hahah...too funny. Well, got the head spun up, was turning about 1710 when it started the dance, but as suggested I got it in the hover quickly. You can see a small vibration in the tail, and you can see the antenna shake, but even with a stiff wind it was stable, just lots of wierd vibrations/small shaking in the tail. Doesn't seem normal so I landed and figured I would ask some more questions, besides, my plane was screeming...take me, take me!!! ;-)

No helos, no heros.

You might want to check the balance of your tail rotor blades. I had a similar problem and thats what it was. They were brand new from a kit too.

Time to balance your flybar, check the balance on the blades, to balance the tail rotor system, and if you really want to go for it, to balance the fan and clutch bell.

Dave

Rotors and flybar balanced, never thought of balancing the tail rotors, going to do that tonight. I also changed my pitch curve slightly so that I get 1800 rpm head spead before it hovers. I will give it a shot again tomorrow morning. I thank you all for your help, it would still be a hanger queen without your advice!

No helos, no heros.

and if you really want to go for it, to balance the fan and clutch bell.

Dave,
I'm interested in knowing how to do it. Do you have a procedure?

It's pretty easy, if you have the right tools. I've been using a "High Point" Balancer, a tool I bought about 30 years ago for balancing propellors and spinners. The High Point isn't available anymore, but the DuBro Tru Spin balancer is very similar. The balancing tool looks like this:

That's a clutch-flywheel-fan assembly left over from one of my Nexus helis on the balancer. The shaft that comes with the balancer has two conical pieces that go with it. One is fixed to the shaft, the other is removable. The cones center the piece that you are working with, and allow you to adapt parts with various size holes in them.

Obviously, the "heavy" side will go to the bottom. Mark the heavy side, then using a drill, remove small amounts of material from the heavy side until the part you are working on stays in whatever position you put it in on the balancer. Just don't drill all the way through. Take small amounts of material and go carefully.

Here is a picture of the clutch bell of one of my Calibers after having been balanced:

You do the same to the fan, using the same technique.

(For you lingerie fans, if you look REAL close, you can see the pantyhose air filter on the carb in that pic....ooooooh baby baby!!!)

I also use this balancer to balance the entire TR assembly, hub, grips, blades and all. The shaft and cones fit the hub and balancing is easy. I remove material from the tip of the heavy blade. (In an earlier life, when TR blades were made of fiber reinforced plastic, and had some thickness to them -- Schluter blades, for example -- I would take a small drill bit in a pin vise and drill into the tip of the blade to remove material. Worked great).

The DuBro balancer is found here in their catalog:

http://dubro.com/DUBRO2005CATALOG/D...talog_5CC7.html

Dave

Dave, you should consider writing a book!

Thanks Dave (dkshema), you're the man!
I'll bet you have the smoothest, most stable birds out there. What prompted you to balance the clutch bell in the first place? Were you having trouble there? How did you measure the improvement? The balance makes sense for the TR assembly, but I myself am leary of removing material from a fracture critical part (clutch bell and fan). Seems like it would be hard to quantify results on items with a small mass and short moment arm, but I do suppose that every little bit helps.
I read on one of your posts that you had considered writing a book on RC Helicopters. I whole heartedly endorse that idea and would like to get on the wait list for when it becomes available!

@Dave
I just looked at the pic you posted...
What do you have on the careburator? A filter?
Greez from Swizerland
Bensch

The tip off that your fan and/or clutch bell needs balancing is that when you goose up the throttle, the fuel in the tank instantly turns to foam (this is the most obvious clue). Balance the fan and clutch, the foaming goes away, and your radio and airframe will thank you!

As long as you don't overdo the trimming, you're not going to damage the heli parts. Removing material from the right place carefully is a lot better than just letting your heli shake itself and your radio to death. Those high energy, high frequency vibrations will cause rapid fatigue within the airframe, leading to early catastrophic failure, and can also cause solder joints and components in the electronics to fail.

------

Bensch -- that is a homemade air filter, two layers of nylon stocking / pantyhose stretched over the venturi. Lets the motor breathe and keeps out the big pieces!

Guess I should post a picture of the filter for all to see.

Dave

Balance the fan and clutch, the foaming goes away, and your radio and airframe will thank you!

Dave, do you recommend this as part of a best practices build list when assembling the kit, or as a corrective action only when the foaming occurs? Have you found most clutch bells to be out of balance? Have you had to do this on any metal clutch bells? And lastly, are the cooling fans usually out of balance also? Thanks.

John

Yes, that would bee great!
Thanks!
Bensch

Out of three Calibers, two needed fans and clutches balanced. Yes, the fans and the bells need checking, they are separate items and either or both can be out of whack.

Aluminum bells -- at least I check them when I get the chance. Molded plastic has a better chance of out of balance, as it's hard to control the densities of the goo when it's shot into the mold. But just because aluminum bells are machined doesn't necessarily guarantee that the density of the aluminum is uniform either, though you probably have a better chance that it will be.

Dave

Bensch -- I put a homemade filter on a spare OS 32SX-H I had laying around. I took a couple of pictures and posted them in my gallery...

Here is a shot of the raw material -- a nylon stocking. This one has had a few filters made out of it already so the "foot" part is already gone. Now I'm working my way up...

I cut an oversized piece, two layers worth, then installed it on the venturi like this:

I used a couple of loops of button type sewing thread (you can see the spool in the background. It's a heavy duty thread. A shot of glue on the knot and you're in business. Trim away the excess with a pair of small, sharp scissors.

A few posts earlier, someone suggested using an O-ring to retain the nylon. That sounds like a good idea, if you can find one that fits properly where you live.

Dave

Me 2 , mine was saying PLEASE RE-FUEL ME!!!!!! I wanna hover some more...! I'm beggin for it !

So I took it up again for a 70 foot hover, ahhh just a newbie, but hey I was only hover at 6 inches 1 week ago!