Oh my Gords!

The “lazy susan” bearing arrived and I wasted no time in cutting up a length of old kitchen cupboard to make a base and a top platform for my turntable. There was no particular science involved - I made the base big enough to make sure it wouldn’t topple over and made the top just big enough to accomodate the skids of the Belt CP. A bit of drilling, a few bolts and screws and I have a turntable!

I have a Hitec Eclipse 7 programmable transmitter and an eSky Heading Hold Gyro. I had read the bit in the manual about setting up the gyro, but as with most manuals it was not exactly clear. No matter what I tried, I could not get to a stable position with the tail servo. The helicopter insisted on rotating one way or the other.

Luckily, the following was posted as a response to my plea for help

“Please remember that to set up the tail, you must get as close to mechanically perfect as poss. To do this, you need to be in Rate mode not HH mode.” 

I reduced the gyro gain on the transmitter in order (< 50%) in order to switch into Rate mode. It took quite a few goes, but eventually I achieved a steady tail I then put the gain up to 70% and there it was - a steady heading locked tail! I carefully moved the tail left and right to ensure that the heading hold feature was working.

So, all I need now is a calm day so that I can finally take it for test flight

 Flight - did I say flight? Of course, what I meant was a mildly controlled hover around the back garden

By some hugely lucky coincidence, HeliGuy posted a series of 4 videos to the Belt CP forum that detailed the entire setup procedure a couple of days before I started my build. The videos are specifically for setting up a DX6i transmitter and servos, but the basics of making the swashplate work correctly, ensuring all servos act as they should can be applied to any setup.

I won’t go into detail here as it is covered by the videos as well as numerous posts on the forum. I followed the videos and did the bits that were relevant to my setup. I must say the setup looks much easier on the DX6i than it is on my HiTec Eclipse 7!

For setting up the tail servo and gyro, the helicopter was fixed to a turntable made from an old computer harddisk. This enabled the servo to be positioned easily without having to fly and adjust and fly and adjust …! It also made it very easy to set the corect gain for the gyro.

I am currently waiting for a “lazy susan” bearing to arrive so that I can construct my own turntable

I purchased the Belt CP barebones kit from HeliGuy, which means no motor, radio gear or servos. The receiver, motor and ESC have been removed from the King. As the servos on the King were damaged, I had already purchased TowerPro SG90’s and one SG50 for the tail.

This is what I started with:

The motor, a JustGoFly 400DH, fitted perfectly without any modifications. The pinion needed to go quite high on the shaft though, so that it meshed properly with the main gear.

All of the servos fitted perfectly, except for the pitch servo (the one at the rear, near/underneath the gyro). I had to file the hole smooth, then I had to remove the stickers from the servo and file the mounting lugs down until it would fit.

Because of the size, shape and connector positions on my Hitec Electron receiver, I decided to mount it on it’s side. To do this, I needed to remove one of the mounting shelves from the body. I very gently removed it using a junior hacksaw blade and then smoothed it down with a fine file.

The ESC was attached to the side of the body, next to the battery compartment and the BEC was positioned underneath the frame.

All the wires were tie-wrapped in place …

job done! Well, except for the setting up of everything. Stay tuned for the next installment

Long live the Belt CP!

Finally, the situation has been resolved. Lack of time and lack of stock has meant that I have not had a working helicopter for many months. However, earlier this week I got an email saying that the Belt CP kit was once again back in stock. My order was promptly placed that day and the King’s replacement arrived today.

The build will hopefully start tomorrow and I will note my progress here, so until tomorrow…

2 weeks ago (21st October) I had a fairly significant crash and my King has been grounded ever since In case you don’t have access to the HeliGuy forum, basically the heli was caught by a gust of wind which blew it straight at me. I had no time to react and the heli hit me and I dropped the transmitter. The idle-up switch was broken off, not before it was switched into idle-up mode! So there I was with a useless transmitter and a heli on it’s side on the ground … not a good situation!

I managed to source some replacement - although not equivalent - switches for the transmitter and fitted them today. Thankfully, the transmitter is fine! The next concern was the motor and ESC. I dismounted the motor and powered up. I gingerly moved the throttle stick and … the motor spun into live!! Thank goodness for that

The electronics are all OK and I now have replacement servos (3 x SG90 and 1 x SG50), however I do not have all the bits to replace the bent shafts. The main shaft, feathering shaft and the flybar are bent, also the main gear is a few teeth short!

It seems to me that the best option is to go for a Belt CP barebones kit and transfer my stuff over, so that is what I will do. Unfortunately, due to monetary restrictions the upgrade will have to wait a while

So, 2 weeks and counting………….

