Beginners tribulation in his quest for the Gaui Grin

[fiveflat]

Am I too slow of head speed? Am I too slow getting off terra firma?

Do I need to just get get it up and off the ground in a hurry or do I maybe have something setup wrong? Mechanically, it's all dialed it as it's a fellow HeliFreak's 425.

This is my second heli, coming from a Blade MCPX. I'm hesitant to post my incompetence here, but I need some guidance please?

[SQRT(-2)]

Sorry to see that. Don't worry, it's happens to many of us. It took me a month to get off the ground. Much of that was waiting on parts.

I would not say hurry, but you need to get up there. As your heli becomes light on it's skids it will want to roll like that. I can't remember the physics but it has to do with the momentum of the main blade acting like a gyro and only one skid touching.

Don't mess around on the ground.

See? It rhymes, what more do you need to prove it's wisdom?

[kbzx35]

Head speed sounded good enough. Was any input provided on the sticks? Belisle will get a little squirrelly on the ground from rotor wash but it looked like a pretty hard jerk to the right. Not saying it happened but could've been trying to correct out of reaction and correcting the wrong way. Sorry to see it go down so fast. Now it's time to make sure ur swash is level and all cyclic servos are moving evenly together. Hope u get it up very soon. Also even though crash looked light, make sure to check everything with fine tooth comb

[fiveflat]

I found the problem, it was an issue with the swash mix.

Without an 'seasoned' flyer nearby it's a bit tough to get these going for the first time. Gonna give it another try tomorrow afternoon.

[Jerrymac]

Looks to me like the swash wasn't level, or you added some right cyclic while on the ground. You say you bought it used from another Freak. Did it come with the TX and RX too. If not, did you go all through the set up after binding it to your radio? It's possible that the previous owner might have had a little sub trim dialed in to get the servos at 90 and the swash level, so you would have to go over the mechanical set up again for your radio.

When buying a used helicopter, you should always do a complete mechanical set up after binding it to your own TX.

[fiveflat]

Thanks Jerry, you're right. I did what I thought was good a mechanical QA but the swash mix was backwards and I will claim ignorance...
Thank goodness it was a safe and relatively inexpensive lesson

[Jerrymac]

If you have any questions about getting it set up correctly, just ask, that is what all of us "long time" Hurricane owners are here for, to help each other out.

Jerry

[SQRT(-2)]

So it was not the skid catching thing? Well, good you found it out.

I always hit Throttle hold and move the sticks after I put the battery in to make sure the swash moves like it should.

[sp00fman]

My god, sorry to see that. I figured that was wrong before i read on.

Popping it up half a meter is the better way to lift off. It would have given you a little time to find out the problem while in the air and adjust to it.

.... i actuially had elevator reversed on my 425 FBL maiden.... i managed to not freak out, told myfelf: chill out man, its just like hovering nose in, and i managed to land safely. This was while the FBL controller was giving a constant backelevator input, so it was not keeping itself level at center-stick at all. One of my scariest moments. My pre-flight checks are twice as thorough and always the same order since then.

Caught two tail-setup errors on my t250 and 520 today before lift-off. That one mistake is paying off positively for me.

[fiveflat]

So I had to completely go over the mechanical setup again like Jerry said. Even had to go as far as moving the servo arms a click, etc. as my Tx must be quite a bit different than the last owners. Thanks Jerry for that tip!

But I had a SUCCESSFUL hover, twice!

(man, I was shaking like a catholic school girl in the men's locker room!) But after yesterday's incident (that was my son taking the video - he's 11) I opted for him to stand way back and keep quiet. Would much rather forego the first hover on video and keep him safe.

Boy I thought my MCPX was like trying to fly a Barn Swallow... I've got some fine tuning to learn and the do to it.

[PTcaflyer]

...There you go! .....Let's see those new video's!!!!

[fiveflat]

I have a little bit of a vibration as I spool it up now since that video crash in the first post. Once I get past about 50% it's smooths out. What all would you suggest replacing after a crash like that beside the blades of course.

Should I replace the feathering shaft and dampers just to replace them? Anything else? My LHS carries Blade and Align parts, can I buy those parts for an Align to fit the Gaui?

[PTcaflyer]

...Take one main blade off and turn the allen head for feathering shaft and see if the other blade moves up and down...if it does, then the shaft is bent...no, Align shafts do not fit.
RC Dumbthombs should have them...you can look at the main shaft with the blades off and see if there is a wobble when spooling up...
Blades should be there today...PT

[fiveflat]

Thanks!

I don't think there's really a problem with anything after talking with the LHS over my lunch break. There's no wobble when spooling down, he thinks maybe I just had the blades a little too loose and they shifted when first spooling. Makes sense...

[fiveflat]

Got the used blades Paul! I also not got the Gaui Grin baby!

Waiting for my son to get home from school to video a little hover time - not that you all are anxious to see a newb hover a heli...

[fiveflat]

Pretty fair wind. It's something I would refuse to fly in when I was a teen with airplanes. The Gaui handled it like a champ though!

[PTcaflyer]

Looking Good!
You will get used to it in no time and be zipping around doing circuits before you know it...! Beautiful place to fly too!

[skyhigh88]

Your hoving looks good, The Gaui 425 - 550 is a great helicopter.

I have 2 that I fly. Keep up the good work!!!


Fred

[Jerrymac]

Glad to see you got it sorted out and in the air. One thing I have noticed on all 4 of my Hurri's is that they get a little wobble when spooling up if the blades are too loose. I actually run mine pretty tight, so that I can barely move them in the grips. I just pull them nice and straight as I can before taking off.

[fiveflat]

I'm gonna get things figured out, sheesh I'm not really a slow guy

Go I got it up hovering quite well. Went into a piro and it wouldn't stop! ... down she went.

Looks like the tailboom slipped in the frame and the belt got too loose so the tail rotor quit

So... tailboom torque is now added to the preflight checklist. Thank goodness I had no damage, less than that first video I posted anyway.