The Cat's EXI 450SE

[kiwi1080]

Hey BT, that EXI is gonna look like the helicopter they used on Team America with that canopy. Just need to mount some missile pods on it and she will really be a lethal threat!!

Seriously though, looking great and can't wait to see this thing flying. My flying is intermittent at the moment with wind and rain passing through here a lot. Supposed to be 73 tomorrow and then 85 Saturday and nice, can't wait. You have got me wanting to start another build on an EXI now but I have to wait until I get a job so I don't annoy the wife too much... ;D

[prlsr]

Thanks guys for the welcome.

I will start a thread about it. I'll do that now, matter of fact. Look for it in the beginners forum. That is unless it belongs somewhere else? I need to peruse the categories to see.

Can't wait for comments. I just landed HARD!

[BTCat]

Got my Servos! In fact, I got both sets. One set took the better part of three weeks, the other set took three days. Now I am set to make this thing fly. Been spending a lot of time watching setup videos and getting everything in shape. I want to start my setup "noob tame" I haven't decided quite yet what that will be. I need to search some old posts and get some more info. Not ready for any 3D setup yet.

If you don't see me posting much this weekend, it is because things are going well. Otherwise I will be on here crying about something ;D

[Solitaire]

Well, one good thing about the servo snafu...you now have spares.

Finless has fairly good vids on setup and if you dig through the forums, Kent has put up some numbers that should be workable.

I feel a video coming on. ;D

[BTCat]

Apr 24, 2009 22:14:25 GMT -6 Solitaire said:

Well, one good thing about the servo snafu...you now have spares.

Finless has fairly good vids on setup and if you dig through the forums, Kent has put up some numbers that should be workable.

I feel a video coming on. ;D

I've been watching a lot of Finless. I found some of Kent's setup stuff. I believe 19K has a post on suggested Noob settings also.

Video? Probably. Can't decide on the genre, though ... history, action adventure, comedy or tragedy. I have ruled out romance and I want to avoid horror. ;D

[kiwi1080]

BT, if you check out the numbers on my T-rex 450SE build too I have some good set-ups for noob flying. They were given to me by a really experienced guy that owns a shop nearby. The settings make the headspeed slower and the heli more docile to start you off so you can get used to the power and extra speed over a FP. I put them in the third or fourth post on that build if I remember right. Hope it helps.

[BTCat]

IT'S ALIVE!

Not a good flying day at all. Winds steady at about 25 mph with gusts topping 40, but I had to give it a try. I set it up pretty mild with max pitch @ ~8* @ 100% Throttle and -1* @ 0%. I tried a few hovers in the garage and then ventured out in the wind. I never got it above 5 feet, but it was pretty dam stable for that much wind. My battery is a POS so I didn’t get much time. Couldn’t handle it that long anyway.

Kiwi, I'll give your post a look in a minute and try your settings out. Mine seem too docile

I thought I would be a little scared of this thing, but it handles pretty well with what little I got to do. I was more afraid of letting the wind get it than anything. What a difference from the bee! I would still be looking for the bee if I had tried to fly today.

I got a little on video before the battery ran out. I have a tail wag in this thing and I need to work on the gyro settings. You will be able to see it in the video if I get it uploaded. Right now, my brain is on info overload. I think I will be hearing Finless Bob in my sleep ;D

[BTCat]

Okay, here is a very short video. Tell me what I need to adjust to get rid of that tail wag.

[ranben]

Hey BT,

Congratulations on the EXI hover.

Just wanted to say, I HAVE SEEN THAT TAIL WAG myself. My EXI was doing exactly the same thing. I tried everything I could think of trying to get it to stop. I did finally get it to slow down by decreasing the gain on the TX (Gyro HH mode) but never could get it completley out. In the process of trying different adjustments I backed in for a landing due to a spin and broke the plastic tail assembly. I replaced it with the EXI metal one and its as smooth as can be. No wag at all.

[BTCat]

Apr 25, 2009 15:26:16 GMT -6 ranben said:

Hey BT,

Congratulations on the EXI hover.

Just wanted to say, I HAVE SEEN THAT TAIL WAG myself. My EXI was doing exactly the same thing. I tried everything I could think of trying to get it to stop. I did finally get it to slow down by decreasing the gain on the TX (Gyro HH mode) but never could get it completley out. In the process of trying different adjustments I backed in for a landing due to a spin and broke the plastic tail assembly. I replaced it with the EXI metal one and its as smooth as can be. No wag at all.

Thanks Ran,

Not my best work, but seems I never get any good stuff on video. I have one of the Deal Extreme CNC tails on order. It might help. When I was playing with this on bench, it seemed to draw the motor down too much when I used the rudder. I need to get some silicone spray and also play with the gain.

[akent]

Congrats BT!!!
There's nothing like feeling the power of a 450 for the first time!!!! Now you know what I meant when I said these things can remove limbs!!

Your CNC tail should fix a great many things! The plastic parts in these just give too much. They create harmonics with everything. The instant I installed that CNC tail on my SE, it was a WHOLE OTHER HELI!!!

Hey, though, if you figure out how to make that plastic tail work, I have a half dozen plastic tails and parts that I can send to you! Most are the housings, most with plastic gears (Squadron crap), but I do have three from the SE. IMO, plastic has no place in the azz end of a 450!!!

One thing you can play with now is to slow down the motor. I had limited luck with that, even going down to 50% on the thottle curve, and going way up on the pitch curve. It just doesn't work well with plastic back there!
But, your mileage may vary.

I'm excited for you!!

Best,
Kent

PS: As your southern neighbor near Austin, we have the same dam winds!!! They are probably 40mph gusts now. I don't have the guts to fly in this mess.

[BTCat]

I dialed down the gain on the HH on the gyro and increased pitch and throttle at mid stick and above and the wag seemed better. It is controllable. After the HBFP, it is second nature to try to control the tail anyway. I think I can get most of it out with some time.

I got a much better video of a garage hover. When my wife relinquishes the desktop, I'll look at it and compare with the original.

Dam, that thing is intimidating in a garage!

[ranben]

LOL.........As far as Im concerned its pretty dam intimidating all together. Wait till a gust of wind starts sliding it towards you at about head height. Its real intimidating then.................A lot more controllable than the HB though.

[Solitaire]

Attaboy Bill.

Nice to see all the hard work (and long wait) actually taking flight. That ain't your dad's HB ;D
(if you remember those Oldsmobile ads)

[BTCat]

Apr 25, 2009 21:39:59 GMT -6 Solitaire said:

Attaboy Bill.

Nice to see all the hard work (and long wait) actually taking flight. That ain't your dad's HB ;D
(if you remember those Oldsmobile ads)

Well, I spun the tail, but I was ready for it, thanks to Kent' experiences. That thing can not be made tight enough to hold for long. I didn't mess around with it. I drilled a small hole in the side of the tail assembly and into the Boom. I put a screw, about 1/8 in. long. That thing won't go anywhere now.

I silicone sprayed my belt and gears, turned my gyro gain to about 25% and turned up the responce delay on the gyro about a tenth of a turn. The tail wag is vurtually gone.

BTW, do you know how much noise a label makes coming off the side of a motor about about 75% throttle ;D. Sounds like a piece of plywood going through a saw. Scared the sh/t out of me ;D ;D