Tail Kick with V2.1?

[superjoe83]

i just flew my 550 today for the first time (great flying bird) anyway, first pack was pretty much just hovering, checking things out, feeling the sticks (first FBL heli). On the second pack i started to do some forward flight, had some elevator bobble on FF, nothing major, tail felt pretty good, it had a slow wag so probably needs a bit more gain, but when i was bringing it in to land about 8 feet off the ground the tail suddenly kicked hard about a foot, i cant remember which way it went but it scared the crap out of me and i just about jumped off the ground i brought it down after that and havent flown it since, my 3G control box has V2.1 on it, i thought they were supposed to fix this problem, i dont think i will fly it until i get this straightened out

[jsenicka]

I flew my v2.1 550e for a bunch of packs last weekend. I did get a couple short tail kicks. Not as bad as v1.0 and nothing that did not come back. Did not see on my nitro birds at all. Just the 550e. Wondering if it is more an esc issue?

[superjoe83]

Originally Posted by jsenicka

I flew my v2.1 550e for a bunch of packs last weekend. I did get a couple short tail kicks. Not as bad as v1.0 and nothing that did not come back. Did not see on my nitro birds at all. Just the 550e. Wondering if it is more an esc issue?

i don't think mine was a power issue, i could hear the tail blades bite the air HARD like they went to full pitch for a split second, the noise is what startled me, not the tail movement, i am running a 100% flat TC

[edsel.labao]

What tail servo you guys running?

[superjoe83]

Originally Posted by zoomtt

What tail servo you guys running?

im using the stock ds620, but i will put on a ds650 before the next flight, from reading some of the other threads some people have had good luck with upgrading the servo, i have a use for the 620 so its not really a loss. I am also getting the 3G USB link on monday so i can try to tune it better

[RC'er]

Never mind...

[michael503]

So far as I know, there is no firm explanation as to why these kicks occur, just conjecture. Theory's I've read include - servo, vibration, firmware, brownout, reset and internal processor inadequate. No word from Align as far as I know, they probably don't know yet either.

For what its worth, my 700e came with a 650 tail servo and I've had 2 tail kicks in 12 flights. Power is a Lifepo4 rx pack with no regulator. The first one occured pulling out of a gentle power loop, at about 5 o'clock, the tail kicked about 60 degrees to the right. (3rd flight). The second time (10th flight) it kicked about 10 degrees to the left and came back. I can't remember what I was doing that time, nothing fancy though.

Now I could have spent a good bit of time tracing this, or wait for a firmware upgrade, but the uncertainty of it coupled with the inconsistent piro rate of the 3G tail gyro (780), made me just slap a Spartan 760 on it. I borrowed one from my 450 pro. I made a mount to attach to the platform that the sensor mounts to (see my gallery )so I could put both gyro and 3G sensor together. It galled me to do it, since the tail held well enough, and I could have lived with it for a while until my skills and confidence improve, but I didn't want to risk my bird or someones safety due to an unpredictable tail.

Also, the gyro performance improvement with the 760 is definitely noticeable, so there is some net gain to this patch

[Darth Mikous]

Hello all, this issue has happened to me as well, and I have tested my 3g from v1.0 through 2.1… the tail kick seems to be a form of a warning that one of you cyclic gains is off. As if it was put in during alpha testing and not removed for our beta testing (j/k guys don’t hate ). Never the less, I have found that to high of an aileron gain will cause 25 degree ish tail kick to the right as you stand behind it and to high elevator gain will cause a 45 degree kick to the right. This could be all in my head but test for yourself, I can almost make mine kick on demand after a month of testing. I have used a 3G unit on two individual trex 500’s and two trex 250’s all with different servos and power systems, all with the same result. Though some may claim there is no communication between the tail and the cyclic control systems from my testing that doesn’t seem to be the case. Besides that would be counterintuitive for Align in the long run wouldn’t it? If I was a marketing guy the tail kick would be a feature since most people will just hover there first pack/tank or 2 anyhow, and when you get a kick you stop flying to investigate and find you should turn down your gains just as you did… they should put that in the manual…

I make no claim to be an expert at anything in life I only wish to help by sharing my experiences, my intention was not to harm nor mislead anyone and I am not responsible for any damage or loss of property that may incur by following my instruction…

[edsel.labao]

Experimenting with pads on the 3g. I tried out the thicker and softer align servo pad today and had the strap loose. I got a 15 degree tail kick. Nothing major, this was on a FFF. I pulled the strap tight and so far so good.