Gregor99
Elite Veteran
Location: Western Wa
| I’ve been thinking about this thread all night, contemplating its message, and whether or not to give detailed reply. As I gave some thought what type of response to give, I searched for some quick “Gyronut” one liner, but none came. So I’ll fall back to what I do best, just speak plainly and be honest. It won’t be funny, it won’t be short, and hopefully it won’t be offensive.
Esky owners rarely have local support. Most of us here are going it alone with only the forums to help us get through the steep part of the learning curve. If there is a hard problem, we have but ourselves and those in this forum. This has its limits. Tripple B and I are thinking along the same lines. We can’t always share, in meaningful ,ways what is wrong. We collectively try to help but it’s far from a perfect system. Frequently I’ve struggled and there is no good answer. Searching for a solution often leads to recommendations on replacement parts. Sometimes the part I select is because it was recommended by someone here, or because I simply want a higher quality version of the part that seems to be giving me grief. The exercise makes me a better mechanic but not a better pilot. I’m not confused about that.
I am a newby, I have lots of so-called bling on my helicopter. Yes, I have spent more time troubleshooting issues than flying. By all accounts I fit into the target audience of this thread. Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not. In my case, almost all of my bling was added to solve an issue that could not be addressed with setup. The only extravagance was the gyro which as it turns out is less expensive than many other gyros here. I’m a believer in the principle that the solution should have something to do with the problem. If there is no problem why seek a solution. This is how I have always felt about the pulley mod. I’d be happy to put it on if it were address an issue that is not addressed with setup, headspeed or larger tail blades. There’s a long and growing list of upgrades on my heli, each with a purpose. Here’s the list and justification.
LogicTech 2100t – My kit didn’t include gyro so I needed one. Everyone here recommended getting the best gyro you can afford as you can move it to another heli.
CF Main Blades – When my tracking issues started, there were a number of forum comments that CF blades track much better than the woodies. At least one forum user said that CF blades solved his tracking issues. I didn’t start here. A number of other items were checked and replaced. When I put the CF blades on, I spun them up and the tracking issue was still there. I immediately took them off, put them back in their box where they will stay until I’m ready.
Ti Turnbuckles - This was to address the tracking issues. They didn’t fix it. The reason I went route was to avoid getting the CNC head. The CNC head was the recommended solution to my tracking issues, but I wanted to try the less-bling option first.
CNC Tail Box – When troubleshooting my tail vibration I found one of bearings in the tail box had gone bad. While I could have remained stock, the CNC tail box includes new larger bearings and uses proper metal screws which makes it more serviceable. I was getting tired of fighting with that tiny screw on the very end.
CNC Tail Grips – The new tail box and bearings only partially solved the tail vibration and tail wag issues. The stock tail grips have some side to side movement that didn’t seem right to me. The CNC grips resolved the side to side slop and also helped to partially resolve the tail vibration.
CNC Swashplate and washout – This was added to help with the tracking issue, which it did. These two parts almost completely resolved the tracking issues. In addition they also reduced the tail vibrations even further. Though I have the rest of the metal head, I’m leaving it off for now and will continue to use the plastic blade grips and flybar assembly.
CF Frame or Stiffner - I don't have these yet but will be getting one of these when they come out. The stock frame is weak, and is prone to breaking behind the motor. This fixes that. The stock layout makes it hard to get a good CG with my batteries. This also fixes that. Its bling with a purpose.
I would have preferred to remain fully stock until much later. But in my case “stock” just didn’t cut it. It might have if I wasn't still in early stages of learning and crashing. My plastic head was only good for about 20 flights and one crash. Premature bearing failure, and mystery tail vibrations were one of the many reasons I was ready to abandon “stock” for good. I had considered replacing the head with another plastic one, but the first one didn’t hold up so well and I didn’t want to go through that again. I had milked the experience for all its educational value, and was ready to move on. Ready to get back to flying.
About the video, let me add another one for contrast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erPy57A4Owc
Just because a near stock helicopter CAN be flown well, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to fly it at that level. Yes it is the pilot, not the heli. But the performance is only possible because the pilot is already capable. Just as we wouldn’t recommend someone put their HBK2 away and go learn on the Blade, nor should we fault a beginner for wanting a more precise, more capable heli. Even if they cannot take advantage of the full capabilities today, things like a better gyro, better servos, upgraded radio, more precise head and tail make learning easier.
I do have a problem using upgrades to side step the educational value a proper troubleshooting job will provide. On that we can agree.
Just like anything other sport, there are posers with deep wallets. They either get frustated and exit the sport/hobby, or eventually come to grips with reality and do the hard work. Either way, its a self correcting problem. |
Sometimes we heli pilots can be TOO anal about things. For example my buddy Mark(the one who dubbed me chucklehead
