450 Setting up the Align 450 Pro

[Tomhintz]

Thought I would start a newe thread for this rather tha muck up previous ones.

I am in the early days of learning to fly my Align Trex 450 Pro. I recently have been playing with total blade angle trying to get it more settled vertically. Head speed has been constant through this at about 3200 rpm (idle up) and I initially took total blade angle down to 10-degrees positive and 10 degrees negative. Aside from not curing the vertical instability I developed a flutter-like sound as I began to apply collective to lift off.
I took blade angle to 12-degrees positive and 12-degrees negative and vertical stability felt better and the short flutter sound when collective was applied seemed shorter but was still there.
Just this morning IK took blade angle to 14-degrees positive and 14 degrees negative and it feels much better in terms of holding an altitude and the flutter sound on collective application is gone.
I have heard lots of theroies on the best total blade angle but so far 12.5 to 14 degrees positive and the same negative seems to be the most popular. I guess I am going to stick with the 14 degrees if there is no good reason not to.

 

[Tony]

As long as it's not binding when you are in DIR mode (or are you running a 7200BX?) and you give full collective, and full cyclic to a corner of your Tx you will be fine. The flutter is more than likely the blades fluttering at 0º. Make sure all of your ball links are tight on the balls and that all of the balls, servo and swash are all tight. The most important thing is that you make this helicopter feel good to YOU. We can only give suggestions.

 

[Tomhintz]

As long as it's not binding when you are in DIR mode (or are you running a 7200BX?) and you give full collective, and full cyclic to a corner of your Tx you will be fine. The flutter is more than likely the blades fluttering at 0º. Make sure all of your ball links are tight on the balls and that all of the balls, servo and swash are all tight. The most important thing is that you make this helicopter feel good to YOU. We can only give suggestions.

You are about a hlaf hour late with the ball reminder. One of mine on the swashplate apparently backed out from all of the incident free flying and released the swashplate and associated arms which as you would expect led to a sudden and violent flapping of rthe blades and a fall to earth. Lots of damage but I have it torn down and will get the parts that I don;t have on hand ordered. I'll also get more of the permanent Locktite........

 

[Tony]

That really sucks Tom, sorry to hear that. The same thing almost happened to me the other day which prompted an Article linked below. Have a read, the pre flight inspections are a must on these aircraft. Hope you get it fixed soon.

Rc-Help - Pre-Flight Inspections Are A Must!!!!

 

[stevebtx12]

Read your "Pre-flight Inspection" article Tony, and I couldn't agree more. We get lax on this stuff, and it will jump up and bite you....

 

[Tomhintz]

The wife and I went out to our flying field last night and on the wya home I was telling her that it had been so long since I crashed that i was getting worried about something weariong out or falling off. I did look it over this morning but apparently the ball on the swash just did not catch my attention. The flapping around when it let go did, as did the blade falling down and clipping the tail boom and sending half of the carbon fiber blade 88 feet (we measured once we saw it) to my neighbors rear porch. Parts are ordered, my tube of permanent LockTite is on the bench, tomorrow it starts going back together. (With less falling off stuff this time I hope)

 

[Tony]

Steve, your exactly right about that one. We do get lax on looking them over, and when you look them over a dozen times, you start to over look things like teh swash balls. No one is immune to it. It took mine almost falling off to get the article written. I was lucky though that I felt it when carrying it back inside that I could fix it. It would have come off on the next flight though.

Hopefully this thread, and that article will get people to do the pre and post flight inspections before and after every flight.

 

[Dirk]

Love the article Tony. Yes, we do get complacent, especially with the Align machines because it never goes wrong. I have drilled my preflight and post flight checks into my head. I learned to do that flying full size helis. But yes, I do agree that one tends to overlook small things at times.

I find that starting at one point, for example the the nose, helps if you follow a set checking procedure. I start at the nose and check everything in an anti-clockwise direction around the heli, finishing off with the rotor head. Post flight, I start at the nose again, but inspect in a clockwise direction around the heli. It give syou a different perspective.

At the end of the day, it boils down to discipline. As we all know by now, these things can be very dangerous. Rather safe than sorry.

 

[murankar]

Pre flights need to be done regularly. That was another possible cause to me ditching my heli. Maybe had I done it I would have caught the issue that caused a dirt dart.

