What did you do with your PRÔTOS today?

[rimaarts]

im a bit stomped... im rebuilding my protos, decided that until im sure it will not fall out of sky, i will not swap carbon frames... now when i put tail together, tail rotor is spinning wrong direction... checked that all is by manual and per pics, bottom blade is facing heli, top blade facing tail direction, leading edge control... is my belt correct? Im 90% sure... because if i try rotating tail case, i can literally feel belt rubbing and position it is now, is only smooth one..., boom logo is NOT upside down... what could i be missing? funny thing is, i did not actually dissasemble tail, i just removed everything including tail case off the frame...

[alexf1852]

Originally Posted by rimaarts

im a bit stomped... im rebuilding my protos, decided that until im sure it will not fall out of sky, i will not swap carbon frames... now when i put tail together, tail rotor is spinning wrong direction... checked that all is by manual and per pics, bottom blade is facing heli, top blade facing tail direction, leading edge control... is my belt correct? Im 90% sure... because if i try rotating tail case, i can literally feel belt rubbing and position it is now, is only smooth one..., boom logo is NOT upside down... what could i be missing? funny thing is, i did not actually dissasemble tail, i just removed everything including tail case off the frame...

Your belt is twisted in the boom.

[Dr. M]

Originally Posted by rimaarts

im a bit stomped... im rebuilding my protos, decided that until im sure it will not fall out of sky, i will not swap carbon frames... now when i put tail together, tail rotor is spinning wrong direction... checked that all is by manual and per pics, bottom blade is facing heli, top blade facing tail direction, leading edge control... is my belt correct? Im 90% sure... because if i try rotating tail case, i can literally feel belt rubbing and position it is now, is only smooth one..., boom logo is NOT upside down... what could i be missing? funny thing is, i did not actually dissasemble tail, i just removed everything including tail case off the frame...

most likely you did the 1/4 twist of the tail belt in the wrong direction. Reassemble your tail and when you do, hold the belt at the tail end in a horizontal orientation, just like it goes over the main pulley, making sure it's not twisted. Then give it a 1/4 twist towards the port side of the heli. The part of the belt coming off the main pulley on the starboard side should go over the top of the tail pulley.

[rimaarts]

also was thinking that my belt was twisted... but... wait... doooh... i just realised i can twist only belt if i remove it from tail case, i dont have to twist tail case 360* only.... lol, i feel dumb now... thank you for enlightening me!

[1157]

I was reminded today how awesome the Protos flies. I've been without batteries for my 500 size helis for several months. All I've been flying is my 450s and my 550. My wonderful wife gave me a couple batteries for Christmas. Anyway, I had a couple good flights this morning.

[isogloss3d]

I looked at my Protos hanging on the wall. It's still too cold and snowy here in Northern Illinois to fly. I might hunt for my 600/1000/2000 grit sandpaper to polish the tail shaft. It's a used model and every other part of the tail is smooth except for the pitch slider on the shaft. The tail holds well but has definite room for improvement.

EXCITING TIMES!

I hope everyone who has warm weather is enjoying it.

[flint723]

"If I just don't move, i'll be invisible here"
]
I'm in the middle of switching my 12s stretch back to plastic frame. I made a template out of a Fusion 50 tail fin for drilling holes for the pinion support on the plastic frame. I didn't really have a problem with the plastic stretch without the pinion support except it was hard on motor bearings. But I don't run crazy head speeds either, 2400 max.

[danhampson]

Ive been fitting a HV bluetooth module to the brain and rerouting some of the wires.
Shes all back together with working bluetooth everything worked flawlessly. looking forward to being able to set the self level up, as im thinking about trying some inverted hovering.

[aterren]

Well, to ring in the new year I nutted up and did my first 3 intentional auto rotations (stock P500). Three tip overs but only the last one did any damage. Busted blade grips and bent fbl grip balls and maybe a feathering shaft.

Can't wait to do it again. With more forward speed and closer to me so I can better judge the rate of decent and blade speed.

[Dr. M]

Originally Posted by aterren

Well, to ring in the new year I nutted up and did my first 3 intentional auto rotations (stock P500). Three tip overs but only the last one did any damage. Busted blade grips and bent fbl grip balls and maybe a feathering shaft.

