5/21/99 I bought my new Heli! Went to the hobby shop looking to buy a LMH 110, the salesman talked me into buying a Kyosho Nexus 30. Which I now understand was a better buy for anyone looking to get into the hobby. A little more expensive but has the oppurtunity to grow with you. Walked out of there with fuel(30%), radio(Futaba 6XH), extra servo, gyro, starter, glo-plug tool, hose, fuel filter, field box, battery, charger, box panel and fuel pump. Total came to about $1000.00. Got it home and unpacked it, wow looks like alot! Started putting it together. Everything together except main blades(forgot the glue). Took about 5-6hrs but went together fairly easy. Instructions could be a little more detailed and not in Japanese but not too much cussing getting it together.
5/22/99 Back to the hobby shop for glue. Got the blades glued and now it's time for the test flight. Went outside and fired it up. Engine runs great. Added a little throttle and to my dismay the air was moving in the wrong direction thru the blades. It's supposed to move down not up. What I had here was a big fan. Shut it down and checked it over. AH...blades upside down. Thin edge was facing direction of rotation. Switched blades and started it up again. At almost full throttle still blowing air in wrong direction. The bugs in the grass are hating life. Don't understand what's wrong. Shut it down and checked it again. nothing seems to be out of place. Start it up again, won't start, no juice going to the glo-plug. Pull the glo-plug..fried. Back to the hobby shop. It appears that the plasting pieces that hold the blades to the rotor head are on upside down. Oh no....they are glued. Using an exacto knife I cut the glue and plastic pieces off and reglued. Now it's late and raining.
5/23/99 Built my own make shift blade balancer using a paint stirrer and a triangle ruler. I cut the paint stick to 6" and put 2 holes at both ends 1" in. Then I drew a line in the center of the stick and bolted the blades thru the holes on the paint stick. Using tape I balanced the blades. Outside I go fire up the engine and proceed to raise the throttle. Still moving air in the wrong direction. Back to the hobby shop. There was a supplement to the directions that dummy me paid no attention to, that dealt with the linkages for the main rotor pitch. The book showed them at 43.5mm but they were really around 38mm(Make sure you measure you linkages off the supplement not the book). So we took out the negative pitch and added a little positive pitch should fly now. Also got a new set of blades mine were butchered from the gluing and ungluing process. They also adjusted the radio and other linkages. A definite must to the beginner, take the radio and heli back to hobby shop to get it adjusted, the book only gets them close and the radio needs to be set up for a beginner. Try to watch so you learn what they are doing you will need to do it later. Took it home and fired it up. It's off the ground!!!! A little shaky, a few little hops, oh no, wind caught it, up it went, back off the throttle, down it comes. Training gear broke, heard the tail blades scrape the ground. Everything still looks in good working order. No training gear no flying, done for the day.
5/25/99 Took my heli out to fly again. After the last flight I did notice that the main gear was missing a few teeth from when the tail blades hit the ground. Luckily it wasn't missing them from one spot one here one there. I also built my own training gear using a 3-1/2" piece of 2"x4". I drilled four 1/2" holes in each side at a slight angle(30 deg.), I used the four balls that came with the previous gear just made the holes a little larger. I bought four 1/2" dowels 2' long and attached the balls to one end, predrilling the dowels for the 1" screws to go in, and attached them with screws and washers. Next I inserted the dowels into the block of wood and predrilled pilot holes to secure the dowels with screws. attached the dowels to the heli skids with heavy rubber bands(see 5/26). So I attached the traing gear and fired up the heli. The missing gear teeth did't pose a problem. The heli started to rise and I started to notice it was very difficult to control especially in a hover. Flew it around a little trying to get the trims right. I did more hopping than flying but hey it's only my first time. I did notice that for every action applied a opposite action needs to be applied to return to center. Didn't really grasp that concept till I was thru about 4 tanks of fuel. The controls are feeling a little better, alot going on at once though. It was quite windy that day which made it very hard to control. Feeling good about the day I packed it up and proceeded home where it took me 1/2 hour to clean all the oil and residue off. It wiped off very easy and so did the decals. If you are going to spend the time to put the decals on, glue em. Ordered a new main gear and a Rotopod training gear (or see links page).
5/26/99 Time to take the heli out flyin again. Winds are calm sky is clear. Got the heli up flying again. Starting to keep it in closer to me instead of flying almost uncontrollably. Got a little higher also. Then it happened, started getting out of control so I reduced throttle sending it to the ground. Broke the training gear again. This time the wood block broke in half, should of used 3/8" dowels. Guess I have to wait till the Rotopod come in.
