After getting my v120d02 that also has a tail servo, I checked how loose the tail blades were on that. It seems like they wiggle about +/- 1 degree, instead of the 2 or 3 degrees i get with the 450. One strange thing though, i also have a very slight tail wag on the 120. I turned down the gyrosens on the tx to about 75% but it was still there, not too sure why. I know i'm extra sensitive to tail wag now, but i still am not too sure how much would be considered normal. For a while the 450 had a huge tail wag that was certainly not normal, but the last time i flew it, it was much less (until it spun and hit the ground...). Anyway, got through quite a few batteries on the 120 without any issue, so that's good. My 450 is still awaiting repair while I repair the 400 first.

Meanwhile i'm going to practice throttle hold landings with the 120 so that i'm more use to hitting that switch and hopefully save the 450 from another hard crash like the last one...

After a long night of bench work, i think i may have two flyable helis this weekend. I put the hitec 5055s' in my 450 pro w/2612 rx. I also put the flybar head together for testing. I got a 2801 rx, quark gyro, and mks ds95i that im going to use in a flybar 450 pro. I need more servos, let me re-phrase that, i need 2 or 3 sets of more reliable servos.

The 500 will also be flying with the stock flybar head for now. I been looking at the tracx flybarless heads, they look realy strong. But, no money for that right now. I did get the align tt tail assembly, 2702v rx, and savox tail servo. I read that the gotech tail servo from hk will only last a few flights, and i cant afford to crash this 500 right now. So, it will get alot of hovering in this weekend. Just to make sure everything is working good. Then its piro everything at 100mph around the field.....

Just a side note for anyone looking at starting a project like these.

I'm enjoying working with the 500. Its extra size and the layout of things make it much easier to work on compared to the 450 pro. If it flys well I may have to invest in another, and alot of 6s batteries.

is that the 500 in the pic next to the 450? and i thought the 450 was big, that thing is a beast!

I am getting real tired of tiny parts, but I find the 450 much easier to work on than the 120 or 100, those things are just frustrating....
Good luck with your 100mph piros Sounds like the way I fly when I really don't want to crash a heli, hover for a minute or two, then get bored with that and fly hard till it hits the ground or a tree

Just got through some final systems checks with the 500. Did forget to loc tite the pinion but no harm done. The 2702v rx is installed and working wonderfully. Its now very clear that my other 2702v rx gyro is not responding with proper aile corrections. I could still use it with a flybar heli, but for now its a very expensive servo tester, and esc throttle programer on my bench. Later i'll balance my blades and fit the flybar paddles.

Tomorrow i'll give it a maiden hover, wish me luck.

500 ready to go. I want to change the tail blade grips and use the align grips, but HK pitch slider cant work with align grips. They have bushings attached to the grips and align does not. You'll find alot of little differences when you start swaping parts with the clones. I just thread locked the tail as is, and hope for the best.

-HK500 cmt (using align TT tail section)
-Walkera 2702V rx
-Turnigy Typhoon 500 (1900kv)
-Turnigy Plush 60A esc
-Turnigy TGY-930 mg digital cyc servos
-Savox SH 1357 tail servo
-EXI canopy

total cost = $520

add another $120 for a good flybarless head and i think its worth it.

No test or maiden flights today, due to rain.

I guess its a good thing. After reading more threads it looks like i need to put in the align main and auto gears to get a better mesh for the tail gear. Im also going to swap the bolt in the tail grips just in case. I'll work on swaping the grips later. When i was thread locking the tail section last night one side has the loose bushing and it seem that the other bushing might just be stuck to the grip some how. Anyway, another night on the bench.

Rain? whats that?. Anyway, i've been following your thread on the 500 project. I've been contemplating whether to build a 450 or a 500. Im a novice flyer and still has a lot to learn so please keep us posted on your opinions with the pro's and cons.

I have not flown the 500 yet, but if its more stable in wind that the 450 that would be a 'pro' for the 500.

As far as building, set-up, maintenance, and repair, the 500 is really nice. The design of the 450 pro, haveing the servos make up the main block, is really a pain if one servo needs to change. You will have remove stuff to get to stuff. I've never had/flew a tail belt heli, but from putting the one that came with my hk500 together, i dont like belt driven tails. Give me a tt anyday, i dont mind changing the gears.

That brings me to cost of repair. Though the 500 is alot bigger the spare parts are only a little more expensive. When it comes to electronics, you will want to spend a bit more, to get quality servos, esc, motors, batteries, ect.. for the 500 due to the raw fear of haveing something go wrong.

