Helicopter Tips:
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1. The tail rotor must spin in the correct direction. The blades turn clockwise when you manually spin
the main rotor blade (counter-clockwise in flight)
2. The tail rotor must not be too tight. When the main rotor is spun counter-clockwise, the tail rotor should
spin a few times after the main rotor has stopped spinning. My Shuttle was too tight as delivered. I had to
make the indentation on the tail rotor tube deeper (do this carefully. A little change in the
indentation goes a long way) in order to get the correct tightness.
3. The flybar must not have any play horizontally. My Shuttle had lots of play out of the box. In order to
eliminate the looseness, I inserted two washers on the flybar between the seesaw and the stabilizer assembly.
4. Use zip ties as flybar locks when setting the pitch. Insert the ties along the main shaft where the flybar
intersects it.
5. Make sure the main shaft has no up and down play. If it does, loosen the self setting screw on the mast lock.
Pull up the main shaft and then tighten the self setting screw.
6. When flying on hard surfaces, wet the ground in order to prevent dust from entering your engine.
7. When the throttle stick is in the low position and the throttle trim is in the low position, the engine should
shut off. When the stick is in the low position and the trim high, the engine should idle high, but the main rotor
should not be spinning.
8. Fly with training gear while learning. Set the pitch so that full throttle just barely gets you airborne. A
lot can be learned by looking at the helis tendencies just before takeoff. Trim the radio to zero out any unwanted
tendencies.
UPDATE: I've since found that floats work better than training gear. See float suggestion later in this list.
9. Nice training gear can be made with 1/2" pvc pipe. I made mine with 4-8inch pieces, an X-joint, 4-90 degree connecter
,4-4" piece of pcv pipe, and 4-wiffle balls (K-mart). I used zip ties to secure it. This training gear provides a somewhat
bouncy cushion that is very forgiving even on hard surfaces.
UPDATE: I've since found that floats work better than training gear. See float suggestion later in this list.
10. The silicone fuel line on the main needle valve is necessary. I've had my heli cut off as if it ran out of gas. This
was due to the needle valve turning off by vibration during flight. Only a 3 or 4 centimeter piece is needed.
11. Save your broken rotor blades to set your pitch with your pitch meter. The cut off blades are more convenient to store and work
with than the main blades.
12. Obtain more screws before you need them. Microfasteners Inc. has a wide variety of
screws, washers, and nuts. They are also very reasonably priced,and they have a quick turnaround. I replaced most of my phillips-head
screws with socket-head screws. Phillips-head screws are easily damaged.
13. Use floats on your heli while learning instead of traing gear. The floats won't catch the grass or other services like the sticks will.
If you approach the ground with lots of horizontal speed, the floats will slide along almost all surfaces smoothly.
You will have to reinforce the floats for the hard landings which are sure to come as a beginner. I reinforced mine with 1/2" copper tubing.
This tubing will not bend. The cross bars on the floats I have are very flexible and not reliable for hard landings. The original cross bars
go inside the copper tubing. You should drill a hole in the copper tubes where the screws go to attach the floats to the heli. A longer screw will
be needed to take into account the diameter of the copper tube.
I also added reinforcement along the length of each float because the balsa wood on my floats had broken. I used 1/2" pvc pipe for this purpose. The
PVC distributes any impact on the floats over a wider area.
Finally, I wrapped the floats in duct tape because I was concerned about accidental punctures. The final product adds a bit more weight than the stock
floats, but they can take abuse that training gear would not.
14. Use nylon lock nuts (2mm) on your servo ball links (I have all ball links now). I've had at least one regular nut vibrate loose from a screw. Luckily I was
not hovering very high, and I did not crash.
15. The CSM gyro requires the use of special two-sided tape. Attach "regular" two-sided tape under the provided tape so you will be able remove and replace the
gyro without ruining the special tape.
