450 Blade 400 first flight problems

[callsign4223]

So I took my new to me blade 400 up for the first time this evening. This bird is behaving very oddly. My problem is that the only other thing I have flown is my MCPx and I have no clue where to start troubleshooting what is going on. This is what it did. On initial spin up the bird wanted to spin out of control counter-clockwise. After spooling up to speed I could control the spin with significant rudder. There was also a TON of vibration as I spooled up and just started to get light on the skids. I got the heli a couple of feet off the ground and was trying to hold it in a hover, it wanted to go all over the place. I was under the impression that a 450 size heli would be more stable than a MCPx, this was definately much less stable. After attempting to hover for about 15-20 seconds the heli would go into an uncontrollable spin. It was like I lost all rudder control. On the ground it seems like the rudder is reacting properly to the transmitter. I would love any suggestions about what I should start checking out. Also, I did buy this heli second hand, I was told that it hadn't been crashed, and everything looks to be in one piece, but I could be missing something important.

 

[Tony]

The 400 uses a tail motor, and it may be going out. If you want, you are more than welcome to come down to the house and we will have a look at it. If you have your AMA, you can even be my guest at the flying field for a day and we can test it out there.

 

[callsign4223]

This one is using a belt and variable pitch tail.

 

[Tony]

Really? Then this has to either be a gyro or Tx issue. Interesting.

 

[callsign4223]

I am using the transmitter that came with the 400, I haven't rebound it to my dx6i yet. I will make some time to come down there I think. I will be out of town this weekend but will see about the next weekend.

 

[Lee]

Almost certain it the gyro reacting the wrong way if the heli is just spinning out of control. Check the tail blades re responding to your input correctly first. Look at the blades pitch and see which way they would push the air. ie left rudder tail is pushed to the right, nose turns left. And vice versa.
Good luck

 

[breeze400]

You got this second hand? Check that the tail servo did not get Jared in transit to you. Make sure that the tail blades are orientated correctly. One day I accedentaly was carring my 600 and bumped the tail servo out of wack. It did the same thing just spin around! Lol

 

[Drumbone71]

Hey guys how are you. I got my Blade 400 built and she's doing the same thing without the vibes. I balanced and set it up great with a level head and pitchdd blades. The tail I untouched and using the same stock gyro. She flew great before. Never a tail issue. Is my belt twisted.
I post a vid tommorow night. I'll try it with a fully charged lipo I read up on the gyro.Still no clue.

 

[callsign4223]

Ok, I think I fixed the tail problem, the belt was WAY loose. I saw something else on another forum about holding the rotor in place and spinning the tail rotor and their should be no slippage with normal pressure, well mine slipped without hardly any pressure. I tightened that down then started to look the heli over more closely. The rear rotor is still giving a large amount of right rudder when the stick is neutral, is this normal? The slider is so far to the left that it barely moves when you give it additional right rudder. Also, I found out that one of my cyclic servos is stripped when trying to figure out why the swash was only level at full collective. Any suggestions for a replacement? Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Tony]

If your gyro is in HH mode, it will not center. Put it in Rate mode for it to center and setup the tail.

 

[callsign4223]

Ahh, ok. Eflite standard setup for dx6i on this has both positions as HH at 66.5 and 64. I will change one of those to 30 or something and check it out again. Thanks Tony.

 

[Paulster2]

For a replacement of your main servos, the MG90S is a pretty good choice. They are pretty inexpensive, have metal gears, and are very responsive. Perfect size for a 400-450 size heli.

 

[callsign4223]

Would these work good for the tail too? Just thinking about swapping out all 4 servos since there are a lot of people in the net saying that the stock servos on this thing suck.

 

[Tony]

If they are 9g servos they will. But if that heli uses the 3.5 or even 5g servos, then they won't work. But, I would suggest the D213F or even the D113F like I'm using in my planes. They are digital and center much better than the MG90S's.

 

[callsign4223]

Ok, how much difference is there between the 213 and the 113. I realize it is the difference between metal and plastic gears, but everyone is out of stock of the 213. Should I wait for it to come back in stock or just go with the 113?

 

[Tony]

The gears are the only difference, everything else is the same. I'm using the 113's in my planes, and in testing, they are doing great. Worth a shot, but if you crash, you will likely strip them out and need new gears.

 

[callsign4223]

Ordered a trio of D113F's, we'll see how it works out once they get in. I am so anxious to get this bird up in the air.

 

[Drumbone71]

Tony.... Check out my vid on YouTube..... Gyro / tail problems.

 

[Tony]

Your gyro is reversed unless you had a lot of rudder input on the stick.

 

[callsign4223]

Servos came in the mail today. Unfortunately I got a call from the wife freakin out this afternoon and ran out of work without them. Tonite was the only free evening this week so guess its gonna be the weekend before I can try to fix this heli.