CopterX 450 AE V2
Other RC projects
Story
After alot of problems with powerfailures on the Belt-CP, I decided to get a new helicopter. So I bought a CopterX 450 AE V2.
(I think i might have clicked wrong on the order, because I was planning on buying the 450 SE V2 (carbon fibre instead of aluminium) The aluminum frame is looking very nice, but it is very soft.
Stripped receiver, servos (HS65MG) and gyro(Esky 0704B) from the BeltCP and used those on the CopterX
Exchanged the rudder servo with a HS5065MG.
Status
12.07.2010 - 15.07.2010
Hovered a few packs, never felt confident doing nose in as either tight area or windy
26.06.2010
Hovered one full pack nose in, no bails, heavy wind
Did about half of second pack nose in, but wind got too powerful. Had 3 bails, 1 of them cause of Brain Fade
23.06.2010
2 packs hovering nose in.
1-2 bails each battery.
Had some glitching (sudden rotation for bout 60 degrees). Landed, checked all contacts and had no more problem after.
22.06.2010
Windy[[BR]]
1 pack hovering alternate side in, and some figure eights
1 pack hovering nose in. 2-3 bails.
31.05.2010
Spent 2 packs hovering alternate side in. Tried to use nose in while rotating rotate using nose in. Felt better than yesterday, but still need to work on this.
30.05.2010
Spent 2 packs hovering alternate side in. Added forward movement, as pr Radd. This went very well. Also tried to rotate using nose in. I definitely did not feel comfortable with this. Need to work on this.
XX.05.2010
Spent 2 packs hovering alternate side in. Feeling good. Ready to progress
10.05.2010
Spent 2 packs hovering alternate side in. Still not comfortable.
05.05.2010
Spent 1 pack trying to tweak gyro settings after I changed gyro mode from flightmode to gyro switch. Also changed EXP and EPA on rudder back due to my maintenance
- Set Ch 4 EXP back to 0
- Set Ch 4 EPA both sides back to 75
Ended up with these settings (HH SW-2 Up, Rate: SW-2 Down):
- GYRO: Inh (click left or right Cursor buttons to set "Inh" from 0%
- REV: Ch 5: N
- EPA: Ch 5, L/U: 30
- EPA: Ch 5, R/D: 70
- Reference: EPA: Ch 4, L/U: 75
- Reference: EPA: Ch 4, R/D: 75
Hovered one pack right side in, in accordance with Radd's school of Rotary flight.
Hovered one pack alternating side in, in accordance with Radd's school of Rotary flight. Had two bailouts on this. Need to repeat this more.
Observations:
- Tail seems somewhat slow, consider increasing EPA or reduce EXP to make it turn faster, also check it mechanically again
- Heli is not "configured" for rate mode, need MUCH trim to have a stable tail in Rate, consider setting the heli up again in rate.
27.04.2010
In accordance with Radd's school of Rotary flight (past hover), I hovered 2 packs right side in. I felt rudder was "slow" to the right, decreased expo by 5 to -5% for channel 4, increased EPA for rudder right stick by 5%. Helped a little but still slow, decided to do some maintenance on the heli.
- Changed from using Gyro setting to gyro switch, need to validate numbers
- Had massive binding on high collective, inspection reveals that the two "pins" going into the seesaw part are not parallel. Further inspection shows me that the head piece has its "flanges" bent outwards. Disassembled it and bent the flanges back. No binding on the swash now.
- Inspection of the link to the rudder, shows me there is binding, the rod "guide" is not in an optimal position, repositioned and much less binding.
Other Observations: When using the radio in the basement to tune and setup the heli, i have massive glitches, where it seems the connection between the Rx and Tx is dead. It resolves itself if i push on the module in the back of the Tx. I have never noticed this while flying (i think)...
23.04.2010
In accordance with Radd's school of Rotary flight (past hover), I hovered 2 packs left side in. Heli was very smooth, and it was generally much more enjoyable than i had though.
- http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html
- http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-past-hover.html
??.04.2010
Disassembled the head, had no bent shafts. Adjusted the top link to the blade-grips by half a turn, and tracking was spot on.
07.03.2010
Haven't updated the status for awhile. Had a stupid crash while nose-in at the end of the season 2009, repaired it somewhat back then.
