rc heli ready to fly

sean1141

is there much setting up on a ready to fly rc electric heli? i know the name says they are ready to fly:P but do they need anything adjusted on them.. i got one ages ago and could never get it to fly but i am sick of looking at it sitting on top of the press!! battery is on charge as i type.. any one got any tips for me??

its a walkera 60#??

coolwings

They are not hard to set up. But if you do not know how yet, it will be a dark subject and you need to read up, study, watch video clips, play with the parts.

The problem is people buy a heli with a collective pitch rotor head as a first model. They don't appreciate how radio controls work, never mind what actions are required to fly.
In regards to what you need to understand to keep one in the air, I would compare a collective pitch heli to an aerobatic airplane and nobody would buy a Red Bull aerobat as a first - yet they do with helis!
So your problem with getting it to fly earlier was probably due to lack of understanding and skill, and probably not the heli's fault, in other words, due to being a beginner. If so, with time spent practising, most of your problems will simply vanish as ability rises.
Use the training undercarraige.
If you haven't already learned to fly with planes, you can practise on an RC simulater. But practise, practise, practise!

If your heli was flying ok, and not disassembled since, it should still be fine. If it's not right, diagnosis of problems is by another flier who wants to help and has spare time, or by studying the subject yourself. There is a lot of stuff online. Just go for the detail on tuning helis of various types, and ignore the sales stuff.

Bruthal

sean1141 wrote: »

is there much setting up on a ready to fly rc electric heli? i know the name says they are ready to fly:P but do they need anything adjusted on them.. i got one ages ago and could never get it to fly but i am sick of looking at it sitting on top of the press!! battery is on charge as i type.. any one got any tips for me??

its a walkera 60#??

Did you get it to lift off the ground? Anyway the best way is to have someone experienced helping, as even if its perfectly setup they are virtually impossible to fly without learning properly, and certainly impossible to just take off and fly without having learned. The 2 i fly, both t-rex`s have not needed any adjustments since last time i had a bit of a prang with them:D, which is 2 years ago on the bigger one now as i dont fly them as much as i used to, so once setup they stay setup, at least decent ones do anyway.

The t-rex ones i found much easier to fly than other cheaper ones, more solid etc, so sometimes badly setup or not so great a heli to start with has put people off as it seemed much harder than it should have been to learn.

Not sure what the walkera 60 is like, should fly well enough though. Setup of heli`s is simple enough one you understand how they fly, and what it is your setting up.

Some would say the fixed pitch are easier to learn on, maybe they are, but learning on a collective pitch one should not be too bad if you have someone experienced with you.

As coolwings says, setup can be like a big mystery, but so would driving a car to someone that never did. Although it still seems a mystery to some actual drivers out there:eek:

coolwings

robbie7730 wrote: »

...... but so would driving a car to someone that never did. Although it still seems a mystery to some actual drivers out there:eek:

There used to be a good book online about setting up the T-Rex 450, I mean it covered the lot. It was written by a chap from Japan, and it was very clear, in a pdf file.
I can't find the link right now. Maybe somebody else has it saved and will chip in, or another similar link from Heliguy or the like.

syl77

Pretty good stock of 450 videos here.....
http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=11373

sean1141

ok tried it today. it keeps spinning around in a circle unless i hold the stick for back blades over full to the left and even at that its still turning a little bit..(its still on the ground) i know nothing about these rc helis im guessing its a lost cause with me!!

coolwings

When the stick for the rudder is centred on your radio transmitter, the rudder (tail) servo arm should be at 90 degrees to the pushrod that adjusts the angle of the tail blades, ie at the halfway point.
It is probably actually not at the halfway and requires to be adjusted by taking the arm off the servo, rotating it to centre, and reattaching it in a correctly centred position.

Whizzzz

There is an excellent web site at www dot rchelicopterfun dot com - the guy who runs it has put up a load of really well written and useful information for beginners and experts alike. I'd really recommend a couple of the electronic books he's written on setting up and learning on Helis - I bought a few and found them extremely useful (and they aren't that expensive - especially with the US$ / Eur exchange rate at the moment !).
The site covers pretty much every aspect of the different types of helis (electric, nitro, turbine), accessories and simulators etc - well worth a browse. Hope it helps you

Bruthal

sean1141 wrote: »

ok tried it today. it keeps spinning around in a circle unless i hold the stick for back blades over full to the left and even at that its still turning a little bit..(its still on the ground) i know nothing about these rc helis im guessing its a lost cause with me!!

Sounds like the gyro is not setup right, and the tail pitch setup is mechanically off as well. The tail servo should be at right angle when the rudder stick is centred alright, but this will only be apparent in rates mode on the gyro. In heading hold mode the blades will not centre as the stick does, so its tricky to get it setup properly just going by that.

The servo arm can be a little off the correct right angle setting anyway, but the tail pitch could still be set right and it would work then, although with the servo arm not at right angle with stick centred (gyro rates mode), the pitch would have more throw in one directon than the other.

Also, the servo arm can be correctly set, but the pitch of tail blades can be off due to the servo position on the tail boom being incorrect. the servo clamps can be loosened and servo slid slightly either way to mechanically set the tail pitch.

(Im assuming the tail servo can be slid along tail boom as im not that familiar with walkera`s) if not, the push rod length has to be adjusted to do the same thing

The tail pitch should be set so when the tail blades are turning as you move the main rotors clockwise by hand, they are moving air from left to right as the heli is pointing the way your looking. It sounds like your one is doing this (if the nose is spinning to the right on a clockwise spinning main blade as viewed from above), but yours has too much pitch with the rudder stick centred.

