Thanks, it's coming along, slow but hopefully surely. I got tired of crashing so I take it easy and not go nuts on them any more. It's hard though.

Originally Posted by pitchp

Very nice efx

Originally Posted by eltreato

Excellent this is the kind of advice I'm after. While I was setting the pitch on my FBL head I noticed one of the pitch links came off a little too easily. I may try scavenging parts the FB head and find the best balls and links, but ultimately these would seem like a natural upgrade. I'd also consider building up the existing balls with a thin layer of CA as I've heard some people have done. The boom holder and boom on mine seem surprisingly sturdy, yours isn't the first complaint I've heard about these parts, but if I see any trouble I'll definitely look at upgrading. Thanks for your advice.

So I did my first hover test in my parkade. The heli lifted off and bounced up and down a bit, I got it calmed down but then I couldn't keep it reigned in and it hit a wall. Good thing I have the feathering shaft from the old FB'ed head, I'll cannibalize it to get this thing back in the air. Busted a skid, but was thinking of replacing with a spare 450 - at least until I get it dialled. I'm wondering if the lousy linkages had anything to do with it. A couple of them are ridiculously loose and one of them came was undone when I picked up the pieces, can't say for sure if it was the cause though. My next hover test will be on the center line of a nearby soccer field.

I just re-read your post and I had the same problem where the heli would suddenly go up for no reason. That's when I started having the tail belt gear problem. Check to make sure that the small gear that meshes with the main shaft gear is not lose. When mine move up on the shaft, I lose the tail altogether and when it would go back down the heli would just suddenly go straight up or just speed up no matter where or what I was doing. Just use epoxy to keep it in place and that should take care of that problem. My gears have been fine now. The other thing to check after the gear is the tail boom holder. Just make sure it does hold the boom in place. Some just look like they are tight, but they are not. I also had that problem until I took a closer look and fixed it by swapping half of the tail boom from my other 250. Now they both work the way they're supposed to. I keep reminding everyone because these two are the most annoying problems that took me a while to figure out. And the tail rotating. Just put a screw in the middle on that and snug it across the boom through the tail holder. Now both my stock 250s work just fine. Now I'm just working on dialing in all my heli tails to work on both rate and heading hold mode. That takes a while but I got one of my 450's working great now.

Originally Posted by eltreato

So I did my first hover test in my parkade. The heli lifted off and bounced up and down a bit, I got it calmed down but then I couldn't keep it reigned in and it hit a wall. Good thing I have the feathering shaft from the old FB'ed head, I'll cannibalize it to get this thing back in the air. Busted a skid, but was thinking of replacing with a spare 450 - at least until I get it dialled. I'm wondering if the lousy linkages had anything to do with it. A couple of them are ridiculously loose and one of them came was undone when I picked up the pieces, can't say for sure if it was the cause though. My next hover test will be on the center line of a nearby soccer field.

Originally Posted by efx

I just re-read your post and I had the same problem where the heli would suddenly go up for no reason. That's when I started having the tail belt gear problem. Check to make sure that the small gear that meshes with the main shaft gear is not lose. When mine move up on the shaft, I lose the tail altogether and when it would go back down the heli would just suddenly go straight up or just speed up no matter where or what I was doing. Just use epoxy to keep it in place and that should take care of that problem. My gears have been fine now. The other thing to check after the gear is the tail boom holder. Just make sure it does hold the boom in place. Some just look like they are tight, but they are not. I also had that problem until I took a closer look and fixed it by swapping half of the tail boom from my other 250. Now they both work the way they're supposed to. I keep reminding everyone because these two are the most annoying problems that took me a while to figure out. And the tail rotating. Just put a screw in the middle on that and snug it across the boom through the tail holder. Now both my stock 250s work just fine. Now I'm just working on dialing in all my heli tails to work on both rate and heading hold mode. That takes a while but I got one of my 450's working great now.

Thanks for the input, the tail belt gear problem is one I haven't read about yet. So I've ordered a carbon Align tail tube and an Align tail boom block in hopes they keep the tail tight. I've also ordered some new align ball link things for the ends of my links, I'm hoping they'll work with the existing stock balls better than some of the super loose links that came with my HK FBL head. I dug up a pair of 450 skids that should be a bit more crash resistant than the stockers, I think they'll work well until I get this thing dialed in. Eventually I'll put on some carbon blades after a few steady flights. Between these mods and the kevlar tail belt, I feel like I'm on the right track, and remain open to other recommendations.

All the best!

welp after testing my hk250gt with the tarot zyx i was getting too much vibes. I think my monster rx is the problem. Anyways I've decided to use my spartan quark, i'll let you guys know how it goes! only if i could get my hk250 to fly like this guy, I'd be happy!