Can't wait to do it again. With more forward speed and closer to me so I can better judge the rate of decent and blade speed.

Congrats on your first autos! The Protos definitely likes to auto fast, with a rather low and aggressive flare at the bottom. Keep the nose ever so slightly pointed down during the descent and start to flare at about 15ft agl; then smoothly feed positive collective just as you pass below eye level. This will buy you a little bit of time right before touch down to level out and plop it down firmly.

[aterren]

Thanks Dr M.

I'll post more on my progress but it will be a few weeks (I need to get out of this damn ankle cast first). I figure if I can somewhat consistently auto the protos then my Synergy E7 should be a cakewalk and that is the real goal.

[M&P_Hooligan]

checked its tracking number for the 1500000000054545460564564th time today....

[M&P_Hooligan]

Originally Posted by Dr. M

Congrats on your first autos! The Protos definitely likes to auto fast, with a rather low and aggressive flare at the bottom. Keep the nose ever so slightly pointed down during the descent and start to flare at about 15ft agl; then smoothly feed positive collective just as you pass below eye level. This will buy you a little bit of time right before touch down to level out and plop it down firmly.

listen for the overspeed!! sounds is almost as amazing as tail blades loading and unloading and a close 2nd to massive collective pops!

[MishuPtm]

Today i rebuild most of my Protos, had quite a few parts to change: servo frames and bearings, tail boom, tail case, tail bearing, tail boom box, horizontal/vertical stabilizer, flybar rod, flybar paddles, tail servo mount and the tail pitch lever.
I'll have to order a new tail servo (this one has play but i haven't tested it yet, if it holds good, i won't change it) and a reciever.
I also need canopy and canopy mounts, but that's for later....
P.S. It's a budget protos, don't mind the HK electronics.

[TitaniumFreak]

took it out had a blast . 1400 head speed for starters . real super floaty and fast . maden it tonight .

[kavic5150]

Originally Posted by TitaniumFreak

took it out had a blast . 1400 head speed for starters . real super floaty and fast . maden it tonight .

Now that is amazing. Please tell me you are going to make a thread on the topic. I've got a Hurricane 550 here that is too heavy for its own good and parts supplies are dwindling slowly.

[TitaniumFreak]

yeah maybe later . 17mm booms are hard to find . so I had to make one along with a servo mount . if msh heli decides to make a 550mm boom for all us we can all have one if we want . all the other parts are available .

[rimaarts]

Originally Posted by TitaniumFreak

took it out had a blast . 1400 head speed for starters . real super floaty and fast . maden it tonight .

oh wow! but doesnt mains overhang tails too much?

[TitaniumFreak]

Originally Posted by rimaarts

oh wow! but doesnt mains overhang tails too much?

no that's an optical illusion. the main blades are closer to the camera. ive rotated the mains till they are at the closest point to the tails , they don't touch .

[Dr. M]

Flew my Protos 3 packs today during which time I crashed it twice.

Here's the whole story from another thread:

Originally Posted by Dr.M

I'm ready to fire all my zyx's. I mean that literally as in blow torch. I took the Protos to the field today: sunny, calm, 45F, 50% RH. Second flight, ZYX glitches about 2.5 min in while doing some stationary piros. It wants to tilt right/fwd. I manage to drop it close to the ground while holding back/left cyclic; hit the and let it fall on the ground. No damage but my mood. Upon inspection, swash wants to stay tilted and jumps when flicking the gain switch. I did a soft reset with the 4-flick gesture and everything went back to normal. Flew the rest of the pack with no incident.

Flight 3, bout 2min in, again glitch. This time I was ready for it and brought it down in a much more controlled fashion. Th and drop again with no damage. Again same symptoms. Flew the rest of the pack with no incident after a reset, then I packed up and went home. But instead of the usual huge smile I get from flying, this time I'm thinking murderous vengeance. >

This whole thing happened just 9 flights after a very similar incident brought down my Protos onto pavement and caused some serious damage, including my fave blades, which are no longer in production.

All this looks like static glitching you might say. But my Protos is well grounded and covered in a lot of silicone spray. Plus it's not all that dry. And typically you can't use the hot reset after a static strike, you have to unplug. Something else is going on and I'm done trying to figure it out. At least for now...