Moat-Gator overhaul!!

[elkmaster01]

While in Montana,,I crashed my T-Rex 600 ESP,,it was the only mishap during the 6 week trip,,the 500 is flying great.

The wreck was way beyond STUPID,,,,,,at the end of the flight, which I did some awesome inverted drag-racing,,,I switched from idle-up to normal,,,established a hover at about 20 feet,,,then I 'took my eyes off the heli' to reposition myself for landing. I was standing too close to my landing pad. I was wearing flip-flops and actually tripped myself up,,,just stumbled a bit. I heard the heli 'digging' and when I looked up it was inverted and heading down quickly. I dropped the throttle but I never changed my pitch curve from my float-flying,,,I had no negative pitch at all. So,,,,it smacked really hard on it's head.

Lesson one; NEVER take your eyes off your heli!!
Lesson two; change the pitch curve for normal so I have some negative pitch to minimize such a mistake.

I had all the parts I needed to fix it but when I pulled the main shaft it was scorched at both main bearing points. The main bearings were frozen. Gee,,,maybe thats why I noticed a loss of power the last two flights, I thought maybe the motor was getting weak. I never heard them squeal,,,I thought they would of.

So,,,now I'm going to overhaul him. I ordered 3-DS610 servos and one DS 650 servo for the tail. I'm following Ernies advise and I'm putting a Align 750 gyro on it. I thought about going with a scorp motor but I'll wait on it,,,see how long this Align motor runs. I must have close to 200 flights on this one.

I love the Align servos on my 500 so I'll try them on the 600. The new 650 tail servo is whicked fast and the Align gyro has great reviews,,,I can compare it with the 401 on my 500.

So,,,I just ordered everything,,,hope the weather gets good for a test flight next weekend!!

Randy

[akent]

Hi Elk! Welcome back! It's good to see you!

I actually never fly in normal mode any more. I have normal and idle 1 with the same headspeed, and then idle 2 fast. I use normal just to spool up.
====
That's interesting about the bearings going bad like that. I had a set from my 450 get notchy, but I had assumed that was from all the crashes. I never had any lock up, though!

I actually now put a drop of Scorpion motor oil in the main and tail bearings when I oil the motor about every 15-20 flights. I haven't had any bearing trouble since doing this.

You will like the GP750! I bought a GP750/DS620 set for my ES-600. It is a very nice combination. I don't know about the DS650. I assume that's just a newer better servo.

I actually crashed the ES-600 hard where the tail was ripped all up. The tail control link was mangled with broken links, too. The servo survived and was perfect!!

Kent

[McKrackin]

My Scorp motor fell apart in a crash.
Never saw that before.
Rarely crash so......

It hit belly first and the barrell blew past the key and stopped dead.

Actually,there is no key.
No slot.
Friction holds a Scorp motor together.

I just bought a stock Align motor for my 500.

Hmmmm,,,,,how the tides can change.lol...

[McKrackin]

Oh,by the way....got my first 250 today.
Talk about a challenge.lol.....

[akent]

Oct 22, 2009 20:23:56 GMT -6 McKrackin said:

Oh,by the way....got my first 250 today.
Talk about a challenge.lol.....

Which 250 did you get?!?!?

And that's too bad, because I still have the 500L motor that I got from YOU!! I think I'll keep it though, just in case.
Kent

[elkmaster01]

Kent,

I was oiling the main bearings too,,,about every 10 flights. I'm re-thinking that now. If you remember back when I first started flying I was having heat issues on the Align 600L motor. It was landing at 200 to 220 degrees. Then Ernie mentioned that Align advertises their motor as 'maintenance free',,so I stopped oiling it and it stopped over-heating. Ever since,,,it lands at around 160 degrees.

I'm wondering if the sealed bearings that Align uses are getting gunked up by using oil on them. I know that the oil has a tendancy to collect dust and dirt. Maybe these bearings are better left alone.

Anyone know fur sure whats best for these?

I use a silicone spray on everything else,,the head,,tail,,TT gears,,,,,,it doesn't leave a residue and collect dust like oil.

I'm getting pissed up here,,,it's been a high of 35 degrees and raining ever since I got home,,,,,I can't fly!!

Randy

[19000rpm]

I've never oiled any heli motor. Oil gunks them up because it attracts dirt. If I were to use anything it would be a bearing lube.

I've been using and recommending silicon spray for a long time as a lubricant because, as Elk says, it doesn't attract dirt.

Happy landings

[elkmaster01]

Arrrrgg! Got my parts yesterday and started the rebuild. I changed out all the servos. Built a new tail assembly,,,boom,,torque-tube,,gears,,,the tail blade assembly was good. Then started on the head. I started from the bottom,,,,swash,,washout control arms,,,then put the head housing on,,,the head housing is bent, ,,,DANG IT. There is no visable damage to the head housing but it sure is bent,,,,wobbles like a dog when I spin the main shaft. There is no way to fix it. I thought if I put it on an old mainshaft and put it in a vise I could tweek it. No way!! This thing landed on it's head VERY hard!
Sooooo,,,,ordered another head housing,,,$35.00,,,,geeez,,,,waiting on parts again.

