mooserider
Active Member
Hi all! It's been a while since I posted. I took a slight break from my 450 to play with a Blade micro cpx I bought. Those things are squirly as hell by the way!
So in short, I crashed my 450. I *thought* it was one of the smallest crashes I've had so far... I didn't even get off the ground! After spool-up, it tilted sideways and caught a rotor (user error). That simple 'crash' bent the main shaft, killed the bearings, bent the tail boom, killed the sat receiver, bent parts in the tail assembly, stripped 3 servos, broke the rotor blades, stripped the main gear, and a few other fun things! Cost a little over $100.
I had some replacement parts ready from previous 'incidents', but to my surprise, some are slightly different size. I believe this is due to not fully realizing how old my kit is. This is an Aligh Trex 450 that I bought probably 6+ years ago. They have SE, SA, and all these confusing variations. Anyhow, two parts I want to replace, but are slightly different sizes are the tail blades and the main shaft. I believe these things are not an issue, but being a newbie, I figure it's best to check with the pros first.
Here's what I'm thinking on each part. Please tell me if I'm wrong:
1. Tail rotor blades. I actually can't find the exact size replacement... checked on amain and some LHS's. The tail blades I got on amain are about 3mm longer, and 1.5mm wider (probably slightly thicker too). In my head, I believe that setting up the tail with 3GX properly (end points and gyro), that the exact blade size won't matter. As the gyro will essentially compensate regardless. All it 'knows' is that it needs to give more left/right tail movement to hold steady. Gain may need to be adjusted, but the whole thing requires a full 3GX setup again anyway.
2. Main shaft is slightly longer (about 4-5 mm), and the two holes (for main gear and rotor assembly) don't match the old shaft. In fitting it, the lower half with the main gear fits fine, meshing wit the tail drive gears fine. I'm not concerned about that really. This means the rotor assembly sits higher though (as the shaft is longer on top). To compensate, I adjust the linkage rods to be slightly longer when the servos are at 'center' (or 90 degrees). My thinking is, the servos are still 90'd, they have full up/down movement, so things should be fine (so long as I zero the main blades). Th blades are slightly higher from the body, but I dont' think it will matter.
Please let me know if I'm doing something dumb. All the other things I have done... check for stress fractures, check bearings, etc, etc. Just concerned about my assumptions above.
Thanks!
So in short, I crashed my 450. I *thought* it was one of the smallest crashes I've had so far... I didn't even get off the ground! After spool-up, it tilted sideways and caught a rotor (user error). That simple 'crash' bent the main shaft, killed the bearings, bent the tail boom, killed the sat receiver, bent parts in the tail assembly, stripped 3 servos, broke the rotor blades, stripped the main gear, and a few other fun things! Cost a little over $100.
I had some replacement parts ready from previous 'incidents', but to my surprise, some are slightly different size. I believe this is due to not fully realizing how old my kit is. This is an Aligh Trex 450 that I bought probably 6+ years ago. They have SE, SA, and all these confusing variations. Anyhow, two parts I want to replace, but are slightly different sizes are the tail blades and the main shaft. I believe these things are not an issue, but being a newbie, I figure it's best to check with the pros first.
Here's what I'm thinking on each part. Please tell me if I'm wrong:
1. Tail rotor blades. I actually can't find the exact size replacement... checked on amain and some LHS's. The tail blades I got on amain are about 3mm longer, and 1.5mm wider (probably slightly thicker too). In my head, I believe that setting up the tail with 3GX properly (end points and gyro), that the exact blade size won't matter. As the gyro will essentially compensate regardless. All it 'knows' is that it needs to give more left/right tail movement to hold steady. Gain may need to be adjusted, but the whole thing requires a full 3GX setup again anyway.
2. Main shaft is slightly longer (about 4-5 mm), and the two holes (for main gear and rotor assembly) don't match the old shaft. In fitting it, the lower half with the main gear fits fine, meshing wit the tail drive gears fine. I'm not concerned about that really. This means the rotor assembly sits higher though (as the shaft is longer on top). To compensate, I adjust the linkage rods to be slightly longer when the servos are at 'center' (or 90 degrees). My thinking is, the servos are still 90'd, they have full up/down movement, so things should be fine (so long as I zero the main blades). Th blades are slightly higher from the body, but I dont' think it will matter.
Please let me know if I'm doing something dumb. All the other things I have done... check for stress fractures, check bearings, etc, etc. Just concerned about my assumptions above.
Thanks!
