Raptor X50 build thread

[KouDy]

Muffler and canopy installation.

Nothing special here really. There are 2 locking washers, long set screws, 2 nylon nuts and 1 thin washer from i don't know what material. Thin washer goes between muffler and engine block. Then put screws from the other side. Threadlock them. Muffler has threads inside so align nuts with holes and screw it all in one go.
There there is rubber tip and 2 cable ties. Pull the rubber end over the tip and secure with cable ties.

Then put on thin washer on the small hole on the muffler and screw in the nipple.

Canopy has a little depression in place where the screws should go in. I did small "scratch" in the middle of one with sharp knife tip. Then reamed it a little with pointy + screw driver. Alternating knife and screw driver. When it was big enough to accomodate the the screw i screwed few threads in and unscrew it out. Then place it on the body (both holder to skid and canopy to the posts). Place canopy into the holder, match the hole and make dot with pen in the other hole. Remove it, ream as the previous one and done. Screw the 2 screws into holder with canopy inside and done.

[KouDy]

Just a quick question about carb... Which position is fully open and which is fully closed?

1)

2)


I think number 1) is fully closed but please someone correct me or confirm...

EDIT : Found out that when it's all screwed in (picture 1) then it's closed. 2) is fully open.

[KouDy]

Daily update. I am almost done with servo installation. Last one is elevator servo. I am trying to figure out where to lead the wire. All others are in place and wires are inside the frame. I don't thinl this is doable for me tho. I checked the other topic (about wires) but i am using silicone mesh about 1mm thick (so 2 mm on diameter of wire since it goes around). Will have to think about this a little more...

[Bikersurgeon]

Yes you're correct on the carb open/close positions....that worried me on mine too. Lookin' good man! I've been following this thread at WORK and apparently the hospital computer system blocks images! I'm at home today and all the sudden I see pictures lol cool deal!

[Bob O]

I had to use a short extension on my elevator servo lead in order to reach the receiver. Also, I just routed it on the outside of the frame for simplicity. I used to get all fancy with wiring, but in my last two builds I've just done it the quick and easy way.

[Bikersurgeon]

Bob, speaking of extensions, when I was messing with the gyro re: the wag issue, I apparently inadvertently unplugged the rudder servo extension while installing my canopy....scared me a while (thought my rudder servo had died) until I saw the unplugged lead. When I plugged it back in I noticed the plug slid in there pretty dang easy (used quark...looks good but may have been plugged/unplugged 1000 times). I used a small ziptie to make sure that doesn't happen again. Do you guys tape or tie your connectors?

[Bob O]

I use something similar to these:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXDT86&P=0

[KouDy]

So torque tube manual is wrong in tail rotor blades. They have on pictures that driving ball on the tail blade grips is leading edge, while in reality tail has trailing egde control. This is opposite to main rotor where leading edge is control one... So careful with placing blades correctly...

EDIT : Manual is correct. Make sure you didn't put the grips the other way around...

[KouDy]

I am about to do fuel lines.
1) In LHS i bought some fuel line. It's slightly narrower than original in the package. Is this a problem? Narrower means outer diameter is about 0.7mm smaller. Same goes for inner. Walls look same thickness on both.

2) I also have 3 way valve with filter. I intend to use this for refueling. Is it good idea? Where should i put in header tank configuration?

3) Should i somehow secure tubing on the nipples (cable tie?)?

[KouDy]

I have a hint for those who still build and don't have tail done.
When the model is built and ready to fly, for carrying to the field you will want to fold the main baldes over the boom (main rotor grips are 90 to boom when looking from top). Also usually what you want it is that your tail rotor grips will be vertical (90 when looking from side) so you can fold tail blades towards the heli.
If you are having main grips 90 but tail grips are parallel with tail boom (or would be). The easiest way how to fix this is to unscrew 3 socket screws on tail casing. Then you can pull whole casing out rotate either main rotor or tail rotor by 90 degrees and put casing back. Reverify that you are getting double 90 and screw back. I just did this little mod on mine.

[Bob O]

Kou,

How did you figure LE control for the tail was wrong? My belt manual showed LE control as well, and I set my tail up that way. With the tail pitch arm 90 degrees, that give me a few degrees of right-rudder correction, which is ideal. Not sure what would happen by flipping the grips. Make sure you don't have left rudder correction with TE control. That was a problem with some T-Rex 450 Pros a few years back.

The T-Rex 600 I had was designed with LE control and had zero degrees of pitch at center slider.



Same with the Velocity 50:




Fuel lines? I haven't really looked at mine closely. Stock fuel line always seemed flimsy to me anyway, as I've always replaced it with stuff from my LHS. I don't know yet if I'll be replacing the stock stuff on this bird. There's still a good month of winter left for me.

Regarding the fuel filter, I've always used the 3-way one from Align. I've always placed it between the tank and carb. In the case of the Titan X50, I'm going to put mine between the header tank and carb.

The other thing I've always done was to secure the lines with a small piece of fuel tubing slipped over the ends. You would cut a narrow piece of fuel tubing (different widths depending upon the tubing so you'll need to experiment for the right thickness) so it looks like a small rubber band. Then slip that over the end of some needle-nose pliers and use the pliers in reverse to spread the little band big enough to insert the actual tubing end into it. Then when you slip the tubing onto the nipple, the band will help hold it onto the barb.