5/27/99 Got home from work and the main gear and Rotopod were waiting for me on the doorstep. Opened up the Rotopod and put it together. same concept as mine except a plastic disc to hold the dowels in place and a aluminum bar with spring clamps to fasten to the heli skids. Why could I think of this? Looks good all put together can't wait to give it a try. Started putting the main gear in. What a job that was! It's a good thing I spent 5 hours building to spend 5 hours taking it apart. To make a long story short I put it in, put it together, and the tail gear was too tight. Back apart it came. Then I proceed to beat the hell out of the metal tail gear. Should have gone to sleep but no I had to stay awake and fix it. Had no choice but to goto sleep.
5/28/99 Called the hobby shop, $38.50 for new tail gear. Bought a $10.00 set of files and fixed it. Time to put it together again. What ever you do, when taking out the main gear try not to take off the tail gear, you will play hell it getting it back on correctly. Got everything back together, still a little tight but it will do. Going home for the holiday and bringing the heli with me.
5/29/99 Unpacked the heli and started it up. Started flying around a little. Getting a little better with hovering and getting the trims fine tuned. Word of advice, when flying in grassy areas, make sure the grass is not too tall. Used the main blades to trim a little grass. Cut the heat wrap on the edge of the blades, but kept flying unknowingly. Got a little too high in the hover and started heading for some trees, reduced throttle and you guessed it, broke the training gear. Luckily it was only a 3/8" dowel. Picked one up at Wal-Mart for $0.82. Also used CA to glue the ripped edges of the heat wrap on the blades. Took it back out(in cut grass) and was hovering quite well. Landed once and was ready to take off again when the tail started spinning uncontrollably. The set screw holding the rudder linkage together fell out. Pack it up once again. Check and re-check all screws before flying, or you will learn the hard way. Used the set screw in the landing gear and held the landing gear in place with a rubber band till I get a new one.
6/4/99 Took my heli to work where we have a huge parking lot. Got it hovering pretty good, still a little squirrelly though. Went through 2 or 3 tanks. Did notice that if you start on a banked surface your heli will fly that way until corrected. I picked up a book on model helicopters which provided some great info for the novice like myself. Unfortunately I work in a supply business which is very dusty so my heli is covered in black dirt. Still need to get all the controls adjusted just right. It is very easy to overcorrect which sends the heli flying away fast. Took over an hour and a bottle of spray nine to clean all the dirt off.
6/5/99 Went to the hobby shop and finally bought a pair of ball link pliers, a pitch gauge, new metal servo arm, a metal throttle linkage and some tail rotor blades. I had way too much slop in the rudder servo arm and throttle linkage. What a difference the metal makes especially in the throttle linkage where the stock plastic one tends to bend.
6/10/99 Had received a few more parts in since I last flew my heli. Most for looks some for dynamics. Received ball link upgrade for servos instead of z-bends, 12" adapter cord since I mounted the gyro in the rear, and some vibration gel. Although I haven't installed as of yet. Will review them next time. Took the heli out to fly today and it was handling great. I can now hover steady for a full tank of fuel. I also experimented with forward flight a little(very little). I am getting a lot better with controlling the throttle as well. It seems that the throttle almost needs constant adjustment with the stick to stay at a constant level, especially when applying rudder or cyclic. Don't know if this is normal so I posted a message on the best source for heli info, the newsgroup rec.models.rc.helicopter. I will post the answer when I get it, unless someone has some insight. Went through 3 tanks of fuel an feeling real good. Now that everything is trimmed I will probally screw everything up when I install the ball link and pushrods but we will see.
6/11/99 Got all the parts installed on my heli. Looks great! Decided to take it out for a test flight. Had a little trouble starting it but finally it turned over. Got it right into a hover. Looking good, but then "LOOK OUT FOR THAT BUSH"! Started heading for the outskirts of the field had to set it down. While doing so I also had applied aft-cyclic to keep it away from the trees. Then disaster struck - BOOM STRIKE! Rotor blades hit the tail boom, parts everywhere. I stood tall and saluted my heli flying into a million pieces. What a sight to see. The tail started to wrap itself around the rotor blade, but the force of the blades kept it spinning causing more damage. The tail rotor flew about a hundred feet away. I still can't find the tail fins. I bent the landing gear, broke the main rotor blades, bent the feathering shaft, the tail rotor gear case is broke, broke the tail servo and the tail servo linkage is gone. :( Very discouraging but I just couldn't stop laughing at the site of twisted parts. So tomorrow it's off to the hobby shop. I figured the parts to cost about $180. Almost enough to buy a new kit! Maybe a sim is not a bad investment.