Even if the mechanically set tail has too much pitch in rates mode at stick centre, a correctly setup gyro in head hold mode should hold the tail steady in a hover at least.

If you made a little video if the tail pitch as you move the rudder stick, with blades stopped, we may be able to tell how the pitch is looking, a video would have to be looking at the tail blade end on, maybe from above with the tail blade pointing straight up, as you move the rudder stick left and right and centred.

Overall anyway, sounds like you might need someone to assist, as more than the tail may need to be setup.

syl77

It sounds most likely that the gain or rudder servo is reversed.
To test if the rudder servor is reversed, postion the tail blade pointing up to you as you are looking down it and go full left on the rudder, the tail blade (pointting towards the heil-from what i remember) should point left - I think this is correct for most helis.
To check if the gain is reversed, yaw the heli body to one side say left, and at the same time check that the rudder blades move in the correct direction to counter act the movement.
The rudder servo can be reversed in the radio(or gyro), the gain most likely in the Gyro.
I doubt very much if the rudder servo arms not at correct angles would cause the heli to spin as you say, although they should be correct inorder for your gyro to work best. Also make sure you are starting in heading hold.

Bruthal

syl77 wrote: »

It sounds most likely that the gain or rudder servo is reversed.
To test if the rudder servor is reversed, postion the tail blade pointing up to you as you are looking down it and go full left on the rudder, the tail blade (pointting towards the heil-from what i remember) should point left - I think this is correct for most helis.
To check if the gain is reversed, yaw the heli body to one side say left, and at the same time check that the rudder blades move in the correct direction to counter act the movement.
The rudder servo can be reversed in the radio(or gyro), the gain most likely in the Gyro.
I doubt very much if the rudder servo arms not at correct angles would cause the heli to spin as you say, although they should be correct inorder for your gyro to work best. Also make sure you are starting in heading hold.

Could be reversed alright, although a reversed gyro or servo tends to send the heli yawing to the left from spool up, but i think the OP indicates its yawing to the right. He said turning the rudder stick full left slows the spinning, but the spinning could of course be to the left and he has the servo reversed. So if the heli is spinning to the right, and the op giving left rudder is slowing it, then the servo at least is in the right direction.

If the tail pitch is set correct, then a reversed gyro or servo causing it to spin will probably stop spinning and spin the opposite way out of control again if the rudder stick is moved in the direction to counteract the spin.

There are a few things that can cause reversals, the servo, the gyro, tail belt twisted the wrong way, pitch linkages the wrong way around(possible on the t-rex, not sure about walkera),


OP, like sly77 said, if the tail blades are stationary and pointing toward the ceiling and floor, and you stand at the back of the heli with tail boom toward you, full left rudder will cause the blade thats pointing up toward the ceiling to have its edge nearest the front of the heli move to the left, right rudder will cause the same edge to move over to the right.

If you now physically hold the heli in hand and turn the heli left, the gyro should now move the tail blade pitch as if you move the rudder stick right, and vice versa if you move it right.

syl77

Some good points Robbie, esp about the belt being twisted, i always assume a torque tube..., but in relation to

although a reversed gyro or servo tends to send the heli yawing to the left from spool up,

and i could be wrong cause its late, but wouldnt it sending the heli yawing left be right .... in the same direction of the main blades... because its fighting it in the wrong direction...

like i said its late... but i do think were on the right track....:rolleyes:

Bruthal

syl77 wrote: »

Some good points Robbie, esp about the belt being twisted, i always assume a torque tube..., but in relation to

although a reversed gyro or servo tends to send the heli yawing to the left from spool up,

and i could be wrong cause its late, but wouldnt it sending the heli yawing left be right .... in the same direction of the main blades... because its fighting it in the wrong direction...

like i said its late... but i do think were on the right track....:rolleyes:

Yes sending it yawing to the left is correct if no right rudder is input at spooling up. A reversed gyro will in fact send the heli yawing in whichever direction the tail first tries to move when the tail rotor is up to enough speed to have any authority, which would usually be heli to left.

My point was the OP mentions he gives it left rudder to slow down the yaw, so if the rudder input directions are correct, then the heli would of been yawing to the right for a left input to slow it. But the rudder input could be reversed and so the OP could in fact be giving right rudder input.

Definitely the first things he should check is the rudder input direction, and the gyro affect and direction on the blades in head hold mode like you suggested earlier. Spinning to one direction if servo and gryo direction are correct will be the mechanical setting of the gyro to tail pitch.

One test i do with small heli`s sometimes is remove the main blades and spool it up on a smooth floor, and see how the tail spins. Although the mechanical setting of pitch will be different without the blades, but it confirms if directions are correct after the visual checks, and will stay steady in head hold mode when properly set. A turntable setup to fix a heli to is another good way of testing.

But the very first question which will tell us some of the above is, which way is the heli turning when you start it up sean1141?

Bruthal

syl77 wrote: »

Some good points Robbie, esp about the belt being twisted, i always assume a torque tube..., but in relation to

and i could be wrong cause its late, but wouldnt it sending the heli yawing left be right .... in the same direction of the main blades... because its fighting it in the wrong direction...

Yes now that im well over the limit(for driving anyway:)), the gyro should be sending the heli yaw to the right, so the OP turning it to the left would be counteracting that alright, amazing how clear some things are when out of it:D

Edit
Actually i must be worse than i thought, as a correctly set gyro will send the heli yaw to the right when spooling up, a reversed one will be to the left out of control alright. Exactly like you say yourself, its easy enough to think of it backwards, which shows how it can be confusing for any of us, let alone a beginner.