When you go to spread the little band, if you can't do it, that means it's too wide. If it's too thin, it might break under pressure from the pliers. You'll find the correct width after a few tries. I'll snap a picture later if you need one.

Regarding the tail case and lining up the blades for transport and/or folding, I've never heard of anyone going to that trouble to line up the tail blades. What I do prior to folding the main blades is rotate them until the tail blades are at the position I want them, then fold both sets of blades for transport/ storage. Everytime you go a full rotation on the main blades, the tail blades change their position. Give that a try next time.

[KouDy]

Oh yes... Thanks for explanation. Ofc i had the grips the other way! Easy fix tho, 2 screws (one on each blade), twist them and done.

Good tip with fuel lines as securing over the nipples. I would use line i bought as fuel and original as securing piece. Or maybe bought over the bought... I will see.

Thanks for the tip with 3-way. I wasn't sure about it if you actually do pump the fuel into main tank through the header tank. Your answer answers it. Thanks.

As for rotating the main blades to achieve 90s on tail. Ofc i do know this. For some reason i was not able to achieve it with my X50. After several rotations i was getting always the same parallel. After mod i described i am getting 90 on both always.

[Bob O]

Originally Posted by KouDy

SNIP
As for rotating the main blades to achieve 90s on tail. Ofc i do know this. For some reason i was not able to achieve it with my X50. After several rotations i was getting always the same parallel. After mod i described i am getting 90 on both always.

So basically your tail gear ratio is some even number (x :1) when compared with the head, so your tail blades are always at the same position when the head is at a certain position? I don't have your heli in front of me so I'll have to take your word for it.

[KouDy]

Yes it is. I just counted all teeth twice (to prevent error). Got same numbers all the time.

Main gear (PV1311) : 85
Autorotation gear (PV1373): 80
Clutch bell pinion (PV1364) : 10
Tail gears (PV0149-1) : 20
Tail gears (front) (PV1371) : 25
Tail drive gear (black one in tail casing) (PV1370) : 16

So let's count... Angled gears (tail front and end) are same teeth, (25 and 20 respectively) so ratio is 1:1.
We don't need to use main gear (85T) and clutch pinion (10T) which leaves us with auto rotation gear (80T) and tail drive gear (16T). Correct my math but i think :
80:16 ~ 5:1

So yea it's even... All parts are listed in the back of the manual and mostly they do put teeth count in too. Manual agrees with me actually...

[NitroAl]

A quick tip for you! Pull out the exhaust gasket and toss it in the bin! use a very thin layer of RTV to seal the flange and wipe it back to about 1mm from the port with a cotton bud/ Q tip!
The gasket is prone to blowing out resulting in the pipe coming loose!

[KouDy]

So i think fuel lines are done.

Like advised i have made a little rings and pulled them over the barbs to secure the fuel line on the nipples. I used the same line for rings and for securing. It worked quite nicely. After first 2 i got the grip and rest was fairly quick.

I don't know but pressure line from muffler to main tank is not tight in the rubber grommets in the side frames. I guess it is supposed to be like that so it's fine. Lengths of the lines for me in manual are off.
Muffler to main tank i made shorter by some good 50mm. It was all sticking on both sides and it would flap all around i assume. The i think i have most of them shorter than manual says actually. Not by much but shorter.

I am a bit worried about the refueling line that goes up from filter. I only have these clamps without barb so i can't really catch it anywhere. Is it ok like that or will it just fly away and spray nitro all over the place?

@ NitroAl : Thanks for the tip. I currently don't have anything like that (RTV?) so going to stick with stock but i will look this up...

[KouDy]

I think i am almost done with wiring. Waiting for governor so 2 more wires will go to the receiver. So far wiring is like this :


I don't like it a lot really, it's real mess on the front tray. But i guess it will work. Yes i can actually remove battery and put it back. Just to velcro down the elevator wire extension to it and it's all fine. Fuel tubes that you see are antenna covers . After cutting down antenna tube into pieces i wasn't quite happy about it still. Then looked down to table to all the mess and viola. Flexible antenna tubing was born ... Need to get more fuel lines on my next visit in LHS, that stuff is really handy...

[Bob O]

Kou,

Nice job on the fuel line rubber bands.

IMO, you should use a plug for the fuel fill line. If that clamp lets loose, my guess is you'll have a flame-out from sucking in lots of air.

Also, I started out using Hi-temp RTV on my exhaust manifold two years ago with my T-Rex 600. I stopped using it last year, no gasket of any kind, and haven't had any sealing problems. No leaks, no sucking air, etc.

[KouDy]

I just did blade balancing. I don't know about you guys but i have them totally off balance. One center of gravity was off (hence the tape on the end of the blade). And that one became heavier. Pictures below, i am tempted to call distributor here about them but that would delay take off by a lot and also i don't think i would success much with such request...

[adi1893]

Hey guys, I'm goin to upgrade my X50 to FBL soon and am wondering if I can get an align 600DFC head on an X50 cauz of the lower cg and all......help please.....

Thanks