Rebuilding the Trex 600e Pro

As I noted, I completed the rebuild of the HDX 500se and she is ready for flight testing, possibly as early as tomorrow. She was one of my best flyers before her frame failed in flight and then the whole seizure thing. But those things are resolved!

Back in Mississippi this summer, sometime in late July I think, I was flying my Trex 600e Pro when the elevator control rod separated from the ball clevis and she performed a jaw dropping flip from thirty feet, ass over teakettle, landing hard on her gear. It snapped her landing gear and ripped the tail boom off, fractured the main blades, but the frame was intact and unharmed. It was an impressive crash and I would have sworn I blogged the incident but I can't find the entry. I mentioned that I had noticed the ball Clovis was loose and needed to be addressed when I was in the middle of another repair, and I never got back to it. I missed it in preflight, launched, got up to altitude and initiated a turn. As I was coming out of it, BAM! It was over in an instance. Someone asked me if I did it because it was spectacular 3D, but I immediately recognized what had gone wrong, and on post crash the clevis was unscrewed, not ripped, off the elevator, and the motion it did in flight was clearly full up elevator. I took her home and stripped off the broken bits, ordered the new ones, and packed them away as they arrived as it was the week I moved back home to New Hampshire. Some of the last parts arrived here, and I set them aside. I didn't fly or work on much as I was in a bit of a funk for the next couple of months, but since I started my new job I am renewed, flying and rebuilding everything.

I pulled out all the new parts and inventoried them.

The intact main frame and the inventoried parts. I put the new gear struts and skids on today. Tomorrow I will start with both sets of main bearings, which were going bad when I bought her, then set up the tail power take-off, torque tube, and tail assembly, which I had to completely disassemble. This will be followed by the main rotor and CCPM, etc. this may take several days. She too was an excellent flyer and I am sure she will fly as well again!

Step one!

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HDX 500se: Mystery Solved. I think.

I have been dealing with an electrical glitch for a year that I haven't really just sat down and solved. I have tried some simple things, like the ESC, the reciever, swapped out servos... Nothing seemed to make a difference.

Short vid of the seizures.

Earlier this week I thought I had figured out that it was an amp draw issue, but I remained suspicious that this couldn't be the case as nothing changed to draw more amps. That being said, I ordered and today installed a 5amp voltage regulator. For giggles I changed the receiver again from a Spektrum AR 610 to an Orange DSMX receiver from HobbyKing. I love these receivers and have never had any problem with them; that being said I put Spektrums on my expensive aircraft.

I removed the ESC and splice soldered in the leads from the voltage regulator.

I secured the leads to the main power leads with wire ties and taped over the soldered sections. I used Dual Lock Velcro to secure the regulator to the ESC. It will fit nicely underneath.

Installed the ESC back in its original position, with the voltage regulator underneath, inside the frame. You can see the Orange receiver slung on the outside of the frame. This was the only place I could put it and keep the short antenna wires well exposed. The red Velcro strap secures the receiver wires out of the way of the mechanicals. I balanced the tail blades. I fired her up and the seizures were still there.

I decided to change out the gyro. I had spun her up with the gyro not installed and would swear that the seizures continued. I installed the only gyro I have, an Assan GA250 MEMS gyro from HobbyKing. It's a pretty basic MEMS gyro, works pretty well. I've again, never had any problems with them, but prefer the Align gyros. Curious as I have had several Align gyros fail... Fired her up after programming the gyro, and wow. No seizures, no vibration, no wagging tail. Wowser. Another bad Align GP790 very expensive gyro.

Balanced a new set of main blades and installed them. Tomorrow or so I will recheck the CCPM programming, then give it a spin up! She was one of my best flying helis, so I hope she flies like she did before all this BS with the bad gyro.

UPDATE (5/24/15): Took her out back to hover her and... that damn seizure is still there. The only thing I haven't changed is the motor. That's next. She held great with the Assan gyro, but her rotor disk kept twitching making control difficult.

