Tail drive pulley (blue) slipping in bearing

[branflake]

I noticed after flying my FBL G5 today (just tweaking the Cx3000) on one big pitch pump, the tail blew out and it made a squealing noise. I hit a few more times, lightly, and it did the same, just not as bad. Its not the gyro, but i found that my tail drive (small blue gear) moves up and down in the bearing, enough it can contact the auto gear. I imagine this was the squeal. My other G5, that doesnt move (but did find the silver tail pulley can slip on the shaft, gotta re loctite that)

So, whats the best way to drop that out and fix it to the tail drive shaft? Blue loctite is what i have, and i bought this airframe used so i dont know if/how it was done before. Does this sound like it could explain the behavior?

[Cheetah62]

With the blue gears it is easy to tell when there has been gear-to-gear contact because the blue gears produce a fine white powder when rubbed together, which is easy to spot on the dark blue.
Is the pick-off gear sliding on the shaft, or is the shaft sliding in the bearings?
I used blue loctite to secure the shaft in the bearings and CA to secure the gear on the shaft.

The easiest way (ugh) to drop out the pick-off gear is to pull the entire assembly out with the bearing blocks. If the shaft is secured in the bearings with loctite this is really the only way.

[branflake]

The shaft was sliding in the bearings. I pulled out the bottom bearing block and popped the bearing out as it was notchy and shot. Put the new one on, loctited the shaft on the bottom (thinking that I probably should do the top as well, but what a pain) and slapped it back together. Just tested the loctite with finger pressure and it popped right back up.

Looks like ill pull both blocks and make sure its solid before putting it back. Kind of a pain getting around those outer frames. Thanks for the chime in, its awfully quiet around here these days...

[Cheetah62]

Like most G5 owners, I love my heli and never understood why it didn't achieve more market share. There's nothing else quite like it, is there?
I have enough parts to keep it flying for a long time to come and no plans to convert to FBL. IMO there is no reason for me to change a perfectly good helicopter.

Funny thing is, as squirrely as it can be I've only crashed once in nearly 200 flights.
I don't know of any other "450" flyers who can say the same.

As long as I have my G5, I'll keep an eye on this forum.

[branflake]

absolutely. I love these little guys. I converted one over to FBL with one of those cheap controllers and have been having a blast tweaking it. I too never really got why it didnt catch on. I am watching the release of the Compass warp and starting to tire a bit of the comments "wow a 450 on 350mm blades and up to 6S power! why didnt anyone else think of this?" etc. There was a time id chime in and try and steer them to G5 land, but i have a feeling the spares will start to dry up before too long. I think i might have the largest private stock of spares in the midwest, and like you, mine will be flying for a LONG time.

[seemore74]

Same feelings here guys, after owning and flying 2 different 700 helis, when I go back to the G5 its quite amazing what this little monster can do & how it makes me feel after every flight.
Very surprised myself why more people didn't take to this heli & why Outrage hasn't updated or come out with a new 6s 450 heli. Maybe this heli was a bit before its time when it came out & outrage not reading into this thought it was a failure with the masses or it could just be politics If you know what i mean.

[branflake]

its my thread so we can OT all we want:

I find it interesting that the G5 isnt even listed on the outragerc website under helis, but the 550 still is. However, its listed under parts, but the links to any 550 or G5 stuff are "broken" and have been since the site changed looks. also looks like no more NRG packs and Axis blades will never be. I, too, think the politics around the departure of a certain designer (who most certainly did all the work on those two models, and those, if not more the 550, put Outrage on the map). But no matter, with the Warp coming out, i think finding new packs each season for these little monsters will be easy. I nearly always get comments on these things "thats a crazy looking trex" being one of them-where i am from, any 450 size heli is a "trex" (not trex 450, just trex...the guy with a Beam can comiserate im sure) and anything bigger than a 550 is a "nitro heli" Oh well.

I have to say, after the politics, the lack of unified response from outrage, questionable parts support, etc. (the never answering emails didnt help either) I looked elsewhere when it was time for my first "big bird" and i have to say, i dont regret the jump one bit.

Given the resale value on the G5 though, its safe to say Ill fly it till there are no more parts in the world

[seemore74]

Originally Posted by branflake12

I have to say, after the politics, the lack of unified response from outrage, questionable parts support, etc. (the never answering emails didnt help either) I looked elsewhere when it was time for my first "big bird" and i have to say, i dont regret the jump one bit.

Given the resale value on the G5 though, its safe to say Ill fly it till there are no more parts in the world

Same sentiments Bro.

[3Dmuse]

Why the G5 didn't achieve more market share:

1. Inconsistent QC.

2. Outrage kept the price of the kits very close to $400 for too long. This was a poor marketing decision considering that the G5 was the first product of an unknown company. A G5 CF kit used to cost more than a MA Furion 450, which was the hottest 450 at the time (2008-2009). They lowered the price of the kits only at the end of 2009, 1.5 years after the release. A little too late for the G5 to become mainstream.

3. Outrage made a flybarless head for the G5 only at the end of 2009, a little too late. And then, they had this poor marketing strategy to create bundles with the Skookum 360, a 2-axis gyro, when the 3-axis gyros had already become prevalent.

4. Inconsistent QC. Have I already said this? I cannot say it enough it seems. Even with my latest orders this year, 4 years after the release, I could still get warped flybars and tail push rods, front tail pulleys with holes drilled and tapped incorrectly that would slip on the shaft because of loose fitting set screws, canopies too small to fit the frames, etc.

5. The G5 is not a friendly platform for the novice pilot. It has many parts, and requires experience and patience at building and setting it up. Poorly machined parts (see point 4, tail pulley slipping on shaft) don't help with this either.

I have stayed with the G5 only because it's such a good flying machine for its size and, once I learned how to tell the good parts from the bad parts, I became very good at fixing it. With only some better marketing decisions and better QC, the G5 would have become a hit. Outrage were too eager to conquer the world and forgot they had to build a reputation and a user base first. I like to think they were only being naive and inexperienced.

[branflake]

All valid points. My tail pulley is as you described. i rifled thru my box, tossing out 2 till i found one that was true. I never even installed the tail pushrod, it was bent like a bow in the box. I went straight for the CF tail rod, no support, Beam E4 style. Works great.

The compas warp REALLY has my attention. I could strip down one of my G5's for its gear and turn it into spares and all i would need is an airframe. SO tempting, once they hit (virtual) shelves.

Hopefully they will execute better than outrage did. Might even answer emails about problems

[seemore74]

Well said 3DMUSE, this heli had the base makings of a hit but was let down by Outrage themselves.