Blade 230s Hint's and Tip's

[therick04pp]

Originally Posted by crsorrell0653

Thought I'd re-ignite an old post about trim flight since it is mentioned in this thread.

There has been a great debate in the past as to whether or not this could be done on the bench the same as the 200srx. Well, I was caught short today and needed a quick trim flight, so removed the rotors, put it into trim flight mode and fired it up to 50% throttle on the bench. Put a little bias on the motor, and hey presto, the best trim flight I have ever done. Takes off level. Any one else verify this??

Hot damn, im trying this in the AM. What do you mean "bias on the motor"? Will post my outcome!

[crsorrell0653]

Originally Posted by therick04pp

Hot damn, im trying this in the AM. What do you mean "bias on the motor"? Will post my outcome!

Well, I think that a motor should not be running with no load on it, so I lightly put a finger on the motor and main gear just to slow it down a bit, to simulate load under flight and didn't touch the cyclic or rudder. Did this for about 30 secs.

It's just that I crashed it for the second time today (too much inverted nonsence I'm afraid), and the transmitter battery was very low, so didn't have time to do an in flight trim flight. I had done the same thing to a friends 200srx this week also, and it flew so well afterwards, I didn't think this would hurt to try, inspite of all the skepticism around this procedure. Time will tell, so hope a few others will try it out and report back.

[Boulder53]

I got back in the air this afternoon. I started back at "bind the transmitter to the receiver" but I didn't go all the way back to "download the latest receiver firmware". I bound the transmitter and receiver, then did a calibration. Then I got out in the front yard and got off the ground. I was still hard left on the cyclic but within the range of control. I landed, got into trim flight mode and did a 63 second trim flight. Afterward the heli was not really more controllable or centered but I flew on for a good while. I managed to get 7:53 on the 1.5 Ah battery and shut it down. It wasn't great but it was manageable.

[3Dmuse]

Originally Posted by Boulder53

I got back in the air this afternoon. I started back at "bind the transmitter to the receiver" but I didn't go all the way back to "download the latest receiver firmware". I bound the transmitter and receiver, then did a calibration. Then I got out in the front yard and got off the ground. I was still hard left on the cyclic but within the range of control. I landed, got into trim flight mode and did a 63 second trim flight. Afterward the heli was not really more controllable or centered but I flew on for a good while. I managed to get 7:53 on the 1.5 Ah battery and shut it down. It wasn't great but it was manageable.

Why are you reluctant to update the flight controller firmware? It does help.

[Boulder53]

I'm running the current version. It wouldn't be an update in my case, it would just rewrite the same version. It might have the benefit of zeroing out any memory or setups. But I already have the current version of the software.

[jrman83]

Time to take the training wheels off

[everydayflyer]

So as I understand it the AR636 has the following modes which are activated with the following values.

1)Panic Recovery value 150

2)Stability Mode value 100

3) Agility Mode value 0 , also referred to as Intermediate

4)Agility Mode value -100 , also referred to as 3D

IMO page 9 of 230 manual does a very good job of explaining Panic Recovery and also Stability Mode.

Intermediate and Agility Modes ,both Modes share same definition ,bank angle is not limited and when cyclic sticks are released model will not return to level. Plain enough but what is the difference provided by the 0 versus the -100 input value.

What effect do values between 100 and 0 or 0 and -100 have if any?

Charles

[RCFred]

Would an un-level swash cause blade mis-tracking?

[toys2cars2toys]

Originally Posted by RCFred

Would an un-level swash cause blade mis-tracking?

No it will be from the upper half of the swash upwards
Typical causes
-Loose balls into the grips
- Bent grip arms
- Linkage between the swash and grips on too far (past the ball)
- Bent feathering shaft
- Warped blades

[IFlyRC80]

Just opened up my new 230S and followed the instructions. When it initializes the cyclic goes all the way right aileron and full down elevator.

When I spool it up just enough to lift off it tries to go right and forward.

Any advice?

