Compass 550U Build

[Rdavis007]

I am really beginning to dig the new Canopy as well. I need to find one instead of the 6HVU canopy. Fantastic job Cyclo.

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by PowerDyne

That tears it!

550 Ultimate is the next addition to the fleet! Gotta have a little brother to the Chronos I just bought

Chronos and 550U make for a great combination.

Originally Posted by Rdavis007

I am really beginning to dig the new Canopy as well. I need to find one instead of the 6HVU canopy. Fantastic job Cyclo.

It also took me a while to get used to the new canopy... TBH I thought the lettering looked cheesy the first time I saw it in pics posted here at HF. However I now like it a lot... It is also highly visible

[Rob43]

I think that omitting the boom supports also seems to call more attention to the boom (less clutter, in effect, I suspect) for more visibility as well.

[Luigi_tuga]

Originally Posted by Rob43

I think that omitting the boom supports also seems to call more attention to the boom (less clutter, in effect, I suspect) for more visibility as well.

Totally agree on the nice look without struts. I really like this feature on helis. Fat boom is the way to go

[quinn]

Cyclo, did you get it in the air yet?

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by quinn

Cyclo, did you get it in the air yet?

I was able to successfully maiden it but dumb thumbed it on the 3rd pack. I should have at least taken pictures before I flew it... Oh well.

It went in tail first semi inverted while going backwards. Damage was main and tail blades, boom, main shaft, main shaft bearings, 1 x FBL control arm, 1 x tail grip, tail fin, tail control rod, 1 x struts. The canopy suffered some minor scratches but is reusable. I have ordered the parts from ProStarHobby and am just waiting for them to arrive. The FBL control arms are out of stock but I have a pair on hand... I also just found out about the notchy main shaft bearings but I can source those locally.

One thing I noticed for the very first time is that the FBL controller would not initialize after I rebooted it after the crash. I had to put the bind plugs in and rebind it to the Tx. That does not give me a comfortable feeling and I have to keep an eye on it for the re-maiden.

The good news is the main body and the electronics are all intact. Also one servo arm broke and combined with the FBL arm breaking meant the servos are still good as new.

[FlyBri3]

OUCH! Sorry to hear she went in, I feel your pain as your build was such a beautiful piece of art! I have no doubt you will have her air born in no time!

[acidla]

Oh no man, sorry for the crash! Hope you get it back in the air soon!

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by FlyBri3

OUCH! Sorry to hear she went in, I feel your pain as your build was such a beautiful piece of art! I have no doubt you will have her air born in no time!

Originally Posted by acidla

Oh no man, sorry for the crash! Hope you get it back in the air soon!

Thanks guys... The 550U took the crash like a champ as befits a beater heli. I am just waiting for the main shaft... The old one was only very slightly bent although the bearings took a beating. The new main shaft is currently in transit in Chicago. Hopefully I can get it in the next two to three days.

[quinn]

Dang that's rough!

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by quinn

Dang that's rough!

It was but considering it went in hard semi-inverted it could have been a lot worse. It took me a while to recover my senses though... I had the camera with me ready to take pics post flight (my kids were not around to take action pics) but couldn't bear to do so after the crash. The only post crash I took was blurry as I was still stunned

You can see the wires held the KBDD blades together...


Rebuilding has begun... To remove the notchy bearings from the housings the easiest way I find is to heat them up for about a minute using a heat gun then tap them out using the appropriate sized socket wrench head and a rubber hammer:


I'll be using a Chronos tail on the rebuild... This will give better protection for the tail blades. Tail is already done... I used a spare 7HVU tail set which I already had pre-assembled. The tail shaft survived with no damage but the tail hub had to be replaced as it got bent.


Frame and electronics were mostly unscathed... A testament to the toughness of the 550U frame. The FBL controller was fine... I figured why it wouldn't initialize after the crash... I had the Tx set to the Atom 550 model instead of the 550U. As I said it took a while to mentally recover from the crash


The servos are all fine... Still good as new. One FBL arm and one Compass horn broke which probably saved the servos from damage. The tail servo appears fine too as the ball link uncoupled from the servo arm after it got bent out of shape.

[Eric T]

Sorry to hear that. What a bummer to crash on maiden day. I wadded up my 6HVU today too. Doing a fast low inverted pass, went to do a inverted (outside) loop, gave the wrong elevator input, and I corrected with both elevator and wrong collective. It went in at a very shallow angle and the dumb thumbs input slowed it down a good bit. I hit TH about 1' up, and the damage was pretty light. The guys at the field were blown away at how minor the damage was. Mains, 1 servo arm and gears (aileron), landing gear struts, and it looks like the main shaft may have a very small bend but I have not pulled it apart to check it yet. Pretty sure spindle is good but I will have to check the mainshaft and grip bearings. The upper canopy break offs are mushy now but I think some CA will fix them. Canopy has a couple stress cracks but survived really well. These things are tanks! I could have swapped all the parts at the field (had everything else) if it were not for the servo gears.

Landing gear struts shattered like glass!