Tried some small hovering in the garden to verify the heli today. It flies fairly fine, and it seems i have managed to keep the batteries ok over winter. However there is quite bad tracking, approx 1,5 cm at rotor tips, red is low. I assume feathering shaft. i don't think i replaced that after the last crash. Also the HrPolyX keep reinitializing itself, i need to recheck its wires, or maybe consider getting a new one.
01.09.2009
Tested some with onboard camera, struggle with vibrations though.
11.05.2009
Package arrived from Elefun.no, including new motor :)
Installed the new Align 430XL with a 12T pinion
Tested out the balancing tool by balancing a non matched pair of 315 PRO's
8.05.2009
Ordered some parts from Elefun:
VareID: 12531 H25070T 250 Ball Link Plier 1x 60kr VareID: 1588 HS1017T Tail Stabilizer Control Rod Assembly 1x 37kr VareID: 1590 HS1019 Tail Rotor Blade Set 2x 72kr VareID: 4502 HS1158T-00 325 Pro Rotor Blade, Black/white 2x 248kr VareID: 5901 HS1159T-01 315 PRO Rotor Blade/White 2x 198kr VareID: 7083 HS1217 High Carbon Steel Main Shaft 1x 99kr VareID: 3562 HZ030T 347mm Tail Boom(XL) 1x 75kr VareID: 8004 HZ048 Motor Pinion Gear 12T 1x 42kr VareID: 11043 HZ055 Motor Pinion Gear 14T 1x 44kr VareID: 5313 K10289TA Balancer 1x 44kr VareID: 7765 KX850165TA 430XL motor 3700KV 1x 440kr
03.05.2009
3 batts of FF flown. Acts nice, but rudder seems different than before. Seems like maybe its binding a little when leaving "center". Might be a damage to the tail assembly. Video's to follow
02.05.2009
Rebuilt the heli using tail blades from the Belt-CP and a new main gear.
Main shaft, feathering shaft and tail shaft all seems straight. Tail boom is a little bent, but not too bad.
Hovered her fine after repairs.
29.04.2009
Brought the videocam today, was gonna try film some loops. Instead i end up having a major crash :(
What happened? I was on the first batt, having done alittle FF and a few loops and a roll. Then I was gonna loop again, and I had so much speed out of the loop that i just kept on going for another loop right of the bat, but i guess i forgot to apply enough collective. I spot that i dont have enough lift/power to get around, so i break off in the middle of the loop. Probably not the smartest thing i've done. Highspeed crash in idle up...
But it seems the aluminum can really take a beating. Haven't completely accessed the damage, but to me it looks like the following is broken: Main blades, Tail blades, main gear, flybar.
The tail fins got a little bent, and also the frame is bent a little in places. Easy to bend back.
Most likely, the main shaft and feathering shaft is also bent, the tail shaft also might need replacement. I will look more into that tomorrow. Tail boom looks warped somehow without beeing bent, might be the main frame that is causing it.
I just hope that the electronics and lipo is not damaged.
I guess i'll use this as an opportunity to get myself a new motor...
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Videos:
| Crash Only | Full Flight |
28.04.2009
3 batts flown, quite windy so some hover, some FF and a little FFF with loops and rolls.
Tried new throttlecurves with 80% on mid stick (up form 70%). Drained batts too quick, put it to 75% and quite happy with it.
Will need a new(larger) pinion, and preferably a better motor soon.
24.04.2009
1 batt hover, 2 batts FF, First loops with this heli! Very pleased with it after I changed the ESC and tail servo. No glitches, no twitches. And I finally trust it!!
I find it much more stable now than before. Also the tail holds much better now (i can go alot higher on the gain without getting wag)
I did notice that it felt alittle "weak" when coming out of loops, might just be a little too low headspeed though.
23.04.2009
Continued painting, out of paint; not really happy with the result though. Hovered one batt in the yard. Heli seems more stable than before, not as twitchy. probably due to better tail servo, and the fact that tail servo ball is now one notch closer to the servo shaft than before. No tail wag, reduced delay on gyro to 0. No glitches.
One batt FF in the evening. VERY happy with the results, no glitches, more stable than before. Also it seems that it is hovering at a lower headspeed, but this might just be that the new esc makes less noise or something.
For the first time, I feel i can trust this heli.
