RC Airplane World Forum

Well, my choice of new 400-450 size heli has been made for me.... I have been given a "HK-450GT Pro 3D Belt-Drive Helicopter Kit", which is compatable with the T-Rex 450 pro. My Dad has seen how much fun I have been having with my FP, and thought he would do the right thing and surprise me with my first CP heli, without realising how many extras I'll need to add to get it in the air.

I havent started assembling yet, still studying the T-Rex manual to work out how to put it together, but need some help.
The kit has everything except-

Brushless Outrunner Motor
Servos
Gyro
Receiver
ESC
Lipoly Battery (2200mAh 3S)

I as hoping that someone could give me some recommendations for these parts... an internet search has a huge combination of parts that people are trying, but I am after a tried and true combination that wont get me into too much set up trouble... remember I am a beginner to this RC game and don't need too much tuneabilty unless it is to make it easier to fly, and I don't have a TX, so I am pretty much open to all suggestions!
Thanks
Dave

I also have a HK450 but the torque tube version, also have CopterX 450 Pro belt drive.

Almost all my parts came from Hobbyking which includes:

Gyro
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10113

Motor
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9257

ESC (Speed controller)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11617

Servos, Hitec 65HB
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9817

This is the component list in my HK450 plus of course the radio which in my case is Futaba 6ex but the receiver is an Orange FASST also from Hobbyking. The reason most my stuff comes from HK is they are the cheapest and all items they advertise come with customer reviews as a guide.

The only item you might want to check on is the gyro, I finished up with the Futaba 401.

Lee

_________________
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Thanks!
I'll have a look... how have you found the HK in terms of reliability, quality?

Did you use the same servo for the tail as the cyclics?

Are they easy enough to fly? (well, as easy as a CP gets I guess!!)

Yeah I use the same servo for tail as well, Hitec are pretty quick at .14 secs though there are quicker you could look at. As for flying, as a fairly novice with ep helis, I do find them a bit twitchy, personally prefer something a bit bigger and heavier hence more stable. I have a FMA stabiliser on the HK heli which helps. No they are not as stable as fix pitch or coaxial but CP are more true to the real thing I suppose.


Lee

_________________
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Thanks Lee,
Much appreciated, now all I have to do is wait for my order to come in. We get stuff from the HK Australia warehouse in 3-5 days, but unfortunately the servos , motor and ESC come from the International warehouse so just going to have to wait.
Oh well, I guess it forces me to take the time to strip, lube and loctite everything before I get impatient and have 'one or two' flights before I do it properly!

Anyway, I haven't heard much about the FMA stabilisers before. Are they a worthwhile investment, and how do they work when you are flying?
As I understand it, when you centre both sticks the stabiliser returns the heli to flat and level. Does that mean it basically holds the heli in a hover, and how does it know how much collective you need to maintain height?
I like the idea that from what I have read, with the newer 3d capable units you can be inverted and the stabliser will help recover.
Part of me doesnt want to make flying too easy, the other part of me wants to make it as easy as possible to get flying well on a 'proper' CP heli.

The FMA stabiliser better known as FMA Copilot 2 has two sensors, one looks at up/down the other is a horizontal sensor that looks at the horizon. The vertical sensor checks whether aircraft is right way up and corrects if aircraft is upside down, the horizontal sensor monitors aircraft attitude and controls pitch and roll. there is no GPS so it cannot maintain a fixed altitude hover, this would be adjusted by pilot. There are other auto pilot/stabilisers in the market that specialise in that function but as I understand they are aimed mainly at quadcopters etc.



This is where you need to balance what you hope to achieve from flying helis, I find that it helps me to get to grips with the controls and correct any errors I might make quickly enough to save having to open my wallet for replacement parts, so in that respect its a great learning aid. The other use is to maintain stable flight characteristics for helicopter camera platforms, for example, I can fly to and stay in a relatively fixed position for taking airial photos. FMA can also be used in fixed wing aircraft as well so its not limited to helis.
The system I use in my 'Predator' is an FY-21A autopilot, this is a true autopilot and stabiliser which has the added feature of returning the aircraft to point of take off if the it loses signal from the tx. Shame it can't be used in helis.


Lee

_________________
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Well, the fun began last night, dismantling things one at a time, threadlocking and CAing then re assembling. Surprisingly therapeutic considering how fiddly it is in places.
I am very glad I did.. there were a couple of screws that were not even tight, let alone locked.
Another night or 2 of blue thread locking instead of watching TV then waiting for the TX, RX, motor, ESC and servos to arrive (shipped from HK yesterday, YAY!)

Incidently, stuff from the HK warehouse in Australia was here in 2 days... cant complain about that, just hoping they get a full range of spares in as well. I am thinking about another 450 Pro as spares, so I can have a spare rotorhead etc set up ready to go so when I crash its a 15 minute swap to the new one and repair the original in the comfort of my shed.

Oops... learnt a valable lesson about not getting too carried away with the threadlock.
Had an accidental drip of blue threadlock onto the tailrotor shaft and pitch slider, wiped it up as best I could and thought it was all OK... until this morning when the threadlock had set, leaving the slider locked to the shaft. My hamfisted attempt to free it has bent the shaft... *censored!*!!

On positive note, TX and RX arrived on Friday, so had a fiddle at programming the TX, and there is another package at the post office for me... so hopefully motor, esc, esc programming card and servos!
Nearly there, I think I'll be needing some help plugging everything in shortly!
Dave

Yep, that threadlock can be tough stuff when you don't want it to be!!
Plugging it all in shouldn't be too much trouble, we'll do our best to help!

_________________
Cheers,
Pete

My site is rc-airplane-world.com, a beginners' guide to radio control flying.

Ok, got it all plugged together across the kitchen table last night and success!!

Everything worked as it should, so tonight's task is to program the TX to the learner settings from John Salt's e-book.

Before I actually install servo's motor RX etc, is there anything else I should be doing (like adjusting servo throws), and if so, what do they need to be adjusted to?

Will it make a difference if I mount the ESC on the outside of the frame (its a tight fit inside the frame and I want maximum airflow dont I?)

Is there a preferred position for the RX and ESC, or should I fit them where ever I can as long as the leads reach and they are 3 cm apart?

Just don't want to get it all together then have to strip it again through missing a step....