Hello all,
I am the proud but frustrated owner of an Align T-Rex 450. I am also new to the sport of
rc heli flying, approximately 5 months. As Newbies are prone to do, I had a very hard tail first
landing that resulted in me replacing the tail boom and support struts, landing skids, etc. I have not
been able to fly my 450 since the crash due to a tail rotor control actuation problem.
I will try to explain my problem: When I increase the throttle to near 50% and the heli gets light on
it's skids the heli will start to yaw (piro) in one direction or the other (which is normal)Let's say
to the left. When I move the rudder stick slightly to the right to oppose the yaw the heli goes into
a rapid right piro. Then when I make a rudder input to the left to oppose the right piro that I induced
the heli goes into a piro to the left. These piros are so rapid that the heli is unflyable.
I brought the heli inside to investigate the problem. I found that the tail rotor was moving in the correct
commanded direction when rudder inputs were made, but it then "froze" in that position instead of returning
to the neutral position commanded by the heading lock system when I moved the rudder stick back to the rudder
centered position. I found that, using the rudder stick, I could move the tail rotors from their centered
positions progressively out to their end points and they would stay in their last commanded position instead
of returning to center after I centered the rudder stick. By the way the tail rotor control linkages all moved
smoothly through out their full range of travel. There is no binding or resistance at all.
I suspected that the problem might be in the Heading Lock mode of the gyro or perhaps the gyro itself. I unplugged
the motor power wires then powered up the heli. I rotated the heli's nose left and right by hand to varify that the
Heading Lock was working, heading lock pitched the tail rotor blades in the correct direction in response to
me yawing the heli left and right. I also installed a new rudder servo to eliminate it as a possible source
for the problem. I borrowed and installed a friends spare gyro to see if my original gyro was the culprit. The
test results were the same with the newly installed gyro, the heading lock feature worked correctly by moving the
tail rotor blades to counter the left and right yaw that I induced by rotating the heli's nose with my hand.
This is a real head scratcher for me, I'd appreciate any help that my fellow heli drivers can give me on this.
Regards,
Larry Osborne
I am the proud but frustrated owner of an Align T-Rex 450. I am also new to the sport of
rc heli flying, approximately 5 months. As Newbies are prone to do, I had a very hard tail first
landing that resulted in me replacing the tail boom and support struts, landing skids, etc. I have not
been able to fly my 450 since the crash due to a tail rotor control actuation problem.
I will try to explain my problem: When I increase the throttle to near 50% and the heli gets light on
it's skids the heli will start to yaw (piro) in one direction or the other (which is normal)Let's say
to the left. When I move the rudder stick slightly to the right to oppose the yaw the heli goes into
a rapid right piro. Then when I make a rudder input to the left to oppose the right piro that I induced
the heli goes into a piro to the left. These piros are so rapid that the heli is unflyable.
I brought the heli inside to investigate the problem. I found that the tail rotor was moving in the correct
commanded direction when rudder inputs were made, but it then "froze" in that position instead of returning
to the neutral position commanded by the heading lock system when I moved the rudder stick back to the rudder
centered position. I found that, using the rudder stick, I could move the tail rotors from their centered
positions progressively out to their end points and they would stay in their last commanded position instead
of returning to center after I centered the rudder stick. By the way the tail rotor control linkages all moved
smoothly through out their full range of travel. There is no binding or resistance at all.
I suspected that the problem might be in the Heading Lock mode of the gyro or perhaps the gyro itself. I unplugged
the motor power wires then powered up the heli. I rotated the heli's nose left and right by hand to varify that the
Heading Lock was working, heading lock pitched the tail rotor blades in the correct direction in response to
me yawing the heli left and right. I also installed a new rudder servo to eliminate it as a possible source
for the problem. I borrowed and installed a friends spare gyro to see if my original gyro was the culprit. The
test results were the same with the newly installed gyro, the heading lock feature worked correctly by moving the
tail rotor blades to counter the left and right yaw that I induced by rotating the heli's nose with my hand.
This is a real head scratcher for me, I'd appreciate any help that my fellow heli drivers can give me on this.
Regards,
Larry Osborne
) directions.