OK, fitting the bits

 I have a JGF 400DH brushless motor, a Sonix 30A ESC and a Hitec Electron 6 channel receiver.

I had been delaying the fitment of these items mainly because I thought it was going to be difficult and I didn’t know what I was doing. In the end it was all rather easy!

The motor
The pinion was half on, but not set right to mesh correctly with the main gear. So, first things first, I removed the old motor. Very easy to do using a long-ish screwdriver passed up through the landing skids and frame.

This is not recommended - but I positioned the pinion using gentle but firm taps with a hammer onto the pinion. The motor shaft is flush with the rear of the case, so with extreme care this method worked. A more suitable method is to use a vice or a G-clamp.

To position the motor correctly, I placed a piece of paper between the pinion and the main gear and then pushed the motor against the main gear. Once the screws were tight, I rotated the main gear to extract the paper. This means that the pinion meshes nicely but does not push hard into the main gear’s teeth.

The Receiver
The Electron is slightly smaller than the stock ESky receiver, so fitting it was not a problem. the only slight issue is that the connectors are on the top rather than the end. I fitted all the connectors first, then I positioned the receiver with a sticky pad and reinforced the mounting with 2 zip ties.

The ESC
The Sonix ESC also has a BEC attached as a separate item which made it slightly moer interesting, trying to position everything. I have a slight advantage in that I have a Trex canopy which gives me more “nose” space. The ESC was attached where the original one was and the BEC was attached underneath the main frame.

Finally
To finish off, all wires were zip tied to the frame, in a number of places, to ensure the couldn’t move. Below are pictures of the end result

I am starting to think - OK not necessarily starting to think - that model helicopters should come with a health warning! “This hobby may seriously damage your bank account“!

 Alright, moaning over … I’ve recently bought a few new bits for my King and I fitted them this weekend

It all started (here comes the excuse) because the stock motor failed fairly soon after I bought the helicopter. Luckily, I had been donated another by a very kind chap. The duff motor was swapped with the new and my heli was back in the air - kind of, so to speak

There is constant chat on the heliGuy forum about the stock motor being less than reliable. “Go brushless” is the usual advice. So when a brushless motor and ESC appeared for sale, it seemed the obvious thing to buy it! Now then, the usual upgrade appears to be the Esky 3900kv and 25A ESC - and many people seem happy with it. However, that is not what appeared for sale - rather it was a JGF 400DH and Sonix 30 ESC.

 I confirmed with the seller that it was suitable for a HB King 2 with standard blades - no problem came the reply - “sold” was my reply!

That should really have been the end of the story … but that would be a bit short, wouldn’t it!

I then decided I ought to read up on what I’d bought and eventually came to the conclusion that I should really get myself a programmable Tx before I fit this motor. The standard ESky Tx does not allow you to alter the throttle and pitch curves and the JGF website seemed to recommend a non-linear throttle curve. Good enough excuse for me

From a newcomers view, the Tx of choice seems to be a Futaba of some sort or a Spektrum something or other. So, what do you think came up for sale and caught my eye? Yes, that’s right … a Hitec Eclipse 7 !? It’s lucky I don’t feel the need to be the same as everyone else!!

I investigated the Hitec and it certainly appeared to be a very powerful transmitter, with all the functionality I would need for quite a while. As part of the deal I also got a new Hitec receiver.

Excellent, all sorted!

So there it was - a pile of stuff just dying to be installed. All I needed now was the time and knowledge to perform the upgrade. Time was not a problem…

The actual “doing” is worthy of a post on it’s own, so it will be

We have been blessed, in Surrey, with some pretty reasonable weather just recently. This has allowed me to get a lot of flying time in

Today, started off rather cloudy and cool, maybe even cold. Being a family man means that I always have a number of chores to do - today’s chores involved mowing the lawn, putting the garden furniture away for the winter and other similar jobs.

And my reward? Just as I was finishing there was a distinct clearing of the clouds, the temperature went up and there was still no wind!

OK, the next bit is obvious …

 I now feel confident enough to say that I really am starting to get the hang of this helicopter flying thing! I had 3 batteries (1000mah) worth of hovering around the garden. Zero crashes, a number of recovered “scary” moments and nearly all landing were controlled!

My 4th battery seems to be a bit low on performance so I don’t always use it. I was having such a good day that I decided to try the last battery too. While I was swapping the batteries over I had a sudden rash thought … “I wonder if I should try it without the training gear?” … well, I was in a confident mood

So then - training gear off, fresh-ish battery ready, pre-flight checks done, hh gyro ready …

I started up, enabled the hh gyro and throttled up to take off and up she went!!!

