RunRyder - Close Call (tail grip failure)

RR Rated M For Mature

HOME rrTV-PHOTO GALLERIES MY GALLERY HELP-FAQ

myHOME PM pmRR MEMBERS 498 ONLINE 50 EVENTS SEARCH REGISTER START HERE

2 pages [ << < ( 1 ) 2 NEXT >> ]

2287 views

POST REPLY

Modefo's RC Helicopters	.	XHELI.COM	.	Autography FlightPower
	.		.

e-Ark X-400 - MX400 > Close Call (tail grip failure)

Squirrlybird
Veteran
Location: Suffolk, Va US

Just finished a flight in my front yard. Post flight inspection revealed that one of my tail blade grips was on the brink of complete failure. I am really suprised that it was still flying. The blade looked cocked to one side, so I looked a little closer. What happend was, the part of the grip that holds the blade cracked almost all the way through. Only one half of the grip was holding the blade.

I am running 2600rpm and will not fly again until I get metal tail blade grips. Other than this, the heli is flying great. Assuming a 5:1 ratio, my tail blades were zinging at 13000rpm. Should have had metal grips to begin with.

02-24-2006 Over year old.

smartguy
Veteran
Location: los angeles, CA

I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. MY FIRST FLIGHT THE TAIL BLEW OFF AND IT WAS THE GRIPS THAT FAILED. NEVER HAD THIS MANY PROBLEMS WITH THE T-REX..LOL .AFTER PUTTING THE TAIL BACK TOGETHER WITH T-REX PARTS THE HEAD BLEW OFF, IM ABOUT TO DUMP THIS X400, IT COST MORE TO REPAIR, JUST SHOULD OF GOTTAN MY 5TH T-REX .

02-25-2006 Over year old.

Squirrlybird
Veteran
Location: Suffolk, Va US

Just a little friendly advice, it is easier to read if it is not all caps

.

The heli is great if it is fully upgraded. I would have gotten a Trex if I had to do it all over again. I probably could have had an se with what I put into this thing. I only went with this heli because I wanted the aluminum frame over the plastic. I am very happy with it now. I blame the tail grips on myself because I was running a higher than recommended head speed and also had a previous crash on this set.

02-25-2006 Over year old.

mikefirstimer
Heliman
Location: port st lucie, florida

I too had a problem with my MX400 tail. Only the problem I had was the tail blade actually came apart. I had just finished the build. I was running it up in the living room when WHACKA!!!. The tail rotor blad came apart at the base. It hit the celing. It broke right where the blade screws to the grip. Yes the blade actually came apart. It's satarday night, so good luck finding a place that will sell me a tail blade set for the thing. I have had nothing but problems so far with this little bird. First I had a servo stip on the bench, before flight testing. Then I had one of the ball links brake for the elevator control. Now the tail blade came apart?!AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

Well I guess I'll browse the web for a while to see if any of the LHS's might have a set of tail blades that will work. So far however, it seems as if this heli will be a very stable platform for a good first real heli (as opposed to the Blade CP i learned on).

02-26-2006 Over year old.

Squirrlybird
Veteran
Location: Suffolk, Va US

I have heard of the tail blades failing before. When I bought mine, someone advised me, here on RR, to boil the tail blades. I did and have never had an issue with the blades them selves. I am still running my original blades 6 crashes and 3 sets of tail grips later. Boil all of your white plastic parts for 10 to 20 minutes. Be careful not to let them warp on the side of the pot. Should be ok if they sit on the bottom of the pot.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

Squirrlybird
Veteran
Location: Suffolk, Va US

Just got my new aluminum tail grips and all is good.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

mikefirstimer
Heliman
Location: port st lucie, florida

Boil them? what is that supposed to do to the plastic? If i get another set of plastic blades I'll have to try that. But if I can find carbon fiber ones, who needs plastic ones. I need these blade today so I can finish trimming the bird out.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

jh4db536
Senior Heliman
Location: Monterey Park, California

i threw a tail blade too yesterday. except i am using a complete trex XL tail. i had just upped the headspeed for that flight.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

Squirrlybird
Veteran
Location: Suffolk, Va US

Boiling the tail blades makes them more pliable and less brittle. There is no performance difference that I can see and they are less likely to break.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

mikefirstimer
Heliman
Location: port st lucie, florida

I finally got a set of replacement tail blades. I installed them only to find that the tailshaft is now bent due to the extream out of balance issue from the blade comming off. I should have stuck with the T-rex!!!!!