HK250 with Align parts (6 min 20 sec)

Originally Posted by eltreato

Thanks for the input, the tail belt gear problem is one I haven't read about yet. So I've ordered a carbon Align tail tube and an Align tail boom block in hopes they keep the tail tight. I've also ordered some new align ball link things for the ends of my links, I'm hoping they'll work with the existing stock balls better than some of the super loose links that came with my HK FBL head. I dug up a pair of 450 skids that should be a bit more crash resistant than the stockers, I think they'll work well until I get this thing dialed in. Eventually I'll put on some carbon blades after a few steady flights. Between these mods and the kevlar tail belt, I feel like I'm on the right track, and remain open to other recommendations.

All the best!

First, the align tail boom mount is better than the HK one, but you need to sand off about .005" from the blocks and the nuts to reduce the size of the opening. It is a little too large to keep the boom tight. Test fit it before you install so you don't make it too small and crush the boom.
The align balls don't work with HK balls. The HK balls are about .003" bigger than the align balls which will cause the align ball links to be too tight. Resizing won't loosen up enough. You need to order the align ball kit.
The other biggest issue I had and a friend of mine also had was the swash plate bearing was loose causing a major lack of control. We both replaced with an align swash plate and the response was precise as it should be. Check for excessive play between the swash plate and the follower.

Originally Posted by pitchp

welp after testing my hk250gt with the tarot zyx i was getting too much vibes. I think my monster rx is the problem. Anyways I've decided to use my spartan quark, i'll let you guys know how it goes! only if i could get my hk250 to fly like this guy, I'd be happy!

I have seen him fly many times before. He is a master at re-engineering things to get the best performance for his helis. He is also very talented flier and I'm sure he could put blades on a cow pie and fly it.

Originally Posted by BThirsk

I have seen him fly many times before. He is a master at re-engineering things to get the best performance for his helis. He is also very talented flier and I'm sure he could put blades on a cow pie and fly it.

yeah he's good!

Originally Posted by BThirsk

First, the align tail boom mount is better than the HK one, but you need to sand off about .005" from the blocks and the nuts to reduce the size of the opening. It is a little too large to keep the boom tight. Test fit it before you install so you don't make it too small and crush the boom.
The align balls don't work with HK balls. The HK balls are about .003" bigger than the align balls which will cause the align ball links to be too tight. Resizing won't loosen up enough. You need to order the align ball kit.
The other biggest issue I had and a friend of mine also had was the swash plate bearing was loose causing a major lack of control. We both replaced with an align swash plate and the response was precise as it should be. Check for excessive play between the swash plate and the follower.

Excellent info, thank you!

Gyro Size Comparisons

I'm now actually kind of glad this kit comes with a flybarred head, it's proven to be very useful for scavenging parts. After my test flight wall crash I came away with a mildly bent feathering shaft, and lost one of the raced bearings in the blade grips. I also broke a link hole on a pitch link, it was already way too lose to begin with.

I was thinking I'd just steal the feathering shaft from the flybarred head and stick it in the HK flybarless head, but it's too long so I've instead used the flybarred blade grips with the flybarless head. the Ball link shaft on the blade grips is a bit too short on the flybarless grips and they aren't transferable from one set of grips to the other so my pitch links now have a couple degrees of angle. Hardly a perfect solution, but at least the links I'm using won't fall off if I breathe on them. I'm hoping this holds me over until I go with another head.

So folks, is the Align head considered the best bet out there with align ball links and swash? I'm looking for something with good parts support and quality and no slop, all suggestions are welcome. I see feathering shafts on the website but it's no obvious if it's for FB or FBL setups.

Cheers!

So I'm guessing the quark is the same size as the Assan ga250 too? Nice to see the other small tarot. I thought they were bigger for some reason. Store pictures never show real sizes so it's hard to tell.

Originally Posted by pitchp

Gyro Size Comparisons

Originally Posted by efx

So I'm guessing the quark is the same size as the Assan ga250 too? .

Yes it is my friend. yes it is

For those shopping around for a good cheap gyro. Amazon now ships in with the Hobbymate HB790 Gyro

http://www.amazon.com/Hobbymate-HB79.../dp/B008ZLMKDG




also available at targethobby!

http://www.targethobby.com/hobbymate...p-4162166.html

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1605701

WOW the gy 550 looks like a smaller walkera gyro . i have given up on the cheap mems gyro's and am sticking with the Piezoelectric ones .
i got 2 of these to test out while the weather is still warm , looks like the copterx rebranded
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...d-Lock-3D-Gyro