6/15/99 Finally it's all back together(except 1 little part, but that's on order), blades balanced, linkages reset and everything looking better than it did before. Did find out over the internet that the main shaft of the Nexus is bent out of the box. So check your main shaft, if it's bent take it back to the hobby shop to have them replace it. All together it cost a little over $200.00 to fix. The next time it crashes like that I am just going to buy a neew kit without an engine. Can't wait to go out and give it the test flight. Still looking for a sim. If anyone has one they want to sell please email me, preferably CSM V10, don't know if I can wait for Real Flight Deluxe. Regarding the constant throttle adjustments I talked about earlier on this page this is the response I got: "You don't mention how high your getting but it sounds like you're staying in ground effect or within about a rotor diameter off the ground. The vertical motions you're getting are normal in this case. At these altitudes, the helicopter is sitting on a bubble of air trapped between the rotor and the ground. It will tend to bounce on this with very little help from you. As a relative newcomer, you're probably helping the process a little too. As for the altitude swings with tail and cyclic commands that's normal too. First, most of us can't apply a tail command without moving power a little bit, at least for those of us who fly the tail and throttle on the same stick. Another factor is the fact that if you give a tail command that turns the fuse against torque, that pulls power from the main rotor because the tail is using it. This can cause the helicopter to settle a little. Turning with torque does the opposite. The tail isn't pulling as much power and that frees it up for the main rotor and the helicopter will rise slightly. This effect is very minor and most don't even notice it. As for the cyclic, that one's easier to explain. If the helicopter is in a level altitude stationary hover the rotor is producing a vertical component of lift that maintains the height. If you apply cyclic that tilts the rotor then you convert some of the vertical component of lift into a horizontal one to moves the machine in the direction of the tilt. If no other action is taken, the helicopter will lose altitude because it's lost some of that vertical component of lift. Bottom line is, no matter how good you get, you'll always be making adjustments to maintain a given altitude. The only difference will be that they'll get smaller and more refined to the point where others can't see you making the corrections."
I think this answers my questions. Thanks to the author.
6/16/99 Well I finally got all the parts in their places, got the blades balanced and fixed the Rotopod, which had a few broken dowels. Time to take it out and fly it(at least try). Went out to the field and cranked it up. It was idling real rough so I adjusted the mixture and it ran a little better. Got off the ground once and it started raining. DAMN!! Packed it up and took it home. Good thing I did tough, I got home and noticed I had forgotten to tighten a few screws. No big deal but still, that's all I need. Well I think tomorrow I am going to invest in a sim, CSM V10. Probaly a good thing, supposed to rain all weekend. Will write what I think when I get it.
6/28/99 It's been a while since I last wrote but a lot has happened. To all of those beginners out there "GET A SIM" they are well worth it. Bought mine off a guy who was getting out of heli's(lack of money). Loaded it up and dove right in. It's fun to play with, you can do all that stuff you dream about without wrecking the real thing. After the last time I wrote I did take it out on 6/19 and 6/23 but geocities has changed their login procedure which had me all screwed up. On 6/19 I took it out and was hovering just great, no problems, it was handling like its supposed to. Spent about 3 tanks of fuel thru it and no problems, still sticking in the air. However the 23rd was a totally different story. It would not hover to save my butt. It was a little windy that day but no more than usual. I tried and tried but wasn't having very good luck. I had adjusted the pushrods on the 16th after trimming the heli during flight, but it didn't seem to help one bit. I decided to pack it up and go home before I crashed into a tree or something. I ordered Ray's Heli Manual and a better swashplate. Due in any day now will write with the progress. Remember BUY A SIMULATOR! You will need it.
11/4/99 It has been a very long time since I last wrote. I put the new swashplate on and received Ray's Heli Manual. The book is very informative, definitely recommend getting. I haven;t wrote in a while due to the fact that I haven't flown in a while. It has been a pretty hot summer, I found it hard to stand in a field, sweat in your eye, bugs in your face and not being good enough to take your hands off the controller for the second it takes to wipe your face. I have been on the Sim alot though and getting very good with that. The new swashplate looks great and has no sloppiness. Now that the air is cool I can't wait to try it out. Hopefully I should start writing again. Have gotten a few emails from people, keep them coming.
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