Align 450L Dominator Blade Tracking Question

[Shadowecho]

Hello , I have put together a Align 450L heli and have performed blade tracking with a digital pitch gauge , I have -/+ 12 for pitch dialled in and have levelled the swashplate ( using sk540 gyro ) . The heli flies nice and does not drift , will hold a hover with hands off the tx . In order to achieve blade tracking I have one control rod threaded out about two-ish threads , the other is about double this....is this safe ? Is there enough threads threaded into the plastic ball link grip ? Thanks for any tips/advice on this .

[macdad]

If you are only about about 2 threads, meaning it is only about 2 threads away from fully turned down on the rod, you are fine. If you only had 2 threads of engagement, I would be concerned

There is quite a bit of engagement between the ball links and the rods. I normally have to turn them out a couple of turns to get everything zeroed in.

edit: I am also assuming that the rod is fairly centered between both ball ends. Meaning you have similar thread engagement on each end.

[Shadowecho]

Ok thank you , I ran out of time last night and took a good look at it today , I wasn't liking the fact that there was such a difference between the two links , I discovered one side has the newer shorter control link installed

[macdad]

Good thing you looked again. That is would explain why you were seeing such a difference!

[bad007]

The links should be screwed on the entire way tight. Start with links at the same position, for example A facing out and to get your 0 at mid stick use the servo to swash links. Also do not pop the links off and on, it could weaken them since the DFC arm doesn't flex. Unscrew at the head if needed and when setup is finished Loctite them in place.

[Shadowecho]

Yes I ended up with a little thread showing after blade tracking , I just started from scratch and levelled the swash again and worked my way up ! Thanks for the tips and yes I noticed it's a little tight on the arms up to the blade grips .....thank you.

Took it out for a test flight , worked well , when I landed ( on course asphalt) I'm not sure what happened , maybe I dumped the collective to quickly but it got into a wobble on me after it was on the ground with throttle hold on....any of you guys experience this ?? No damage but it shook pretty good for a few seconds until it wound down . I'm running the skookum sk540 gyro , there's no insulators on the skids , would this help ? I have them on my 500 but I usually take off on grass so I've never noticed anything like that .

[macdad]

I have had that wobble on occasion when landing on concrete.

Is there a chance that you accidentally gave some cyclic input on the ground or didn't land level?

You definitely don't want to dump the collective too quickly, especially if you land in idle up. On larger helis you can smash it into the ground with the down force of the blades.

If you didn't give any inadvertent inputs, then I would check your blade tightness in the grips. My guess would be too loose, but that is only a guess.

[bad007]

Originally Posted by Shadowecho

Yes I ended up with a little thread showing after blade tracking , I just started from scratch and levelled the swash again and worked my way up ! Thanks for the tips and yes I noticed it's a little tight on the arms up to the blade grips .....thank you.

Took it out for a test flight , worked well , when I landed ( on course asphalt) I'm not sure what happened , maybe I dumped the collective to quickly but it got into a wobble on me after it was on the ground with throttle hold on....any of you guys experience this ?? No damage but it shook pretty good for a few seconds until it wound down . I'm running the skookum sk540 gyro , there's no insulators on the skids , would this help ? I have them on my 500 but I usually take off on grass so I've never noticed anything like that .

You dumped the collective. Set normal and TH pitch 40 50 ** ** and let the collective at mid stick while spooling down. Without centrifugal force the blades move forward and cause the wobble.

[Shadowecho]

Ok I'm heading out this morning and will take your tips with me ! Thanks !

[Shadowecho]

Well I'm feeling kinda silly , I tried everything today and I still had this crazy ground wobble , I finally tore down the head and discovered the feathering shaft is bent

I'm new to the hobby , about 6 months and have only had a few minor mishaps , the fella I bought this 450 off of said it was never in a crash Lol

Live and learn hey ! There's this " nightflyer " YouTuber that states " every flight is a test and ever crash is a lesson " ......words to live by but I guess I'm learning from somebody else's crash !!

I flew a few batteries through this heli with a bent shaft , and other than the wobble on takeoff and landing it flew nice ????

Is this normal ?? I set blade tracking up with a pitch gauge and I was maybe out .2 ish maybe .3 and it really looked like one blade hovering in the air .

Anyhow , I have a shaft ( and bearings ) coming and I'm pretty sure this will solve my problem, I ran it with the main blades off and the head appears straight , no bounce from the tail rotor ...... any tips while I'm working on it ??

[bad007]

Originally Posted by Shadowecho

I'm new to the hobby , about 6 months and have only had a few minor mishaps , the fella I bought this 450 off of said it was never in a crash Lol

A few minor mishaps? LOL that = bent parts and rough bearings

[Shadowecho]

Well more broken than bent

[bazsound]

Originally Posted by Shadowecho

Well I'm feeling kinda silly , I tried everything today and I still had this crazy ground wobble , I finally tore down the head and discovered the feathering shaft is bent

I'm new to the hobby , about 6 months and have only had a few minor mishaps , the fella I bought this 450 off of said it was never in a crash Lol

Live and learn hey ! There's this " nightflyer " YouTuber that states " every flight is a test and ever crash is a lesson " ......words to live by but I guess I'm learning from somebody else's crash !!

I flew a few batteries through this heli with a bent shaft , and other than the wobble on takeoff and landing it flew nice ????

Is this normal ?? I set blade tracking up with a pitch gauge and I was maybe out .2 ish maybe .3 and it really looked like one blade hovering in the air .

Anyhow , I have a shaft ( and bearings ) coming and I'm pretty sure this will solve my problem, I ran it with the main blades off and the head appears straight , no bounce from the tail rotor ...... any tips while I'm working on it ??

feathering shafts can bend in non carshes ie tip overs. If the blades hit solid ground with enough speed a few times thats usually enough to put a bend in it.

An easy way to check feathering shafts is to take 1 blade of and use your hex driver to turn the shaft, if you see the blade/grip moving up and down, shaft is bent. Make sure to check both sides.

If your shaft was obviously bent, man that must have been a really bad tipover or was crashed.


Dont agree with that saying form the youtuber. You dont learn anything by crashing. you learn by continuing to fly. I learnt the hard way that crashing all the time is not only expensive but frustrating. Since you spend so much time fixing things that you forget what you learnt while you were flying.

More often than not in the beginning you dont really know why you crash so theres nothing to learn from. If you dont know what went wrong how are you supposed to not do it again?

Personally i think the goal should be to come back with your helis in 1 piece. ofcoarse accidents do happen but for the most part if you are flying within you abilitys your helis should come back in 1 piece.

[Shadowecho]

I think you do learn from your crashes and if you don't it will get expensive Lol

I agree on flying to your ability for sure , I try everything on the sim first , if I can't fly it there I certainly won't try it on the field !