What did you do with your Blade 230s today?

[Ram_Wagon]

Oh, and after installing the Microheli fuse, I did a short in garage flight. (Since it was raining and very windy out) And I noticed during spool up (in stability mode of course) it was VERY tricky to take off due to the tip over that’s been a part of this bird since day one!

Curious if anyone else with a 230S has ever installed a fuselage and had to “retune” their heli? Should I do another calibration, then Trim Flight?

Also, when I did finally manage lift off, I couldn’t hear the usual “gear noise” this thing has always had, since the Microheli fuse covers the main gear. But, the tail was REALLY noisy and actually seemed to be working pretty hard. As slowed down as I have this heli the tail seems extremely sensitive?

Could the extra weight be causing the tail motor extra work? Even in a nearly hands off hover the tail was working like I was flying side to side hard... Do you think the landing gear making the bird sit unlevel, nose down, caused a weird initialization?

[Liduno]

Are you sure it wasn't just more noticeable cause you were in the garage?

[BrokeDad]

Ram_Wagon .. make sure you didn't accidentally put the tail blade on backwards. It will still fly but work like crazy.

[Ram_Wagon]

Originally Posted by Liduno

Are you sure it wasn't just more noticeable cause you were in the garage?

Well, I don’t know, honestly. Again, the main gear meshing to the pinion has always made a pretty loud whining, resonance, that was the 230 signature for sure.

Every heli I have sounds different.

Now that the fuse (fiberglass) covers the main gear, maybe the tail motor is just more audible now?

Except for the very “fast” rudder control I didn’t notice before and the extra noise from the tail, everything seems ok.

[Liduno]

Easy enough test, take off the fuselage and fly it in the garage.

[Ram_Wagon]

Originally Posted by Liduno

Easy enough test, take off the fuselage and fly it in the garage.

HeHe...! It’s not THAT easy. The tail boom had to be removed and put thru the fuse tail then reattached physically and electrically.

I flew it again a bit ago in the garage and I’m leaning towards the fact I don’t hear the “normal” high pitched noise because the main gear is hidden and now the tail is more noticeable.

I was wondering if maybe the weight of the fuselage and the angle of the skids during initialization could be screwing around with the FBL controller?

[BrokeDad]

I take it that it's like this one (see attached). I have it but have never put it on.

[Ram_Wagon]

Originally Posted by BrokeDad

I take it that it's like this one (see attached). I have it but have never put it on.

Yup! Just like it. I tried to attach pics but don’t know if they’re here?

EDIT: The pics did attach. But yes, it does sit nose down like the one you posted BrokeDad.

[Liduno]

Originally Posted by Ram_Wagon

HeHe...! It’s not THAT easy. The tail boom had to be removed and put thru the fuse tail then reattached physically and electrically.

I flew it again a bit ago in the garage and I’m leaning towards the fact I don’t hear the “normal” high pitched noise because the main gear is hidden and now the tail is more noticeable.

I was wondering if maybe the weight of the fuselage and the angle of the skids during initialization could be screwing around with the FBL controller?

Leave the tail part on and take the main fuselage off? Pretty sure the flight system will take care of the balance.

[Allan114]

I would check that you haven't got the main gear mesh too tight. Grip the motor with one hand and then try and oscillate the main gear. There should be a tiny bit of slack. Also try this at 90 degree positions on the main gear rotation just in case you have a bit of a bent main shaft. If there is a tight spot this could be making the tail rotor work a bit.

[Ram_Wagon]

Originally Posted by Allan114

I would check that you haven't got the main gear mesh too tight. Grip the motor with one hand and then try and oscillate the main gear. There should be a tiny bit of slack. Also try this at 90 degree positions on the main gear rotation just in case you have a bit of a bent main shaft. If there is a tight spot this could be making the tail rotor work a bit.

I flew her earlier. The old tip over that I’ve attributed to this heli is extremely bad now...

It tips right so I counter with a little left collective. Throttle up more and it rips forward which I counter again. Then just as it gets light on the left skid it “rolls” around, pretty much, tipping in ALL directions. The whole time, the tail is working as hard as it would like I was flying fast sideways into the wind. Tail working really hard..! Shows no signs of rubbing the fuse and mechanically it’s the same heli. This was only a cosmetic upgrade.

When I finally got her off the ground, of course it means right like they all do. Couldn’t hover well with a pretty decent wind outside and flying in the back yard showed it flying just fine. Once I saw it fly I figured it’s not bad with the fuselage but yet looks pretty damn cool now!!

When I landed back in the garage it wobbles pretty badly so I had to just throttle to 0 fast and it spun itself around 90 degrees before stopping.

Pretty sure I don’t have a bent main shaft, unless it was bent from the factory? The gear mesh SHOULD be what HH built it as. I’ve never crashed this bird, yet. (Hope I don’t now, either!)

Thinking that I should do a Trim Flight again with the fuse on?

I don’t think a calibration will work with the forward lean it has now?

I’ll update after the TF since I won’t be able to fly outside for the next couple of days.

[Liduno]

You're assuming the gear mesh was right to begin with..lol Most main gears aren't perfectly round, check the mesh in a few different position.

[Ram_Wagon]

I removed the fuselage canopy and tried to fly with just the tail section... TRIED to fly, being the key phrase here!

It won't even spool up correctly and damn, just trying to get headspeed up to hover is impossible with only the tail section on!

I truly believe the controller (AS3X, right?) does NOT like the extra weight the fuse adds.

I flipped throttle hold and moved throttle stick to midpoint and flipped F.Mode to U/I... Nope! It tried to leave the tail "on the ground" and flip over backwards!