22.04.2009
Completed rebuild, tested the heli on the bench, seems "quieter" hopefully not because the ESC is weaker. Started painting the Canopy to a more hight contrast color.
21.04.2009
Tired of glitches, started wiring the HobbyWing? ESC, Also the HS5065MG Digital servo arrived
04.04.2009
Repaired it. Noticed something while she was left sitting on the ground powered on, while i was "away", after about 1-2 mins, she started twitching, and then stuff suddenly reinitializes themselves... Never managed to see exactly what items, (to isolate). Turned her off and on again, and let her sit for another 10 minutes, but no such stuff happening now. checked all the connections.
FF in the afternoon: Finally decided to take her for a real flight, It acted perfectly! However, i took her up again just to show her off, and flew about 100m forward and started pulling up, then suddenly the tail lost authority and she started spinning, managed to control it for a little while, but then suddenly she rolled over and smashed into the ground. Seems like the damage wasn't too extensive.
I suspect either that the belt was loose, or that there is bad connections somewhere.
Hover in the afternoon: Very smooth hover, battery lasted quite awhile. If it stays like this, i can start flying it for real again.
Hover in the morning: Power/pitch curves scared me somewhat, changed pitch to 45,48,50,75,100 and throttle to 0,40,70,90,100 Ran out of power very fast, unknown reason, had 3-4 glitches with the tail when the heli started to spin (nose towards the left) for about 90 degrees before i catched it, then remaines stable for awhile again...
03.04.2009
Adjusted Pitch and Throttle curves according to finless
| Normal | Pitch | 40 | 45 | 50 | 75 | 100 |
| Normal | Throttle | 0 | 50 | 80 | 90 | 100 |
| IdleUp? | Pitch | 0 | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 |
| IdleUp? | Throttle | 100 | 90 | 80 | 90 | 100 |
Remains to be tested (Tested on the bench, scared the hell out of me, I'm afraid that this power will drive the heli into the ground when not on training gear)
Reversed Gyro channel, and Gyro values Added about 20% EXP on all 3 channels
Applied locktite on all machine bolts
02.04.2009
Another battery hovered today, still with training gear on. Felt a little more confident though. I adjusted the pitch curve in normal to 50,inh,54,inh,100 wich gave me some more rpm at hover, I still feel that the heli seems weak though. Might be because of the training gear. Experienced no problems with gyro or otherwise.
Need to do a full checkover of all bolts and nuts and take it for a real testflight soon.
01.04.2009
Back from vaccation, hovered for one full battery, used *BLACK* as *RED* have caused problems before. I was very happy with how the heli acted during the hover.
Observations:
- Need to apply a little right and forward mechanical trim
- Tail does not seem to stick properly, need to fool around with gyro settings
- Experienced that gyro lost lock during hover, scary. Might be because of low gain setting
- Seemed to have low power (too low headspeed) at hover, need to evauluate curves (currently throttle: 0,25,50,75,100, pitch: 50,inh,75,inh,100)
- Seemed to experience continuous powerloss, without HRpolyX reacting
19.03.2009
- Build Continued
- Fitted temporary tail servo
- Fitted ESC and BEC
- Made connections to motor
- Setup ESC according to manual
- Added Velcro to battery tray and batteries
- Fitted receiver
- Spun the motor/head up a few times after the ESC was properly set up. I can't wait to try it in the air
- Adding some tickets now so I don't forget all the stuff that needs doing.
18.03.2009
- Build Continued
- Fitted the 3 swashplate servos, needed to drill out the holes in the frame alittle. There was no "servo nuts" included, so i ended up using cut off servo horns as nuts. I also decided to follow Finless Bob's suggestions on mounting and fixing of HS 65MG servos
- Reset the radio subtrims to 0 on all channels, left EPA at 70% for rudder for now
- Had to change some REV and SWAH settings
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17.03.2009
- Build continued:
- Fitted Landing Gear
- Fitted tail boom with fins and tail assembly
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16.03.2009
- Received the helicopter, packaging looks nice, except that there is no manual, google revealed a CopterX manual on the CopterX webpage. Very lacking though.
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- Initial build started:
- Fitted bottom plate
- Stripped servos, gyro and receiver from Belt
- Fitted motor
- Fitted main gear
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