450 Problem When Lifting Off

James M. Lewis

Armed Forces
Hi Smoggie, I'm having a slight problem with my 450. Attempting to lift off, the heli wants to nose left and tilt back. Have been quick enough to lower throttle and land safely. Two weeks ago did tilt a little too much on approach and hit the blade tips. Ordered new blades but old ones only nic the very tips. Did managed to throttle down first. I checked and everything looked OK. Not sure on corrective action to take. Could it be positive tail pitch or my gyro? These are the stats I have on my radio:
a. Swash Mix for Aileron -55%
Elevator - 45%
Pitch +115%
b. Pitch Curve 45%,47.5%,65%,86% & 100%
c. Throttle curve 0%,25%,50%,75% & 100%
d. Gyro 0 is 65% & 1 is 35%
e. Sub Trim is zero
f. Travel adjust 100% for all
Any advice/comments would be most welcome. Thanking you in advance.
Best regards,
Jim
 

Tony

Staff member
From the looks of it, you are doing this on a flybar helicopter. First thing I would do is check to make sure the swash is perfectly level and make sure your C0G is correctly set. From there, you will use trim to get it flying exactly how you want. As for the tail, it almost sounds like you have it set to the wrong channel. Almost like the servo is centered and not receiving any kind of correction for the tail. Verify the channel and verify the gyro is allowing the tail to correct.
 

James M. Lewis

Armed Forces
Thank you Tony and you're right it is a flybar helicopter. Will follow your advice and start by checking swash plate tomorrow morning. Used your video on flybar with fixed links in the past in setting it up and it's been very helpful. I even watched it for over an hour several days and took notes like I was back in school. The tail servo responds from the signal given by the transmitter. Just checked COG and the heli is balance, I'm using a 3s battery that's 1800 mah, 50C. I appreciate your advice and will keep you posted. This is the 450 getting ready to install in my Augusta A109 fuselage that I customized hopefully this month. Will see you a picture.

Best regards,

Jim
 

James M. Lewis

Armed Forces
Hi Tony and thanks again for your advice. Here's what I found out, about the 450 I purchased. It's a XFX 450 main frame without the electronics and canopy. That's what threw me off guard. Just like the one you reviewed earlier this year. The swash plate (plastic) portion holding the ball linkage thru the anti rotation device has a hair line crack. The added stress and vibration would eventually cause it to break while in flight. Glad I caught it in time, just ordered a metal swash plate from California. Gyro is working fine no problems and again your video on 450 with fix links has been a great help. Thank you. I recently purchase and building another 450, it's a Gartt 450 Pro and right away you can see the difference in workmanship and materials used. A good teachable moment for me when buying a brand name product vs an unknown. Still plan on putting the XFX 450 in the Augusta fuselage but with upgraded parts, it will be a fine flyer.

Best regards,

Jim
 

James M. Lewis

Armed Forces
So glad you did an update on the XFX450 and yes I remember it. I own it so I know what needs to be done over a period of time.
 

James M. Lewis

Armed Forces
Got the problem fixed and it was mechanical settings on the tail sevro arm. Gyro is AOK, no problems.Also upgraded the swash plate with an EXI one (metal). Set it up on rate mode but fly in heading mode. A huge improvement. Wanted to do another test flight but weather forecast is rain for the next seven days. Bummer , once I get final test flight will install in Augusta A109 fuselage. Also putting in my Gartt 450 Pro brand named electronics. Cost me a pretty penny but it's worth it. Will keep you posted.
 
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