[elkmaster01]

Finally,,,,all done. The Align 750 gyro was a snap to install and rig,,,just had to set travel limits and reverse the servo. So were the Align servos. I rigged the head and I'm getting +/- 12 degrees,,,perfect. I spooled it up in my garage without main blades and then again with blades. The tail seems perfect and the head balance is perfect too.

Tomorrow the weather is dry and calm but only a high of 40 degrees. So,,,I'll get airbourne tomorrow. I'm taking my 500, A-7, F-16, and F-4E also. Along with 16 lipo batteries,,,LOL!

GO FLY!!!! ;D

[19000rpm]

What about the Full Back?

Weather finally looks good here tomorrow too after so many days of wind and rain I don't even want to think about it.

I'll take most of my airforce: G2, 450 Black Hawk, Funtana 300, SU26 Sukhoi, F4U Corsair, P51 and F117. ;D ;D ;D

Happy landings

[elkmaster01]

The Fullback? I'm been ignoring that,,LOL. Last flight it spit a fan out. Nothing broke but this plane has no access to the motors,,,,you have to cut away the naccelle and then epoxy it back on. I've got 3 flights on it,,,and when it is all working,,it is a remarkable jet. It is fast and QUICK! It will do a back flip.

But it is a nightmare to keep in the air. The retracts are weak,,,I snapped off two nose struts trying to take-off from my airstrip,,,which is very smooth and the grass at about 1/4". This jet needs a surfaced runway. You have to power up in ESC programming everytime or it won't remember your throttle limits. The battery bay is on the belly,,,with two tails,,it takes two people to load the battery.

It reminds me of an actuall AF F-4E,,,,,a pig on the ground and an eagle in the air!

[akent]

Awesome stuff, Elk and 19k!!

I too hope to bring my whole fleet to the field tomorrow!
I rebuilt the 450 last night and finished her up this morning.
I had already bought a new cowling, spinner and prop for the P-51, and it just so happens that those are the parts that broke! A bit of epoxy to some of the foam and it's as good as new! These things really are pretty durable.

So, my whole fleet is operational again!

Here's a toast to an awesome crash free flying day tomorrow for us all!
Kent

(Ugh, and I have to fly to Norway again on Monday for a month. Kent says, wiping tears away. Why can't they need me in the summer! I am bringing my MSR, though!)

[19000rpm]

Elk, it's just a crying shame the Fullback is such a problem on the ground. Just looking at those retracts I can see the potential for problems on anything other than a smooth surface. Would it make sense to make it a belly lander? Is it too big and heavy for a hand launch?

I'm sitting here this Sunday AM watching the last F1 race of the season on a brand new track in Abu Dhabi. Awesome. All our oil money went for at least one good thing over there. As soon as it's over it's out to the field.

Hope everybody has a great day flying. ;D

Happy landings

[elkmaster01]

19K,,,,,actually,,,the Fullback belly-lands very well. With the vectored nozzles engaged you can really stall it out less than a foot off the ground. Hand-launching is tough,,,I just learned to self- hand launch my A-7 so when I get the Fullback ready,,I'll give it a go. I had my cousin throw it for me once,,,what a girl,,,,,he spun it on it's side,,,LOL.

Kent, let's all post here and compare notes after todays flying,,,sounds like a bunch of battery draining is going to happen today!!

GO FLY!!

[elkmaster01]

OK,,,I just got back from flying today. Here's the scorecard;

T-Rex 600 ESP - 5 flights
T-Rex 500 ESP - 4 flights
F-4E - 4 flights
A-7 - 4 flights
F-16 - 3 flights

Total -- 20 flights and NO MISHAPS! WoooHoooo!!

The rebuild on the 600 ESP was perfect,,,,OMG,,I didn't have to touch a thing. It took off,,,blade tracking was perfect,,,tail was solid,,,power was good,,,,hovered hands-free,,,,PERFECT!

I REALLY like the Align 750 gyro with the new Align 650 tail servo. I started with the recommended 30/75% gyro gain settings and it was perfect. This tail set-up is even better than the Futuba gyro/servo I have on the 500.

The weather was cold,,,33 degrees but no wind,,,I had to fly wearing light gloves for the first time,,,no problem! My jets flew better,,,I could tell I was getting more power in this cold dense air,,,I like it!

It started to sprinkle so I packed up,,,but it looks clear now,,,I'll charge a few batteries and maybe get a few more flights in before dark!!


GREAT DAY!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

GO FLY!!

Randy ;D