 

[Tomhintz]

I may have smoked the motor in my 450 pro in the last "incident". Was rebuilding it this morning and noticed that the motor can is now roughly 1/4" down from the mounting end. I can;t see any grubb screws anywhere and don;t want to start pushing this thing apart until I know for sure it is dead or can be fixed. Anyone know of a video about taking these motors apart? I looked through Tony's offerings and didn't see anything obvious on this subject

 

[EyeStation]

My Align 420LF is a press-fit can. I had heard noises like bad main shaft bearings on my heli and saw the can at a slight angle on mine. pulled the motor and saw that the can separated from the mounting face from one of my dirt baths. I have since removed it and it sits on my bench with a loose bell end.
I am sure a bit of epoxy will secure the pieces together. But elected to toss another motor in till I figure out what to do.
Being a brushless motor, the disassemble and reassembly is rather straight forward. Nothing to worry about with springs coming out of place or misalignment when reinserting. Just be sure to watch for any shims on the shaft or left behind on the bearing faces.

 

[Tomhintz]

I am officially calling this motor dead. I can see one set of windings that looks to be burned so out she goes. If I can get to the hobby shop today I will see what they have for a motor. Any good brands of motors to watch for that a HobbyTown might have?

 

[Tony]

I dont' have a video on taking a motor apart unfortunately. But, there is a grub screw in the can. If you pull the motor out and look in the vent holes at the end of the can, you will see a grub screw. I'm guessing the crash may have just slid the can down the shaft. In any matter, you will need to pull the motor out. One check you can do is to look at the under side of the heli. The motor shaft should be flush with the end of the can.

 

[Tony]

I don't think hobbytown USA will have any motors for an Align bird. I would only suggest two, the Align 450mx motor or the Scorpion motor.

 

[Tomhintz]

I don't think hobbytown USA will have any motors for an Align bird. I would only suggest two, the Align 450mx motor or the Scorpion motor.

I also have my doubts but our HobbyTown does a bunch of RC stuff and I know I saw a bunch of motors there, maybe more for cars and Blade helos. I will try again to find hat grub screw on mine but I have looked closely and didn;t see one. I'll get out the cheater magnifying visor this time.....

 

[Tony]

I could be wrong (it's been known to happen lol), but I thought I had seen a grub on my old heli. HOpe you get it figured out soon.

 

[Tomhintz]

I could be wrong (it's been known to happen lol), but I thought I had seen a grub on my old heli. HOpe you get it figured out soon.

The shaft was pressed into this motor. got it apart, cleaned it out and it is working but I am going to find a new one but now can spend some time looking. You can see where the magnets and armature (or something passing between them) is shinning up a couple magnets on one end. Light but it is theere. the shaft does not appear to be bent but nonetheless, a new motor is not far off.
Otherwise she flies fined, actually better than before. I put a whole new main and autorotation gear setup in it as the oneway bearing and sleeve were looking kind of grungy. all new gears iont he tail boom, new tail boom (outer tube) main shadft, feather shaft and blades. Had it up three times in the yard and it is silky smooth, just like it was before the head blew up. Oh well, I locktited the hell out of everything I could find so we will see. I had used removeable locktite on the feathershaft bolts and when I tore that down the bolts felt loose. I don;lt know if that happened during the head explosion or not but I will take the blades off now and then to check them. I already had that kind of failure once, not going to again!

 

[Tony]

Using read thread locker on the swash balls is not that big of a deal, but I surely would not use it on the feathering shaft or anything that will need to come apart later. Getting heat to teh feathering shaft can be quite hard to do with it installed in the heli. I have never had an issue with blue thread locker. Just make sure all bolts and parts that accept bolts are clean and free of oil. If you suspect any oil, get some alcohol and clean teh crap out of them. Once they are dry, apply thread locker, and tighten down. You shouldn't have an issue then.

 

[Tomhintz]

Using read thread locker on the swash balls is not that big of a deal, but I surely would not use it on the feathering shaft or anything that will need to come apart later. Getting heat to teh feathering shaft can be quite hard to do with it installed in the heli. I have never had an issue with blue thread locker. Just make sure all bolts and parts that accept bolts are clean and free of oil. If you suspect any oil, get some alcohol and clean teh crap out of them. Once they are dry, apply thread locker, and tighten down. You shouldn't have an issue then.

I did use the removeable locktite on the feathering shaft bolts, but the permanent stuff on the swashplate balls. I was thinking about having to take things apart, since I often do that a coupole time a day! then I will go a long time and worry about something wearing out and then something does go bang and we start all over again!

 

[Tomhintz]

Went out to the field last evening and got several flights in, gusty winds but the 450 handled it fine. I am still suspect of the motor but until I can get to the hobby shop or just order one (more likely) I will stick it out with this one until it pukes altogether.
The good news is that it seems that every time I rebuild the Trex 450 Pro it flies a little better. It is quiet in the air now with very little gear noise and no shaking. Even in the wind it wanted to stay put in the air and that is impressive. I even did a little forward flight but having to fight the wind I kept that to a minimum for now. I am going back out there this morning if there is decent weather and will get more practice in.