Questions on 500esp.

[bluesilver]

Hi, I have just managed to crash my 500esp heli last week. Silly mistake really, didn't check the voltage on my Transmitter causing the heli to fall and land on it's side.

Damage was complete new frame, l/h and r/h side under tray, tail boom, main blades, flybar rod, main shaft, new skids.

Now the question is, I have just rebuilt it and set it all up again. Everything looks right and measures right.

When spooling up it kicks a little to the left, (tail to the left). I take this is normal as this is what it always use to do. ( Heli is sitting on concrete not grass)
The problem is when I land and the heli is winding down, just before it completely stops it will actually start skipping or hopping to the left,(tail to the left)

Dose anyone actually know what is happening here, I have never had it happen before and i am struggling to find out what is causing this to happen.


Next question, When you are just flying around (not 3D or anything) just flying around do you go stright into idle 1 when it spools up or just leave it where it is Idle 0 i guess.
Just qurious as i have always just left the switch where it is and have been flying like that.

Any information on these two questions is greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

[Deet]

What flight mode you use is up to you

Did you replace the front TT gears, that could be the issue with the tail if you have one or two loose or missing teeth

[ozflyer]

Originally Posted by bluesilver

Next question, When you are just flying around (not 3D or anything) just flying around do you go stright into idle 1 when it spools up or just leave it where it is Idle 0 i guess.
Just qurious as i have always just left the switch where it is and have been flying like that.

Any information on these two questions is greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

From what I have seen everyone does this differently depending on their flying style and heli, its up to you what you feel comfortable with.

This is what I do for both my 3D heli and scale helis. I fly with a governor set. In idle 0 or normal mode the pitch curve goes from minus a few degrees to 0 degrees, I never fly in normal mode, I take off in Idle 1 fly in 1 & 2 and land in 1. I want to control my heli's by the pitch of the blades only not a combination of variable headspeed and pitch which is what happens in normal mode.

+1 on the TT gears. When you rotate the blades can you hear a clicking sound in the gears if so it usually means you are missing teeth.

[Larry227]

I used to have it occasionally shake on spool down so then I started giving it a bit of negative pitch once the skids were on the ground. Hasn't been an issue since I started doing that.

What mode you're in when you fly and/or land is entirely up to you. I run governor mode so I'm in an idle up mode regardless of the switch position and run a linear pitch curve in all three.

[Blayd]

I used to fly in normal only, when I first started, but found that since I was using a throttle curve that came to "0" at low stick, when I would try to land, the head speed got so low that the heli was hard to keep steady, and, if I panic'd and went low collective, the low head speed combined with negative pitch was a handful to try to control for a newbie. ( I had alot to learn about Throttle and pitch curves..) I learned quickly that a steady head speed is the most stable, so I now bind in normal, I use a castle ESC with very slow start. so I can just keep it in idle 1. I bind in normal, set my TH, so it wont spool up, go into idle 1 raise my throttle to mid stick, turn off the TH, let it spool up nice and slow straight in idle 1 to a flat throttle curve of 90%, then off I go.
The hopping your heli is doing may be blade imbalance? too losse or too tight grips? I usually change the main bearings in the blocks after a decent crash as well. It could be a number of things after a crash. feathering shaft, bent grips etc... could also be something in the tail..Deet is right on about the TT gears...keep looking.. it can be hard to find the issue, step by step.. work through the possibilities.

[bluesilver]

Cheers, greatly appreciated.
All gears looks good, will check the blade grips, never thought of that.
Did notice that the flybar weight had come lose aswell, ( i added these to balance the head a while ago).

Thanks again, greatly appreciated.

Cheers.