450 Vertical tail fin too short! Any mods please???

Blade 400

Active Member
Hi all,


The vertical tail fin on my Tarot 450 pro v2 fbl Heli is too short! I keep damaging my Torque Tube and tail drive spindle with even light landings as the tail blades clip the grass (or ground as the vertical tail fin flexes)

I have put a small packer between the back of the skids and the main body which has raised the tail, but does anyone know how I can extend the vertical tail fin please???

Thank you

Blade
 

Geena

Staff member
That`s always been a common issue with 450s. I can`t tell you how many gears I replaced on mine for that very reason. If there is enough space on the fin to drill new mounting holes above the existing holes, that would lower the fin some. You could also try modifying a fin from a 500 size helicopter to get the length you need.
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
If the tail is "skeletonized" ... I can think of a mod that may work but will require you have the tools to do it with, obtaining some music wire of the approximate correct guage and some nylon thread and then some CA glue.

I'd recommend using a set of flat nose or needle nose jewelers plyers and a set of round nose jewelers plyer. The jewelers types have a smooth surface that will limit you maring the wire. The flat or needle nose plyers are just to hold the wire with when bending on it and the round nose plyers will help make a rounded curve on the end that will hang lower than the tail.

The music wire needs to be about the same thickness or a little less than the thickness of the current tail fin. You will want about an inch of flat wire that will go along the front edge of the fin and then make a curved part that is bent back and then up in a gentle curve for probably a little over an inch... I'm having to scale in my head, so the measurements are approx. only. The idea is to have the curve extend down then back how much you'd like to see and then curve a little ways back up. You'll want to use a cut off wheel of some type to cut the wire with, standard diagonal cutters are not made to cut hardened or spring steels and will ruin them if you try.

Come to think of it... a large enough fishing hook would work but you'd cut off the eye at the top and the hook at the business end. After cutting off the ends, file them flat or rounded to get rid of any sharp edges and/or points. I'm uncertain if fisherman's plyers that have the diagonal cutters on them are hardened enough to cut a fishing hook but I would think they would be, that is still just a guess.

Now using the thread, wrap tight the straight part of the wire ( or fishing hook ) along the front edge of the fin. Start it with a knot towards the top and then just keep wrapping it for most of the way of the flat portion of the wire. Tie off the thread on the bottom end and trim off any excess thread. Make sure the wire/hook is straight and inline with the tail fin.... then CA glue it all along the tightly wrapped thread. Let set until dry or use some CA accelerator spray to speed things up.

Since this is all way out on the end of the tail, you may need to offset the weight a little to the nose so the CG isn't affected.
 
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buel williams

Active Member
Hi all,


The vertical tail fin on my Tarot 450 pro v2 fbl Heli is too short! I keep damaging my Torque Tube and tail drive spindle with even light landings as the tail blades clip the grass (or ground as the vertical tail fin flexes)

I have put a small packer between the back of the skids and the main body which has raised the tail, but does anyone know how I can extend the vertical tail fin please???

Thank you

Blade
I installed 470L dominator skids on my 450 it lifts the hole tail and looks cool to.
 

Admiral

Well-Known Member
Have you tried fitting a 470L vertical stab they are longer and fit no issues.
The other thing is check you Center of Gravity to make sure it is not a bit tail heavy.
 

Blade 400

Active Member
That`s always been a common issue with 450s. I can`t tell you how many gears I replaced on mine for that very reason. If there is enough space on the fin to drill new mounting holes above the existing holes, that would lower the fin some. You could also try modifying a fin from a 500 size helicopter to get the length you need.
Thanks Geena,
I like these suggestions, :thumbsup:
I thought your packer solution had worked as it did raise the tail, but as the tail fin is so skimpy it flexes on landing so the blades come into contact with taller grass or the ground.
Happy Flying ;)
 

Blade 400

Active Member
If the tail is "skeletonized" ... I can think of a mod that may work but will require you have the tools to do it with, obtaining some music wire of the approximate correct guage and some nylon thread and then some CA glue.

I'd recommend using a set of flat nose or needle nose jewelers plyers and a set of round nose jewelers plyer. The jewelers types have a smooth surface that will limit you maring the wire. The flat or needle nose plyers are just to hold the wire with when bending on it and the round nose plyers will help make a rounded curve on the end that will hang lower than the tail.

