General Align 550e help

[cyco_heli]

I have a Align 550e V2 FB
DX7s
All stock Align stuff servo's so on .
I have been reading and I see a lot of different set up's say for Pitch Normal ,Idle up .
Do I go by setting's I find in here or do I go by the 550e manual ?

I have been flying off and on for a long time now and know how to fly but !!!! I skipped the build part
and always got them ready to fly .
Im trying to learn and understand what it all mean's and what does what .

A friend of mine help me set it up and it flew good but HE DID IT ,I want to know how and understand what is what and why .
I have asked him some stuff but I think I am being a bother and don't want to bother him .
My throttle curve's and pitch and all that in my remote is different that what I see in here or you tub ?
im lost .
also where cani find more people close to me that fly heli's ?
Northern Indiana im in Plymouth .

 

[Tony]

Bother us all you want . That is what we are here for.

I don't like the setup numbers they have in the manual. They are quite weird IMO.

When you are setting up the helicopter, you want a linear pitch curve (0 25 50 75 100) so you can set everything up. Your IU1 and hold should be set to this anyway, and you should ALWAYS have throttle hold on when you are working on the helicopter. And, AND you should unplug two of your motor wires. This takes out all chance of it spooling up on you, and trust me, it hurts.

I suggest the settings that I show in teh videos. They have worked for me since day one and I have tried them all. But I like the same pitch curve when I flip from IU to normal and back again. Hope this helps.

 

[Derek]

Hi there, cyco! I'm glad you are here asking questions. It's the only way that you are going to learn....by asking question. I can assure you this...if you stick around here and ask questions..we'll get you the answers that will get you flying. There are many people here that have helped me setup my 500 and it's flying wonderfully. I got my 600, late last year, and I've had many people from here help me understand the new items that are on my 600.

If you are looking for someone to fly with, I am in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I think we are about an hour away from each other. Kyle and Ken also live in NW Indiana.

As far as your 550, if you could share some of your settings and equipment, this will help.

 

[cyco_heli]

Bother us all you want . That is what we are here for.

I don't like the setup numbers they have in the manual. They are quite weird IMO.

When you are setting up the helicopter, you want a linear pitch curve (0 25 50 75 100) so you can set everything up. Your IU1 and hold should be set to this anyway, and you should ALWAYS have throttle hold on when you are working on the helicopter. And, AND you should unplug two of your motor wires. This takes out all chance of it spooling up on you, and trust me, it hurts.

I suggest the settings that I show in teh videos. They have worked for me since day one and I have tried them all. But I like the same pitch curve when I flip from IU to normal and back again. Hope this helps.

why is Normal setting like this ,,,I got this from your post .
Normal Mode (45, 47.5, 50, 75, 100)
Is it to keep the heli from slamming to the ground when u go to low stick ?
Can I post on here my Remote setting so everyone can see and let me know if something is wrong and why its that way ? My buddy set it up .
I don't know much on why he did whats in there .
that's what im after is why . need more input lol

 

[cml001]

sure, I believe he is say'n us the 0 25 50 75 100 for the set up... so you can calibrate evenly... once set up is done, us the 45 47.5 50 75 100 to fly with... and yes I keeps you from punch'n a hard neg pitch in normal mode... you don't want a full range on the neg in normal mode... just a 1 to 2(plenty) degrees of neg in normal mode is what u want... but in idle up and want full pitch travel on both pos and neg. hope that helped... hope I was with you on that Tony...

 

[murankar]

With your normal mode you will need those lower numbers for negative pitch. This will "stick" the heli to the ground during spool up and will allow the heli to descend during windy days. It helps counter translational lift. Other advantage is in case you have to auto rotate, although these numbers are not ideal for autoing your heli.


I have heard of people running a 0-100 linear curve for normal mode just in case they have to auto. I don't recommend that unless you know how to fly with a linear curve.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forum Runner

 

