades helped my flying. I went "fiber" (which is not the carbon version), but a lot of people on the forum seem to go with the Align wood blades and they get good reviews. You need to shave off a little of the rotor-end of the blade and add a couple of washers to make them fit, but it's not a big deal. The blades made the heli a bit more stable and also a bit more responsive (I think!) for those last-second moves in avoiding crashes. The down side, though, is that the fiber blades really slice and dice. I've cut clean through the training gear rods. But the blades held up just fine and did not need replacing. I've had two minor crashes now without needing to replace the Align blades. Previously, I had to replace at least one of the Esky stock woodies with each "hard" landing.

Good luck! As a fellow newbie, I look at each crash as an opportunity to get to know the mechanics of the heli a bit better. I'm finding the crashes get fewer and fewer, and I've been having good luck recently in the side-to-side forward flight phase (still haven't had the guts to try nose-in yet, though -- I'm sure that first attempt will end up in another parts order!). So keep the faith, and you'll work past the hard-landing-and-broken-support phase!

TK

[stumpe]

Cheers kent83, the bracket that holds the horizontal fin in place!, if you buy a EK5-0449 this odes the jobgreat, this has saved me money as broke 4 fins without busting the bracket.

I have at the moment as spares, 4 booms, 3 fins both back and boom, 7 servos, 2 main gear sets, 3 tail supprts, 13 sets of blades, main head in plastic, 2 main shafts, 11 feathering shafts, cnc tail gearbox, gyro, 2 tail blades sets, 2 tail belts, loads of bearings, 2 sets of paddles, 2 flybars, and loads more spares of most things, i had a CX2 before and i learnt very quickly to have spares or i coukd not fly, so now twice a month i put an order online from china for about £50 each time, which would cost me about £100+ in the UK, and now get quite good dicounts when i buy something all from the same store (johnhobby.com), been using them for just over 4 months now and the are a good place to get spares, just takes baout 8-10 days to get to me.

I am hoping the breaking faze will get better the more i fly, just need more flight time..

Lee

[copterboy]

Hmmm....maybe you can add some undies to the sprae's list!! LOL You'll get used to it once you try it a few times I'm sure.

I was flying on the park last weekend and I was trying some banked turns going from side to side. I give it too much rudder and turned the nose towards the ground!!!

The heli started diving at about 30 mph, but I managed to pull it back by giving it a load more throttle, pulled the Elevator stick back for a moment and levelled it out before starting to climb again (I had to give it rudder and Aileron too but it's not worth explaining!). At the lowest point of the dive it was about 2/3 ft from the ground - I needed new pants after that!

[Heli Yea!]

Originally Posted by kent83

Lee,

I am starting to get past the same phase -- I went through several horizontal fins, at least five tail supports, and several booms. The same pattern -- hard landings causing the blades to smack the boom and supporting rods. Seems like a natural cause and effect to me! I found Copterboy's advice very good -- giving yourself more air and fighting the impulse to head for the ground when things get shaky can help you avoid the hard landings and broken supports. Easier to say than do, though.

Two things that helped me -- one was buying several booms, horizontal fins, and tail supports at a time. Saves on shipping, and I know when I crash, these are the first to go, so having them on hand helps. What drives me crazy is the bracket that holds the horizontal fin on -- I've broken that twice while leaving the fin intact, but I haven't found a place that sells just the bracket without the fin.

Second, moving to the Align 315 blades helped my flying. I went "fiber" (which is not the carbon version), but a lot of people on the forum seem to go with the Align wood blades and they get good reviews. You need to shave off a little of the rotor-end of the blade and add a couple of washers to make them fit, but it's not a big deal. The blades made the heli a bit more stable and also a bit more responsive (I think!) for those last-second moves in avoiding crashes. The down side, though, is that the fiber blades really slice and dice. I've cut clean through the training gear rods. But the blades held up just fine and did not need replacing. I've had two minor crashes now without needing to replace the Align blades. Previously, I had to replace at least one of the Esky stock woodies with each "hard" landing.

Good luck! As a fellow newbie, I look at each crash as an opportunity to get to know the mechanics of the heli a bit better. I'm finding the crashes get fewer and fewer, and I've been having good luck recently in the side-to-side forward flight phase (still haven't had the guts to try nose-in yet, though -- I'm sure that first attempt will end up in another parts order!). So keep the faith, and you'll work past the hard-landing-and-broken-support phase!

TK

Kent you can buy the cnc version called tail servo and fin holder here for $6.50.http://www.ushobbysupply.com/index.p...16f7a2f83bb7e3

OH you live on the other side of the pond. Try here http://www.johnhobby.com/catalog/ind..._22_24&&page=2

[kent83]

Thanks Lee and Heli Yea! for pointing me to the cnc version of the fin bracket - I hadn't come across that. It will definitely solve my problem and will also match the cnc tail box I have sitting on my bench waiting to install -- I FINALLY have the heli set up well and flying steady, so I've been putting off making any changes until after the next major crash (gulp). Looks like I'll be going purple! What do you guys think of the cnc head? Is it worth replacing the head when I replace the tail box?

Thanks!

[Heli Yea!]

I like the Esky head, but it has it's flimsy parts(especally the feathering shafts, have bent some screws too). Others will tell you to go with the Trex/CopterX or the Helidirect heads. They are better quality and I plan on getting the CopterX head in the future myself. It's really your call I'll be sticking w/ the Esky head for now based on color alone.(my belt is all purple and I like the look) All the heads above fly fine.

[stumpe]

Hi

Glad to see i am not the only one that crashes ALOT, just had 4 batterys outside this evening, and no crashes, getting better now each time i fly.

I find that if i cannot fly for about 1 week then its like crash city outside, if i fly 3-4 times a week i can see i am getting better.

Even thought about taking the training gear off tonight on the last battery, got half of the tr/gr off and thought NO DONT DO IT, i get this sort of self belief i can do more than i can actually do when i have had a few good flights, but nowhere near ready for tr/gr off for at least another 3-4 weeks if i can get 2-3 flights each week from now on.

Good thing is i have got 2 weeks hols soon, and i plan to use the heli as much as i can (that just depends about the boss, and the weather)

Happy flying guys

Lee

[mnwizard]

Take your time and enjoy the process.

A beautiful evening and 4 bat packs, I say just enjoy the session and don't worry about taking off the training gear.

[stumpe]

Hi

Waited 3 days for the wind and rain to stop, got 5-6 mins in on 1st battery and had a bit of a hard landing

Throttled up and now no movent in tail?, checked servo and all seems fine, checked tail and something seems not quite right , the tail gear has a lot of movement in it from side to side, checked all screws and all ok and in tight, could it be a case of a new tail gear?

This is about the only part i have not replaced or even had any trouble with apart from servo, any ideas

Thanks

Lee

[helihathnofury]

yes - get a CopterX tail gear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

[stumpe]

Already got a esky cnc one, but just havnt fitted it as i had no probelms with the stock one until now

Is this what i should get (anyone brought from RC fever before!) but without the belt as i have a few spare esky ones.
http://www.rc-fever.com/copter-x-spa...et-p-3895.html

Thanks

Lee

[Heli Yea!]

Yep, thats a good one! Yea, rcfever is a reputable vender (I dont order from there cause I'm in the US) but you should be fine.