The first take-off lasted about 15 seconds and then I decided that it was best to land while the going was good. Well I never - I managed to land without incident!

The rest of the battery was spent hovering about 1 - 2ft for periods of up to a minute or so. It was excellent fun and terrifying at the same time, the heli looked so small and I felt like I / it was balancing on a knife-edge! Overall though, it was hugely satisfying to see that I was actually capable of doing it.

The training gear will be going back on for a while as I still have a lot to learn - nose-in and side-on hovering for example, but today was progress indeed!

Well, more specifically how I changed the flybar!

I’m sure you all know what and where the flybar is - if not, read on and you’ll soon see

The flybar wasn’t significantly bent, but it was noticable so I decided I ought to change it. Not too many tools are needed - 2 allen keys (1.5mm and 2.5mm I think!?) and possibly a pair of small pliers. Oh yes, you’ll need a ruler too.

To make things easier, I removed the main blades and canopy.

Next, use a small allen key to loosen the grub screws in the paddles. Undo them enough so that the paddles can be unscrewed and removed.

Now, undo the grub screws that hold the flybar in the holder. Again, just undo them enough so that the flybar will turn.

Finally, remove the damaged flybar. If you cannot remove it by hand (as I couldn’t), screw one of the paddles back onto the flybar and use it to turn and pull the flybar out. Then remove the paddle again.

As they say in all the best maintenance manuals - “fitting is the reverse of the above”

OK! First of all, satisfy yourself that the flybar is actually bent by rolling it on a known flat surface, such as the kitchen worktop. Next, chuck the bent one in the nearest bin and grab your fancy new, straight, flybar.

Gently slide the new flybar into the holder until it is central - i.e. the protruding length is the same on both sides. Mine measured 65mm, but yours may be different? Tighten the grub screws to keep the flybar in place.

Next, screw on the paddles until they are fully on - don’t do the grub screws up yet though. You need to ensure that each paddle is the same distance from the holder. Mine measured 54mm, but whatever the measurement they need to be the same. Do make sure they are screwed all the way on as well.

Once you have the distance set correctly, you need to align them. This is the method I used, but there may be better / more accurate ways!

The paddles need to be horizontal when the cyclic stick is centralised. Turn on your transmitter and connect a battery - wait for the gyro to initialise. Ensure all the servos are in the correct position by moving the stick around and then centralising it.

Then, one at a time, adjust each paddle until it is horizontal. Check the settled position of the servos (as above) each time you adjust the paddle, just in case you have inadvertently moved a servo.

Next, tighten then check and re-check all 4 grub screws!

OK, all done! Re-fit your blades and go give it a try

It was Saturday, it was sunny, it was calm … and I had to work! How cruel is that!!

Well, I managed to get everything done by about 4pm so I was off into the garden

The first battery went quite well, I was managing to keep in the air for 30 - 40 seconds at a time, sometimes even a bit longer. I was quite happy with that considering I was flying in my smallish garden and still getting to grips with the whole “control” thing.

The second battery went on and off I went again. It only lasted about 1 - 2 minutes before the heli could barely take off? OK, maybe the battery didn’t get charged properly - no problem, I’ll try battery number 3. Umm, the same thing happened. Even worse, the motor then refused to even spin!?

I removed the canopy and noticed that the motor was so hot I could have cooked my dinner on it!!  Luckily, I had a new spare (from a very generous friend!) so I put that on sharpish. Oh boy, what a difference!! The head speed was noticeably faster and it sounded so much nicer - it’s funny how you don’t realise something is wrong/broken until you replace it.

So, back to battery 2 and off I went. I think my skills are improving, mainly because of the fact that I have not crashed into anything other than the ground for quite a while now! It definitely seems to be the confidence to lift off with conviction that has helped.

I can remember the first few days with my Lama, where the takeoffs were very gingerly, and slowly, done. I read a post on heliguy.com that said you need to commit to the takeoff and get to a height of 3 - 4ft, in order to get out of the ground effect. I managed that quite quickly with the Lama. However, the King does not seem to bounce quite as well (cheaply) so takeoffs have been too non-committal until just recently.

My current problem to overcome is over-correction. I manage to take off OK and the heli goes up quite nicely. Obviously I am then into controlling where the heli goes. If I can manage to react fast enough and smooth enough and with enough gentle care, I can manage to keep it with a 4 - 5ft square. However, it always seems to end up that I am swinging significantly side to side, front to back, etc. Sometimes I manage to bring it back under control, but more often that not it’s time to land, before I crash.