General Trex 450 SE V2 Crash!

[BOKI]

To make a long story short My first Hoover I got hit by 3 gusts of wind & recovered from 2 gusts & the 3rd one broke the training gear & I had a blade strike! It broke both blades & 6 inches of the right front training gear! Also split the right front landing gear! Plus a slight bend in the landing skid tube! Really not real bad! Never had time to kill the throttle completely. Anyway I just got parts new main shaft & new main gear & new feathering shaft new training gear rods & new landing skids! I bought a set of tools & tomorrow I have to get lube & cleaner & locktite ! Could probably get a friend to do it! But I want to learn to do my own up keep & repairs! Might need some help from all you guys on the site! I watched Ton'ys head rebuild which was great! Anyway Thursday or Friday Or maybe both days I'll start! BOKI 1:14 AM ILLINOIS TIME NEED HELP!

 

[Lee]

Sorry to hear about the crash, but now you've got it out of the way, it relaxes you. Get your finger to know that throttle hold switch instinctively. Saves a tonne of damage.

 

[BOKI]

Just wanted to say Thanks Lee it doesn't look real bad but parts cost money! Sorta looking forward to getting into learning how to repair it! Just learning!

 

[zenmetsu]

Yeah, the first is always a wakeup call. Once you get good about keeping parts on hand and getting the bird back up in the air quickly, crashing becomes a thing of amusement and learning.

Practice on a sim and learn to use throttle hold on the sim as well; just don't give up on the bird once you flip the throttle hold, try to fly it gently to the ground and raise collective to buffer the impact. Throttle hold will help save your blades, and those can be the most expensive repair in the long run.

 

[BOKI]

I have to learn the throttle hold at all times! I was I think anyway trying to fly up out of the gust of wind & recover ! Wrong idea I see that now! Thanks for your support & comments1 THE Best! BOKIE

 

[Tony]

One thing to remember is anything 3' or less in altitude will result in rotor wash. Another way to explain this is dirty air, air that is not smooth. It will cause the helicopter to bob up and down. If you watch my video in the grass cutting thread, you can see this very well with the mcpx.

And if you want to see crashes, just wait until I get another helicopter...

 

[zenmetsu]

Well, I am a bit of a rookie myself, so Tony or someone will probably chime in here. I usually only engage throttle hold when I know that the heli is going to hit the ground or something else.

If your ESC has a safety, you might not be able to immediately bring the head back up to speed if you regain control of the heli and disengage the throttle hold, so be mindful that if you kill throttle at high altitude, you might end up with a nasty spill.

Just once, I almost put my heli into a tree so I engaged throttle hold and threw the cyclic almost full to the left to avoid the tree. As soon as I realized that I was clear of the tree, i got the crazy idea to disengage the throttle hold and then overreacted trying to arrest the decent. I ended up watching my heli shoot straight up almost like a rocket. Luckily I didn't crash, but I learned just how fast the smaller helis can be.

 

[stokke]

That sucks Boki!

Repair that bird and get back out there!

 

[coolgabsi]

When learning its not if you crash. It's when. laugh when it happens Learn from it and try... Just try.. not to do it again. Took me 3 months or more just to hover properly. Crashed like every flight. lol like tony says... Fly three mistakes high. That gives you enough time to recover and not hit throttle hold so high up. Then when you are like 4 foot from ground and looking like nothing is gonna save it... Better just hit throttle hold and try to land it.

 

[murankar]

Sorry about the crash. Now its time to get back in the saddle and xo it again. Have fun with the rebuild and pay attention to how you disassemble the head.

 

[BOKI]

Just wanted to Thank Tony, Lee, Zenmetsu & Coolgabsi , Murankar all everyone on the site for all the time you took to comment on crash! I still don't have all the stuff to start on rebuild yet maybe tomorrow! Sold some of My private pilot gear to a new pilot ! So I can pay off some of My charge card debt on My crash! I really gave it away but the guy will enjoy it & I got My use out of it! The guy said he thought it was Christmas! Anyway it made me feel good also helping him out! Sure appreciate all of your interest on the site on My crash! Just Love My Helicopter! BOKI 8:37 PM ILLINOIS TIME Thursday! I'll keep everyone posted on My rebuild! Hope I do a good job! Wish I would started with a Trex 450 build when I started RC Helicopters! THE Best BOKI THANKS!!!! GUYS

 

[BOKI]

I am wondering where to start & what to do? I have to put the new landing skid on ! Plus check & replace maybe feathering shaft! Should I leave the main shaft on till I do the feathering shaft ! I don't know if the main shaft is damaged either! Any way I have Feathering shaft, main shaft, & main gear & landing skid ! I don't' have a manual only on my computer in a pdf in my dining room! so i have to bring it up & then run back & forth to look at it! Any suggestions on where I should start! I want to Thank Everyone for all your comments & suggestions! BOKIE 2:08 Am FRIDAY ILLINOIS THE BEST!

 

[zenmetsu]

you can always remove the main shaft and roll it on a flat glass surface to check to see if it is straight.

Assuming that the 450 is like the 250, you would have to remove the two front ball links from the swash plate (going down to the servos) and then the rear one. I usually unscrew the rear one since it has the anti rotation pin. Once the swash is free, you can remove the screw that secures the main gear to the main shaft, being careful to keep the washer with the screw. You should then be able to lift up on the head assembly until it is free of the helicopter. Be careful with the main gear since it will now be free, and there may be a washer resting on top of the bearing in the gear. You don't want to lose these.

The head is attached to the main shaft via the main rotor housing's screw. There is a single screw going through the mainshaft itself. Back this screw out and you should be able to remove the whole head assembly from the main shaft. Once the main shaft is separated from the rest of the parts, you can roll it on a flat piece of glass to see if it is straight. Replace if need be and reverse the steps to get the heli put back together. Remember to use loctite where appropriate.

 

[BOKI]

Hi Zenmetsu; Thanks for your help on what to do ! Sounds like a better really watch what I am doing! Getting tired better get back to bed! Talk to you again soon! BOKIE 3:17 AM ILLINOIS TIME FRIDAY ! THE BEST & Thanks!

 

[zenmetsu]

Or... you could always spin up the heli with very low throttle and see if the head-stop button appears to be wobbling. If it doesn't wobble, your shaft is probably straight.