The music wire needs to be about the same thickness or a little less than the thickness of the current tail fin. You will want about an inch of flat wire that will go along the front edge of the fin and then make a curved part that is bent back and then up in a gentle curve for probably a little over an inch... I'm having to scale in my head, so the measurements are approx. only. The idea is to have the curve extend down then back how much you'd like to see and then curve a little ways back up. You'll want to use a cut off wheel of some type to cut the wire with, standard diagonal cutters are not made to cut hardened or spring steels and will ruin them if you try.

Come to think of it... a large enough fishing hook would work but you'd cut off the eye at the top and the hook at the business end. After cutting off the ends, file them flat or rounded to get rid of any sharp edges and/or points. I'm uncertain if fisherman's plyers that have the diagonal cutters on them are hardened enough to cut a fishing hook but I would think they would be, that is still just a guess.

Now using the thread, wrap tight the straight part of the wire ( or fishing hook ) along the front edge of the fin. Start it with a knot towards the top and then just keep wrapping it for most of the way of the flat portion of the wire. Tie off the thread on the bottom end and trim off any excess thread. Make sure the wire/hook is straight and inline with the tail fin.... then CA glue it all along the tightly wrapped thread. Let set until dry or use some CA accelerator spray to speed things up.

Since this is all way out on the end of the tail, you may need to offset the weight a little to the nose so the CG isn't affected.
Thanks very much for your detailed suggestion and time randy,
I think I understand, it`s a `spring` extension essentially right?
I will have to buy a few of the items you specified but it sounds good ;)
 

Blade 400

Active Member
I installed 470L dominator skids on my 450 it lifts the hole tail and looks cool to.
Thanks Buel,
I recently installed a set of Align 500 skids with a small packer between the back of the skids and main body which did lift the tail but as the tail fin is so flimsy it flexes when I land causing the blades to strike!
Glad your dominator skids worked out, happy flying ;)
 

Blade 400

Active Member
Have you tried fitting a 470L vertical stab they are longer and fit no issues.
The other thing is check you Center of Gravity to make sure it is not a bit tail heavy.
Nice one Admiral,
I`ll check the COG and will check my spares boxes, I`ve got some spare fins somewhere or I`ll order the 470L fin :thumbsup:
 

Blade 400

Active Member
you don't need to make any modifications, you just attach the landing gear ball to the landing skid, you can get a 2 cm higher
Thanks Sidik,
I have raised the tail, but as the fin is so flimsy, it flexes on landing causing the blades to touch :(
I`m going to mod or replace the fin with a longer one ;)
 

Blade 400

Active Member
Like this
I`m with you now Sidik, my tail is similar to yours height wise, having put a small packer between the back of the skids and the main body. My issue is that my tail fin is so flimsy that it flexes on landing which causes the blades to touch. Essentially the fin is too short!
Thanks for your help and for taking the time to take pictures :thumbsup:
 

Sidik Hartono

New Member
Blade,
I saw your article, you use towerpro MG90S servo for the cyclic?
what about the speed of the servo?
is it enough?
I don't like using Towerpro, because there are a lot of fakes out there..
I use the Emax ES09MD cyclic servo, it's pretty good...
 

D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
For my helis I like using KST servos. For the money they work wonderful and nice speed. Just my :2c:
 
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Blade 400

Active Member
Blade,
I saw your article, you use towerpro MG90S servo for the cyclic?
what about the speed of the servo?
is it enough?
I don't like using Towerpro, because there are a lot of fakes out there..
I use the Emax ES09MD cyclic servo, it's pretty good...
Hi Sidik,
I just bought the MG90s for my Blade 400, I`ve yet to try them. They are copies, they do run really smooth on the servo tester, much smoother than the stock E-flite servos, so fingers crossed.
I have the same Emax servos on my Tarot 450 :thumbsup:
 

Sidik Hartono

New Member
Hi Sidik,
I just bought the MG90s for my Blade 400, I`ve yet to try them. They are copies, they do run really smooth on the servo tester, much smoother than the stock E-flite servos, so fingers crossed.
I have the same Emax servos on my Tarot 450 :thumbsup:
what do you think? which one more better? TowerPro MG90S or Emax ES09MD
Towerpro more cheaper than Emax...
 

Blade 400

Active Member
what do you think? which one more better? TowerPro MG90S or Emax ES09MD
Towerpro more cheaper than Emax...
As I said Sidik,
I only have fake TowerPro MG90s servos that are very smooth on the servo tester, but I haven`t tried them on my Blade 400 yet. The Emax ES09MD servos on my Tarot 450 Pro v2 fbl Heli are the best that I have experienced - The stock E-flite servos on my Blade 400 have stood up to my learning to hover days, but I will be replacing them with the fake MG90s soon :thumbsup:
Happy Flying
 
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