450 Linkage Length

[Vincent Woudstra]

Hi everyone,

Tonight I started on building the head of my alzrc devil 450 and was wondering whether I would run into the same problems Tony had in the build video.
It is not quite clear to see in the pictures, but the screw to fix the head to the main shaft is in exactly the same position as the one Tony build and where he later drilled a second hole, I believe 8mm higher.
I was wondering about the linkage length. I set the linkage length to the approximate 44,5 mm as stated in the manual, but now they are about as tight and short as they get.
Also in the pictures you can see the difference between the swashplate fully up and fully down and it is my understanding that I have only a little positive pitch and a lot of negative pitch this way.

swashplate up:

swashplate down:


So if I understand correctly I would need to lengthen the linkages quite a bit in order to correct this, am I right about this?
I'm not comfortable drilling in the head like Tony did, so I would like to avoid that if possible.

Also the shaft is not yet turning very smooth and also the swashplate is not moving very smooth up and down, so I guess I'll have to put some oil on the swashplate bearing and maybe also on the shaft, right?

Any advise is greatly appreciated since it is my very first build from scratch.

 

[Tony]

First off, your washout arms should cross over the main shaft so definitely flip them over.

And I just commented that you would likely have this issue and the only solution is to order an Align Pro V2 main shaft. Trust me, it's worth the wait. Don't drill it like I did. Without a drill press, and careful measuring you are likely not going to get the hole exactly right. I got extremely lucky. The other reason I drilled mine is because the hole in the head block is way too low IMO. This means that you could get some head rock out of it because it's not on much of the shaft. Will this actually happen, not sure. I would have to pull my old head back out (have a Tarot head on the Devil 450 now) and check it.

 

[Admiral]

Before you do anything your Pitch arms are on wrong, they need to cross over the main shaft, opposite direction to what they are now.

Different helicopter but same set up.

 

[Vincent Woudstra]

Thanks for pointing out the washout arms issue. I guess that is one of those rookie mistakes you only make once. lol.

This gives a lot more positive pitch already.

I will definitely consider ordering the align mainshaft. just to be sure, is this the correct one?

Align 450 Main Shaft [AGNH45022A] | Helicopters

I also do not trust the linkage rods that came with the kit. According to the manual they should be approximately 44.5 mm but I only get them that way if I turn them real tight. Will it be wise to also order some align linkage rods with the shaft?

 

[Tony]

I think that is the right main shaft. It says Pro, but doesn't say Pro V2, so that worries me a little bit. But they are pretty cheap. And if you order them from amazon, you can return them for free.

As for the linkages, yes, replace them.

 

[Vincent Woudstra]

That is why I asked ... for the pro v2 I could only find this one, but it's a DFC shaft so I didn't think that was the right one.

Align 450DFC Main Shaft [AGNH45166] | Helicopters

 

[Tony]

For some reason, I'm thinking the stock head on that helicopter is made for a DFC shaft. Which is 8mm shorter than the FBL shaft. But I'm not 100% on that one...

 

[Vincent Woudstra]

So basically my options are:

- Order either of those shafts or both and see which fits best and order align linkage rods (I think these are correct right? ALIGN-H45116 : H45116 - 450FL Linkage Rod(A) Set [ALIGN-H45116] Review - USD4.49 : MyRcMart.COM : Instruction: Use for T-REX 450 3G Programmable Flybarless System Specification: Arm F x 2(Φ1.3x39mm) Ball Link x 4)
- As suggested in the build video's, order a Tarot dfc head.

Just out of curiosity, if I were to order a Tarot dfc head, would that work with the swashplate in the kit or do I also have to order a tarot swashplate to go with the head?

 

[Tony]

Did some looking around.

Pro V2 Main Shaft - Align 450DFC Main Shaft [AGNH45166] | Helicopters

for some reason I can't find the linkage rod set. maybe it's because I'm dead tired. As for the DFC head, you can use your stock swash. If you want the turned balls for a reduced risk of popping off the swash drivers, you can get a DFC swash. But not required in most cases.

 

[Vincent Woudstra]

Thanks a lot Tony.

I will have to think hard though. Ordering the main shaft with the links including shipping costs is only a few euro's cheaper than ordering a Tarot DFC head from China.