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by Eric T

Sorry to hear that. What a bummer to crash on maiden day. I wadded up my 6HVU today too. Doing a fast low inverted pass, went to do a inverted (outside) loop, gave the wrong elevator input, and I corrected with both elevator and wrong collective. It went in at a very shallow angle and the dumb thumbs input slowed it down a good bit. I hit TH about 1' up, and the damage was pretty light. The guys at the field were blown away at how minor the damage was. Mains, 1 servo arm and gears (aileron), landing gear struts, and it looks like the main shaft may have a very small bend but I have not pulled it apart to check it yet. Pretty sure spindle is good but I will have to check the mainshaft and grip bearings. The upper canopy break offs are mushy now but I think some CA will fix them. Canopy has a couple stress cracks but survived really well. These things are tanks! I could have swapped all the parts at the field (had everything else) if it were not for the servo gears.

Landing gear struts shattered like glass!

Sorry to hear about your crash too. It took me a few days to recover . My front landing strut broke but the rear was intact. Initially I thought the main shaft was fine too but I noticed a slight bend after rolling it in the granite table... I double checked it by putting it on a drill and sure enough you can see it wobbling a bit. If your shaft ends up bent, check your bearings... Mine are now notchy.

Looking at the bright side I was a bit surprised at how easy it is to repair the 550U. I was expecting it to be a bit more difficult because of the cramp space. I did not have to remove any servos though.

EDIT: Not sure when you got your 6HVU but it may still have the V1 struts... The V2 struts are thicker, heavier and more durable. I compared the V1 (on my Atom 5.5 which uses 6HVU struts) and the V2 and the V2 are beefier... Both the horizontal and vertical parts are thicker.

[Eric T]

They were the newer improved struts. It was about 50*F today when I crashed. I think the struts took most of the hit after the disk, which would explain why the damage was so light. There were two marks on the ground where it hit- the "initial bounce" where the disk hit, then the "secondary crater" which was about 15' away.

[RAM]

Bummer Cyclo - I feel your pain. It sounds like it could have been a lot worse so that hopefully cushions the blow. LMK if you're Jonesing for any backordered parts as I have a limited supply and would be happy to help out.

[Number]

Originally Posted by Eric T

Sorry to hear that. What a bummer to crash on maiden day. I wadded up my 6HVU today too. Doing a fast low inverted pass, went to do a inverted (outside) loop, gave the wrong elevator input, and I corrected with both elevator and wrong collective. It went in at a very shallow angle and the dumb thumbs input slowed it down a good bit. I hit TH about 1' up, and the damage was pretty light. The guys at the field were blown away at how minor the damage was. Mains, 1 servo arm and gears (aileron), landing gear struts, and it looks like the main shaft may have a very small bend but I have not pulled it apart to check it yet. Pretty sure spindle is good but I will have to check the mainshaft and grip bearings. The upper canopy break offs are mushy now but I think some CA will fix them. Canopy has a couple stress cracks but survived really well. These things are tanks! I could have swapped all the parts at the field (had everything else) if it were not for the servo gears.

Landing gear struts shattered like glass!

sorry about the crash

glad to know i'm not the only one who paints his struts black

[Eric T]

Originally Posted by Number

sorry about the crash

glad to know i'm not the only one who paints his struts black

Thanks man. I dyed them with black fabric dye. It is supposed to make them less brittle. I should stress that even though I posted that crazy pic of the struts, the damage is not unreasonable for that crash. They held up fine to several bouncy landings beforehand.

Did you get your crash parts yet Cyclo? I am tearing mine down tonight.

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by RAM

Bummer Cyclo - I feel your pain. It sounds like it could have been a lot worse so that hopefully cushions the blow. LMK if you're Jonesing for any backordered parts as I have a limited supply and would be happy to help out.

Thanks for the offer RAM. I have all the parts I need on hand or on order... Just waiting for the last pieces to arrive.

[cbest]

Sorry to hear you guys putting them in. My 6hvu is the largerst heli I've ever owned or flown, & I've only done so a few times. Just recently got her in the air. It flies great, it really does. Awesome. I've crashed my smaller helis literally a thousand times, but I just can't stopping thinking about how I would feel putting something this big (& beautiful) in. I guess if it were my beater I wouldn't mind so much, but it's not. Had it all charged up the other day ready to fly. Started thinking about crashing her, next thing I know I was putting my batteries on storage charge & putting her back on the shelf.....

[cyclo]

Originally Posted by cbest

Sorry to hear you guys putting them in. My 6hvu is the largerst heli I've ever owned or flown, & I've only done so a few times. Just recently got her in the air. It flies great, it really does. Awesome. I've crashed my smaller helis literally a thousand times, but I just can't stopping thinking about how I would feel putting something this big (& beautiful) in. I guess if it were my beater I wouldn't mind so much, but it's not. Had it all charged up the other day ready to fly. Started thinking about crashing her, next thing I know I was putting my batteries on storage charge & putting her back on the shelf.....

For me crashing, unfortunately, is part of flying helis. One thing nice about Compass helis is that they can take a beating. With the first crash out of the way I am now really excited to complete the rebuild and fly the 550U again.

All the required parts for my rebuild arrived today from ProStarHobby. Will be posting pics of the rebuild soon.