Derek's Align Trex 500 FB

[pvolcko]

https://youtu.be/9cV1q4We_KM

[DOG]

Your probably very happy to get her back i one piece.

[Derek]

Your probably very happy to get her back i one piece.

Definitely happy to have gotten the helicopter to the ground in one piece. I just need to find out why it's doing that.

[danhampson]

i would say strip down the head, flybar and all. check the head/flybar assembly bearings and rebuild as per the manual replacing worn parts as you go. My only other thought would be a bad servo maybe just worn gears. I know you have had this heli a while and think it may just be wear and tear rather than crash and bash.

[Derek]

I couldn't agree with you more, Dan! I'll probably strip the head down to pieces on my next weekend off and then order new parts as needed. As for the servos...all four servos are brand new and upgraded, too. I flew this helicopter earlier this year and it pretty much reacted the same as it did the other day. I was thinking that the swash, some how, got unlevel so I checked that. The swash was level and moving evenly from top to bottom. I started thinking about the servos. They were the stock, and original, DS510m and DS520m servos that came with the Super Combo. So I ordered a a full set of DS515m and DS525m servos. Releveled the swash and checked the pitch and all that. That all seemed to be good at +/- 10 degrees...just as it was before. So...i had a test flight the other day and you saw the result in the video.

I guess it's just about time to tear it all down and start from the beginning.....as you said "per the manual".

Thanks for your opinion!

[danhampson]

It's mechanical so is got to be some play some where or something binding under load.

[pvolcko]

Do a stress test too. MAke sure your BEC is up to task. Maybe getting low voltage under load, resulting in extreme squishiness.

[pvolcko]

And yes, squishiness is a high tech engineering term.

[Derek]

Do a stress test too. MAke sure your BEC is up to task. Maybe getting low voltage under load, resulting in extreme squishiness.

The ESC on this 500 is the stock Align 70amp esc, so it also has the stock internal BEC. I do have a Castle ICE2 75amp ESC. I bought it because I wanted all Castle ESC's on my helicopters. I like the slow ramp up when I change from one flight mode to another. Perhaps the BEC in the Castle ESC is not "as tired" as my stock Align ESC. I may just add a brand new Castle 10amp BEC to the setup. My 600 has the Castle Pro BEC. My 450 has the Castle 10 amp BEC. I'll check into that, Paul! I certainly don't want any squishiness.

And yes, squishiness is a high tech engineering term.

Because of the fact that you used the term "squishiness" and I understood what you meant by "squishiness", it's obviously a "high tech engineering term", lol.