OS 55 in cold weather

[dla2000]

In hot summer weather I have my throttle trim in the middle and the motor will start right up. Now in fall/winter weather I have to move the throttle trim up a little to get it started. I was just wondering was this normal.

I know I have to run the motor richer in the cooler weather.

What do I need to do when storing the heli for the winter?

[DCflyer]

Yes thats normal. A little extra throttle trim isn't a big deal.


To store for winter you want to drain the tank of fuel and then start the motor until it runs out of fuel - this will expel whatever fuel is inside the engine/carb. You want to add a little bit of after-run oil every couple of weeks into the motor to keep the bearings lubricated. You can either do this through the carb opening, through the glow plug opening, or remove the muffler and add it that way. I remove the muffler. You then want to manually hand turn the motor over a few times to distribute the oil. Pull the top line off the fuel tank to keep pressure from building up in the tank while in storage.

I would store the heli in a temperature controller environment. When flying season is back in, you need to check your fuel tubing to make sure nothing is cracked. You don't want any leaks. Tubing should not be hard to the touch. Replace as necessary. Also make sure you store your nitro fuel inside your house and out of sunlight. You don't want stale fuel going into the heli later on and creating problems for yourself.

If you fly alot during the year its good practice to take the engine out during the offseason and open it up to check the bearings and ring, clean out the carb, check replace fuel filters, etc. Take the bearings out and soak the engine case in denatured alcohol for a day or two - then clean it and install with new bearings with a healthy amount of oil for your first startup - I use Mobile 1 Synthetic.

[dla2000]

Thanks for the info.