So I put the canopy back on and tried to fly again and it lifts off, after some tipping right, then forward, plus some clockwise twists, and more forward tilt, but does get off the ground. Once off the ground, the tail motor is very busy. Like it's working 2x times as hard to maintain...? But the heli flies like I want it to. Just take off and landing sucks and the high pitched whiny noise isn't in the main gear now. Just the tail "buzzing" sound. Like a miniature weed eater.

I'm gonna say it's GOT to be the fuselage that is causing the tail to work so hard. If I plan on keeping this heli with a fuse on it, I'm gonna just have to live with the extra tail noise.

It doesn't interfere with my scale flying I was doing before! It looks very "pretty" in the air, especially outside in the sun! Very RED and futuristic! Even somewhat menacing in flight. I can live with it.

[Ram_Wagon]

Originally Posted by BrokeDad

I take it that it's like this one (see attached). I have it but have never put it on.

You should at LEAST put this on and try it..? Lemme know your thoughts once you've flown it?

Hardest part was trying to hold the frame apart while feeding the 3 tail motor wires back in their "hole" in the frame, all while holding the fuse/tail/motor at the same time.

I thought of removing the tail motor then installing the fuse to the frame and reinstalling the motor, but I couldn't get the wires to pull thru the boom?

So, I put the tail boom thru the fuse tail section, screwed on the vertical fin on the tail loosely, and fed the wires. Then I was able to secure the boom back into the frame and bolt down the fuse tail. They even made holes for the screwdriver to get he frame screws tight again!

Again, once done, it's beautiful!

[Liduno]

Originally Posted by Ram_Wagon

I removed the fuselage canopy and tried to fly with just the tail section... TRIED to fly, being the key phrase here!

It won't even spool up correctly and damn, just trying to get headspeed up to hover is impossible with only the tail section on!

I truly believe the controller (AS3X, right?) does NOT like the extra weight the fuse adds.

I flipped throttle hold and moved throttle stick to midpoint and flipped F.Mode to U/I... Nope! It tried to leave the tail "on the ground" and flip over backwards!

So I put the canopy back on and tried to fly again and it lifts off, after some tipping right, then forward, plus some clockwise twists, and more forward tilt, but does get off the ground. Once off the ground, the tail motor is very busy. Like it's working 2x times as hard to maintain...? But the heli flies like I want it to. Just take off and landing sucks and the high pitched whiny noise isn't in the main gear now. Just the tail "buzzing" sound. Like a miniature weed eater.

I'm gonna say it's GOT to be the fuselage that is causing the tail to work so hard. If I plan on keeping this heli with a fuse on it, I'm gonna just have to live with the extra tail noise.

It doesn't interfere with my scale flying I was doing before! It looks very "pretty" in the air, especially outside in the sun! Very RED and futuristic! Even somewhat menacing in flight. I can live with it.

If it flies like you want it to, then it's a success. You may want to keep an eye on the tail motor temperature.

[Ram_Wagon]

Originally Posted by Liduno

If it flies like you want it to, then it's a success. You may want to keep an eye on the tail motor temperature.

Yeah, next time I fly it I'll use my IR thermometer to check temps. Not sure what I good temp would be? But, I'll get a temp.

[tryinghelirandy]

I flew about 12 5 minute flights, but the first flight was terrible and lasted only a few seconds. I bought a 70s to practice at home and have been flying it about ten times a day, so when the first flight at the field with the 230 went so badly I thought it was because of the 70. After I got the 230 down safely I started looking it over carefully thinking something was disconnected, but it turned out to be the tail rotor was turned down about 30 degrees. I straightened it and the rest of the flights were good.

[Allan114]

I would definitely check the main gear mesh, it doesn't always come out of the factory correctly set. A loose tail boom will set up vibrations in the helicopter so make sure the tail motor is oriented correctly and nip up the tail boom screws tight. If the tail won't hold firm put some thin tape around the tail boom then re clamp it up. Also have you crashed the heli and stripped some teeth on the main gear, this can cause odd behavior.

When spooling up don't be too slow moving the stick as the heli does go through some resonance patches. Get the rotor speed up fairly quickly and the heli should sit fairly stable on the ground. This said I do get the occasional tip on spool up but most of the time its fairly good and steady.

[Ram_Wagon]

Originally Posted by BrokeDad

Ram_Wagon .. make sure you didn't accidentally put the tail blade on backwards. It will still fly but work like crazy.

HOW did I not see your post...?!

So I took the tail blade off when I was going to remove the motor and try to fish the wires out of the boom. But when I couldn't go that route, I removed the boom, motor and all, and inserted it into the fuse tail and THEN bolted everything back up.

When I removed the tail blade, removing the Allen head screw and washer and leaving the screw and washer in the tail rotor, so as NOT to lose orientation...

However, during reassembly, I dropped the screw and washer out of the rotor and set the rotor down to gather up the screw and washer again! MAYBE... just May Be...?!

I put the tail rotor on backwards!??!

I mean, blade angles will be the same regardless... but...!

I'll check this afternoon!

[Ram_Wagon]

In the meantime... I still wonder if I shouldn't try to calibrate the 230s again with the fuselage on it?

It's be craptastic weather outside, so only flew the 130s once yesterday for one battery. (DID fly it quite a bit in that short time in I/U mode!)

But, I wonder if I could perform the Calibration and Trim Flight with a fuselage on? Can the tilted/nose down profile of the heli now, be a reason to recalibrate it? Or, does it need to be level for calibration, even though with the full fuselage, it never will sit level again? And, it's actually the landing skids that make it sit nose down.

I'm only curious and want to find out for sure, because it's drifting right pretty badly and I did have it fairly good, hands off hovering.