450 Blade 450 3D

EagleRiverMike

New Member
Hello All,
Name's Mike, Live in Eagle River, Wisconsin...

Wife purchased me a Blade 450 3D in 2014 I think, crashed it so many times I had to send it in for repair to IL.

Anyway, pulled it out of the basement, (haven't tried to fly it since repair) found some great YouTube videos and am now just trying to get it to Hover....

Using a DX6i Spektrum transmitter....

Currently when my Swash Plate rises up (evenly all around), I assume that the heli is supposed to "lift", but it doesn't. The leading end of the blades (thickest part) actually pitch down....I can see it compress down onto my "training wheels"...

I obviously have something bungled up...

On another question....seems my Rudder is over sensitive....It doesn't want to hold rotation position...darn thing just starts spinning around and if I counter it it'll get going the other way.... I can stop it from spinning with light touches to rudder control but I'd like to dumb it down if possible....

Thanks much for the help...
Mike
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
I may have had the Swash Type incorrectly selected.... I have a Collective Pitch Heli so I should be selecting CCPM instead of what I had it set for which was SERVO90....
Recharging Heli battery ad will try after that's done....
 

Geena

Staff member
Without seeing the helicopter and being able to go through your setup, it sounds like you have the collective pitch and the tail gyro reversed. With the leading edge of the blades pointing downward, when you give collective....it`s giving negative pitch to the blades. Which is why it`s forcing the helicopter downward. It should be giving positive pitch when you give collective.

The tail issues is probably due to the tail gyro correcting in the wrong direction. But check that you have a good mechanical setup on the tail, and also that you have the rudder moving in the correct direction when you give rudder stick inputs. Once you`ve gotten the mechanical setup done correctly, and the travel direction set properly.... then check the gyro. When you rotate the the helicopter`s nose to the right, the gyro should give left rudder, and vice versa.
 

Geena

Staff member
Also, if your helicopter is a flybared helicopter...yes. CCPM (120 degrees) is what you will set the swash type for. But if it`s flybarless, you may have to choose mechanical swash type (single servo 90 degrees) Most, if not all FBL systems want to see mechanical swash type set up in the transmitter.
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
By Collective Pitch....does that mean that the swash plate should go down which would pitch the blades up to create lift?.... Right now the swash plate goes up when I push the throttle forward.....
Thanks,
Mike
 

Geena

Staff member
By Collective Pitch....does that mean that the swash plate should go down which would pitch the blades up to create lift?.... Right now the swash plate goes up when I push the throttle forward.....
Thanks,
Mike
I don`t remember off the top of my head, but I think the blade 450 3D has trailing edge pitch arms, which would require that the swash plate moves down, to give positive pitch
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
looked this up...but doesn't say how to do it.....a lot I don't know...

Expo makes the sticks less sensitive around stick center, this reduces unintended shaking and keeps small stick movements from having big (undesired) effects. It's called "expo" because as you move the sticks further from center they effect the control surface exponentially more.
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
Looking up what expo is on the internet is going to give you a generic answer since how to do it will differ from each make/model of radio. To find out how to do it on your radio, you'll need to read the instructions found in the manual for the radio in question.

We also strongly recommend practicing flying on a simulator ( aks sim ). I like Realflight but there are others although I'm not sure they are as good. A flight sim will more than pay for itself in avoiding crashing the real thing. A heli is an advanced aircraft that isn't not great to learn on but practicing in a sim helps teach you the muscle memory you'll need to limit the number of crashes.
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
I've gone into Swash Mix... they were all set for +60. I changed them all (AILE, ELEV and PITCH) to -60 and now the Swash Plate moves down when moving the stick forward/more speed and everything moves evenly/level.... Should give me lift now...

Heading out for more crash testing :nightmare:
 

James M. Lewis

Armed Forces
Another idea besides the manual is to contact Horizons Hobby tech department. The Blade 450 is a flybar bird no longer in production but they can still provide assistance. RandyDSok mention practicing on a simulator, excellent advice. Tony has a series of videos in his flight school and how to build on You Tube. Believe me that's how I learn the in/outs of the hobby. Still refer to them ensuring I'm on course. An important thing to remember is to have all moving parts working together. These include: servo arms, swash plate with control rods to main head rotor, blade grips & pitch (+/- degrees for blades) flybar, plus tail rotor. Yes that's a mouth full but very important for a successful flight. :peaceful:
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
Well, that's better....everything seems to be functioning properly....It's lifting just fine....but I'm still keeping most of the training balls on the ground...Still would like to retard the rudder control....with just a light touch the tail really spins fast in either direction....can anyone tell me where in the DX6i I could do that....
Had to rebind after resetting some things on the transmitter.....finally noticed that you have to leave the copter sit awhile before trying to re-bind...there must be a capacitor the has to discharge before it'll work properly...
Will look into getting a simulator for the Spectrum DX6i/Blade 450 3D

Thanks for all your time and input to help me....Not much RC stuff here in the North Woods of Eagle River, Wisconsin....one hobby store but he doesn't deal with planes nor copters....but a real nice fella...

Mike
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
Almost forgot...... You can tame down the controls by adding some expo in the transmitter
Yes, found the D/R Expo (Dual Rate & Expo) in the manual and will try some settings there....Thanks Geena..
The copter is running better than ever, new rudders, new blades and big new gear that meshes with metal gear on motor...(too many crashes I guess/teeth were getting poor looking)
Thanks All,
Mike
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
So I get what the D/R Expo does and I think it's working fine......My problem is that just before hover the rudder takes over and puts the copter into a full speed spin...
I'll check to make sure the linkage isn't binding but isn't the Gyro supposed to hold the tail in place???
Thank again for your input...
Mike
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
A little more information.....When I bring up the speed and just before it's ready to hover the dang thing goes into a full speed spin and even if I throw the rudder stick in the opposite direction it doesn't seem to have any effect.....do I need to replace the GYRO? Linkage all seems fine, no binding and it all works well when I bench test it... Also with the power to the copter and motor disconnected, I can swing the tail and the gyro does compensate for movement... It's hard to "see" but if you place your fingers on the rudder shaft you can feel it actually moving...hmmmmm
Mike
 

EagleRiverMike

New Member
Update; Was talking with Horizon Hobby and this fella asked about my rudder servo being in reverse, and of course being a rookie I thought that it was...But...just checked it and it was reversed.....What I learned was that as the Throttle increases so does the pitch of the rudder blade "Automatically"....So that makes total sense that the copter would go into a spin as the power came up.....
I have to fully check it's operation (I did for a few seconds) tomorrow because I had to do some work on the X training wheels/balls...they weren't staying in place...
When you know the mechanics it's a breeze, but when you don't, your lost in the forest without a compass....

Will report back after next attempt....Beer with the boys at 3:00 over at our favorite brewery called Tribute here in the North Woods of Eagle River, Wisconsin
Mike
 

Rackman

Active Member
Blade 450 3D Mechanical Setup tutorial - YouTube ... I'm sure that your probably working with a flybarless unit. just a bit of advise from my experience is I remove all my blades Rotorhead & tail blades, of course remembering there direction when they were removed. By doing so as you spool up you then can observe your shafts to insure everything is looking straight ... but take just a few minuets to watch this video will be a great help..
Blade 450 3D Mechanical Setup tutorial - YouTube
 

Rackman

Active Member
And I should also say Welcome to the Site .. I'm sure there are plenty of fellow flyers here that will for sure have you on the right track in no time
P. S. just don't Drink & Drive ...lol :peaceful::arms::twothumbsup:
 
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