That is really the only good, or should i say better, thing about the 450s'. The size is not intimidating at all. The fear of possible death is not there when you spool up a 450 size heli. The 500 could hurt you, or someone else, real bad if things go wrong. The 450s are also more welcome at the park if there are other people around.

Im glad I went through the progression of 400, 450, and now 500. Of course if i knew what i know now, about flying and repairing, i would have got the 500 first and maybe then progress to the 600 or 700s'. But the 500 is still a bit intimedating for me. Just like my 400 was the first time i got into a hover.

Looks good Kdean.
What was the problem with the 1st 2702 rx?
Hope you get some good flying weather.

I think it took a hard hit on my second crash. I did notice that the heli , with the flybar head, would not correct the side to side inputs like i was used to. On the bench i noticed that the aileron gyro was not moveing the servo arms like it should. So, the rx only has a 2 axis gyro now. I could still use it in a flybar heli, but for now it will stay on the bench.

kdean,
thanks for the reply. My parts should be arriving this week. I'm trying to build a fbl 450 with the 2702. I'm eager to see how yours ends up with the fbl head. I can't decide if I'm going to use the hitec 5065's or the savox for the cyclics. Pretty set on the hitec 5084 for the tail. Going to to go with the tarot fbl head & see how that goes. The price was right & the supplier is in Ca. (I know that doesn't help you that much).
Here's a link.

http://www.cnchelicopter.com/servlet...ead/Categories

Looks like you've been busy there kdean, definitely more so than me lately. I thought i was close to having a heli flying but still had issues and didn't get a chance to look into it much this weekend. Right now out of 4 helis, none of them are flying correctly

the 500 looks nice, and I like the idea of it being bigger and easier to work on, but i'm not so sure that I would like the additional "kill factor" the 450 is already a handful. You'll like your 450 though dgibbons, it's heavy and powerful and the wind really has to be kicking to even notice. Unfortunately I didn't get through too many batteries on my v450pro because my tail glitch caused a crash and I haven't gotten to fixing it yet. i'm going through heli withdrawal because all of my helis are awaiting repair... here's the status report:

- 450pro: tail spin/glitch caused a wreck and bent the main shaft and who knows what else. been on the bench while i tried to fix the 400. Also have my Alzrc fbl head sitting on the bench waiting to be to installed.

- v400: I put it back together after the broken frame and replaced the main shaft and a few other things while I was at it. Spooled it up and got into a hover but had a very bad wobble. need to find out why, but kdean gave me an idea to try the gyro pots so i'll give that a shot (though I never changed these and had it flying before, but maybe something just got bumped in a crash and needs to be readjusted)

- v120d02: This was flying great and I was burning through batteries like crazy and crashed a few times. Eventually after one of the crashes it seemed to be a little unsteady. I couldn't find anything wrong and flew it again only to crash hard and now it has a bad vibration and probably needs a new main shaft

- cb100: i lent this to my friend and the frame cracked and main gear stripped. He replaced them but now the heli wants to fly forward all the time. I plan to take a look at that and hopefully this one will be an easy fix of something little.

So.... really need to get something in the air again This evening I may spend some time on the v400 since that seems the closest to flying.

oh, one more thing dgibbons, sounds like you are doing the right thing getting good servos and being picky about your parts. I had a cheap tail servo go out mid flight and that was no fun. Every since that servo won't respond at all and I got an align one instead. Some parts just have a much worse consequence if they fail...

Dilberto,

Thanks. Everything I've read says to get the best electronics you can. My Tarot 450 kit just cleared customs over the weekend. I'm hoping to have it in a couple days.
Just a thought on your v400. Check the swashplate to see if its separated @ all. Tried everything on a friends & that along with the frame was the problem. It was only a slight separation, but got worse with more collective. Anyway, something else to check. Hope you get em all flying soon.

Originally Posted by dgibbons

Dilberto,

Thanks. Everything I've read says to get the best electronics you can. My Tarot 450 kit just cleared customs over the weekend. I'm hoping to have it in a couple days.
Just a thought on your v400. Check the swashplate to see if its separated @ all. Tried everything on a friends & that along with the frame was the problem. It was only a slight separation, but got worse with more collective. Anyway, something else to check. Hope you get em all flying soon.

Thanks, i'll take a look. That swashplate has given me trouble before. Actually my swashplate pops apart with almost every little crash or blade strike and i have to pop it back together. I was reading some people saying theirs doesn't do that, maybe now mine has just gotten loose to the point that I need a new swashplate... I look into that. The wife will be out this evening, so i've planned on some bench time debugging.