[cyco_heli]

here is what I have as I said before it's a stock Align 550e V2 with with GP900 3x610 and 1x620
All the links are set by the manual .
My buddy is going to be mad at me lol its flew fine done tick tock's
I took it apart so I could learn how to do it shhhh don't tell lol .
ok got into the remote .
Setup:
Travel : throttle is 100 and all the other setting's the that menu are the same 100
D/R and Expo:
Chan : Aileron and same settings for Elevator
Posos 0
D/R 100
Expo 30
Rudder all o
Throttle cut : inhibit what is Throttle Cut and what is it for and why is it off ?
Throttle Curve :
what is ( NIH )
Normal / Idle up and Hold right ?
Normal :0/50/75/85/90
I all 90
H all 0
Pitch curve:
N: 30/40/50/75/100
I: 15/32/50/75/100 why is I lower than N ? isn't idle up suppose to be higher ?
H: is the same as I
Swash plate :
Ail -60 why is it neg 60 ?
Ele +60
Pit +60
Gyro:
N : 65
Stunt 53
Hold 75
Ch Aux 2
Sw F Mode
Now when I go into Monitor and look at my stick movement I noticed my Rudder ?
when its at center not touching the stick it's +8 then when I push it to the left it's -91 and to the right it's +109
isn't it suppose to be -100 / 0 /+100 ?
This is how my remote as of now .

 

[Derek]

Sorry about that deleted post. I had started to reply and ask questions, then my little girl beckoned my attention and by the time I clicked on Post Reply, the others had posted the same that I was going to ask, lol.

As far as the technical setup that you have listed, there are some things that you have listed that I think it would be better off for me to wait for one of our more experienced guys to reply and help with. I know they will be able to give you some answers.

 

[pvolcko]

Throttle cut : inhibit what is Throttle Cut and what is it for and why is it off ?

It is used on nitro and gas powered models. Hold would normally run it down to idle throttle position. Throttle cut can be assigned to a switch or the button on the top left of the Tx and is set to close the throttle completely so the engine quits entirely. I've used this on electric heli's when I have auto-rotation bailout mode programmed through the ESC. In that case hold only cuts throttle into the auto-rotation bailout region, that way I can flip hold off an it will spool back up quickly. I use throttle cut to go to full "off" on the motor which generally resets the ESC to a slow spoolup.

what is ( NIH ) Normal / Idle up and Hold right ?

Yup

I: 15/32/50/75/100 why is I lower than N ? isn't idle up suppose to be higher ?

0-50 is the negative pitch region of settings. USually Idle up pitch curves are set to 0-25-50-75-100. What you have there would work, but I would not fly with it. For an Idle Up curve you should make sure the negative and positive pitch potential are mirrored. The curve you have now is slightly less aggressive on the negative side and would, if used, end up teaching you muscle memory for an imbalanced curve (more low stick to hold hover than positive stick, etc.). Make this 0-25-50-75-100 and you'll be fine, when the time comes. You only really start using idle up when you want to learn loops, rolls, etc. Anything where the heli is going inverted for a time. You'll be sticking to normal mode for many flights as you get used to hovering, flying patterns and circuits, doing stall turns, etc. You can do loops and rolls in normal mode too, but you'll find that the thottle gets lowered way too much at the tops of things and will result in slow headspeed recovery on the down swings. Idle up keeps the motor humming while giving you the pitch range you need to throw it around upside down.

Ail -60 why is it neg 60 ?

Ail and pitch servos work opposing each other and are also directionally reversed (when one is turning CW to raise the swash the other has to turn CCW to raise it). This setting (along with servo travel direction) gets them synced up properly to raise/lower swash together and to tilt the swash for ail/roll/bank maneuvers. IF you have questions about setup of a flybar heli I'd do a search on the forum and through tony's videos on youtube to learn there first. There is a lot of information already covered on this topic.

Now when I go into Monitor and look at my stick movement I noticed my Rudder ?
when its at center not touching the stick it's +8 then when I push it to the left it's -91 and to the right it's +109
isn't it suppose to be -100 / 0 /+100 ?

I'm not sure how the tail gyro setup works on the GP900. On some you use subtrims in the Tx in order to set things up, in which case this may be completely normal. In others you use stick programming and leave subtrims at 0, in which case this is cause for some concern and may require a Tx calibration to resolve. Hopefully someone else on here knows about the tail gyro and can help out.