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Eflite Piper J-3 Cub Certified for Flight Testing

Today has been a busy day. There will be a post after this on on my continued adventures trying to stop the seizures on the HDX 500se heli, which I frickin' finally have done...

Finished the work and set up on the Eflite J-3 Cub! Finished installing the windows, installed the wings and set up the servos system. I decided that the 12x6e prop just didn't give me the ground clearance that I want, so I changed to a Master Airscrew 10x8 that I think used to fly on an Eflite PT-19 Cornell I used to have, a couple of years ago. I think I've crashed a couple... I have one NIB and will likely start on it after the Sopwith Rebirth Project. I don't think you can get them anymore. I didn't recheck the watts, probably should. I suspect the 2" in pitch balance the 2" in length, but I made that up.

Windows on, awaiting wings.

 

 

Wings and struts done.

 

 

I had to add 1/2 oz to the nose to make her just a bit less tail heavy. Now her CG is spot on. I guess we'll know for sure on maiden flight.

 

I put slightly larger tires on her. I like the rugged look of these treated DuBro tires for this plane. I also have the skis I can toss on in place of the wheels.

 

 

The stock taile wheel is that measly thin POS. I replaced it with a more manly tail wheel. I had to fabricate the entire tail wheel strut to support it.

 

She now rests with the rest of the flock, awaiting a decent flying day!

 

Next plank project is to rebuild the slightly damaged Sopwith. Between the cat that jumped off a ledge onto the hanging plane in my old apartment in Jersey, and the move damage, she will take some time. There were also likely some initial build things I will change. She was a great flyer, once one got past the wicked prop torque on the ground that pulled her hard left, gone the moment she left the ground causing a hard right turn (or was it the other way around?). In the air she flew like a massive WWI plane.

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Eflite J-3 Cub Project

Made a lot of progress today! The wing is done, the tail is complete and the motor, ESC and reciever installed and programmed.

EXI 9gm servos for the ailerons, set up on their panels and ready to install.

 

Servo panels in place, control arms setup, aileron wires passed through the wing.

 

Wings joined to the center piece with epoxy, setting up.

 

Setting the CA hinges up.

 

instead of the stock CA hinges for the rudder, and the stock tail "axel" and wheel, I hand bent wire for the tail wheel using thicker gauge wire, a larger tire, and had to use large CA hinges folded over the tail axel to secure it to the fuse. The CA hinges I used for the tail wheel have a slot in the middle, and I used two laid over each other. Since the rudder will take some of the forces from the tail wheel I substituted plastic hinges for the CA ones. Installed the control horns.

 

The rudder and elevator servos, with their control wires installed, and the Spektrum AR610 reciever.

 

 

Installed the motor (a generic 480 sized motor, I think from HeadsUpRC. Recycled from some airplane I used to fly), and a 40 amp ESC, also recycled. Should be able to finish it up with the next day's work. Install the cabin windows, the engine cowl, and install the wing and its supports. I have skis for it, but put bigger wheels on it. Should be ready to maiden soon!

 

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ASW CG'd, HDX waits for voltage regulator

This morning realized I hadn't checked CG on the ASW power glider when I had the wings on, so I took care of that this morning.

It took a whole ounce (1/2 on each side) back on the tail to make her just a breath nose heavy. We'll see how this works out in flight. This is during testing. I used acetone soaks to get the old adhesive off, installed them with 3M All-weather double sided tape and covered them with white electrical tape.

All 2.3M wingspan. I hate the wing attachment, and don't think I will like it until I come up with a thumbscrew method of securing them in place.

And there's the HDX 500se, waiting for the 5A voltage regulator I have coming from HeadsUpRC. Still not sure why it would suddenly require more than 3A, or if this is really the problem, but let's hope so. The only other choice is to replace every single piece of electronics.

ASW-28 Power Glider and Updates

A few days ago I started putting the HobbyKing ASW-28 power glider together. It's been sitting on the floor for a couple of months and it was time to just git 'er done. It went together pretty easily, but the joining of the wings to the fuse sucks... I used colored packing tape to cover the underside of the wing for contrast. I don't know if I am fond of her yet.