[Mike680]

Originally Posted by toys2cars2toys

No it will be from the upper half of the swash upwards
Typical causes
-Loose balls into the grips
- Bent grip arms
- Linkage between the swash and grips on too far (past the ball)
- Bent feathering shaft
- Warped blades

- Worn dampers

[torg]

Originally Posted by IFlyRC80

Just opened up my new 230S and followed the instructions. When it initializes the cyclic goes all the way right aileron and full down elevator.

When I spool it up just enough to lift off it tries to go right and forward.

Any advice?

Check the 230s forum - you may need a trim flight? Or try to lift off in iu with no stability function gettin in the way.

[crimson66]

Originally Posted by IFlyRC80

Just opened up my new 230S and followed the instructions. When it initializes the cyclic goes all the way right aileron and full down elevator.

When I spool it up just enough to lift off it tries to go right and forward.

Any advice?

Yes sir,
That is normal when the heli is in stability mode.
When I first got my 230s I was not confident in trying to lift the heli off because it kept wanting to do this.
However if you just pull it back left some until you get off the ground it will then fly very nicely. The gyro is trying to correct the torque of the blades when the blades arent spinning so it thinks it needs to go that way to be level. Just fly the disc on the ground and get into the air quickly and it will work fine.

If you still don't have the balls to do it, just fly in intermediate (iu1/fm1) then flip it back over to stability once you are off the ground.

[Bill_A]

Originally Posted by crimson66

Yes sir,
That is normal when the heli is in stability mode.
When I first got my 230s I was not confident in trying to lift the heli off because it kept wanting to do this.
However if you just pull it back left some until you get off the ground it will then fly very nicely. The gyro is trying to correct the torque of the blades when the blades arent spinning so it thinks it needs to go that way to be level. Just fly the disc on the ground and get into the air quickly and it will work fine.

I find if before I start to spool up I adjust left past level, then spool it's about back to level while it's still adjusting during the slow start. By lift off I'm not having to compensate nearly as much as before when I didn't do this. It is a bit distressing to see it start to tip just as it's lifting off.

Bill A

[HotBot]

My brand new "out of the box" BNF 230s was terrible. It needed constant right cyclic to keep it from flying off rapidly to the left. I carried out the trim flight but it made no difference. The unit had the latest firmware but I found after performing the calibration as shown here, using a sprit level as indicated. Then without even doing another trim flight it was stable and centred, no need to keep holding cyclic in.

Why this sheet is not included in the box and everyone told to perform it before flying is a mystery, as it is clear many "out of the box" factory setup is not as good as it should be!

[CompleteDestruction]

Are local Horizon Hobby dealers doing firmware updates? Or do I have to buy another thing (the cable) to make the helicopter fly properly?

[BrokeDad]

Originally Posted by CompleteDestruction

Are local Horizon Hobby dealers doing firmware updates? Or do I have to buy another thing (the cable) to make the helicopter fly properly?

Any 230S you buy now will have the latest update as it was published in the fall of 2015. But yes you do need the cable for updates unless your LHS will do it for you. What they charge is up to them. The AR636 on the 230S is locked and you can't load a generic one with the firmware but you can update it.

[Genesis X7]

Yesterday I purchased another Blade 230S (BNF) to replace a recent runaway which was not recovered and noticed the receiver and the box it was shipped in (placed near bar code) both had a green dot sticker applied. I also noticed the usual sticker on the tail motor (which I removed) and similar stickers on each servo and on the frame.

If Brian Bremer could answer what the significance of these stickers represents. Is this to show that the unit was inspected and possibly test flown before it left HH's distribution warehouse. I noticed the firmware is of the latest version V4.23 and that the manual included seems to have been updated, however it does not mention the calibration procedure or trim flight procedure which previously was supplied as an additional two page addendum insert with my previous model.

Your answers Brian would be much appreciated.

Thank You,
Kevin

[Mike680]

Brian departed the pattern a long time ago. It's been crickets from Horizon employees in any of their forums for quite a while.

[BrokeDad]

Originally Posted by Mike680

Brian departed the pattern a long time ago. It's been crickets from Horizon employees in any of their forums for quite a while.

He did respond to a thread just a day or so ago I remember.