Exi 500 CF build (Overdue!)

[McKrackin]

I don't see a problem.

Personally,my pitch is the same in norm,st1 and st2.
No surprises.
Another sure fire way is to take off in idle up.
Just click on the throttle hold,click it to idle up,move the throttle stick to 50% and turn off the throttle hold.

Make sure the ESC is in soft start for this method.

[Gabe]

Good call Ern. I gotta order a program card for the Hobbywing ESC to get her into soft start - unless someone knows how to do that without one.

[akent]

Oops.
Edited out, as I reread your original post and you had the idle up throttle set up.

That's weird that it would lose rpm like that. That makes no sense, as your normal percentages at the higher stick ranges should have been lower than the idle up.
Plus, your pitch should have been the same in the higher ranges.

That makes no sense.
Humm.
Kent

[akent]

If you got a Hobbywing Platinum like I run, then it comes with the card that tells you how to listen to the beeps to program it using the transmitter. That works well enough.

If you didn't get the program instruction card, let me know and I'll scan one of mine.
Kent

[akent]

The reason I don't run full negative in normal mode is that I don't want the heli smashing into the earth in that mode when I chop the throttle. I use that mode only for setting up the heli. The low end setting there is only -2 degrees or so at zero throttle. NOT full negative.

I use idle up modes for normal flying, too, though.
Kent

[Gabe]

Ok, I got her in idle up!!! Wow! No 3D yet, just really a hover test due to my small yard area.

The ailerons feel a little mushy -less responsive than my 450, and she piro's pretty slow. Any ideas for fine tuning?

[McKrackin]

What are your expos set at for aleron?
Knock 25% off no matter what they are.
If they are 25%,go 0%.
If they are 0%,go -25%.

Increase the piro rate in your gyro.

[akent]

With the Sparton, you set your piro rate from the transmitter end points! You can mess around with other parts of a piro with a PC, but I haven't found a need to change anything there from default. I think those other settings are for the pros who want things 'just so'.

Go to the end points menu and bump up the rudder to max. I think the DX6i goes up to 125%. The DX7 goes up to 150%. I run both of my helis with Sparton's at 125%. That gives you probably about 2 rpm of piro! That's pretty fast!

Yeah, if you are running the expo like I have it, you might not like it that mushy. I like it that way for super smooth flight. The extents are still there for 3d.
You might want to drop those back to zero on the expos, or otherwise like Mckrackin says.
Kent

[Gabe]

Oct 3, 2009 12:09:30 GMT -6 McKrackin said:

What are your expos set at for aleron?
Knock 25% off no matter what they are.
If they are 25%,go 0%.
If they are 0%,go -25%.

Increase the piro rate in your gyro.

They were all set to inh, I dropped them all the way to -25%. She is still a little slow going over in the loop. Got full negative pitch at -11, so I'm not sure why she was slow. Can I drop them a little more?

[akent]

I am running +/-13 degrees of pitch on mine with +/- 9 cyclic. I think these 500's need a LOT more pitch than a lot of other helis do for some reason.

Also remember that all things being equal, this thing is relatively huge compared to your 450, so everything 'should' be somewhat slower and more precise.

Maybe I'm a weirdo flier, but my favorite thing is to sometimes take off really slow and precise. Then do a circle in front of you very slow. Then do a piro really slow.
Then hit full rudder into a super fast piro with full pitch up to maybe 100 feet!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then fly around.
I have done that with a few friends who have never seen a heli fly before. They jump behind me usually when I hit it, and even by myself, it makes me smile at the smoothness and POWER!
Kent

[Gabe]

Ha ha! Awesome story!

I got 9 on aierons.

9 when I pull back on the elevator and 6 when I push forward.

Maybe I just need to adjust to this bird.

[McKrackin]

How did you check cyclic?

For aleron...Turn on throttle hold.Power up the heli.Apply enough throttle to get zero pitch.Turn the blades 90 degrees to the heli and boom.Apply full right aleron and check the pitch on the left side.Apply full left aleron and check pitch on the right side.

For elevator...Turn the blades inline with the heli and boom.Full forward stick,check pitch on the rear blade.Full back,check the front blade.

[Gabe]

Whoops. I will recheck the elevators. I didn't check them that way. Thanks!

Oh BTW, I dropped the exp another 25%. I'm at -50% on the elev and ailerons and -25% on the rudder. Eye blurring piro's now! Also way more responsive on the cyclic movements

This bird really turns heads at the local park.

[akent]

Very cool stuff, Gabe!!
You must really like a touchy heli! Of course, with reflexes like yours must be, it makes sense!

Do you have any vids or pics?

[Gabe]

None yet, but I will get some!

Los a screw onthe rudder servo mount yesterday and I guess the tail rotor must have caught the ground cause I stripped the belt drive gear again. She is on the shelf until I get back from Philly on Wednesday. Still haven't checked the elevator pitch yet either. Oh well, guess I should focus on my job for a few days