I had to open up the hole that allows the flap and aileron connectors through the fuse. I also had to trim away the plastic that surrounds the wood support. When joining the wing it would get hung up on it and I could not secure it into place.

The black tape in place. The 2300mm wingspan requires I transport her with the wings detached. The wings slide over an aluminum support rod, and are secured in place with screws through a wooden joiner that is loosely installed across the fuse. This means I will need to manipulate her a lot to get the wings secured, and screw in two screws on each side with every flight. I really liked my last glider's single nylon screw. When the weather improves will take her out. Not as excited as I should be, but hopefully that will change when I see her perform.

HDX UPDATE

Replacement parts are coming in for the HDX 500se heli. Can't narrow down the source of the servo glitches. I plan to replace everything except the ESC, and will change from using the ESC's BEC to a separate voltage regulator I ordered last night from HeadsUp RC. I have basically replaced most of the electronics, including the reciever, but never all at once, and I am hoping the voltage regulator removes spikes. This is a new ESC so I am not optimistic I have solved this. So, all swash servos, the rudder servo, changing the reciever and the voltage regulator. Then maybe the gyro... If the tail twitch doesn't resolve. Annoying.

UPDATE: I think I figured this out. I suspected this before, with the wandering seizures, that it had to be something more general and just realized its amps. I think it wants to draw more than the 3 amps the BEC in the ESC offers. It's only when I put more than 3 servos on the BEC that it twitches. I isolated the swash servos using a servo tester and the glitch is gone. When I add servos back to the reciever it starts twitching when 2 of the four total servos and gyro are on, stops whenever I remove any of the others. I just ordered a 5 amp voltage regulator. More to follow.

Eflite J-3 Cub Project

The Eflite J-3 Cub 450 Project is about to get underway. All the parts, including the skis, are in. I need to fashion a tiny tail ski. Pics to follow.

Helping a friend

Chip Young bought some kind of plane from an estate sale, that needs a wing that seems to be very much like the old Eflite PulseXT 25e wing I have hanging on my wall, so I am giving that to him this afternoon. Will be interesting to see how this works! I love Frankenstein aircraft!

 

 

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Winter's a comin'!

Now that I am not so distracted starting up a new job, I am getting back into the RC Lab and flying again. I've been out a couple of times, but this past Sunday was just beautiful. Its getting colder, and the sun is setting earlier. I got out late since I decided late and had a couple of batteries to charge, but once it was clear that Detroit was embarrassing themselves, I headed just up the road to Joppa Hill fields.

I flew the MX2 uneventfully, going through the two sets of 5S batteries I have (it flies 10S). She flew gracefully, with ease. Also brought out the Eflite Ultimate and flew three packs of crazy aerobatics as the sun set.

I had also brought out the HDX 500SE. She continues to have gyro and electrical problems that I cannot get a handle on. I think they are related, some sort of amp surge. I have changed out the receiver and the ESC without improvement. I suspect a bad servo, but haven't been able to reproduce this problem with the servo tester. I will need to replace them one at a time... something I am not looking to do anytime soon. I still have a Trex 600 to build, and another Trex 600 to rebuild! So she sits on the bench...

Speaking of building...

I still have the FMS 2300mm AWS28 glider I bought, opened in box, which I will put together next.

And look what Mr. Postman brought me today!

Its the General Hobby Skyline MSX-R 30cc I got to replace the 30cc Sbach I crashed back in Gulfport last summer. This is my spring project, moving all the servos and electronics, then the power plant, over to this plane.

I also just bought (yeah, I know... yet another plane) an Eflite J-3 Cub 450 sized. I did get a new receiver to go with this, but have a 480 motor (I think, at least I know I have a couple of 450 Sport motors) and 40amp ESCs on hand, also got some EXI metal gear digital sub-micro servos. The goal is to put her on some DuBro 7" skis and fly her off the snow!

For those of you in warmer climes, a couple of pics from my drive out to the recycle center this morning as the season's first snow fell. 

The road to my house in Bedford, NH.

Aidan and me at the Recycle Transfer Station.

Happy Thanksgiving!