 

[cyco_heli]

ty that's a lot to post and a lot of info ty ty .
My Pitch Curve's are now at 0/25/50/75/100
I had it there when I did Tony's pitch setup but put it back so I don't mess up the setting's
my buddy put in .
When I flew nitro 5 year's ago or so I did mild 3D
inverted and flips ,but I did with it higher in the air ,scared to get lower lol
Seems like this 550 is a lot faster .I do not remember my raptor 30 and 90
jumping around and as fast as this 550 .I touch the stick and wow its on it .
My Raptor's was slower and smoother ,not so touchy .
I put in 30 expo to try and slow it down to fast for me and still to touchy need more .
I know im a wimp lol ,I lost a lot of memory not flying so long and now it's not as normal
or easy to fly like im learning all over a gain . Lost a lot my nose in and nose out hover is fine it's
when I turn to the side I some time's give it the wrong input and crash on my sim lol
So a lot of practice AGAIN lol . I have the Phoenix 4 sim

 

[pvolcko]

Add more expo. On some of my models I run 45% expo in take/off landing and then switch into a 25-30 expo setting for free flight. Nothing wimpy about it. Run what is comfortable yet gives you enough control to be able to keep it in line (you don't want it too soft).

If it is being overly sensitive on the collective then you may want to measure the pitch angle with a gauge. It is possible it is set too aggressively (10-12deg max is good to start with). You can also try taming the pitch curve a bit by putting a psuedo expo into it. For isntance, instead of 30-40-50-75-100, you can try 30-40-50-65-100. This will soften the positive pitch curve from the 50% to 75% stick position points, taming it down a bit for take off/landing, and hovering. Another option to not use the full range of pitch available. Instead of 30-40-50-75-100, use 30-40-50-65-80, for instance. Or 50-70-90. I had to do this temporarily on my Goblin 500 when I was first flying it because the collective min/max angles were way too aggressive (later measured at 16 degrees, way too much for me, set it back to 12degrees and reset the pitch curve to normal).

 

[cyco_heli]

hey thanks ,yes this thing is way to touchy . ill try that and back this thing off .
this is the way it was when my bud set it up and he fly's 3d and good and he said it was touch and snappy with him .
so I set it up to 0/25/50/75/100 got my servo's to 90 swash is level .got all the links set to whats in the manual .
Head is on ,ok throttle hold on throttle to center 50% my marks line up I checked .
I have +17.2 center +3.4 low 6.2
I took the long links off swash to blad grips ,and got the blades to center 0 or .2 on the pitch gauge .
So I did what tony's video said and the post he had on set up pitch .
I have more Poss than Neg so the swash is to high right ?
So I took the links off the servo's and lowered the swash one full turn at a time .
have like +13 and -13 now but my center is off again +3 again .
What diid I do wrong ?

 

[cyco_heli]

ok I was messing with my servo's pulled the links off and checked to see if the horn on the servo was at center .
with the links of on Pitch and Elevator I pulled both up as far as it goes and pushed them down as far as it goes.
Now on e went up higher and the other lower .
I pulled the horn's and moved them a tooth at a time to get the same up and down on the servo's
They both go up and down the same amount .
The problem is have now is the one will go to 90 with the stick center at 50 H on but the other is way down .
My sub trims Ele is + 6 to 90 and the pit is like +30 .I have to take the horn off and move it 2-3 teeth to get it center
and sub trim lower and more even but the travel is off now the horn is no longer center to the servo.
How can I get the pitch servo to go center with the horn centered .

 

[Tony]

Turn the Tx on and set all sub trims to 0. Then put servo arms as close as you can to 90. If you are using a 3GX, you will use sub trim to perfectly 90 the arms. If ikon or BX, you will use gyro software.

 

[cml001]

Uhhhh... I thought we were deal'n with a flybar'd heli.... did I miss read?

 

[Tony]

If we are, then you will definitely use sub trim to trim out the servos.

 

[cyco_heli]

hey, thanks guy's but I know I can use sub trim's but what I am wondering ?
Is there any way to get the servo closer to center so I don't have to use as much trim ?
The other servo's are almost center with 0 trim going to need very little .
The one is way off and I don't know why ?
Will rebinding it with the servo centered help ?

 

[Tony]

The only way to do that is to buy more servo arms in hopes that the teeth are slightly off from what you have now.

 

[cyco_heli]

ok im going to try switching the horn's ,if it jumps from one to the other servo that's it.
get new horns or diff one's anyway .lol
Im thinking right tho right wanting the horns on the servo's even same up and down and even .
And im looking for things that might have been over looked .
I got this already built on ebay lol don't know the guy .so best I am looking it over .

 

[Tony]

One thing to remember, the helicopter will never use the FULL travel of the servo. So anything under 50 on the sub trim will still work perfectly fine. I have never done the servo horn swapping that others do on here and have always just trimmed them out and I have never had an issue.