Nothing but problems with this piece of crap soo far. I have spent countless hours of repairs, and way to much money to have these kind of problems. This thing is JUNK.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

Squirrlybird
Veteran
Location: Suffolk, Va US

The best advice that I can give you is to sell your x400 and get a Trex. If you are that upset with this heli then dont keep getting more and more upset with it. I am having a great time with mine, but every heli is different. The Trex has its own problems that you will have to work out as well. Discouragement is not what this hobby is about, so dont let this heli do that to you. Good luck.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

Squirrlybird
Veteran
Location: Suffolk, Va US

Forgot to mention, check the stickies at the top of the trex forum. There is one about the swash that applies to the x400 as well, and also look at the one about the tail rotor failures. Very important info is there.

02-26-2006 Over year old.

mikefirstimer
Heliman
Location: port st lucie, florida

thanks for the words of encouragement. this is my first heli that hasent been an rtf, and after countless setbacks, i have to admit i had become discouraged. but now that i have taken the time to work the bugs out, it is starting to become a realy nice little bird. I havent got all of it's issues solved, but i am getting close to haveing the thing they way i had expected it to be. sometimes a little "stop your whining" is needed

i posted some pics of it in my gallery if u wanna have a look.

she's a proud lookin little thing

03-14-2006 Over year old.

jh4db536
Senior Heliman
Location: Monterey Park, California

im not sure that's a safe place for a gyro. probably the 2nd most dangerous area next to top of the tail boom mount.

if you want to know about discouragement, i never got my 1st & 2nd heli to fly. i totalled my 2nd heli many times and the 1st just collects dust (never been spooled up). my x400 is my 3rd heli and 1st that i was successful with and able to maintain.

03-14-2006 Over year old.

Dennisu
Veteran
Location: Langley, B.C. Canada

mikefirstimer

I notice that you have your tail rotor running backwards with the blades going down in the wash of the main rotor and not up as normal. Do you notice any loss of tail authority because of that or not?

03-14-2006 Over year old.

mikefirstimer
Heliman
Location: port st lucie, florida

woops, i see what you mean. i reviewed the manual suplment and see that i am running it backwards.

the tail authority is still good though

thanks for pointing that out. its probably a newbie mistake

03-15-2006 Over year old.

Dennisu
Veteran
Location: Langley, B.C. Canada

For what it's worth I put a Trex metal tail blade holder and also a Trex metal pitch slider on my MX-400 while waiting for the ARK metal version to arrive. All I had to do to adapt it was to ream out one of our control balls to fit over the actuator pin on the Trex slider. (Trex uses a pin and yoke to operate the slider) Works like a charm as it has pivoting links to the balls on the tail grips, just like the ARK version, something that is not done on the original parts or even the metal ones from Heli-max. (Strange as the MX is really an ARK)

03-15-2006 Over year old.

mikefirstimer
Heliman
Location: port st lucie, florida

???pictures???

03-16-2006 Over year old.

jh4db536
Senior Heliman
Location: Monterey Park, California

screw it, i just put the whole SE tail on and never looked back. havent had a problem to this day. survives crashes with only broken tail blades.

03-16-2006 Over year old.

Hoverdown3K
Key Veteran
Location: Rochester, New York

My Buddy made the MX400 mistake too. In the end he converted most of the helicopter to align T-Rex, and is much better now.

I think the stock MX400 heard is a joke and the lack of tracking adjustments makes it even worse.

I also do not like th alum frame and what a PIA to replace if you crash. not a good choice for a newbie like my buddy.

-= I know there is Money in RC helicopters. I put it there=-

03-16-2006 Over year old.

HOMEPAGE

2 pages [ << < ( 1 ) 2 NEXT >> ]

2287 views

POST REPLY

Advantage Hobby	.	Revolution Models	.	CarbonXtreme
	.		.

e-Ark X-400 - MX400 > Close Call (tail grip failure)

PRINT TOPIC

Advertisers

Subscribe to This Topic