16. Use either Lock-tite or CA glue on every screw on the heli. The instructions may not call for it, but I've had screws vibrate loose where nothing besides elbow
grease was used to secure the screw. Lock-tite for screwing into metal, and CA glue (just a drop) for screwing into plastic. Green Lock-tite is the minimum, Blue for
everyday security, and red for maximum security.
17. The Shuttle's tail housing is secured to the tail pulley shaft with a set screw. That set screw vibrated loose on my helicopter. What I did to prevent it from
happening again is to drill the set screw hole all the way through and use socket-head screw and nylon lock nut to secure the tail housing to the tail pulley housing.
Quick Review
OS 32sx vs Enya 35xh
My kit came with the Enya engine. I had had no previous experience with model engines. The Enya is relatively hard to start. You risk running down your 12 volt battery
just to get the engine started. Once it is started, however, it goes. It has lots of power. The available throttle range (from full open to full closed) is beyond the
range my servo allows. I had the radio set where full low stick, low trim was idle. At this setting there was no situation the engine couldn't pull you out of.
The disadvantage of the Enya is that user-friendliness of it. For example, the throttle lever extension is screwed on the engine. After adjusting this many times, the threads
wear out. I ended up having to JB Weld the throttle extension to the engine. Luckily for me this make-shift set up holds up well in flight. The only time it failed is when I
accidently put too much pressure on the throttle connecting rod that broke the connection.
Another disadvantage is the main needle. In order to prevent the needle from opening in flight, a simple piece of fuel tubing is placed on the main needle threads. The pressure
from the contracted rubber is supposed to keep the main needle from moving in or out. I found that this arrangement works well initially, but can fail with little or no warning.
It is imperative to use the right type of tubing and to check it frequently for cuts.
The tubing that should be used for the main needle should not be the rigid type that makes the best fuel line. The best I find is the rubbery type that came standard with the
Shuttle.
The Enya runs strong on 15 or 30 percent fuel. I noticed no noticable difference. I did get a boost in power, however, when I added a tuned pipe to the engine. Before the power
was great, after the pipe - Awesome.
I purchased the OS engine because the Enya engine's throttle close and locked at the full close position and would not open. I sent it back to Altech marketing to correct that problem
and the throttle extension thread problem. The OS was this novice's dream come true. The OS starts up like a charm. No more battery run downs that were associated with the Enya engine.
I don't know why two similarly sized engines would start so differently, but I like the difference.
Where the Enya engine had the user-friendliness of an underpaid discount store cashier, the OS is the Neiman-Marcus of being easy to use. The throttle extension is built on the engine.
All one has to do to secure the lever is to screw on the supplied lever screw. No more reaching way inside the engine under the cooling shroud to see if you have the throttle extension is
lined up correctly on the "threads".
The second example of the OS's ease of use is the main needle. The main needle is prevented from working its way loose by an arm that puts its tooth in the grooves of the main needle thread.
This appears to be a very secure arrangement. It is leaps and bounds better than the Enya's use of fuel tubing.
The OS's weak point is its relative lack of power. Perhaps my lack of model engine experience is showing here, but the OS is not even in the same ballpark as the Enya. I've only used 15 percent
fuel so far, but with that grade of fuel the power can only be considered adequate. I can't imagine doing any advanced manuevers with this engine. I plan to have a more experienced person look at
how I have it set up. I'm hesitant to use 30 percent as the cost of 15 percent is already exorbinant.
I purchased the optional machined throttle extension from Hobbies and Helis for my OS engine. This makes a great set up even better. Adjusting the thottle range with this option is a piece of cake.
I wish it were available for the Enya engine.
Verdict
I like to OS better. It is very frustrating using the Enya. One almost needs two batteries with the Enya. You have to crank and crank the engine for minutes at a time just to start it. When you
combine that with the shortcomings already mentioned, the OS wins hands down. The OS also enjoys the advantage of having widespread popularity and parts availability. Chances are that someone
locally has experience with this engine.
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